PRESS RELEASE:The Royal Ballet announces Guest Artists for 12/13 season

[patsomerset]

Maybe not, but then of course ABT relies far more on the pulling power of outside guest stars than the Royal does. Especially now, when it is short on numbers of principals of the (perceived?) quality its audiences have got used to. Personally, I'd like to see them concentrating a bit more on developing what they have in their own ranks, but there you go ... (And I'd also have preferred not to see the Royal putting its eggs in so few baskets - if that's actually the right metaphor - too)

 

I don't actually remember Rojo or Acosta having guested with ABT, but then I don't pay much attention to these things, so I may have missed them.

I saw Acosta guesting with ABT in New York in 2005 (I think). Unfortunately I cannot find the programme. What I do remember was the reaction of other members of the audience to Carlos. None of the people sitting round us seemed to have heard of him before which of course I found hard to believe, but he certainly added to the pleasure of the evening and was very well received

 

As others have said ABT do seem to welcome guest artists not resent them

[MAB]

It's not and never has been. There is a lot of thought, care and knowledge from many here. Nobody will agree on what the best companies in the world might be like and that variety is there to be appreciated and enjoyed. I certainly agree that RB could be better, but I doubt many of us would agree on what would make it so. And in other places dance goers are inevitably having similar debates in the lust for more of what the other man has.

 

I can make a robust point with the best but we all might do better then cast slurs on the community here.

Absolutely no slur intended at all, but the fact that the majority of posts on the site concern the RB, leads me to view the site as RB fan based.

 

I've been watching the RB since 1964 and have witnessed peaks and troughs; sadly the company doesn't currently occupy a peak. As to the pros and cons of guest artists, some companies are in more need of them than others and right now the RB is one of those that need them most.

[Don Q Fan]

If Rojo returns as guest then she's not entirely leaving and I imagine she won't break her dancing links to the company entirely.

 

I appreciate that this is basically the fan site of the Royal Ballet, but perhaps it's time to recognize the actual limited ability of so many of the dancers compared with other companies. There is talent there to be sure, though some of it unacknowledged, but on the whole the company is in the doldrums. Perhaps the presence of a dancer like Osipov will act as some sort of spur.

 

I have to say I tend to agree with you. In my opinion RB need to sharpen up their act and "raise the barre" - look no further than BRB to see a thriving company doing interesting rep with precision. I am a little bored with RB - their dancers = same old same old nobody really coming through from the ranks - Davvid Tresensimiech(sp?) and Valentino Zucchetti perhaps. No wonder they snapped up Alexander Campbell from BRB!!! Maybe he can breath some life into the company. For the money the tickets are costing now (£120 for top Swan Lake OMG!) they need to up their game. I for one am delighted that Natalia Osipova will guest albeit with Acosta.

[Nina G.]

Quote Don Q Fan: "I am a little bored with RB - their dancers = same old same old nobody really coming through from the ranks - Davvid Tresensimiech(sp?) and Valentino Zucchetti perhaps".

 

I got the same feeling mid-Season...same old same old.... The Company is (was, thanks to the recent promotions) very bottom heavy. Great that eight very talented Corps dancers were moved up recently (3 to First Artist and 5 to Soloist). Yes I am a fan of RB but I also like BRB (and they are doing great!). I have a feeling (correct me if wrong) BRB is better at nurturing their younger dancers. Some of the RB Principals and Soloists I have now seen over and over and over (Leanne B. is one of them) and I don't find them exciting anymore. What I find exciting - looking at the recently announced Winter debuts - is to watch the new talent coming through. At the POB Principals have to retire by the age of 42. Good or bad? At least they make room for others to move up. RB needs fresh blood at Soloist/1st Soloist level, they have an annual intake of a few new Artists but not much has happened over the past years at 1st Soloist/Soloist level (Melissa, Emma, Akane,Mendizabal), not even at Principal level: McRae (2009), Polunin (2010) and Kish (2010) were fairly recent additions (and one has left as we all know, well two really - Rojo), no female addition(s) - last one was Lauren (2008). I hope next Season will bring me some much needed excitement. Last Season, the New Works made it exciting, RB now needs (IMO) excitement by showing us a new generation of dancers (with all my greatest respect to the "older" dancers).

