Royal Ballet Casting Winter 2016/17

[capybara]

Thinking about it asking an outsider choreographer to select dancers from among the junior ranks would be very useful as outsiders see things in individual dancers that are sometimes far from evident to those who see them every day.

 

 

Hofesh Shechter did this, didn't he?

 

Once again what appeared to be a rather run of the mill booking period has been transformed by the casting.

 

Agreed.

 

Now how do we persuade Kevin that we really do need to know who is to dance Lilac Fairy, Princess Florine and the Bluebird?

 

Aye, there's the rub.

[Ellie]

Has the role of the Lilac Fairy been undermined in recent years ? I unfortunately haven't had the pleasure of watching UK companies dance SB for a while, but from what I remember the LF solo is fiendishly difficult and the mime is essential to the ballet.

[capybara]

I’ve worked out a way of doing the Triple Bill without typing out the cast for every show.

 

The Human Seasons:

Cast 1: Cuthbertson, Calvert, Lamb, Nunez, Cowley, Stix-Brunell, Mendizabal, Watson, Underwood, Sambe, Bonelli, Richardson, Donnelly

Cast 2: Stix-Brunell, Takada, Hayward, Naghdi, Magri, O’Sullivan, Heap, Muntagirov, Edmonds, Zucchetti, Ball, Hay, Dyer

 

After the Rain:

Cast A:  Nunez, Calvert, Mendizabal, Soares, Kish, Hirano

Cast B: Yanowsky, Cowley, Heap, Clarke, Mock, Edmonds

Cast C: Stix-Brunell, Magri, O’Sullivan, Underwood, Dubreuil, Donnelly

 

16^th March: Cast 1 and Cast A

17^th March: Cast 2 and Cast B

18^th March: Cast 1 and Cast B

20^th March: Cast 2 and Cast A

21^st March: Cast 1 and Cast B

23^rd March: Cast 2 and Cast A

24^th March: Cast 1 and Cast C

 

New Crystal Pite: The Company – all dates

[Nina G.]

If Mr O'Hare has the intention to restore SB to its former glory and finesse ( beautifully summed up in one of Floss's erudite posts) then I am not at all surprised Naghdi and Hayward have been selected as the only two new Auroras (they were also cast to dance the Principal role in The Invitation, coincidence or not?).

As both dancers fully trained at The Royal Ballet School since early childhood, they have an exquisite, clean and strong classical technic, they are certainly familiar with Ashton's style as I always understood the School incorporates it in the training (fast foot work and a very particular use of the upper body), as well as the Cecchetti method of training.

 

This all results in a great ease of dancing combined with a very clean classical technic (and they both have also proven to be great dance actresses!). 

[aileen]

I'm disappointed not to see Stix-Brunell cast in SB. She is tall, though, and may be competing for partners with the taller female principals. Given the prices, I suppose that the RB has to schedule a lot of principals but it seems a shame to me that Cuthbertson, Lamb and Nunez are all dancing Aurora in this run when the previous one was so recent. I really like SB but the last run was disappointing overall and I'm not sure that I'm prepared to risk it. Btw, do Morera and Soares not dance SB?

[Lenore]

Thank you Capybara for posting the casting

 

I wasn't planning on seeing any Sleeping Beauties this time, especially considering the last one wasn't that long ago, but the casting has completely made me change my mind!

 

Particularly interested in Naghdi/Ball without a shadow of a doubt. Also Takada/Hay and Hayward/Campbell. It should also be interesting to see Osipova/Hirano dance together (I had it in my mind they'd be good for Mayerling). I thought it would be a cheap season...

 

Once again I'm feeling excited. Especially happy about Naghdi/Ball getting more chances to dance together.

[bridiem]

I’ve worked out a way of doing the Triple Bill without typing out the cast for every show.

 

The Human Seasons:

Cast 1: Cuthbertson, Calvert, Lamb, Nunez, Cowley, Stix-Brunell, Mendizabal, Watson, Underwood, Sambe, Bonelli, Richardson, Donnelly

Cast 2: Stix-Brunell, Takada, Hayward, Naghdi, Magri, O’Sullivan, Heap, Muntagirov, Edmonds, Zucchetti, Ball, Hay, Dyer

 

After the Rain:

Cast A:  Nunez, Calvert, Mendizabal, Soares, Kish, Hirano

Cast B: Yanowsky, Cowley, Heap, Clarke, Mock, Edmonds

Cast C: Stix-Brunell, Magri, O’Sullivan, Underwood, Dubreuil, Donnelly

 

16^th March: Cast 1 and Cast A

17^th March: Cast 2 and Cast B

18^th March: Cast 1 and Cast B

20^th March: Cast 2 and Cast A

21^st March: Cast 1 and Cast B

23^rd March: Cast 2 and Cast A

24^th March: Cast 1 and Cast C

 

New Crystal Pite: The Company – all dates

 

Brilliant! Thank you Capybara.

