The Royal Ballet: Swan Lake, anticipating the new production, Summer 2018

[Lizbie1]

Might Osipova have specifically asked to work with Matthew Ball?

[Saodan]

Am I correct in thinking that Osipova and Ball danced a pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet at the Gala in Hull earlier this season? If so, was anybody there to see it?

 

Edit: I might have answered my own question. Link to a rehearsal picture on Ball's instagram

 

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Saodan

[jmhopton]

Am slightly surprised that Francesca isn't given a chance to dance Odette, especially as she is a more senior principal than Yasmine (though I adore Yasmine's dancing and her performance will be a highlight of all the Swan Lakes for me). Also slightly surprised Alex isn't given a chance though perhaps that is a future partnership being kept in reserve for next season.

[SPD444]

Still no sign of the casting being put back. I am really disappointed that Frankie is not being given a go at Odette/Odile. No disrespect to the other ballerinas but I was looking forward to that. Thrilled for Yasmine of course. I must admit I am not too pleased with the price increases, particularly for the "cheaper" seats some of which have very poor sight lines. Might give the whole thing a miss, be satisfied with my four Giselle's and a good few Manon's. SL might just be the cinema broadcast.

[Mary]

4 hours ago, Sim said:

Whereas I can totally understand the reasons for putting Matthew and Yasmine with experienced partners in this ballet, they did after all debut together in Sleeping Beauty which worked a treat, and that ballet isn't exactly a walk in the park for the ballerina!     For me personally, I don't really mind toooo much about who Siegfried is because it is all about the ballerina in this particular ballet (as in Beauty and most 19th century classical ballets), so perhaps chemistry isn't quite as important as it is in the dramatic ballets.  Of course, it's a lovely bonus if there is real rapport between the prince and the ballerina, but for me not quite so important as in more recent ballets (Cranko, MacMillan, etc.).  Just my opinion....

 

 

Naghdi and Ball are also dancing Giselle soon aren't they?....

 

But oh I must disagree, I do mind greatly who is Siegfried; for me it is just as important.....exceptionally so in Swan Lake, where real princely hauteur, nobility of bearing is called for. Muntagirov ideally..Bonelli, yes, but Ball too,  oh yes indeed, and I also require rapport for that most lovely of pas de deuxs- so, it's got  to be Nunez/ Muntagirov I think, and Osipova/Ball too having seen that gorgeous photo above,  if I can save up the funds....

 

[JohnS]

I do wonder why there are 6 casts for 24 Swan Lake performances when we have 8 casts for 15 Giselle performances?  I think people have mentioned new production, choreography, rehearsal time etc or perhaps the Giselle pattern isn't great use of resources with one or two performances per cast?  Whilst I'd have been delighted to see Laura and Francesca (if cast), I'm sure there'll be many memorable performance.  28 May looks like being a spectacular double performance if casting is as originally listed.

[bridiem]

Have received an ROH email with casting and as far as I can see it's exactly as above. Not back on the website yet though. Maybe it was supposed to go to 'subscribers' before going on the website and they got their timing wrong.

[Nina G.]

1 hour ago, jmhopton said:

Am slightly surprised that Francesca isn't given a chance to dance Odette, especially as she is a more senior principal than Yasmine (though I adore Yasmine's dancing and her performance will be a highlight of all the Swan Lakes for me). Also slightly surprised Alex isn't given a chance though perhaps that is a future partnership being kept in reserve for next season.

 

As has been remarked upon by other posters in the past "who is (a) more senior (Principal)" doesn't really matter at the RB, what matters is the ability to dance a role really well, in this case a super classical tutu role.

Mr O'Hare surely knows his dancers best and Miss Hayward will perhaps be given the opportunity to dance it when SL is next back in the rep.

[JohnS]

N

25 minutes ago, bridiem said:

Have received an ROH email with casting and as far as I can see it's exactly as above. Not back on the website yet though. Maybe it was supposed to go to 'subscribers' before going on the website and they got their timing wrong.

 

No post/email in rural Cumbria as yet (and more than a bit worried about travel on Saturday for the Akane/Ben Giselle) but the many attractions outweigh postal delays and intermittent broadband which to be fair has always worked well for the 9:00 bookings.

[Shya100]

1 hour ago, Nina G. said:

 

As has been remarked upon by other posters in the past "who is (a) more senior (Principal)" doesn't really matter at the RB, what matters is the ability to dance a role really well, in this case a super classical tutu role.

Mr O'Hare surely knows his dancers best and Miss Hayward will perhaps be given the opportunity to dance it when SL is next back in the rep.

 

I think it does rather matter in some situations . And as always there will be a myrid for choices of performers and partners. I wish them all the best of luck. 

[Sim]

3 hours ago, Mary said:

Naghdi and Ball are also dancing Giselle soon aren't they?....