[Bruce]

I have to say I tend to agree with you. In my opinion RB need to sharpen up their act and "raise the barre" - look no further than BRB to see a thriving company doing interesting rep with precision.

 

But surely at BRB nearly all the new work is done by one man only? A good man, but one steeped in tradition - hard to see BRB doing a Titian type of night when other choreographers are hardly ever invited. I do like the company and if you want to see youth being rapidly challenged in trad rep they are the company to see.

 

I for one am delighted that Natalia Osipova will guest albeit with Acosta.

 

yep!

[Bruce Wall]

May I make a suggestion: The 'Prinicipal Guest Artist' contract - (fairly unique to the RB I think) - was created for Guillem based on 25 performances per year. Acosta took this contractual role on after Guillem's departure. When Carlos goes - and it can't be long surely given that the powers that made him celebrated in Britain are -0 without being cruel - somewhat diminished and his principle desire to return home and create a new arts centre having been expressed - I would like to suggest that the 25 'GUEST' performances as have been established with the Royal Ballet for at least the past two decades NOT be assigned to any one PRINICIPAL GUEST ARTIST but applied to a variety of notables from throughout the world. In this way their would be no additional challenge to the current home team - which I agree needs to be developed and promoted where appropriate and where rightful indications are able to be made concrete through prudent time - but also the company can benefit from the exposure of the varieties of these talents. In a world where obviously compromise rules this, I think, might prove an effective way forward. As my mother (who was herself a High Court judge) done told me: 'You can't EFFECTIVELY complain without offering an EFFECTIVE alternative.' I promise you I often found that frustrating .... but it did teach me oh, so often to bite my lip. Even now - in so many aspects of life - I find it oft swollen. Bless all.

[Bruce]

RB now needs (IMO) excitement by showing us a new generation of dancers (with all my greatest respect to the "older" dancers).

 

Those who go a lot naturally lust for new experiences (and I'm no different!) but when I look back while I have enjoyed some new debuts the performances I really remember come from experienced dancers - some even older then 30!

 

The way to challenge new generations I Think is by doing more rep - I've been very impressed by ENB lately where within a couple of months the company split to:

1) Tour to Australia

2) Do DanceGB tour

3) Do the lido mini-season

 

One company really getting out there and giving audience and dancers many more experiences.

 

 

There is always talk about promotion and dancers being held back. I think if fans had their way then within three years half the company would be principles and the others would all be soloists!

[aileen]

I think that Meunier's suggestion of dividing Carlos Acosta's guest performances (once he goes, of course) among several guest dancers is a very good one. Regarding the balance of the company, all I can say is that I have been struck by the very frequent appearance of a small number of more junior dancers, namely Beatrix, Itziabar and Meaghan (all of whom I was interested to note trained outside the UK) in large roles. I'm not saying that this is a good thing or a bad thing; I've just noticed it. I suppose that ballet companies are like any other organisation in that certain people are favoured by management, whether justified or not, and overtake other more senior people some of whom may have been promoted to their more senior postions whilst the organisation was going through a lean period in terms of talent (those people would not have gained those positions if they had been in the company at another time).

[capybara]

Bruce says:

 

I've been very impressed by ENB lately where within a couple of months the company split to:

1) Tour to Australia

2) Do DanceGB tour

3) Do the lido mini-season

 

One company really getting out there and giving audience and dancers many more experiences.

 

 

 

There was also an ENB Group which went to China, the 8 ballerinas who linked up for the tour with Flawless, and there have been numerous 'one-off' ventures such as performances at St Pauls Cathedral, an event at Kensington Palace, and private soirees. All these ventures have involved different groups of dancers and given members of the corps the opportunity to take leading roles.

