Audience Behaviour

[Mary]

Hmm yes- capping a dancer onto the stage -that's something I am ambivalent about. It can rather intrude on the performance and sometimes feels like an audience member 'showing off' that s/he knows the dancer ( think if you got it wrong!)

On the other hand it is nice to do it for special occasions such as a visiting dancer, one who is about to retire, or certainly one who is coming back from injury...I have clapped for that reason out of sympathetic joy in seeing the dancer again and I shall feel 'like clapping on' Ed Watson and Steven McRae when they return, I know.

[RuthE]

11 minutes ago, BMC said:

Also (and I may be a minority of one on this) I am not too keen on clapping dancers onto the stage unless it's a retirement performance or some such. Much as I love my favourite dancers I feel they haven't actually done anything when they first appear. But as I say, suspect I'm definitely in the minority on this!!

 

My dad refuses to applaud the entrance of a conductor for the same reason, even though in that case the established etiquette is very clear!

Edited May 10, 2018 by RuthE

[Lizbie1]

1 minute ago, RuthE said:

 

My dad refuses to applaud the entrance of a conductor for the same reason, even though in that case the established etiquette is very clear!

 

I usually compromise by giving them a one-handed "musician's clap" against the thigh/programme/similar (handy also for expressing bare minimal appreciation) until after the final interval.

[ninamargaret]

2 hours ago, RuthE said:

 

My dad refuses to applaud the entrance of a conductor for the same reason, even though in that case the established etiquette is very clear!

sensible dad! you never know what you're going to get! My late husband frequently refused to clap the ROH orchestra on ballet nights when they had played poorly!

[LinMM]

Mary ...your post about leaping on the stage to embrace the dancers made me laugh out loud!! 

Im deaf at the moment ...just off to the Doctors to have my ears syringed....I will be so relieved that afterwards I will want to embrace anyone I meet in the street!!

[SPD444]

5 hours ago, Fiz said:

I’ve only done it once, when we saw Johan Kobborg and Alina Cojacaru’s extraordinary “Mayerling” but so did the whole theatre.

 

 

I have stood twice - Like you, Fiz, after Alina and Johan's final RB performance and at the National Theatre's 7 hour, two in a day, performances of Angels in America - which is/was truly astonishing.

[Rob S]

Each performance should be judged by an independent panel of up to 2,256 judges for worthiness of a standing ovation. Judges who consider that a performance is worthy of a standing ovation should stand up and indicate that decision by hitting their hands together repeatedly until either the judge or the recipient of the applause walks away#. Any judge that wishes to contest another judge's verdict should contact the venue's management where they will be issued with a 50p voucher which can be redeemed against the cost of a future performance*

 

# auditorium doors shut at 2300hrs

* a maximum of one voucher per judge, valid for twelve months from date of issue

 

I'll get my coat 🙃

Edited May 10, 2018 by Rob S

[Jan McNulty]

21 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Each performance should be judged by an independent panel of up to 2,256 judges for worthiness of a standing ovation. Judges who consider that a performance is worthy of a standing ovation should stand up and indicate that decision by hitting their hands together repeatedly until either the judge or the recipient of the applause walks away#. Any judge that wishes to contest another judge's verdict should contact the venue's management where they will be issued with a 50p voucher which can be redeemed against the cost of a future performance*

 

# auditorium doors shut at 2300hrs

* a maximum of one voucher per judge, valid for twelve months from date of issue

 

I'll get my coat 🙃

 

Is that the seating capacity of the ROH?  If so, the Liverpool Empire at 2300 is bigger!!

 

Brilliant post Rob S.

 

In Paris in 2006 we were privileged to witness Agnes LeTestu and Jiri Bubenicek performing Lady of the Camellias which garnered a massive standing ovation.  The technical crew obviously got fed up of hanging around, turned up the houselights and left us to it!!  The bulk of the audience stood there stamping their feet and clapping for the best part of half an hour...

[SPD444]

The longest standing ovation I was involved in was at the end of a promenade concert at the RAH many years ago. It was a celebration of the birthday of William Walton, born in my home town of Oldham,  it was Belshazzar's Feast and we applauded for 47 minutes - he actually returned to the stage wearing his hat and overcoat. It was a standing ovation because we were prommers and were standing anyway. Just made it to the pub before last orders - that's how long ago it was.  Happy days.

