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RB Principal Pipeline


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(Intended purely as light-hearted wondering and not as criticism as any dancer or directors past or present!), having now seen a few Swan Lakes and reflected back on this season and last, I was thinking about the great range of upcoming talent within the RB and the promotion decisions that will have to be made over the next few years as older principals retire.  That led to me looking at the current ranks for realistic prospects as future principals, thinking in terms of their classical technique, stage presence, reliability when given opportunities and that unmeasurable 'star quality'.  Big caveats - of course there are many other dancers who are/will be excellent soloists, or outstanding in contemporary/character roles and there may be people who through injury or otherwise haven't yet shown what they can really do, but (in my fantasy lunchtime land where I get to be AD) I would see the pipeline as below.  And I got to thinking that if the future principal ranks are made up of names like these that is a company that I will be very happy to watch well into the next decade!  

 

Males:
Current First Soloists: Ball, Hay, Sambe

Current Soloists: Bracewell, Clarke

Current First Artists: Richardson, Yudes

Current Artists: Sissens

 

Females:

Current Soloists: Kaneko, Magri, O'Sullivan

Current First Artists: Gasparini

 

Anyone else enjoy playing Fantasy Ballet? I know it's an art not a sport - I am a little bored today and being facetious :

 

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The lovely Isabella Gasparini is about 30 years old and she's still in the Corps de Ballet. As you are talking RB Principals (pipeline) there are several very hard to reach ranks left between the Corps and the top rank of Principal. If a dancer is not a Soloist by the age of 22 or 23 the chance of reaching the top rank is very very slim. 

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I am in total agreement with you there, Lindsay.   I would say that Mayara Magri should definitely be promoted to First Soloist at the end of this season, and Gasparini moving up to fill her empty space as a Soloist.  

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Good point Xandra, but I wouldn’t necessarily take current rank as a reflection of how people’s future prospects are regarded.  There is a fair degree of congestion in the soloist ranks, especially on the female side, by dancers promoted many years ago who now dance classical solos far less frequently than those of a technically lower rank.  And there is precedent for late promotion to principal - how old was Hirano when he got the call? And Morera was in the company 12 years before becoming a principal. 

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Hirano and Morera were rather an exception Lindsay.

Why would an AD promote a 30, 32 or 34 year old female dancer to the highest rank knowing they'll only have at best 6, 8 or maybe 10 years dancing left whereas promoting a 25 year old dancer to Principal you'll get them to dance for 15 years. 

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I suppose because you only pay them for so long as they dance? And you also have a slot you know will be available in a few years for junior dancers entering the company.  It can only help with recruitment and retention of the very best young dancers if they can see there is likely to be “room at the top” in a few years - a logjam is good for neither companies nor audiences

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7 minutes ago, Xandra Newman said:

Why would an AD promote a 30, 32 or 34 year old female dancer to the highest rank knowing they'll only have at best 6, 8 or maybe 10 years dancing left whereas promoting a 25 year old dancer to Principal you'll get them to dance for 15 years. 

 

Perhaps because they decide the dancer merits it?  Not to mention that there's no guarantee how long any dancer's career will last: injury, ill-health or disinclination to continue could put an end to it.

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5 minutes ago, alison said:

Perhaps because they decide the dancer merits it?  Not to mention that there's no guarantee how long any dancer's career will last: injury, ill-health or disinclination to continue could put an end to it.

 

Indeed.  Remember Ansanelli or Pennefather? Directors need options

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Thank you, Lindsay, for this new way of looking at things!

 

My list would be as follows with those most likely to get the promotion nod this year in bold type:

 

Men:
Current First Soloists: Matthew Ball, James Hay, Marcelino Sambe

Current Soloists: William Bracewell, Reece Clarke,  Benjamin Ella

Current First Artists (to reach at least Soloist level): Calvin Richardson, David Yudes

Current Artists (to reach at least Soloist level): Joseph Sissens, (Teo Dubreuil)

Current Aud Jebsen Young Dancers/Apprentices (to reach at least Soloist level): Joonhyuk Jun; Stanislaw Wegrzyn

 

Women:

Current First Soloists: Beatriz Stix-Brunell

Current Soloists: Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri, Anna Rose O'Sullivan

Current First Artists (to reach at least Soloist level): Isabella Gasparini

Current Artists (to reach at least Soloist level): Chisato Katsura; (Ashley Dean)

Current Aud Jebsen Young Dancers (to reach at least Soloist level): Sae Maeda

 

In addition to Cesar Corrales, who will doubtless become a Principal sooner rather than later, there may be other new joiners with that elusive star quality stepping onto the ladder shortly.

 

 

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Claire Calvert? She’s of course done quite a lot already but I could see her doing Swan Lake perhaps, Monotones, slow movement of Symphony in C. Is is her ‘age’ (30 I believe) against her? (Not that I’m suggesting it should be!). 

Certainly James Hay, Reece Clarke - amongst others - I can see making it to Principal. 

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I would love to see Calvert eventually become a principal. I adored Anna Rose O’Sullivan as Clara and Alice but not sure if she would be suited as Aurora, Odette, Giselle etc? Stix Brunell and Kaneko are definite future possibilities. I hope that Ben Ella continues to rise up through the ranks! 