[alison]

Yes, but I think at the same time it's been difficult for the general public to grasp that all these things are happening. Certainly I know there were certain that crept under my radar (and/or for which I decided that I had other priorities).

 

I've said this before, and I don't know how financially viable it is, given that they have a permanent home, but I'd still like to see the RB do a couple of weeks at Sadler's Wells, with pieces that are "too small" for the ROH, some more modern work that's perhaps too big for the Linbury but not big enough for the main stage, and giving some younger dancers some exposure in larger (but not over-exposed) roles.

[Bluebird]

I Regarding the balance of the company, all I can say is that I have been struck by the very frequent appearance of a small number of more junior dancers, namely Beatrix, Itziabar and Meaghan

 

Point taken with Beatriz and Meaghan but Itziar is a First Soloist - i.e. not really a junior dancer.

[Nina G.]

Quoting Aileen:".... in that certain people are favoured by management, whether justified or not, and overtake other more senior people..."

 

I have often wondered during the past Season how the senior dancers must have taken to this.

Claire Calvert spoke about it at the Ballet Association meeting: ".......The Company is changing, as in the past you had to wait for roles whereas now there is a group who are doing them straight away. So it seems it is more of a struggle for more experienced dancers to get on and do things and you sometimes feel you’ve missed the boat. With some people the Company take more risks. Claire doesn’t feel she has been pushed within the Company, but rather she’s pushed herself for what she’s achieved.....".

 

MacMillan had his favourite (Bussell) and, clearly, so has Wheeldon...

 

In her recent interview with Alan Titmarsch, Dame Monica did say how she admires the Japanese (and Chinese) for their attention to detail (I was surprised she didn't mention the RBS at all). Is this why Mr Jennings pointed out the USA/Japanese preference within the Company leaving the RBS/UK trained dancers "stranded" for years if not forever . Is there a similar situation at the BRB?

Ok, recent Promotions did include several RBS trained dancers (but only 3 out of 10 are fully RBS trained). It must be hard to get it all right but too obvious favouritism can't make for a happy and "healthy" company of dancers I think.

 

I'd like to make clear that I am not criticising here, only making a few observations.

[aileen]

I think that in most organisations there is quite a swift upward trajectory for the most successful and those who don't make fast progress do generally get left behind because they are seen as plodders, solid but not stars. I agree that management are prepared to take risks with their favourites and, if they are successful, will give them further opportunities. A ballet company is different from most organisations, however, because of the performance aspect of its business and because the stakes are so high, particularly in a huge venue like the ROH. I'm sure that there are favoured dancers in every ballet company. However, companies such as ENB and BRB which tour a lot to smaller venues on long runs are more likely to give more junior dancers opportunities to take on lead roles.

[alison]

".......The Company is changing, as in the past you had to wait for roles whereas now there is a group who are doing them straight away. So it seems it is more of a struggle for more experienced dancers to get on and do things and you sometimes feel you’ve missed the boat. With some people the Company take more risks. Claire doesn’t feel she has been pushed within the Company, but rather she’s pushed herself for what she’s achieved.....".

 

I just wanted to make it clear, in case the use of inverted commas is confusing, that this is a third-party report of what Ms Calvert said, rather than verbatim quotes from her.

Apart from that, I've been wondering the same thing for some years myself. Obviously, there are some extremely and obviously talented people around, of the type who might be expected to make it to Principal in pretty short order, and I expect that in such cases the other dancers give a mental shrug and think, "Well, what do you expect? He/she's that good". Others may have the ability to pick up a role really quickly, which can be vital in some cases - I seem to remember hearing that Adam Cooper was very good at that. Others may seem worth taking a chance on in a particular type of role - but possibly not yet a different type. And some others may be much more of a "slow burn", taking longer to develop. Until relatively recently, it did seem that there was generally a bit of a culture of "wait your turn", which is perhaps fair enough - until the goalposts start being moved. There are some very talented dancers midway, age-wise, through the company who may have got a bit "stranded" by not being senior enough to get larger roles and who are now seeing dancers junior to them getting them. But I guess that's life in a ballet company.

