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Nehemiah Kish retiring from The Royal Ballet


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Just seen on Twitter (from the RB) that Nehemiah Kish is retiring from the RB at the end of this season. I'm very sad about that, because I feel as if I only started to know/appreciate him recently.

 

It says on the ROH website that he will be embarking on a course of postgraduate study in the arts and cultural policy in the autumn at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Edited by bridiem
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And the official press release:

 

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June 2019

 

Nehemiah Kish to retire from The Royal Ballet

 

Principal dancer Nehemiah Kish has announced his decision to retire from The Royal Ballet at the end of the 2018/19 season after nine years with the Company. He will give his last performance on the Royal Opera House stage on Friday 14 June in The Firebird. He will also perform on The Royal Ballet’s tour to Japan in Yokohama in Kenneth MacMillan’s Winter Dreams on 30 June and give his final performance with the Company in Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling at the Music Center in Los Angeles on 6 July. He will be embarking on a course of postgraduate study in the arts and cultural policy in the autumn at Goldsmiths, University of London.

 

Born in Michigan, Kish trained at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2001, where he was promoted to principal in 2005. In 2008, he became a principal of the Royal Danish Ballet, before joining The Royal Ballet as Principal in 2010. 

 

Director of The Royal Ballet Kevin O’ Hare said, “Nehemiah has been a wonderful member of the Company and Principal dancer for the past nine years. His elegant presence has been shown to great effect in the danseur noble roles such as Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. He has brought a keen intelligence to bear on many ballets, notably in the MacMillan repertory including Prince of the Pagodas, Manon and Romeo and Juliet. More recently he has memorably taken on many different characters, including an outstandingly poignant account of the Creature in Frankenstein, the husband in The Concert, Kulygin in Winter Dreams and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. He has been a gracious and thoughtful partner and a great role model. I know that he’ll be much missed by the Company and I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best for his exciting next steps. I am delighted that he will be staying in the arts world.”

 

Kish commented, “It has been a privilege to perform with the inspiring artists of The Royal Ballet. I am grateful to have been blessed with a fulfilling career on stage, the last years of which in Covent Garden have been a treasured experience. I would like to thank my Directors, Dame Monica Mason and Kevin O’Hare, for their artistic leadership and support. My sincere thanks also go to the audiences and all the wonderful, dedicated and talented artists and staff at the Royal Opera House.”

 

Kish’s many roles with The Royal Ballet include Albrecht, Romeo, Vershinin (Winter Dreams), Prince (Cinderella, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and The Prince of the Pagodas), Des Grieux (Manon), Richard P. Arnold (Enigma Variations), Jack/Knave (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Onegin, Solor (La Bayadère), Espada (Don Quixote), Creature (Frankenstein) and roles in Monotones II, Still Life at the Penguin Café, Theme and Variations, Voluntaries, Les Patineurs, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse, Gloria and Song of the Earth. His role creations include in ‘Trespass’ (Metamorphosis: Titian 2012) and Aeternum.

 

Details of additional promotions, leavers and joiners will be announced at the end of the season.

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That's a shame. I was too late to see him at his peak but I've enjoyed seeing him in character roles this season & was hoping he'd continue with them. I'll be at his last performance so I hope they do something for him. Flower shower? Or would that take too long to clear up before the next ballet?

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Best wishes to Nehemiah Kish for all of his future endeavours.  He was Yasmine Naghdi's first Siegfried and for that I am eternally grateful as she gave such lovely performances with him.

 

Is this a new tactic from the RB press department, to give out promotions and leaver information in dribs and drabs?  Have they decided that Principals (new or existing) are now each going to get their own press release about being promoted or leaving?  I thought that the Sambe one last week was a one-off as part of a damage limitation exercise?

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I have enjoyed Nehemiah in his recent character roles very much indeed but the fact that he is cast for the last home performance this season had made me wonder whether he was about to leave.

I guess that his real 'goodbye' will be on tour.

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3 hours ago, alison said:

I guess they need to give people a few days' warning so that tickets can be acquired, flowers bought, etc. ...

 

But that would imply that no-one else is leaving. Is that likely to be the case?

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19 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

But that would imply that no-one else is leaving. Is that likely to be the case?

 

The final sentence implies that there may be more leavers but perhaps not at such a senior level that a valedictory press release is deemed required.

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I'm sorry Kish is going (I'd been very much enjoying his character portrayals over the past 6 months, not to mention his Creature in Frankenstein), but wish him all the best.  Hopefully Mrs Kish will be staying on for a while yet.

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Well I wish him good luck. I saw quite a number of his performances over the years and I never really thought he was a good fit for the company. I have also enjoyed his character roles recently but I think the RB is well provided with very fine character artists and if the way forward is to allow existing principals a shot at what might be classed as character roles - thinking here Ball as Tybalt then maybe there simply isn't room for him. 

 

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7 hours ago, alison said:

I'm sorry Kish is going (I'd been very much enjoying his character portrayals over the past 6 months, not to mention his Creature in Frankenstein), but wish him all the best.  Hopefully Mrs Kish will be staying on for a while yet.

 

Who is Mrs Kish?!

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Kish was in the first ballet I saw, a tv broadcast of his 2014 Swan Lake with Yanowsky. Unfortunately, my 4 years following the company coincided with his injury problems. Nevertheless, I was fortunate to see his Creature, Des Grieux, and Siegfried among other things. 

 

I’m sad that he is retiring. Like others I had been impressed by his recent character work and was hoping to see him develop in these roles. I hope he achieves all he is aiming for with his studies, and I will continue to harbour the hope that he may return to the stage at some point in the future. 

 

Thank you, Mr Kish. I will be forever grateful for the role you played in introducing me to ballet. 

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4 hours ago, capybara said:

Tonight’s cast sheet recognises Nehemiah’s departure and Kevin O’Hare came on stage to give a nice farewell tribute.

 

It was very nice, but a shame Helen Crawford didn’t get a mention after so many years of dedication to the company.  I guess only Principals get the full treatment.  

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7 hours ago, Sim said:

It was very nice, but a shame Helen Crawford didn’t get a mention after so many years of dedication to the company.  I guess only Principals get the full treatment.  

Yes I agree Sim -  Claire Calvert paid tribute to her on Instagram - the only one I've noticed so far.....

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8 hours ago, Sim said:

It was very nice, but a shame Helen Crawford didn’t get a mention after so many years of dedication to the company.  I guess only Principals get the full treatment.  

 

Was she given a special curtain call after The Firebird on Thu 13 June? This is assuming that she danced a principal role in that cast as she did when I saw their earlier performance.

 

I'm sure I remember an onstage presentation for Hikaru Kobayashi (by Federico Bonelli) and also a special solo curtain call for Deirdre Chapman, at their respective final performances as First Soloists.

 

But I presume it is always possible that any dancer may prefer to have a low key farewell in public?

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