[alison]

Given the prices, I suppose that the RB has to schedule a lot of principals but it seems a shame to me that Cuthbertson, Lamb and Nunez are all dancing Aurora in this run when the previous one was so recent.

 

Cuthbertson didn't get to dance it last time around

 

Anyway, isn't it 3 years since it was last on?

[FLOSS]

The role of the Lilac Fairy was downgraded a very long time ago, To be precise it occurred when the company was no longer able to cast dancers of the calibre of Bergsma and Mason in the role and were forced to switch from Lilac Fairies who revealed their ability to dominate events by the strength of their technique to ones who were kindly and beneficent and not always up to the mark technically.But at that time the company recruited its dancers from the school and if the school  didn't recruit and train strong technicians in the school  it was not going to be able to recruit them into the company as dancers.

 

As far as thinking that it is a shame that Lamb, Nunez and Cuthbertson are all dancing Aurora at this revival I  am afraid that I think that one of the reasons that revivals of this ballet can be so frustrating and disappointing is that far from the company dancing Sleeping Beauty too often the truth is that the company does not dance it sufficiently frequently to enable the dancers to truly master their roles. I.agree with the recently appointed director of the Bolshoi  when he said that you don't get to master the great classical roles unless you dance them a lot. Dancing them three times every three years or so only allows the dancer to scratch the surface of a role it does not allow them to build on experience and develop their own interpretations, As far as Cuthbertson is concerned  she seems to be looking after the youngest and least experienced of those making their debuts as the Prince. On Sunday we were reminded that Fonteyn had danced Aurora well over a hundred times. I can't help thinking that her mastery of the role and the depth of her interpretation had a great deal to do with  the number of times she had danced it,

 

Now there are things that  i would like to see in these performances beginning with dancing at a tempo that Petipa and Tchaikovsky would recognise and including careful casting and coaching of the dancers appearing in the Fairy Variations so that they have character and contrast rather than appearing as a series of blandly abstract expositions of classroom steps as they have done in the recent past.Having seen the difference that Dame Beryl made to Gina Storm-Jensen's account of the Lilac Fairy it would pay Kevin to get someone in from the outside to coach the variations such as Alfreda Thorogood who with her late husband managed to  make the ENB corps and soloists dance Beauty in an authentic RB  style when it last revived it.

 

Morera has never danced Aurora, She was promoted at a time when the company was awash with Principals.She said that Mason had told her that although she had been promoted she would still be dancing the roles that she had always done,Soares has danced the Prince but I am not at all sorry that he is not dancing  the role during this revival. I seem to recall that soon after he was promoted to Principal he told a meeting that I attended  that he had been told that he needed to acquire more polish.I don't think that he has ever done so and when he appeared in Song of the Earth during its first run in 2015 he seemed to lack the essential core strength required for the role. I know this may upset some people but I don't think that he is very convincing in princely roles and on occasion his dancing lacks detail and focus. I once worked out how old he is and I was surprised as there have been many occasions on which his dancing has looked like that of a man ten years his senior. 

[Jamesrhblack]

OK - I was waiting to see if it would go up but here is my summary:

 

Sleeping Beauty:

 

Lamb/Golding 21^st Dec; 29^th Dec; 3^rd Jan

Takada/Hay 23[/size]^rd Dec mat;16[/size]^th Feb[/size]

Choe/Kish 23^rd Dec; 30^th Dec

Nunez/Muntagirov 15^th Feb; 23^rd Feb; 28^th Feb (cinema relay)

Hayward/Campbell 16^th Feb. mat; 20^th Feb

Naghdi/Ball 18^th Feb mat; 25^th Feb mat

Cuthbertson/Clarke 18^th Feb; 22^nd Feb; 3^rd March

Osipova/Hirano 25^th Feb; 1^st March; 4^th March

Salenko/McRae 4^th March; 7^th March; 14^th March

Kobayashi/Bonelli 10^th March; 13^th March

 

I’ll let the website reveal the fine details for Woolf Works but the Galeazzi cast has 21^st Jan mat; 4^th Feb mat; 11^th Feb and 13^th Feb while the Ferri/Osipova cast dances on 21^st Jan; 2^nd Feb mat; 4^th Feb; 8^th Feb; 11^th Feb mat and 14^th Feb.

