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 Of the ballets being staged in this triple bill the two really important ones are Symphonic and the Dream neither of which has been issued on DVD  with a RB cast, Marguerite and Armand is a "vehicle", albeit. one that still goes. As a result the casting for that ballet does not concern me as much as the casting for the other two does.I hope that the management's delay in announcing who is to dance Oberon in two of the casts or to give us details about the entire cast for each performance of Symphonic Variations is attributable to management working out the combinations of the other dancers who will appear in Symphonic rather than guest artists appearing in the Dream.

 

While I should like to see Muntagirov appear in the other ballets in this bill, in due course,I hope that management intends to  build on the experience of dancing Symphonic, not simply by bringing back three of the four dancers who took the leads in Symphonic  last time it was performed at Covent Garden but  throughout the cast. It is a major work and benefits from repeated performances  by experienced casts rather than new casts at each revival which does no one, least of all, the audience any favours. What Mr Vasiev said about Swan Lake, that you don't master the ballet if you only dance in it occasionally applies to all major works and particularly a ballet like Symphonic which is a real test of stamina and artistry. Some years ago McRae made light of being cast in it when he had no experience of dancing it. He has since said that it is one of the most demanding ballets to dance. That is why I hope that management is treating the  last revival as an audition process for this one. If this is the case we can expect to see Hay cast in the role with the off centre turns created on Henry Danton and Naghdi given the opportunity to dance one of the side roles again. Now if Clarke and Muntagirov are to appear in Symphonic I don't think that management will want to run the risk of either of them  getting injured dancing a role like Armand when they don't need to do so. That way it will be sure that the streamed performance of Symphonic will be strongly cast. If management has any sense it will give its priority to getting Symphonic right and then avoid putting its chosen dancers in danger by casting them in other ballets in this programme where their presence is not absolutely essential.

 

In the past Kevin seems to have felt obliged to cast senior dancers some of whom have not been suitable in the role of Oberon, presumably because it is danced so frequently that that sort of casting decision is not seen as causing long term problems . I wonder whether he will continue in this way when it comes to this revival of the Dream or whether he will cast young dancers who he sees as  having potential to make something of the role now and likely to be really effective in it at future revivals. Will he cast Hay and run  the risk of him getting injured or will he cast Sambe or may be Ball?    As far as the lovers are concerned the company's performance tradition, up until now, has been to cast dancers in those roles who perform character roles I don't expect Ballerinas and Danseurs in waiting to be cast as Helena.Hermia, Lysander or Demetrius. I do hope that whoever is in charge of this revival manages to eliminate some of the wilder caricature elements which have been allowed to creep into the performance of Bottom's fellow amateur actors over the years and persuades them to perform their primary function which is to mask Bottom's transformation adequately. However this will require them to remain up stage and somehow I don't think that anyone is much concerned with the theatrical ineffectiveness of  allowing the dancers concerned to move as far down stage as they now do.  

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Naghdi/Ball in The Dream is but a dream this Season...(sigh), but at least we'll get to see her with Zuchetti in Balanchine's Tarantella, a "dazzling display virtuoso piece full of speed", and hopefully again in "Symphonic Variations" with Nunez and Muntagirov. The Summer casting looks interesting indeed. 

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Of the ballets being staged in this triple bill the two really important ones are Symphonic and the Dream neither of which has been issued on DVD  with a RB cast, Marguerite and Armand is a "vehicle", albeit. one that still goes. As a result the casting for that ballet does not concern me as much as the casting for the other two does.I hope that the management's delay in announcing who is to dance Oberon in two of the casts or to give us details about the entire cast for each performance of Symphonic Variations is attributable to management working out the combinations of the other dancers who will appear in Symphonic rather than guest artists appearing in the Dream.