 

But oh I must disagree, I do mind greatly who is Siegfried; for me it is just as important.....exceptionally so in Swan Lake, where real princely hauteur, nobility of bearing is called for. Muntagirov ideally..Bonelli, yes, but Ball too,  oh yes indeed, and I also require rapport for that most lovely of pas de deuxs- so, it's got  to be Nunez/ Muntagirov I think, and Osipova/Ball too having seen that gorgeous photo above,  if I can save up the funds....

 

Yes, Naghdi/Ball are dancing Giselle on February 10th.  

[buflesse]

I think Osipova/Ball and Takada/McRae will be dreamy pairings 

[capybara]

9 hours ago, Sim said:

  For me personally, I don't really mind toooo much about who Siegfried is because it is all about the ballerina in this particular ballet (as in Beauty and most 19th century classical ballets),

 

But isn't Liam Scarlett saying that he is focusing on Siegfried?

[Legseleven]

Francesca Hayward and Yasmine Naghdi are very different dancers and if I remember correctly Hayward hadn’t danced a lead ‘tutu’ role before she became a principal, which in itself is surprising but may suggest that she was/is considered less suited for those roles than others. As Lauren Cuthbertson and Laura Morera are also missing from the list of Odette/Odiles this time, there doesn’t seem to be a seniority issue outplaying any other concern and clearly Kevin O’Hare is simply casting the role as he sees best at this time. 

[buflesse]

Does anyone know why Iana Salenko isn’t guesting with the RB at the moment?

[Sophoife]

2 hours ago, Legseleven said:

Francesca Hayward and Yasmine Naghdi are very different dancers and if I remember correctly Hayward hadn’t danced a lead ‘tutu’ role before she became a principal, which in itself is surprising but may suggest that she was/is considered less suited for those roles than others. As Lauren Cuthbertson and Laura Morera are also missing from the list of Odette/Odiles this time, there doesn’t seem to be a seniority issue outplaying any other concern and clearly Kevin O’Hare is simply casting the role as he sees best at this time. 

 

I was under the impression that choreographers had a big say (if not the only say!) in casting? Usually with the agreement of the AD and/or company ballet master/mistress, yes, but perhaps Liam Scarlett wanted who he wanted if you see what I mean? I know from being told that John Neumeier chose the three AB men he wanted as Nijinsky, and brought Riabko with him for several performances, and that when AB did an Ashton triple bill (Monotones (white one, never remember which is which), Symphonic Variations, The Dream) there were allegedly noses out of joint as the Ashton repetiteurs did their own casting and truly some of it was a revelation, people who never got given a go at things suddenly shone.

[Josephine]

2 hours ago, Legseleven said:

 

As Lauren Cuthbertson and Laura Morera are also missing from the list of Odette/Odiles this time, there doesn’t seem to be a seniority issue outplaying any other concern and clearly Kevin O’Hare is simply casting the role as he sees best at this time. 

 

The casting information given via the link in yesterday's email from ROH states that Lauren Cuthbertson is cast with Federico Bonelli in four performances.

[JohnS]

Many thanks Josephine.  Having now read properly yesterday's January news email, I found the summary casting information.  I ought to read emails more closely. 

[Nina G.]

3 hours ago, buflesse said:

Does anyone know why Iana Salenko isn’t guesting with the RB at the moment?

 

I assume because three new female Principals were appointed over the past two Seasons there is no longer any need for Salenko to guest. McRae is now often seen dancing with Takada and sometimes has Lamb as his partner too.  If Salenko were to keep guesting she would take opportunities away from the other Principals.

[Legseleven]

My apologies, I hadn’t realised that Lauren Cuthbertson is cast in Swan Lake - great news! I stand by my belief that seniority shouldn’t always be the main concern when casting a role and perhaps as Sophoife suggests it is Liam Scarlett who has cast his Odette/Odiles rather than - or together with - Kevin O’Hare, according to a particular view he or they have of the requirements. 

[Anna C]

21 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

Nunez/Muntagirov 17 May, 1, 6 & 12 June (and student performance on 21 May)

Lamb/Hirano 23 May, 5 & 14 June (and welcome performance on 19 May (m))

Takada McRae 19(e) & 31 May,  15(e) & 21 June

Cuthbertson/Bonelli 22 May, 2, 8 and 18 June

Naghdi/Kish 28 May (m) and 11 June (and schools' matinée on 6 June)

Osipova/Ball 28 May (e), 9, 15(m) and 19 June

 

So if I'm reading this correctly, the cinema broadcast on 12th June will be the Nuñez and Muntagirov cast? 

[buflesse]

37 minutes ago, Nina G. said:

 

I assume because three new female Principals were appointed over the past two Seasons there is no longer any need for Salenko to guest. McRae is now often seen dancing with Takada and sometimes has Lamb as his partner too.  If Salenko were to keep guesting she would take opportunities away from the other Principals.

