The Royal Ballet: Romeo and Juliet, Spring 2019

[Rob S]

43 minutes ago, MJW said:

 

Do you make your wonderful pictures available on Flickr as well?

 

No that's just where I host them so I can post them here

[alison]

6 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Even though they have a dancer who had previously danced the role to great acclaim with BRB!

 

But would probably be a bit on the short side for Osipova?

[bridiem]

2 minutes ago, alison said:

 

But would probably be a bit on the short side for Osipova?

 

No, I don't think he would. He's partnered taller dancers than Osipova.

[Dawnstar]

A rather odd bit on this evening's cast change notice. Yudes replacing Sissens as the lead mandolin then Sissens replacing Yudes as one of the mandolin dancers. I wonder why they've swapped?

[Rob S]

Flickr is still down at the moment so I'll just have to try this.....Natalia looked somewhat exhausted in all the pics immediately after the start of the curtain call

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by Rob S

[Anna C]

1 hour ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

T. Mock  - who has done a goodly number in this run.

 

Thank you, Bruce. ☺️

[Sim]

3 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

T. Mock  - who has done a goodly number in this run.

I have so far seen five or six performances of R&J this run, and Mock has been Paris in every one! I am really looking forward to seeing Nicol Edmonds in the Naghdi/Ball cast. 

[Rob S]

33 minutes ago, Sim said:

I have so far seen five or six performances of R&J this run, and Mock has been Paris in every one! I am really looking forward to seeing Nicol Edmonds in the Naghdi/Ball cast. 

 

Edmonds was Paris in the Lamb cast

[Sim]

3 minutes ago, Rob S said:

 

Edmonds was Paris in the Lamb cast

I know, but sadly I didn’t have tickets for that cast.  

[cackles]

Nicol Edmonds was Paris tonight in the Nunez cast.

[Ivy Lin]

I have seen Osipova and Hallberg danced R&J where the chemistry was so off the charts that the audience screamed for nearly an hour with curtain calls. But this was at ABT years ago when neither career had sustained the injuries. I saw them last year in Giselle and thought that both were very muted, especially Hallberg. His once astonishing jump is a shadow of his former self and he has picked up a bunch of mannerisms that I think are to compensate for the lack of amplitude in his dancing.  

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

I have so far seen five or six performances of R&J this run, and Mock has been Paris in every one! I am really looking forward to seeing Nicol Edmonds in the Naghdi/Ball cast. 

 

I've got it the other way round: I've seen 4 performances but haven't seen Mock at all. I'd quite like to, as I was impressed by his gypsies in both Two Pigeons & Don Q. Maybe he'll be on on Saturday.

 

I saw Nunez & Tissi this evening & thought they were good but not amazing. I remained dry eyed. In some ways I thought they were better individually than as a couple. They both had some good moments of acting & emotion but not necessarily at the same time! After the wedding ceremony they only hugged each other, which came across as rather tepid compared to the passionate kissing of other couples. I can't say that I found Nunez a plausible 14 year old, & it's not just a matter of age as I thought Lamb was & she's 2 years older. I think it's more that Nunez comes over as too confident for a young girl with Juliet's upbringing. Her dancing was, as expected, technically excellent. Tissi's dancing was very good but I didn't think he was in the Muntagirov league, which surprised me as I'd expect a Bolshoi dancer to be technically brilliant. He did a few rather stock arm gestures but otherwise I thought his acting was decent, if not always as detailed as would be ideal.

 

I didn't feel Tissi was helped by having Sambe as Mercutio & Hirano as Tybalt, both of who displayed rather more stage presence than he did in the crowd scenes. I suppose it may have been because I was at a different angle but in the other 3 instances of Tybalt stabbing Mercutio it came over more as possibly accidental with him barging through the bystanders & into Mercutio but tonight it was absolutely deliberate! Having now seen Hirano as Poseidon & Tybalt within a week, I think I prefer him as villains. Richardson as Benvolio was fine but I felt didn't display quite as much personality as the others I've seen (admittedly he is less experienced).

 

Hinkis replaced Crawford as Mercutio's Harlot. That's the only possible reason I can think of for Yudes & Sissens swapping (see my previous post).

 

I was pleased to see Avis as Lord Capulet after seeing Gartside all 3 of my previous viewings.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Dawnstar

[Bruce Wall]

1 hour ago, Ivy Lin said:

I have seen Osipova and Hallberg danced R&J where the chemistry was so off the charts that the audience screamed for nearly an hour with curtain calls. But this was at ABT years ago when neither career had sustained the injuries. I saw them last year in Giselle and thought that both were very muted, especially Hallberg. His once astonishing jump is a shadow of his former self and he has picked up a bunch of mannerisms that I think are to compensate for the lack of amplitude in his dancing.  