 

If you don’t mind, I’ll pass on the Triple Bill for the moment at least.

So pleased to see the Hayward / Campbell partnership continuing and Takada / Hay and Naghdi / Ball seem really to be establishing themselves too. Disappointed that Stix-Brunell isn't getting her chance, but there are at least four casts here (Cuthbertson / Clarke the fourth) that I would love to see (and, sadly, I doubt that I will manage that so it's now a question of priorities...). Will hope to catch Nuñez / Muntagirov at my local Kino.

Edited July 18, 2016 by Jamesrhblack

[Bea@theballet]

In the ROH Winter magazine, it lists the 18th February matinee as 'limited availability, call box office'. Schools matinees are usually not for public booking, so I assume its not that. Can anyone elaborate?

Thanks

[capybara]

Regarding the pairings now set out before us.......

 

Stix-Brunell is, as others have said, tall - so she would need Muntagirov, Kish, Clarke, Bonelli or Golding - all of whom are 'otherwise engaged' for Sleeping Beauty. She does, however, look to be partnered with Muntagirov in The Human Seasons 

 

We have seen Lamb, Choe and Osipova dance with McRae and all are slightly too tall for him. Among the shorter dancers, Hayward danced R&J with him in Japan but he has not yet danced with Takada (or has he?). Of course, the Takada/Hay partnership is another one to nurture but it does seem strange that the RB's default position for McRae is now (always) Salenko. After all, he could help 'bring on' a younger dancer as Cuthbertson and Yanowsky are doing with Clarke.

 

Incidentally, Golding continues to be under-occupied in this booking period as well as the autumn one. 

[MAX]

Is Hayward strong enough technically for Aurora and Sugar Plum Fairy ? 

[RuthE]

Cuthbertson didn't get to dance it last time around

 

Anyway, isn't it 3 years since it was last on?

 

I thought she did... I know she had the last of her scheduled performances cancelled and given to somebody else because of injuries among the men (I remember her saying on Twitter "They ran out of Princes for me...") but I thought she danced her earlier two.

 

And the last run was in 2014.

[alison]

Oh, hang on, perhaps I'm confusing it with Swan Lake.  But I know *I* didn't get to see her dance Beauty, despite having booked.  I'd assumed it was because of injury.

 

And yes, 2014, so 3 years.

[A frog]

Cuthberson definitely danced Aurora during the last run, she was partnered with Matthew Golding and they danced the very first performance of the run.

[David]

Can anyone explain why Salenko is guesting ? Does McRae have the clout to cast his performances? He's good but not that good surely?

 

I am not sure why there are continual questions regarding Salenko? My understanding is that she was unable to accept a Principal's contract with the RB because her son is settled in school in Stuttgart and she with her husband was not prepared to move him. Is that not so? I think she and McRae are a good pairing and I always enjoy their performances together. I thought their performance together of Don Quixote was one of the highlights of that series.

 

Would it not be altogether more reasonable to regard her as a de facto, part-time Principal and welcome her?

 

Personally I don't have problems with guest artists providing it is only occasional - I think they can sometimes raise the bar and challenge in-house artists. One of the best of the Quixote's for me was in Jan 2015 when Anna Tsygankova replaced Natalia Osipova opposite Matthew Golding. He absolutely came to life dancing with her! I think she is a lovely dancer and as I can't get over to see her in situ I've been hoping against hope that Mr O'Hare will find an occasion to bring her back to dance with him again! 

 

I know many on the forum get around and about to see different companies with their dancers and I understand that this is not a popular view but it is all I can do to get down to London so I'm delighted if another dancer occasionally guests with the RB!

Edited July 19, 2016 by David

[billboyd]

 Can anyone explain why Salenko is guesting ?

 

 

Yes.

[alison]

Cuthberson definitely danced Aurora during the last run, she was partnered with Matthew Golding and they danced the very first performance of the run.

Ah, that's what it was, then. I had tickets for all her other performances, but not for the first night I'd assumed she was injured.