[alison]

7 hours ago, BMC said:

Also (and I may be a minority of one on this) I am not too keen on clapping dancers onto the stage unless it's a retirement performance or some such. Much as I love my favourite dancers I feel they haven't actually done anything when they first appear. But as I say, suspect I'm definitely in the minority on this!!

 

Maybe not.  The only time I recall clapping someone when they made an entrance was Alina Cojocaru on her return in Giselle after that awful neck injury.

 

6 hours ago, Mary said:

On the other hand it is nice to do it for special occasions such as a visiting dancer, one who is about to retire, or certainly one who is coming back from injury...I have clapped for that reason out of sympathetic joy in seeing the dancer again and I shall feel 'like clapping on' Ed Watson and Steven McRae when they return, I know.

 

Exactly

 

6 hours ago, RuthE said:

 

My dad refuses to applaud the entrance of a conductor for the same reason, even though in that case the established etiquette is very clear!

 

Although it seems to me that the average conductor these days tends to acknowledge the applause only briefly and then goes "Right, everyone, let's get to work!" mighty quickly.

[Geoff]

4 hours ago, SPD444 said:

The longest standing ovation I was involved in was at the end of a promenade concert at the RAH many years ago. It was a celebration of the birthday of William Walton, born in my home town of Oldham,  it was Belshazzar's Feast and we applauded for 47 minutes

 

You beat my personal record! This was after an astonishing performance of Electra in Vienna in the 1970s: we students had queued all night for a ticket, then stood for the performance, and then cheered afterwards for almost half the running time of the show, some 45 minutes. A glorious memory.

[ballettaxi]

I know this has already been mentioned on numerous occasions earlier in this thread - but why do people have to continuously fidget and shift their weight from one side of their seat to the other.  Very, very annoying for those sitting directly behind them!!!

 

I had the unfortunate pleasure (!) of having one such individual sit in front of me last night at a performance of Wicked at the Edinburgh Playhouse.  This man didn't sit in one position for more than 2 minutes.

 

Having arrived minutes before curtain up he completely burst my wonderful cosy little bubble than I was about to have an entirely unimpinged view of the performance.  He wasn't overly tall so I thought it probably would be okay, but no!!!

 

Thankfully I was able to have a quick, sneaky, look behind me and realised that the patrons behind me were exceptionally tall and had no problem seeing over my head, so I was able to adjust my viewing line as necessary to enable me to see something.

 

As I had a sister-in-law on either side of me I was able to encroach on their space slightly to allow me to do this.  And the one sister-in-law who had seen the show previously who swapped seats with me for the Second Act is certainly getting a bigger/better Christmas pressie this year!!!

 

(The show was fabulous despite Mr Fidget.)

[penelopesimpson]

On 10/05/2018 at 10:38, Fiz said:

I’ve only done it once, when we saw Johan Kobborg and Alina Cojacaru’s extraordinary “Mayerling” but so did the whole theatre.

Ditto, plus their last night at ROH and Edward Watson opening night of Mayerling five years ago.  

[Anna C]

2 hours ago, ballettaxi said:

I know this has already been mentioned on numerous occasions earlier in this thread - but why do people have to continuously fidget and shift their weight from one side of their seat to the other.  Very, very annoying for those sitting directly behind them!!!

 

I had the unfortunate pleasure (!) of having one such individual sit in front of me last night at a performance of Wicked at the Edinburgh Playhouse.  This man didn't sit in one position for more than 2 minutes.

 

Having arrived minutes before curtain up he completely burst my wonderful cosy little bubble than I was about to have an entirely unimpinged view of the performance.  He wasn't overly tall so I thought it probably would be okay, but no!!!

 

Thankfully I was able to have a quick, sneaky, look behind me and realised that the patrons behind me were exceptionally tall and had no problem seeing over my head, so I was able to adjust my viewing line as necessary to enable me to see something.