 

Ivy Lin, I am inclined to agree with you.  That said the majority of people on this particular board will not have had the advantage of seeing those performances - be they in R&J or otherwise.  Both had feet in their relative balletic youth that not only danced this and other roles but taught them for a hungry audience.  Those studded depictions - as you suggest - in the fulfilling finery of their once exquisitely focused instruments - are now ultimately rooted in terms of ultimate precision = in past memories of those privileged to hold them.  Elements survive, of course, for those who - having the luxury of past experience - can be sentimental over such.  For others I fear - especially in the case of Hallberg -  that is .. or, perhaps more aptly, will be ... in large part impossible.  Both - again as you suggest - have grabbed onto other elements as a stand unto which to toss their compensatory hats.  That is understandable.  It is just, I fear, not the same be it in R&J or anything else. 

 

Apart from the other night in the MacMillan I saw them recently in Munich in Cranko's Oneign and felt very much the same way.  I fear Hallberg was - and please forgive me - simply far too effete.  I don't know how else to put it.  In Cranko's last act - while it was certainly attacked with an overweening sincerity - he appeared as a kind of over-milked and toasted Anthony Eden.  Not my idea of an Oneign.  As I noted elsewhere Osipova appeared much better off - and danced with much more communicating assurance - aside Catasaro's (ex-NYCB) Gremin. Their conversation = for that is what I believe a PDD to be - certainly had much more abiding clarity of character. 

 

Personally I just hope that when it comes to the casting of next season's RB Oneign that Osipova dances with a dedicated Royal Ballet Company member.  There are SUCH fine ones.  I would love to see her dance with someone who could challenge her in (what I perceive to be) a rightful manner and I (as a historic fan) believe she (as much as the Company and its dedicated audience) fully deserves.  She made a far greater fist of it with Matthew Golding.  If she MUST have a guest partner perhaps they could bring him back ... or Jason Reilly as I've already suggested here.   Sadly I just don't think Hallberg is justified at this point in time - and I say that having once admired him as Romeo and in other roles.  When making these decisions surely O'Hare has to look at/balance the Company as a whole and not just the placation of but a very few.  He is, as we all know, so strong in so many other areas.  

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by Bruce Wall

[Ivy Lin]

By the way this is what I wrote about them in Giselle:

https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2018/05/robbins-festival-ends-supergiselle-at.html

[bridiem]

Very disappointed in this evening’s performance. I have never seen Marianela Nunez dance Juliet before, but I decided to book for her in case it’s the last opportunity. And although I’d been looking forward to seeing Reece Clarke as Romeo, it was an exciting prospect to see a new guest artist. But I’m afraid this was a completely unconvincing R&J for me. Nunez is a wonderful dancer, but she was clearly a mature woman from start to finish, which just makes a nonsense of the story. And to make matters worse her Romeo looked about half her age. Jacopo Tissi is very tall, with long legs and a nice smile. But he seemed to me to be out of his depth. He struggled with some of the choreography and the lifts, he often seemed slow and laboured, and his acting was barely there. He looked as if he would have been much happier playing a stereotypical ballet prince rather than a living and breathing character – in fact much of the time he looked as if he was in a different ballet. On her own terms, Nunez did give a very good and touching performance; but it just couldn’t work as Juliet. And the partnership was a non-starter for me. I actually felt quite annoyed, because I think almost any of the men in the RB would have been a more convincing and better Romeo. Which reminds me: Sambé basically stole the show every time he danced (in spite of looking even shorter than usual next to the towering Tissi and the rather tall Calvin Richardson as Benvolio), and Hirano was once more a magnificent Tybalt. But the supporting roles can’t make a ballet work when the leads don’t work. A very frustrating performance.

[RobR]

I’ve seen Thomas Mock twice as Paris. One of the things I liked about his performances was that he seemed warmer and kinder towards Juliet at their initial meeting.

 

This differed from many other performances of Paris, where the dancing of the role can suggest an arranged marriage, with little affection for Juliet on the part of the groom to be.

 

Mock's warmth at that initial stage made his subsequent presence in the crypt more understandable to me. It suggested that he genuinely cared about Juliet and was properly distraught about her death.

[penelopesimpson]

I have been making this point about Nunez - even though I must emphasise that I have NOT seen her Juliet.  I didn't book for it because I just don't see how she can ever come across as a teenager.  She is always exemplary, always confident, always mature, sunny and, as I said earlier, 'knowing.' This is not her role and I don't think KOH should have cast her.