[FLOSS]

Max we are all going to find out whether those who make their debuts as SPF and Aurora are up to the task. SPF is short but extremely testing technically while SB presents its challenges in three acts over three hours. It challenges the dancer's stamina, concentration and technique. I think that we should accept that for the dancers involved it is likely to be the case that the performances, particularly of SB will be work in progress. SB makes different demands of Aurora in each act. Act 1 should show us a young girl making her entrance into the adult world rather than an athlete attempting to set a world record for the duration of her balances in the Rose Adagio. Act 2 is, I think, the most difficult to bring off successfully. There should be an air of mystery about Aurora in this act:. she should be there and yet not there. A vision rather than the obvious physical presence of a physically and technically strong dancer who has already displayed the strength of her technique in a Rose Adagio treated as a bravura display piece that has little to do with the rest of the  act in which it appears. A dancer who has done that is likely to proceed to treat her variations in the second act as a further excuse for technical display rather than treating them as an integral part of the ballet. I think the ballet works best if the Aurora dances the Rose Adagio as if it is normal and natural rather than a free standing display piece so that it does not distort the structure of the act in which it appears or the ballet as a whole. If it is danced in that way the grand pas de deux in the third act is the culmination of the ballet rather than an anticlimax.

 

I hope that it is clear from what I have said that I think that there is far more to SB than the technical challenges it presents. It is the subtle combination of the technical and artistic elements of the major roles in  the nineteenth century classics which makes them a source of infinite interest for dancers and audiences alike. The dancers know that there is no such thing as a perfect performance and so does the audience. It is striving to achieve perfection  trying to get the right technical and artistic balance that makes dancers and audiences return to them time after time.

 

As to whether Hayward is technically strong enough to dance Aurora, she has already danced the Collier role in Rhapsody, Vera in Month and Bournonville's  Flower Festival in Genzano pas de deux . On the basis of what management have seen of her in class and in performance they think that she is technically strong enough to dance Lise in Ashton's Fille which suggests that they think that she has more than enough technique for Aurora. However light and easy the role of Lise appears in performance it is, even now, a real test of a dancer's stamina and technique.Remember SB was a regular feature of the company's repertory when Fille was first performed and yet because of the technical challenges that Fille presents there were real concerns about who would dance it once the company's greatest technicians Nerina and Blair were no longer available to do so.

 

The Winter booking period looks exceptionally good to me. As far as the company's choice of repertory is concerned I think we need to remember that all five of the ballets that de Valois acquired for her young company eighty years ago were intended to develop her company's technical standards and maintain them. That need has not gone away. In fact you could argue that it is more pressing now than it was in the past because of the extreme nature of some of the choreography the company now dances. It needs to revive these works regularly to develop its dancers as artists. Being bored by the regular revival of staple works is something that afflicts those who are able to attend the concert hall, the opera house or the theatre regularly. Why are they performing Beethoven's fifth symphony? Why Hamlet again? Why La Traviata again? The answer is very simple. It is because at every performance there will be members of the audience for whom this is their first encounter with the work in question. Programming is not directed exclusively at the "regulars" nor should it be.

 

Now we all of us know that we could do it better than mangement when it comes to programming but if we were in charge would we any of us really make a better job of it ? One person would turn the season into a MacMillanfest at the end of which the dancers might not be as technically sharp as they should be. I would turn several seasons into Ashtonfests and I can hear the screams now because there would be no MacGregor and very little MacMillan only Song of the Earth.

Edited July 19, 2016 by FLOSS

[FLOSS]

billboyd. Thank you for answering my question about Salenko. Could you expand on it a little? A single word like "Yes " gives me no understanding of what qualities you or others see in her..Clearly those of you who enjoy her performances see something that I am missing.

 

Now I am not against guest dancers when they bring something interesting with them but for me Salenko is a rather bland technician and each role she dances seems barely distinguishable from the others that she has performed here. McRae clearly enjoys dancing with her but shouldn't he be performing with some of the junior members of the company a bit more? He is after all a company member and was looked after in the early stages of his career. I find it strange that he is somehow exempt from assisting in the development of members of the company. There are plenty of small dancers in the junior ranks whose time has come or is likely to come soon.I agree that the presence of Tsygankova had a totally transformative effect on Matthew Golding but should not a senior dancer be able to create a living breathing character in a narrative ballet regardless of who he or she is dancing with? 

[alison]

Now we all of us know that we could do it better than mangement when it comes to programming but if we were in charge would we any of us really make a better job of it ?

I'm sure we wouldn't, but I'm still very concerned about those few Sleeping Beauties slotted in among all those Nutcrackers. Won't the corps be exhausted? (Why on earth is there absolutely no opera on for a good couple of weeks over Christmas/New Year?)

[alison]

I agree that the presence of Tsygankova had a totally transformative effect on Matthew Golding but should not a senior dancer be able to create a living breathing character in a narrative ballet regardless of who he or she is dancing with?

Of course, but with all the will in the world, it is easier with some dancers than with others. No dancer can dance really effectively in a vacuum, and a given dancer will always be happier with/have better chemistry with one dancer than with another. (Which is what appears to be the case with McRae/Salenko, going back to your previous point)

[David]

 (Why on earth is there absolutely no opera on for a good couple of weeks over Christmas/New Year?)