It’s such a shame in a way because I adore her! But I’ve seen her in Swan Lake, Jewels and Sleeping Beauty already so I’m quite excited to see someone else. 

[grey]

9 hours ago, capybara said:

 

But isn't Liam Scarlett saying that he is focusing on Siegfried?

 

Because he said "We follow him and see his point of view"?

Insofar as Siegfried's attention is on Odette, the ballet could still be focused on her, don't you think?

 

I do wonder how it will be possible to see the whole story from his point of view though, if that's what the quote means.

Now that we've been told that Odette is also von Rothbart's "creation", we already know more than Siegfried presumably will!

[Sim]

9 hours ago, capybara said:

 

But isn't Liam Scarlett saying that he is focusing on Siegfried?

He is, but traditionally most of the choreography focuses on O/O.   If in this version Siegfried gets more to do, then, going forward, it will matter to me a lot more who dances the role, in this production at least.....   

[bridiem]

7 hours ago, Legseleven said:

Francesca Hayward and Yasmine Naghdi are very different dancers and if I remember correctly Hayward hadn’t danced a lead ‘tutu’ role before she became a principal, which in itself is surprising but may suggest that she was/is considered less suited for those roles than others.

 

Given how wonderful she was as Sugar Plum Fairy, I find it difficult to understand why there should be any doubts about Hayward's suitability for 'tutu' roles.

[buflesse]

I guess Odette/Odile is a very ‘tortured’ role and maybe she wasn’t considered the best type of fit for the role at this stage? I wish she had been cast though! She has so much of Odette’s purity. Might struggle more with Odile though?

[SPD444]

30 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

Given how wonderful she was as Sugar Plum Fairy, I find it difficult to understand why there should be any doubts about Hayward's suitability for 'tutu' roles.

 

I absolutely agree with you bridiem she was perfect as SPF.  I thought she played a pretty "tortured" Juliet too alongside Matthew Golding. Never mind. I suppose its part of being a team player that she could not get all the "plum" roles all the time.

Edited January 19, 2018 by SPD444

[Sim]

I guess it balances out;  Francesca is getting Manon and Yasmine is not (and this is not a debut in the role for Francesca) .....as you say, not everyone can have all of the roles all of the time, and certainly not the more 'junior' principals, simply from a logistical aspect.  Learning Giselle, Manon and The Swan in the space of a few months would be a big ask for anybody!  So FH gets Giselle and Manon, and YN gets Giselle and O/O.   Seems a fair balance to me.    

[Nina G.]

36 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

Given how wonderful she was as Sugar Plum Fairy, I find it difficult to understand why there should be any doubts about Hayward's suitability for 'tutu' roles.

 

 

The Sugar Plum Fairy is only a short (approx. 10 minute/ish) performance. Swan Lake is 3 hour long ballet with various solos and pdds and technically far more demanding on the Principal than dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy.

[blackdove]

So is the Sleeping Beauty and Francesca had no problem dancing Aurora that my untrained eye could detect.

[bridiem]

1 hour ago, buflesse said:

I guess Odette/Odile is a very ‘tortured’ role and maybe she wasn’t considered the best type of fit for the role at this stage? I wish she had been cast though! She has so much of Odette’s purity. Might struggle more with Odile though?

 

I don't know - there's sometimes a glint in her eye that I find very interesting!

[Jamesrhblack]

Many years ago, the more junior ballerinas only danced two of the main classics with any regularity. Nutcracker wasn’t much in the repertoire, but Sibley danced Odette / Odile and Aurora, Park danced Giselle and Aurora and Seymour danced Odette / Odile and Giselle. There were exceptions, usually on tour, but Sibley didn’t dance her first London Giselle until 1971 (I was there, my first ballet at the ROH) and Park didn’t dance Swan Lake until 1973. I seem to recall Cojocaru wasn’t immediately cast in Swan Lake either (but am willing to be corrected). I am sure that Swan Lake will be back next season and there will be further debuts (including, hopefully, Hayward: just as with Collier, I am sure she will find her own way in to the roles). It must have been difficult for KO’H to determine whether to cast Hayward or Naghdi (or to give fewer performances all round) but, apart from anything else, learning and rehearsal time will have been paramount for a new production in which much is being invested. 

[buflesse]

1 hour ago, SPD444 said:

 

I absolutely agree with you bridiem she was perfect as SPF.  I thought she played a pretty "tortured" Juliet too alongside Matthew Golding. Never mind. I suppose its part of being a team player that she could not get all the "plum" roles all the time.

 

That's true, she was a fabulous Juliet! It'll be interesting to see how she rises to the challenge of a seductive villain role as Odile when she eventually gets cast in SL.