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I would very much like to see O'Sullivan as Aurora.  I think Calvert is an excellent soloist in the "Monica Mason" roles (Lilac Fairy, Myrthe and so on) - she gives them gravity and presence and her technique is generally secure.  But I don't find her exciting in the same way I do some of the other dancers - to be a principal you have to compel the audience's attention across 3 or 4 acts and that takes a special kind of something . 

 

Watching (or having watched) Osipova or Nunez or Cojocaru or Rojo or Guillem or Benjamin, I never wonder for a moment whether they can execute the steps - even if they make a mistake it doesn't matter - they take risks and it's exciting to see what they will do next.  There is no sign of the work involved. I think someone should already be at that level, or very close to it, to become a principal.  Hayward, Takada and Naghdi all pass that test.  There are lots of really excellent dancers who never quite achieve that benchmark.  

 

(Of course people who fell short have been made principals in the past and your personal preferences may vary etc etc)

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3 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

 to be a principal you have to compel the audience's attention across 3 or 4 acts and that takes a special kind of something . 

 

So true, Lindsay. The ability to 'carry a show' is THE acid test and, in my view, we have ample evidence that Ball, Bracewell and Clarke can do that with real distinction. Both Kaneko and Magri have maximised their opportunities to show us that they have that potential as well.

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Yes. It's such a shame that Kaneko has missed so much time due to injury -  a couple of seasons ago, when she did Kitri and the Gypsy Girl in the Two Pigeons, I really thought that she looked very ready for more big opportunities.   

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6 minutes ago, standingticket said:

I absolutely could see O'Sullivan dancing Aurora, Giselle and Swan Lake! She'd be a wonderful Aurora!

 

Agreed.  With Francesca Hayward no longer dancing Clara, I think Anna Rose O'Sullivan will be my Clara of choice this Christmas run and I'm delighted she's in the cinema cast.

 

But I think this thread and the rapid responses show how strong the Royal Ballet is, with an abundance of talent.  The difficult corollary is I'm afraid making sure there are sufficient vacancies to nurture such riches, no doubt the most difficult part of Kevin O'Hare's job and I wish him and his colleagues all the very best.

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Hamilton is a very striking dance actress - she’s great in the Macmillan roles as well as  making her beautifully dramatic shapes for McGregor.  But I wouldn’t say her classical technique is reliable enough to carry the lead in a full length 19th century ballet.  Although, to be fair, I’m not sure I have seen her dance a classical solo since she returned from Dresden so her experience in lead roles there may have helped?

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Just now, Lindsay said:

Hamilton is a very striking dance actress - she’s great in the Macmillan roles as well as  making her beautifully dramatic shapes for McGregor.  But I wouldn’t say her classical technique is reliable enough to carry the lead in a full length 19th century ballet.  Although, to be fair, I’m not sure I have seen her dance a classical solo since she returned from Dresden so her experience in lead roles there may have helped?

 

And she isn’t cast in Nutcracker next season, suggesting that the AD may share your concerns....

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5 hours ago, Rob S said:

Someone has to say it so I will....Yuhui for principal!!!!😆

No.

 

That ship has surely sailed.

 

I admire the beauty of Yuhui's dancing but IMHO, she just doesn't have that extra something that Principals must surely have.  I would be very surprised if she achieved higher rank.

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35 minutes ago, capybara said:

In tonight's gala, Fumi Kaneko shone especially brightly in Symphony in C - every inch a Principal-in-waiting.

My daughter and I were saying the same thing tonight!

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7 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Many dancers 'deserve' promotion.  What matters is that they can command a stage and that their name on the cast list makes people buy tickets.  Yuhui simply does not qualify

I agree with you that it seems highly unlikely that Yuhui Choe would now be promoted to principal based on so many years as First Soloist, but with regards to these two points - I try to book specifically for her casting dates (I’m gutted she isn’t cast as Nikiya or Gamzatti this Autumn), and in my humble, technically useless but nonetheless ballet-mad and passionate opinion, in the performances I’ve seen she’s always had complete authority over the stage. 

 

I note that Ms Choe generally performs in a particular type of role (the happy/girly/princessy ones!) so perhaps doesn’t have the variety that an AD is looking for in a Principal. Having said that, another of my favourite dancers is Ed Watson and I can’t imagine we’ll ever see him as Sugar Plum Fairy’s Prince in The Nutcracker but to me at least he excels in the roles he does perform. 

 

We are blessed with a very fine ‘pipeline’ of First Soloists, Soloists, First Artists and Artists at RB, not least Matthew Ball, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, James Hay, William Bracewell, Reece Clarke and Fumi Kaneko all of whom I’ve loved watching this year (and prior) in many fine performances. 

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8 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

No.

 

That ship has surely sailed.

 

I admire the beauty of Yuhui's dancing but IMHO, she just doesn't have that extra something that Principals must surely have.  I would be very surprised if she achieved higher rank.

 

Which shows how we all perceive things differently.  I think she has got "that extra something" and would love to see her promotion principal dancer.

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8 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Many dancers 'deserve' promotion.  What matters is that they can command a stage and that their name on the cast list makes people buy tickets.  Yuhui simply does not qualify

 

I’m not sure about that. Yuhui certainly has her fans. And she’s such a wonderful dancer. I definitely consider her to be able to command a stage and give awe inspiring performances (her Aurora is a good example). 

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