Given the quality of most operatic productions under the present regime, perhaps we should just be grateful!!!!!

[MAX]

Thank you for your answer Floss !

[FLOSS]

Every dancer has partners who they probably prefer to dance with and who bring the best out in them. Sibley and Dowell were always greater and looked better together than they did with any other partners but that did not mean that they were bland and boring when they danced with other people or that they retreated into themselves when they did so. At a time when regular partnerships were the norm, rather than the exception that they are today, the company's male principal dancers seemed to be very adaptable and certainly did not perform as if they were scarcely involved in performances when they danced with someone who was not their regular partner.  Dancers like MacLeary,Wall,Jefferies, Eagling,Kelly and Ashmole all danced with a wide range of partners but they never failed to give a performance or looked as if they were going through the motions. Sibley and Wall, for example, gave some exceptional performances together Altthough Dowell didn't dance with as wide a range of partners as some of his colleagues he also gave exemplary performances when dancing with partners other than Sibley.

 

For me there is something very strange about recruiting and retaining the services of a senior dancer who only seems to come to life when he is dancing with his preferred partner who is not a  member of the company and who for the rest of the time when he is dancing with company colleagues does not seem particularly involved in his performances or theirs.

Edited July 19, 2016 by FLOSS

[Sunrise]

Of course, but with all the will in the world, it is easier with some dancers than with others. No dancer can dance really effectively in a vacuum, and a given dancer will always be happier with/have better chemistry with one dancer than with another. (Which is what appears to be the case with McRae/Salenko, going back to your previous point)

 

I agree, there are so many fantastic dancers that pass through companies without finding a partner that brings out the best in them. I'm sure McRae could partner many other dancers well (I enjoyed his Romeo with lamb), but if he and Salenko are matched physically and in temperament and feel they have a particular chemistry with each other that they do not find dancing with others then they should have a chance to nurture that. 

Edited July 19, 2016 by Sunrise

[billboyd]

FLOSS - Your question has been asked many times on this Forum and has led to much correspondence which I do not wish to add to.

Edited July 19, 2016 by billboyd

[Vanartus]

Salenko is good. Very good. And they dance well together. She's a great addition to the RB. 'Nuff said. (...but of course there'll be more...)

[capybara]

The casting is on the ROH website now.

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-sleeping-beauty-by-marius-petipa

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/woolf-works-by-wayne-mcgregor

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/mixed-programmes/the-human-seasons-after-the-rain-new-crystal-pite

[Jan McNulty]

 Can anyone explain why Salenko is guesting ? Does McRae have the clout to cast his performances? He's good but not that good surely?

 

 

 

 

I am not sure why there are continual questions regarding Salenko? My understanding is that she was unable to accept a Principal's contract with the RB because her son is settled in school in Stuttgart and she with her husband was not prepared to move him. Is that not so? I think she and McRae are a good pairing and I always enjoy their performances together. I thought their performance together of Don Quixote was one of the highlights of that series.

 

Would it not be altogether more reasonable to regard her as a de facto, part-time Principal and welcome her?

 

 

 

 

 

I remember reading the article where she was quoted as saying that David.  

 

Just a thought that as people on this forum are clamouring for the Nagdhi/Ball partnership to continue perhaps there are other people who are more than happy to see the Salenko/McRae partnership continue.  Horses for courses...

 

And can you imagine my anguish when I realised I can't get to either of the performances by the pairing I would very nearly kill to see!!!  I will just have to remember Mr Campbell's glorious debut with BRB some years ago.

[Bruce Wall]

 

 

And can you imagine my anguish when I realised I can't get to either of the performances by the pairing I would very nearly kill to see!!!  I will just have to remember Mr Campbell's glorious debut with BRB some years ago.

 

I saw a midweek matinee at the Coli by the BRB of Sleeping Beauty with Mr. Campbell as the Prince and Momoko Hirata as Aurora.  It was a dazzling affair; a very special performance in a truly spectacular production - quite the current best in the UK IMHO.  Well worth cherishing.  

[Jan McNulty]

I saw a midweek matinee at the Coli by the BRB of Sleeping Beauty with Mr. Campbell as the Prince and Momoko Hirata as Aurora.  It was a dazzling affair; a very special performance in a truly spectacular production - quite the current best in the UK IMHO.  Well worth cherishing.  

 

 

It was their debut I saw in Brum.  As this thread is about RB I only mentioned Mr C but Momoko is just awesome as Aurora.  We knew something special was happening the minute she stepped on the stage in Act 1.