 

While I should like to see Muntagirov appear in the other ballets in this bill, in due course,I hope that management intends to  build on the experience of dancing Symphonic, not simply by bringing back three of the four dancers who took the leads in Symphonic  last time it was performed at Covent Garden but  throughout the cast. It is a major work and benefits from repeated performances  by experienced casts rather than new casts at each revival which does no one, least of all, the audience any favours. What Mr Vasiev said about Swan Lake, that you don't master the ballet if you only dance in it occasionally applies to all major works and particularly a ballet like Symphonic which is a real test of stamina and artistry. Some years ago McRae made light of being cast in it when he had no experience of dancing it. He has since said that it is one of the most demanding ballets to dance. That is why I hope that management is treating the  last revival as an audition process for this one. If this is the case we can expect to see Hay cast in the role with the off centre turns created on Henry Danton and Naghdi given the opportunity to dance one of the side roles again. Now if Clarke and Muntagirov are to appear in Symphonic I don't think that management will want to run the risk of either of them  getting injured dancing a role like Armand when they don't need to do so. That way it will be sure that the streamed performance of Symphonic will be strongly cast. If management has any sense it will give its priority to getting Symphonic right and then avoid putting its chosen dancers in danger by casting them in other ballets in this programme where their presence is not absolutely essential.

 

In the past Kevin seems to have felt obliged to cast senior dancers some of whom have not been suitable in the role of Oberon, presumably because it is danced so frequently that that sort of casting decision is not seen as causing long term problems . I wonder whether he will continue in this way when it comes to this revival of the Dream or whether he will cast young dancers who he sees as  having potential to make something of the role now and likely to be really effective in it at future revivals. Will he cast Hay and run  the risk of him getting injured or will he cast Sambe or may be Ball?    As far as the lovers are concerned the company's performance tradition, up until now, has been to cast dancers in those roles who perform character roles I don't expect Ballerinas and Danseurs in waiting to be cast as Helena.Hermia, Lysander or Demetrius. I do hope that whoever is in charge of this revival manages to eliminate some of the wilder caricature elements which have been allowed to creep into the performance of Bottom's fellow amateur actors over the years and persuades them to perform their primary function which is to mask Bottom's transformation adequately. However this will require them to remain up stage and somehow I don't think that anyone is much concerned with the theatrical ineffectiveness of  allowing the dancers concerned to move as far down stage as they now do.

 

  

I think Naghdi/Ball would have been wonderful as Titania/Oberon, but I guess we can't have everything. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Hayward in the role....preferably with Campbell as her Oberon!

  

Naghdi/Ball in The Dream is but a dream this Season...(sigh), but at least we'll get to see her with Zuchetti in Balanchine's Tarantella, a "dazzling display virtuoso piece full of speed", and hopefully again in "Symphonic Variations" with Nunez and Muntagirov. The Summer casting looks interesting indeed.

 

6

 

Upon thinking about this. I realiased that Naghdi/ball are much more likely to be in symphonic variations. And the hold up is more than likelyou to be about putting whon where

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I think that Zenaida Yanowsky was probably asked who she would like to dance with on her farewell hence Roberto Bolle being invited. I'd love to see him live again but I will probably just go to the cinema as it's cheaper, more comfy and a better view and it's midweek so bad timing for a trip to ROH.

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Yes, Alison, but such issues should surely be taken into consideration when the composition of triple bills is being decided?

 

One would certainly hope so ... :(

 

And it must surely be possible to put together an Ashton mixed bill which doesn't actually require the same type of dancers throughout: there must surely be enough variety in his (regularly performed?) works to allow that - there are enough of them, after all.  After all, it's not exactly as if it's McGregor using and re-using the usual suspects for much of the time.

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While it is true that there are a good number of Ashton one act ballets not many of them can really be described as part of the  company's "regularly performed" Ashton repertory let alone part of its "regular" repertory. Those that do fall into that category include the Dream, A Month in the Country,Rhapsody and, of late, Marguerite and Armand. I think that you will find that a good number of his one ast works haven't been programmed since the centenary celebrations or the seasons immediately following the centenary year.Two of the ballets which currently fall into the "regularly performed" category, the Dream and Marguerite and Armand are due for performance in June. We shall soon find out who is to dance Oberon and who the other dancers for Symphonic are to be.