[bridiem]

1 minute ago, penelopesimpson said:

I have been making this point about Nunez - even though I must emphasise that I have NOT seen her Juliet.  I didn't book for it because I just don't see how she can ever come across as a teenager.  She is always exemplary, always confident, always mature, sunny and, as I said earlier, 'knowing.' This is not her role and I don't think KOH should have cast her.

 

I had hoped that she would in fact be able to seem to be a young girl, as other dancers in their 30s seem to miraculously be able to do; but she couldn't. She can do myriad other miraculous things, but not that.

[Sim]

I saw Nunez as Juliet in the last run, which is why I didn’t book for her this time.   

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, bridiem said:

Very disappointed in this evening’s performance. I have never seen Marianela Nunez dance Juliet before, but I decided to book for her in case it’s the last opportunity. And although I’d been looking forward to seeing Reece Clarke as Romeo, it was an exciting prospect to see a new guest artist. But I’m afraid this was a completely unconvincing R&J for me. Nunez is a wonderful dancer, but she was clearly a mature woman from start to finish, which just makes a nonsense of the story. And to make matters worse her Romeo looked about half her age. Jacopo Tissi is very tall, with long legs and a nice smile. But he seemed to me to be out of his depth. He struggled with some of the choreography and the lifts, he often seemed slow and laboured, and his acting was barely there. He looked as if he would have been much happier playing a stereotypical ballet prince rather than a living and breathing character – in fact much of the time he looked as if he was in a different ballet. On her own terms, Nunez did give a very good and touching performance; but it just couldn’t work as Juliet. And the partnership was a non-starter for me. I actually felt quite annoyed, because I think almost any of the men in the RB would have been a more convincing and better Romeo. Which reminds me: Sambé basically stole the show every time he danced (in spite of looking even shorter than usual next to the towering Tissi and the rather tall Calvin Richardson as Benvolio), and Hirano was once more a magnificent Tybalt. But the supporting roles can’t make a ballet work when the leads don’t work. A very frustrating performance.

 

This perfectly describes last Friday night when I saw it. Hirano and Sambe were fabulous, he highlights of the show. To be fair it was Tissi's first performance and he was clearly nervous. On one of the early overhead lifts his arms were shaking so badly I thought he was going to drop her. "Masks" in particular was noticeably uncoordinated (and it's pretty bad when even I can tell). 

To your comment about "almost any of the men in the RB would have been more convincing" I did wonder why Tissi who didn't know the role was imported when Muntagirov appeared (note the "appeared") to be available. He knows the role and dances with her on a regular basis. Hopefully not subacutely ill or injured (i.e. could do WTGH but not up to R&J). Curious bit of casting, I though. 

[stucha]

1 hour ago, Ivy Lin said:

By the way this is what I wrote about them in Giselle:

https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2018/05/robbins-festival-ends-supergiselle-at.html

 

That is exactly how I thought he was when he guested in La Scala's Giselle last year in Australia.

[Sophoife]

19 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:

And her pointe shoes are a horror to look at.

 

(re: Miss Osipova)

 

Did anyone else catch an Instagram live feed from Miss Cuthbertson of herself and Miss Osipova preparing their pointe shoes? O. M. G. No wonder Miss Osipova's shoes all look as though they've been prepared by Edward Scissorhands!

[Geoff]

12 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

Did anyone else catch an Instagram live feed from Miss Cuthbertson of herself and Miss Osipova preparing their pointe shoes? O. M. G. No wonder Miss Osipova's shoes all look as though they've been prepared by Edward Scissorhands!

 

Can you explain Sophoife, for those of us who didn’t see this? 

[Sophoife]

56 minutes ago, Geoff said:

 

Can you explain Sophoife, for those of us who didn’t see this? 

 

Miss Cuthbertson prepared her shoes "normally", i.e. what we often see on dancers' social media feeds.

 

Miss Osipova, on the other hand, carved chunks off the outsole, slashed the platform with a knife, beat the thing to death, cut the vamp to a deep V, carved bits off the shank...they looked about a hundred years old before she'd danced a step in them.

 

@Geoff, I thought I had the video saved but can't find it; I'll PM you if I do!

[capybara]

7 hours ago, oncnp said:

I did wonder why Tissi who didn't know the role was imported when Muntagirov appeared (note the "appeared") to be available. He knows the role and dances with her on a regular basis. Hopefully not subacutely ill or injured (i.e. could do WTGH but not up to R&J). 

 

If you look at the casting, last week Muntagirov was listed for three WTGHs and dancing Romeo on the Friday would have given him 4 consecutive nights (including the cinema relay/DVD), plus the R&J rehearsals. 