 

I'm a bit wary of using words like "favouritism", and maybe even "favourite", in relation to dance decision-makers, as it can sound a little negative. Those doing the casting will see things in certain dancers that they think would make them suited to a specific role. A choreographer will see a particular facility, intelligence, musicality or whatever in a specific dancer which s/he will want to use, or, on working with that dancer for the first time, may find that something just really "clicks" with them, and go on to use them again and again. I'm not sure that any of the more regular of the choreographers the RB has had over the last couple of decades hasn't had some preferred dancers they've tended to use on a regular basis. Just looking at the first two pieces on the Titian bill, the main dancers have all been people the choreographers have cast in previous works.

[aileen]

I may be wrong about this, but a lot of the people who have got on in the RB seem to have come in from another company rather than straight from school. Many of them have been at smaller and, arguably, less prestigious companies where they have had the opportunity to take on large and lead roles. Then they come to the RB with a track record and, even if they have to spend a bit of time as artists, they are then promoted quite quickly. I'm thinking particularly of Alina here (after the RBS she went to a smaller European company where she danced principal roles, came to the RB after a year or two, spent a year as an artist and was then promoted) but a more recent example is Alexander Campbell who has been given some very good roles since he came to the RB a year ago. Many of the principals (too many to list) came in as principals from other companies. I agree with Alison that there will always be a few people who stand out as being exceptionally talented and I expect that few begrudge their rapid ascent up the ranks. But I think that the number of people who are obviously head and shoulders above the rest is very small. There are so many aspects to talent in this context: technique; dramatic ability; confidence and stage presence. Very few will have all these attributes as young dancers but of course they can be developed. I really do feel that luck is very important in a dancer's career. If the AD, choreographer or whoever likes you then you will be considered for roles ahead of other dancers who are equally talented but are for some reason less appealing to the person making casting decisions. If a company works with particular choreographers a lot then his/her preferred dancers will be offered a lot of roles. Of course, if a dancer at the RB feels that s/he is being overlooked s/he is free to move to another, perhaps smaller, company where s/he may get more opportunities. Putting it bluntly, dancers do have to take responsibiliy for their own careers; ballet companies are not paternalistic organisations.

[aileen]

alison, I believe that the Ballet Association reports are sent to the interviewee(s) for approval.

[Sim]

Re. Aileen's post #48 above.....a good example of this is former RB dancer Natasha Oughtred, who realised that she wasn't going to get any further in the company so left to join BRB as a soloist and became a principal quite quickly; she has already danced many roles that she would never have otherwise had the chance to dance. Whereas many of us miss her here in London, she did the right thing for her career by moving north.

 

On the issue of guest dancers, I very much enjoy seeing them at the RB, and let's face it, it doesn't happen very often. For that reason, it's exciting and spices up the season. I think the RB does give young, junior dancers chances if they feel they are ready....recent examples are Melissa Hamilton doing Mary Vetsera and then Juliet, and Akane Takada doing Aurora (although, unfortunately, injury prevented her from performing the role). I very much enjoy watching all the company members, and even though I am a 'regular' at Covent Garden I never get bored with their dancers. However, the occasional guest thrown into the mix makes for a different evening with different interpretations and dynamics, and for me that can only be a good thing. It also gives those of us who can't afford to travel to Russia, Cuba, USA, etc. a chance to see some of their wonderful dancers.

[alison]

alison, I believe that the Ballet Association reports are sent to the interviewee(s) for approval.

 

They are indeed. My point was simply to make sure that nobody, on seeing the inverted commas, thought they were Claire's actual words rather than reported speech, which was my immediate reaction on reading the first couple of sentences. (I was there, so I knew she hadn't used those precise words).

[Nina G.]