 

I seem to recall that at the time that it was announced that casting details would be released after the performance schedule was sent out we were told that this would enable management to take greater account of the quality of performances given by  dancers during the season suggesting that management was anxious to have more opportunity to provide junior dancers with  development opportunities in a timely fashion when they needed them rather than when they would not adversely impact on previously published casting details.If part of the delay in publishing full casting details is attributable to those considerations then that is fine by me. In all honesty I think that the information which has already been posted is more than adequate to enable us to decide which casts we want to see.

  

I'm not that keen on the single choreographer mixed bill either but I think that it is probably the only way, at present, that we are guaranteed seeing any Ashton ballets at all. There are ballets such as Les Rendezvous, Les Patineurs and Facade which could and should be programmed to give the youngest dancers a chance to become accustomed to the Ashton performance style and the opportunity to show what they can do without putting them under the pressure of carrying a whole ballet Some people would argue that the fact that  the company schedules so few Ashton ballets each season and that it tends to programme the same pieces each time is a real weakness as far as the maintenance of its repertory and the development of its dancers is concerned.

Edited by FLOSS
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I was only thinking about Les Patineurs today, and wondering why on earth it had not been seen in any programme for I don't know how long.  It was/is such a delightful ballet, and perfect for any autumn/winter triple bill.  When they did show it in the past, I hated the way it was always on the same bill as the Tales of Beatrix Potter.  The latter is not a ballet I ever want to see again on the stage.  

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I was only thinking about Les Patineurs today, and wondering why on earth it had not been seen in any programme for I don't know how long.  

 

Long enough, at least... I've been attending the RB regularly for just over five years, and until the RBS did it in their summer showcases, had never had an opportunity to see it.

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I think that the reason we don't see Les Patineurs is because Kevin can now only think of it as a companion piece to the ill advised staging of Tales of Beatrix Potter. Now I think that it would be a good companion piece for Two Pigeons which I hope will be revived soon, perhaps as a family friendly alternative to Nutcracker. I had hoped that as the income derived from staging both Les Patineurs and Les Rendezvous now belong to the RBS that we might see a bit more of both of them in the RB's programming, particularly as they are now both danced in the Chapell designs.

 

Patineurs was last danced by the RB in 2011 more recently than Les Rendezvous which was last performed by the company in 2005. Here are a few other out of sight out of mind Ashton ballets with the dates when they were last staged by the company Jazz Calendar (1979) not a great work but great fun the sort of piece designed to send the audience out with a smile on its face at the end of the evening; Facade (1994);Les Illuminations (1996), made for NYCB in the early 1950's, atypical Ashton, an interesting piece(It suggests that had it not been for the adverse reaction to his ballet Tiresias  his subsequent ballets might have included works which were not all directed at audiences of all ages) ;Daphnis and Chloe (2004); A Wedding Bouquet (2006) and some full lengths which are in danger of drifting into the twilight zone Ondine (2009); Sylvia (2010) and Cinderella (2011). Then there are works which the company should revive Les Apparitions. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales  and Capriol Suite. Finally there is Foyer de Dance which Iain Webb seems to believe is capable of revival which suggests that the film that he has contains more than the footage which has been shown in Ashton documentaries.

Edited by FLOSS
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Fully agree that a greater variety of Ashton should be shown. As he was the ROH founder choreographer and largely contributed to the 'English' style of dancing his ballets should be performed far more often and with far more variety than they currently are. if there is any doubt as to whether this is viable you need look no further than the current programme for Sarasota Ballet (see link below). If an American Ballet Co. can put together such an imaginative programme of 20th century choreography why can't one of the greatest Ballet Company's in the world do this? I would love to see most of these programmes. The trouble with ROH mixed bills is they usually feel the need to include 1 or 2 very modern ballets which I don't want to see and when it is just one it's invariably in the middle so you can't even arrive late or leave early. But Sarasota Ballet's programme includes ballets by Tudor and Jerome Robins who have been more or less neglected by the RB and whose works I hardly know but would love to get to know. Because they are neither 19th century classics or very modern they seem to fall between 2 stools as far as the RB are concerned and are rarely performed which is a real shame.