 

As I had a sister-in-law on either side of me I was able to encroach on their space slightly to allow me to do this.  And the one sister-in-law who had seen the show previously who swapped seats with me for the Second Act is certainly getting a bigger/better Christmas pressie this year!!!

 

(The show was fabulous despite Mr Fidget.)

 

Happened to me a few years ago when I was in stalls row C at the ROH for Romeo and Juliet.  The man in front of me just could NOT sit still, bobbing his head all over the place.  The only person in front of him was a tiny elderly lady who didn't move a muscle.  I missed most of the first act because of his head which ended up blocking my sightline of 80% of the stage.

 

In the interval, I asked if he could please sit still for the second half.  He said "But I can't see unless I move around".  😐 I said "Well I can't see either and the lady in front of you isn't moving".  

[Legseleven]

Did he sit still after the interval, Anna? 

[alison]

1 hour ago, penelopesimpson said:

Ditto, plus their last night at ROH and Edward Watson opening night of Mayerling five years ago.  

 

Not to mention Ed Watson closing night of his first run of Mayerling - a Bank Holiday Monday evening, with quite a few non-regulars in the audience, was my impression.  I was definitely giving him a standing ovation for that one, although since I'd been in stalls circle standing for the entire performance I guess nobody could tell  

 

This brings me on to the question of what we should do if the currency of standing ovations has been hugely devalued by overuse.  Sitting ovations?

[Anna C]

51 minutes ago, Legseleven said:

Did he sit still after the interval, Anna? 

 

Yep. I felt like asking him for a refund for the first half. ☺️

[aliceinwoolfland]

I was in the orchestra stalls once and my view was partially blocked by someone's head (not necessarily their fault, but anyway). I'd paid over £117 for a ticket and it was rather annoying! I actually prefer Amphitheatre row A - it's not as close, but I have opera glasses, and it's a totally unobstructed view. I never manage to snag front row orch stalls/front row grand tier seats!

[BMC]

Is there a ballet equivalent to 'mansplaining'? Have just had an experience at today's Manon where an extremely knowledgeable ballet goer proceeded to pronounce on various dancers and ballets - it felt like a coming to life of various threads on this site: audience behaviour, sacred cows and snowflakes!  I am (sort of) happy to defer to people with many decades of ballet going (although I have a fair few years myself!) who have seen lots of original casts, but I do bristle a bit at opinions being given to me as facts. We can guess but have no way of knowing what choreographers would think of the dancers interpreting their ballets today and surely should remember that we all have our own opinions and they all equally valid. I think it's a question of tone more than anything - that knowing better than you - which I find difficult to deal with.  I think I prefer a conversation to being lectured but perhaps I am just an (increasingly) grumpy middle aged woman!!

[capybara]

Well said, BMC. What did you think of Manon today?

[BMC]

I thoroughly enjoyed it - it was my last one of the run and a fitting way to end my Manons! Agree with everyone that Manon is going to be, if not already, one of Francesca's signature roles. 

[JennyTaylor]

I'm not surprised this thread has 72 pages as I'm tempted to add to it, every time I attend a ballet. Today, I had 2 young boys in front of me - middle of Orchestra Stalls Row G.  So top price seats. They were clearly not interested in the ballet at all, so fidgeted throughout and talked to each other , disturbing the people in front, who turned round on several occasions.  I think mother took one son plus a friend. Mother was clearly a ballet fan, but why, oh why, oh why.  What a total waste of money, time as well as being an annoyance to everyone around them.  

 

I was also distracted and had to work really hard not to be. The only saving grace was that they were below my eye-line of the stage, so if I concentrated really hard on the stage, I could manage to avoid them for most of the time. Good job what was happening on the stage was so mesmerising. 

 

Then, of course, we come to the content of the ballet they had been taken to see.  Women degraded, debauched and raped - not suitable content for 1 second for 2 small boys.  Aaarrhhh!

Edited May 12, 2018 by JennyTaylor

[JennyTaylor]

On ‎11‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 16:01, aliceinwoolfland said:

I was in the orchestra stalls once and my view was partially blocked by someone's head (not necessarily their fault, but anyway). I'd paid over £117 for a ticket and it was rather annoying! I actually prefer Amphitheatre row A - it's not as close, but I have opera glasses, and it's a totally unobstructed view. I never manage to snag front row orch stalls/front row grand tier seats!