Also, thinking more generally, the RB's leading dancers are currently preparing for the Triple Bill and the Fonteyn Gala plus, presumably, keeping Don Q warm for the Japan tour.

Although they may seem superhuman at times, care is surely needed to protect Principals and Soloists from overload. As it is, Hirano seems to have been permanently on stage but, at least, his Romeos (reportedly the toughest of roles with a lot of lifting) have been spaced out.

 

[capybara]

10 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

Personally I just hope that when it comes to the casting of next season's RB Oneign that Osipova dances with a dedicated Royal Ballet Company member.  There are SUCH fine ones.  I would love to see her dance with someone who could challenge her in (what I perceive to be) a rightful manner and I (as a historic fan) believe she (as much as the Company and its dedicated audience) fully deserves. ............Sadly I just don't think Hallberg is justified at this point in time - and I say that having once admired him as Romeo and in other roles. 

 

I do so agree, Bruce. On current showings, if Kevin O’Hare continues to engage Hallberg, he will run the risk of giving the impression that other influences are in play with respect to casting.

I find myself feeling unusually strongly on this - maybe on behalf of the “home team” I spoke of in another post.

 

[Lindsay]

Agree with Bruce that we are not seeing "peak Hallberg".  I was also lucky enough to see him dance with Osipova before his injury and certainly his technique has not returned to the extremely high level he achieved back then.  However, this is more of an issue for me in Giselle or Swan Lake - by contrast, Romeo is not all about the height of the jump - the joyful lightness and esprit of that balcony pas de deux was dependent upon far more than strong technique.  I still find Hallberg's elegance (those extraordinary feet are still there!) and the emotional range of his acting well worth buying a ticket for.  In addition, we shouldn't forget the importance of a working relationship developed between partners over a long period.   I simply don't believe that Osipova could have given the same performance opposite, for example, Campbell.  I really like Campbell in the "cheeky chappy/male soubrette" roles and thought his Basilio was fun but do people really believe he has anything like Hallberg's acting chops?  With the greatest respect for BRB's R&J (they were my first local company and I always loved watching them) Osipova is playing in a different league.  (For the avoidance of doubt, I DON'T mean that statement to apply to the RB in general vs BRB  - just Osipova who is a once in a generation performer)

 

There is clearly, as always, a debate to be had over the value of importing guest artists but let's try not to let it turn into an unpleasant pile-on against a particular person.  I really dislike the concept of the audience defending the "home team".  This isn't football. 

[bridiem]

4 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

Agree with Bruce that we are not seeing "peak Hallberg".  I was also lucky enough to see him dance with Osipova before his injury and certainly his technique has not returned to the extremely high level he achieved back then.  However, this is more of an issue for me in Giselle or Swan Lake - by contrast, Romeo is not all about the height of the jump - the joyful lightness and esprit of that balcony pas de deux was dependent upon far more than strong technique.  I still find Hallberg's elegance (those extraordinary feet are still there!) and the emotional range of his acting well worth buying a ticket for.  In addition, we shouldn't forget the importance of a working relationship developed between partners over a long period.   I simply don't believe that Osipova could have given the same performance opposite, for example, Campbell.  I really like Campbell in the "cheeky chappy/male soubrette" roles and thought his Basilio was fun but do people really believe he has anything like Hallberg's acting chops?  With the greatest respect for BRB's R&J (they were my first local company and I always loved watching them) Osipova is playing in a different league.  (For the avoidance of doubt, I DON'T mean that statement to apply to the RB in general vs BRB  - just Osipova who is a once in a generation performer)

 

There is clearly, as always, a debate to be had over the value of importing guest artists but let's try not to let it turn into an unpleasant pile-on against a particular person.  I really dislike the concept of the audience defending the "home team".  This isn't football. 

 

No, it's not football; but it's just as important...

 

I don't actually think that Campbell would be/have been an ideal match with Osipova, and I'm delighted she danced with Hallberg. (It's the guest I saw last night I have a problem with.) But to pigeon-hole Campbell in the cheeky-chappy roles would be to do him (and the audience) a huge disservice. He is an excellent actor (cf Albrecht, Des Grieux, Lescaut etc) and should be allowed to use his talents to the full.

 

I'm very happy to have occasional guest principals, if a) there's a real need; and/or b) they're top-notch. In Hallberg's case, from the limited amount I've seen, I would say that (certainly if he's dancing with Osipova) b) does apply. That doesn't mean that I think he should be invited to dance regularly with the company, given the limited number of performances available and the huge amount of talent in the company.