 

https://www.sarasotaballet.org/events/2016-2017-season-four-ballet-packages-still-available (Hope it is ok to post this. it's the only format I can manage apart from copying and pasting the programme which is a bit cumbersome)

 

I too have thought Les Patineurs with 2 Pigeons would be a great 'feel good' Christmas alternative to the Nutcracker. Or a 'winter' double bill with Patineurs and Winter Dreams. there is certainly no need to pair it with Beatrix Potter. I really like the Ashton triples and hope they will continue as that way I know I'll enjoy everything on offer. As I have to travel and stay overnight for anything other than a matinee I can't afford to experiment and see a programme where I know I'm probably not going to enjoy at least a third of it. Long live the Ashton triples; just try and vary the content a bit, please!

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I think that the reason we don't see Les Patineurs is because Kevin can now only think of it as a companion piece to the ill advised staging of Tales of Beatrix Potter. Now I think that it would be a good companion piece for Two Pigeons which I hope will be revived soon, perhaps as a family friendly alternative to Nutcracker. I had hoped that as the income derived from staging both Les Patineurs and Les Rendezvous now belong to the RBS that we might see a bit more of both of them in the RB's programming, particularly as they are now both danced in the Chapell designs.

 

Patineurs was last danced by the RB in 2011 more recently than Les Rendezvous which was last performed by the company in 2005. Here are a few other out of sight out of mind Ashton ballets with the dates when they were last staged by the company Jazz Calendar (1979) not a great work but great fun the sort of piece designed to send the audience out with a smile on its face at the end of the evening; Facade (1994);Les Illuminations (1996), made for NYCB in the early 1950's, atypical Ashton, an interesting piece(It suggests that had it not been for the adverse reaction to his ballet Tiresias  his subsequent ballets might have included works which were not all directed at audiences of all ages) ;Daphnis and Chloe (2004); A Wedding Bouquet (2006) and some full lengths which are in danger of drifting into the twilight zone Ondine (2009); Sylvia (2010) and Cinderella (2011). Then there are works which the company should revive Les Apparitions. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales  and Capriol Suite. Finally there is Foyer de Dance which Iain Webb seems to believe is capable of revival which suggests that the film that he has contains more than the footage which has been shown in Ashton documentaries.

I was thinking Ondine and Cinderella were due an airing. Love Winter Dreams too.

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The nearest cinema to me that's showing the Ashton triple bill and Yanowsky's final performance is apparently somewhere in Pennsylvania. Guess I'm going to have to persuade my husband to indulge me in a road trip.

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Osipova's Armand has yet to be announced. I can think of another dancer who might be more palatable to management as a guest artist than Polunin might be, and whose presence would be welcomed by many ballet goers and that is Xander Parish.I suspect that while management were reasonably comfortable in pairing Polunin with Rojo in what were her farewell performances and may even have been seen as an official farewell for him as well they might not be that comfortable with casting arrangements which suggest that he might become a more regular guest artist.Here management has to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages to the company as a whole and not just the wishes of individual dancers.One thing that management will be anxious to avoid when it has so much talent and potential in the company is creating a situation in which junior dancers will have fewer opportunities to develop by performing a range of roles or giving the impression that it has done so.

 

A management may employ guest artists for any number of reasons including the need to have a starry roster for a particular booking,sudden illness or injury and  the benefit which the presence of particular dancers will have on the company as a whole.One thing that management usually wants to avoid is treating its own dancers as a backdrop for a succession of big names. The RB already has one semi permanent guest artist and I suspect that it will be reluctant to create circumstances in which it may acquire another one or appear that it has done so.