Alison, thank you for making clear that the quote was taken from a reported speech, approved by the interviewee, and published by the BA:

 

http://www.balletassociation.co.uk/Reports/2012/Calvert12.html

[Ann Williams]

Nina G and Aileen, is it too trusting to suppose that perhaps the RB’s casting choices are being made by the right (ie, qualified) people for the right reasons? I ask, because I’m rather naive about these things myself, and I have no insider knowledge at all about the company – I don’t know any of the dancers or back-stage staff personally, and have never learned to form the necessary stage-door acquaintanceships which might provide me with ‘special’ information.

 

As to ‘favouritism’ – this is a hard nut to crack, but I find it difficult to believe that anyone with the responsibility for casting the RB’s (expensive) productions would allow anything but sound professional judgement to influence their decisions (which is not to say that I’m not sometimes surprised and disappointed myself by some casting choices).

 

PS:

Speaking of Claire Clavert, there was a lovely fashion-shoot photo of her in the Mail on Sunday’s ‘You’ magazine yesterday, posing in a short white costume with a cheeky little gold hat perched sideways on her head.

[Ann Williams]

PS to the above PS:

 

Apologies to John Mallinson - I've just been reading today's links and I see that he has already got the Claire Calvert item I mentioned. Does nothing escape our links team?

[Arky]

Nina G said - Great that eight very talented Corps dancers were moved up recently (3 to First Artist and 5 to Soloist).

 

Who are the eight from the Corps? Have I missed something? I thought Meaghan, Fumi & Yasmine went from the Corps to be First Artists and Beatrix from the Corps to be a Soloist. Four First Artists became Soloists - Claire, James, Dawid & Valentino.

[bangorballetboy]

Nina G said - Great that eight very talented Corps dancers were moved up recently (3 to First Artist and 5 to Soloist).

 

Who are the eight from the Corps? Have I missed something? I thought Meaghan, Fumi & Yasmine went from the Corps to be First Artists and Beatrix from the Corps to be a Soloist. Four First Artists became Soloists - Claire, James, Dawid & Valentino.

 

First Artists are technically "corps" too in the RB.

[Nina G.]

Some foreign Companies call RB "First Artists" "demi-Soloists" I think.

I have always been under the impression that RB "First Artists" are "upper" Corps members being considered for a possible Soloist position.

[Arky]

Thank you, bangorballetboy, for explaining.

[Arky]

Thank you, too, Nina G, we were posting at the same time!

[Bruce Wall]

I found myself watching this performance by ABT of Theme and Variations again ...

 

http://toursenlair.b...erformance.html

 

I wanted to share this here because the two principals participating (G Kirland; M Baryishnikov) then resident with ABT (in the midst of the so called 'dance boom') did guest with the Royal Ballet at different stages and did, I think, bring much to the RB company - without, I think, robbing any particular RB company dancer/principal of any (well, certainly too much I hope) opportunity. (Please do correct me if I'm wrong here, Alison as I was not always here to so closely follow those things like yourself - living, as I then was, in New York. Bless you for your wonderfully detailed knowledge in this regard.) How wonderful here to see this performance again; one that I remember as being - certainly in terms of my own appreciation of ballet - 'defining' - and to know that one's memory is not entirely playing tricks with perceived reality. That is most refreshing. Also I thought the filming techniques employed therein were truly superb in answering the demands of the ballet. (Of course, Balanchine, himself, we should remember would still have been alive and I'm certain consulted.) Indeed, I thought some of the current techniques employed variously by several major companies today could perhaps benefit from this particular example- as well as that of the interview skills at the end in the segment with Ms. Kirkland. When she talked about her respect for Makarova it made me think of Osipova and Semenyaka. When artists are held in world stature like G Kirkland, M Baryishnikov, N Osipova and I Vasiliev surely they belong to time rather than any one particular performance space. I was also touched to see the broadcaster ask people to write in FOR FREE to receive the company (here ABT) magazine. This tradition is, of course, one carried on today (as it was then) by the Metropolitan Opera whose very broadcasts, lest we forget, are far older than the Royal Opera itself is as an institution. Surely the entire world has but benefited from that. Certainly I know I did as a child growing up here - as, without question, did my parents who first introduced me to it.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Meunier