[BeauxArts]

4 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

I really like Campbell in the "cheeky chappy/male soubrette" roles and thought his Basilio was fun but do people really believe he has anything like Hallberg's acting chops? 

 

I think they are "chalk and cheese" in every respect, and it is perhaps not the most apt comparison. As expressed in my post yesterday, I found Hallberg's characterisation extremely pale, so am unpersuaded on the "acting chops" front. It is, of course,  a very fair point to make that his serious injury has diminished his technical ability. For sure, Romeo does not leave the male lead as exposed as the classical roles cited would do. However, I think Capybara was right when they observed that he was effectively marking in the first scenes, but I did think he danced the balcony solo well, albeit with the caveat about the embellishments and skewing of the choreography at times in the pdd by both of them.

 

I think that there is a place for guests to be invited to dance with the RB: it can be a benefit to the company and a bonus to the audience. I think there can be a tendency in this particular institution  to parochialism at times, and so exposure to a different style or approach is important from time to time. However, I think the principle of casting highly coveted lead roles  from within the company in the first instance is correct, and especially now that the company has so much strength in depth. 

 

As an aside, I  personally regret that there was no place for an invitation to Shklyarov in this run of Romeo and Juliet - if a guest was to be invited I think he had shown in his performances in Manon last season that he has genuine respect for the company and he showed in those performances that he recognised the privilege given to him in the role he had been invited to dance.  He is an artist whose gifts are deployed at the service of the role, I think, rather than towards other agendas etc. 

 

[Jan McNulty]

27 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

 I really like Campbell in the "cheeky chappy/male soubrette" roles and thought his Basilio was fun but do people really believe he has anything like Hallberg's acting chops?  With the greatest respect for BRB's R&J (they were my first local company and I always loved watching them) Osipova is playing in a different league.  (For the avoidance of doubt, I DON'T mean that statement to apply to the RB in general vs BRB  - just Osipova who is a once in a generation performer)

 

 

I believe Mr Campbell has proved his acting chops, mostly at BRB.  To name just 2 roles that had me an emotional wreck with his performances - Cyrano and Will Mossop.  I also thought he was an extremely moving Albrecht with the Royal Ballet and as for his Des Grieux (and Lescaut)...

 

Mr Campbell's performances as Romeo were opposite the magnificent Ambra Vallo so he definitely had to stand up to her glorious Juliet.

 

I agree Osipova is a force of nature but I prefer (usually) a more understated style.

[Lindsay]

You have the advantage of me Janet, since I didn't see Campbell in the Bintley ballets, but I can imagine that his stage persona would suit them well.  Just goes to show that there is space for many opinions in the debate - as I said I enjoyed his Basilio but I found his Albrecht somewhat jarring.   Perhaps because his default expression and demeanour seems very bouncy and upbeat (doesn't really appear "understated" to me I must confess) I had a hard time believing in his attempts at arrogance in Act 1 or melancholy in Act 2.   He is not a naturally "tortured soul".  Same reason (in reverse) why i can't ever imagine Ed Watson, even in his prime, doing Basilio.  

 

I think perhaps I am in favour of emploi.  If a dancer recognises that their body type, technical strengths and stage presence are suited to particular roles and excels in those, it doesn't make them any less a great dancer.  Campbell has a superb comic talent - I very much liked him as Bratfisch (although of course the comedy there is of the heartbreaking kind) and I would always happily book to see him in an appropriate role.  Of course some dancers develop over their careers and broaden their scope of work, but it can be uncomfortable seeing a dancer you admire struggle in role that is not really right for them...

[Colman]

3 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

Just goes to show that there is space for many opinions in the debate - as I said I enjoyed his Basilio but I found his Albrecht somewhat jarring.

 

Some of that is in our own heads though. I can't handle Nunez as Lise or Juliet, because it looks to me like some passing Queen took a wrong turn on the way to reclaiming her kingdom from a pretender and his army with her bare hands. Relatively few others seem bothered. 

[Lindsay]

18 minutes ago, Colman said:

 

Some of that is in our own heads though. I can't handle Nunez as Lise or Juliet, because it looks to me like some passing Queen took a wrong turn on the way to reclaiming her kingdom from a pretender and his army with her bare hands. Relatively few others seem bothered. 

 

Not sure you are along Colman -  there seem to be quite a lot of people who don't see Nunez as Juliet.  Lise I view a bit differently, since she can be played as a kind of "Queen" of the peasants and I find that Nunez's radiant smile goes well with that happy ballet.  But I think it's a question of degree - there are some very clear cases of type/miscasting and others which are borderline and will divide opinion more.