 

 

There is no doubt that Polunin is a great dancer but I think that it is not unfair to say that he has a history of erratic behavior. I don't think that management will want to create a situation in which there is a danger that dancers who have been left out  of a particular programme or only allocated a minor role are  called upon to fill a sudden casting gap created by an individual dancer's egotistical behavior. It's not the sort of situation which is calculated to maintain morale within any organisation where complete loyalty to shared common objectives and a wholehearted commitment to supporting colleagues and getting the job done well, regardless of individual ambition, is essential to the organisation's continued ability to perform at the highest level.I am as interested as everyone else in who will be selected to dance with Osipova as it might be seen as something of a test of the AD's commitment to his own dancers. Parish's presence, I believe, would be seen as far less of a problem as he served his time in the ranks of the company as the balletic equivalent of a spear carrier and is reliable while Polunin was fast tracked and walked.

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Osipova's Armand has yet to be announced. I can think of another dancer who might be more palatable to management as a guest artist than Polunin might be, and whose presence would be welcomed by many ballet goers and that is Xander Parish

 

Parish's presence, I believe, would be seen as far less of a problem as he served his time in the ranks of the company as the balletic equivalent of a spear carrier and is reliable while Polunin was fast tracked and walked.

 

 

I really think Parish is a wonderful dancer, and an exceptionally gentlemanly character. I feel however that the Guardian's review by Mr Jennings today, was quite a 'puff piece' aimed at bringing Xander back to ROH, it also seemingly describes Xander's wish to return.

 

I would argue, that Mr Parish should enjoy his guesting and huge success rather than being 'shoehorned' into the mind of ROH and the pressure it may bring.

 

As he has learned one may hope is that patience is rewarded with great success, and long may he enjoy it.

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As I have said before (sorry!), I don't understand the need for guests (or for us to be proposing guests on here) when the RB has at least 3 more Armands at its disposal already.

Of which they will choose from I am sure. I think know the delay is giving which man which part.

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I agree with Capybara. They have already brought in one guest (Bolle, for totally understandable reasons in this case), and I see no need to bring in another guest to dance it. It is such a plum role that it could well provoke some resentment amongst some in-house dancers longing to dance it if it were given to yet another guest. Don't get me wrong, Xander Parrish is wonderful and I have nothing but respect for his achievements, but I imagine that (whilst I'm sure no one in the company has anything against Parrish, probably quite the opposite), I'm not sure it would feel completely appropriate (to me, anyway ☺) to bring him in over and above candidates within the company already.

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Capybara, in spite  of what I said in my latest post I am not asking that Parish should be invited to guest in M&A merely pointing out to some who would love to see Polunin appear as a guest artist with the company that pleasing the fans by casting Polunin might not be that beneficial  for the corporate cohesion and morale of the company.I too believe that Kevin has the dancers and that his duty now is to use them intelligently to enable them to develop rather than inviting another guest artist to perform with the company when they are not required.But we shall see what we shall see. 

 

I have to say that I don't pretend to understand why we had Salenko guesting in Nutcracker again this season. I should have thought that now  we have a number of petite dancers making their way up through the ranks it would not be unreasonable for management to expect McRae to dance with a few of them. Young talented,inexperienced dancers benefit from performing with experienced dancers who assist in their technical and artistic development sometimes without realising that they are doing so. It seems odd that he appears to be exempt from that process.

 

Anyway to get us back on topic I will just say that the casting which has been announced is enough to enable me to decide which performances I don't want to miss and over all it looks very promising for both the audience and the company's development. Not everyone will agree with me on this but I think that a friend of mine who has been going to the Opera House for a very long time got it right when she said. "Kevin's got the dancers. Now it's the choreographers who are letting the company down", She did say that she might have been spoiled because she started  her ballet going when Ashton, Cranko and MacMillan.were all making ballets for the company but I understand what she meant. 