Orchestra stalls is not necessarily the best viewing - especially for heads.  I take my coat to sit on - I'm 5' 1" - but it doesn't always do the trick.  The rake is better further back than at the front.  Row H sides is best - above the stair wells.  

[MAB]

On ‎11‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 16:01, aliceinwoolfland said:

 I never manage to snag front row orch stalls/front row grand tier seats!

 

Front row Orchestra stalls is awful, you can't see the feet.  I hope these seats are sold as restricted view, if they aren't it's a disgrace.  On the other hand the view from the front row of the grand tier is perfection.

Edited May 12, 2018 by MAB
typo

[aliceinwoolfland]

I once got one of the children’s blow up seat cushions when I was in the orchestra stalls  

 

JennyTaylor, there was a little girl directly

behind me - she seemed to enjoy it and sat quietly but in no way is this a children’s ballet!!

[ninamargaret]

2 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

Orchestra stalls is not necessarily the best viewing - especially for heads.  I take my coat to sit on - I'm 5' 1" - but it doesn't always do the trick.  The rake is better further back than at the front.  Row H sides is best - above the stair wells.  

Up until the closure for renovations Front Row Stalls was my favourite seat, giving a perfect view, feet and all. I think they  'improved' the rake in the orchestra stalls,so that the front few rows  became lower. I've also been told that the Centrefront row of Stalls Circle can be difficult if people in the back row of Orchestra Stalls are tall.

[capybara]

11 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

Up until the closure for renovations Front Row Stalls was my favourite seat, giving a perfect view, feet and all. I think they  'improved' the rake in the orchestra stalls,so that the front few rows  became lower.

 

The level of the stage has become gradually higher as well, possibly to accommodate improved sprung flooring.

 

12 hours ago, MAB said:

 

Front row Orchestra stalls is awful, you can't see the feet.  I hope these seats are sold as restricted view, if they aren't it's a disgrace. 

 

I believe that the first two or three rows of the Orchestra Stalls are a little cheaper for ballet, probably because of the feet issue.

 

[RuthE]

On ‎11‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 16:01, aliceinwoolfland said:

I was in the orchestra stalls once and my view was partially blocked by someone's head (not necessarily their fault, but anyway). I'd paid over £117 for a ticket and it was rather annoying! I actually prefer Amphitheatre row A - it's not as close, but I have opera glasses, and it's a totally unobstructed view. I never manage to snag front row orch stalls/front row grand tier seats!

 

Always speak to the house manager at the front desk in the interval if you have a problem like this.  It happened to me at my first Giselle and I got reseated.

[RuthE]

23 hours ago, capybara said:

I believe that the first two or three rows of the Orchestra Stalls are a little cheaper for ballet, probably because of the feet issue.

 

I think it's the first 5 rows (the rake starts at row F).

 

Personally I love the front row when I can afford it (I don't actually care about seeing the feet; it's al about the faces for me!), but rows B to E are awful and I wouldn't recommend them at all; I used to think the aisle seats on the side blocks were OK, but that was before the Giselle experience I mentioned in my previous post, which was in the row B aisle seat (B7?)

[Rob S]

1 hour ago, RuthE said:

 

I think it's the first 5 rows (the rake starts at row F).

 

Personally I love the front row when I can afford it (I don't actually care about seeing the feet; it's al about the faces for me!), but rows B to E are awful and I wouldn't recommend them at all; I used to think the aisle seats on the side blocks were OK, but that was before the Giselle experience I mentioned in my previous post, which was in the row B aisle seat (B7?)

 

Oh joy, I have B7 for Swan Lake 🤣

[RuthE]

To be fair it would have been fine if I hadn't been sitting behind a really tall man who leaned out to his right for the entire first half.

[Ian Macmillan]

You can always trust California to come up with something new:

 

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/15/watch-sleeping-beauty-with-a-ballet-expert-in-your-ear/

 

 

[Coated]

According to the article, they are likely the first ballet company offering this service. I sincerely hope they are also the last.