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.... The RB already has one semi permanent guest artist ....

 

FLOSS, once again I really do think a certain prudence should be employed in your general commentaries.  

 

As per the RB:  The terms 'guest artist', 'permanent' and I assume 'semi-permanent' (although I have never seen the latter physically employed) all refer to specifically notated contractual agreements.  As far as I am aware the RB has no official 'semi-permanent guest artist' and to suggest such I feel is .. erm ... misleading ... if not entirely inaccurate.  

 

If you DO HAVE information that gives official reference to the notification quoted  I - and I'm sure many others hereabouts - would be MOST grateful for the noted source of your reference.  

 

With sincere thanks in advance for your kind consideration ... 

Edited by Bruce Wall
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FLOSS, once again I really do think a certain prudence should be employed in your general commentaries.  

 

As per the RB:  The terms 'guest artist', 'permanent' and I assume 'semi-permanent' (although I have never seen the latter physically employed) all refer to specifically notated contractual agreements.  As far as I am aware the RB has no official 'semi-permanent guest artist' and to suggest such I feel is .. erm ... misleading ... if not entirely inaccurate.  

 

If you DO HAVE information that gives official reference to the notification quoted  I - and I'm sure many others hereabouts - would be MOST grateful for the noted source of your reference.  

 

With sincere thanks in advance for your kind consideration ... 

 

I'm sure that 'semi permanent' is used here simply in the temporal sense of someone who has been guesting regularly for quite a while and seems to be continuing in that capacity. We are not discussing the minutiae of contractual arrangements but the use of dancers within a company.

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I feel however that the Guardian's review by Mr Jennings today, was quite a 'puff piece' aimed at bringing Xander back to ROH, it also seemingly describes Xander's wish to return.

 

Except that I thought Parish had made it pretty clear somewhere that his future is with the Mariinsky now (albeit that he wouldn't mind returning to the UK to guest)?

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Except that I thought Parish had made it pretty clear somewhere that his future is with the Mariinsky now (albeit that he wouldn't mind returning to the UK to guest)?

 

 

I am not saying that it was with the wishes of Mr Parish, or his views...but... the view of Mr Jennings seems pretty sure. 

 

""English National Ballet guest artist Xander Parish – British star of the Mariinsky – is world-class. Isn’t it time he was lured back to London?""

 

"Professionally, Parish is at a crossroads. .......Today Parish is the finest British-born danseur noble on the world stage, and there are signs that he wishes to complete his career in the west.

There would be a happy symmetry if he did so with the Royal, but, dismayingly for his many British fans, a deafening silence issues from Covent Garden on the subject. This looks like pique; the Royal’s underestimation of Parish was a serious missed trick."

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With regard to Marguerite and Armand, a ballet I have been watching for over fifty years, surely the aim of management should be to cast whoever is most suitable for the role regardless of their status within or outside the company.  I find these casting arguments increasingly tedious as it is impossible to find a cast to do the ballet justice as anyone who witnessed the raw passion of Fonteyn and Nureyev knows only too well.  So far only Rojo and Polunin have come anywhere near the originals and it is absurd to argue that Polunin shouldn't be allowed another go at the role.

 

I've made clear in past posts my utter dismay that it was ever considered a good idea to revive this ballet against Ashton's express wishes, but hey ho, looks like we're stuck with it.  Ferri might be able to bring the role of Marguerite to life, if she can't than no one can.

 

A final mischievous thought, has anyone considered inviting Artem Ovcharenko to dance Armand?  He's a dead ringer for Nureyev and can dance a bit too.

 

Off topic.  Lay off Salenko, she's actually a very good dancer.

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I've never seen Salenko myself, but others speak very warmly of her.  I am sure she is a terrific dancer, otherwise she wouldn't have been asked to guest in the first place.  As a matter of interest, who do you think should have been given a crack at the Sugar Plum Fairy who wasn't already cast?

 

I made the assumption that she was booked to appear in Nutcracker some time ago, perhaps when Kevin O'Hare was still juggling with casting roles for the long run of Sleeping Beauties coming up.  I am probably complete wrong, of course, but I am hoping that many of the young up and comings have been cast in various roles that will challenge them, and they will perform those roles with the perfection that comes with plenty of time to concentrate on rehearsing them.  

 

Looking forward to lots of stunning SB solos. :fingerscrossed:

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I've never seen Salenko myself, but others speak very warmly of her.  I am sure she is a terrific dancer, otherwise she wouldn't have been asked to guest in the first place.  As a matter of interest, who do you think should have been given a crack at the Sugar Plum Fairy who wasn't already cast?

 

 This all reminds me of an interview Salenko gave to Dance Magazine:

 

"Salenko auditioned for Staatsballett Berlin, where Walter was based, but was refused by director Vladimir Malakhov. Instead of giving up, Walter asked Salenko to marry him. Meanwhile, Diana Vishneva, who had guested with Salenko’s home company, intervened in her favor, telling Malakhov her height would be an asset. Salenko received a contract as demi-soloist in 2005, and proved herself in the title role of Malakhov’s Cinderella, reaching principal status in 2007. “When I got demi-soloist, it made me work harder to improve,” Salenko says. “If you get everything too fast at the beginning of your career, it can get boring.”

 

I think a lot of the young dancers could learn a lot from Salenko, they have some time, and her words (at 33) are quite apt, as was the fact that it didn't come easy for her at all.

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It seems to me that this season has been kind on up and coming dancers. By my count we had 4 new Sugar Plum Fairies with 3 new Princes, and will get 2 new Auroras and 3 new Florimunds. This is in addition to opportunities in second casts of other bills. 

 

It is really difficult to get the balance right between promoting younger dancers and "star casting", and there is no way please everyone, but I think this season has been good for pushing younger dancers forward without putting them under too much pressure strait away (see SwissBalletFan's comment 63). We don't want another Polunin incident. 

 

Considering that we were down two Sugar Plum Fairies (Osipova was in the provisional casting but presumably withdrew to guest in Munich; Kaneko was injured) it seems reasonable to cast a guest. Salenko is a great dancer and I think an asset to the company when she performs. 

 

Nevertheless, I understand concerns about casing guests for Armund. My understanding is that this role should, perhaps, be danced by younger dancers.

 

Also, as the home of Ashton, the Royal Ballet should be the source of the best Ashton dancers. Given that, I'm not sure what guests have to offer. In other bills (the classics) sure, bring in a few high profile stars to supplement the debutants, but for heritage works it may be better to stick to in house talent. Bolle being the exception, for obvious reasons. 

Edited by Saodan
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But there is surely an argument to be made as to how worthwhile it is to have dancers guest simply to perform for what, a maximum of 15 minutes in a standalone number?  (And I'm not having a go at Salenko: I said the same thing when they brought in Cory Stearns "merely" to dance the Sugar Plum's cavalier/prince, or whatever his title is).  It's another matter entirely if the Prince is involved in the story from when the Nutcracker is brought to life, or if Clara/Marie/Masha turns into the Sugar Plum, because then they are fully involved in the ballet.

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But there is surely an argument to be made as to how worthwhile it is to have dancers guest simply to perform for what, a maximum of 15 minutes in a standalone number?  

 

Dancers travel thousands of miles to dance 5 minutes in Galas. The modern life of a dancer, the flight or travel is no longer a concern, only the artistic merit of the dancer performing the piece.

 

Here could yield a reason (if) Mcrae particulary asks for Salenko as a partner..their brand of high energy, good technique and athletic display makes them both as a partnership highly desired on the Gala circuit. Salenko set up her network and is very well known in Galas throughout the world, increasingly Mcrae is her partner in these galas too.... this may be for him the importance of their relationship. Outside of which is a very dynamic and successful one in it's own right.

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