Royal Ballet: Manon, autumn 2019

[JohnS]

Thank you Sim and ninamargaret - wonderful to see the Morera/Bonelli partnership which I hope continues a good while longer and we can enjoy their Indian summer.  Consummate artists with every glance and gesture an insight into their characters.  They seem to have so much time to express their point and draw on years of experience to cover any surprises.  I trust a number of dancers in the audience were taking notes as well as supporting Luca Acri in his accomplished debut?

[alison]

29 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Consummate artists with every glance and gesture an insight into their characters.  

 

Exactly.  I got so much more from Bonelli's Des Grieux in that respect than with any of the others I'd seen: his cloistered upbringing, his discomfort at the world and environment he found himself in, particularly in the brothel scene.  And it was clearer than ever that the second "bedroom" act was never going to turn out well.

 

But: where's Des Grieux' hat gone?  He's at least the second DG to enter without it, yet surely it's vital to his story - it tells us, without banging on about it, that he's a seminarian, and headed for a life in the church - before he meets Manon.  Coming in bareheaded, he's just a good-looking young man.

[capybara]

8 minutes ago, alison said:

But: where's Des Grieux' hat gone? 

They carry it on because it messes their hair up!

Des Grieux used to wear a fair wig but, now that it’s the dancer’s own hair, it’s rather different.

[Dawnstar]

8 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

I understand your point MaryRose and,yes, these two dancers are such different characters.  And I am certainly not criticisingWatson ( as if!) but I do think just a little information is due his fans.  He was, after all for some time male number one at RB and built up a profile.  Next month it is two years since he has done anything of substance on the main stage at ROH and it would be nice to hear something.

 

PS:  Perhaps I’ll drop a line to my mate Alex Beard...!

 

Maybe Watson hasn't said anything because he doesn't have any performances to announce at the moment? I spoke to him at the stage door after Manon last Thursday & asked about future performances. All he mentioned for the ROH was the Dante Project in May, which we already know about given he was in the Los Angeles performances.

[alison]

21 minutes ago, capybara said:

They carry it on because it messes their hair up!

 

Well, I didn't even notice it with Bonelli last night.

[ninamargaret]

Alison's comments about the way Bonelli seems to show the whole character of De Grieux seems to me to be true. It's probably more difficult for a dancer who is used to conveying character through  dance to have to convey a character through stillness and I think Bonelli does this. Will be interesting to see Alexander Campbell next week - I was very impressed by his De Grieux last run.

[Sim]

The thought occurred to me that last night's performance with Morera/Bonelli was a lovely, shining example of what happens when a partnership is allowed to develop and flourish for many years.  A depth of physical and emotional empathy is achieved that just can't be equalled.  Just a look that can say so much, just the slightest of touches that can feel so meaningful, a bit more physical risk because they know each other's capacities so well...these aspects all combine to produce something very special indeed.  There are potentially some partnerships now at the RB that could attain these heights...if only they are allowed to establish and flourish.  Here's hoping....

[JohnS]

I quite agree Sim and there are so many possible partnerships that should hopefully flourish.  

 

I’d just add that for me both Morera and Bonelli display that finesse whenever they are on stage.  Laura Morera’s Lady Elgar is astonishing in showing such sympathy, compassion and tenderness for Elgar, Nimrod and the various friends.  How fortunate to be able to see her Manon and Lady Elgar on successive nights. 

[Sim]

I in turn agree with you, John.  Morera has for the last decade at least been my 'unsung hero' of the RB.  Such an accomplished dance actress, such strong technique, such dedication and a real company player.  I just don't understand why she has never achieved the fame or recognition of other dancers, even though she doesn't do social media.  Her interpretations in particular of MacMillan are virtually unsurpassed, and she is one of the few who can really dance Ashton IMHO (I am hoping Francesca Hayward and others will be putting this mantle around their shoulders).  I will say again that my big regret for her and for us is that she never got the chance to dance Juliet. 

[Dawnstar]

May I ask which possible RB partnerships people would like to be encouraged long-term? I haven't been seeing the company for long enough to be able to properly assess this.

[Jamesrhblack]

4 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

May I ask which possible RB partnerships people would like to be encouraged long-term? I haven't been seeing the company for long enough to be able to properly assess this.

Hayward, Campbell; Magri, Coralles (on the strength of their Mistress, Lescaut performance); I think Fumi Kaneko, who looked gorgeous on World Ballet Day yesterday, would work well with Reece Clarke: such elegant dancers. And almost everybody seems to love Naghdi with Ball....

[Candleque]

Agree. I do love Naghdi with Ball, and Hayward with Campbell. Additionally (with no disrespect toward the very talented Mayara Magri), Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales were magic as Romeo & Juliet.

[Sim]

Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe.  

[Xandra Newman]

In my opinion Matthew Ball looks at his best dancing with Yasmine Naghdi (luckily we are getting them in Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia), they do have a chemistry which I don't feel when he dances with Lauren Cutbertson for example. I would love to see more of Vadim Muntagirov dancing with Yasmine Naghdi, two classical purist dancers with a beautiful classical line. Anna-Rose O'Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe too have a special chemistry, and Francesca Hayward with Alexander Campbell, they suit each other well (I haven't seen Hayward with Corrales). 

[Richard LH]

On the one hand I imagine settled partnerships can achieve the special qualities that Sim describes, but on the other hand perhaps there is a risk of staleness and lack of new interpretation ? Haven't we been critical at times of certain RB partnerships being too fixed, come what may the production? Maybe this is an interesting topic that deserves its own thread.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Richard LH

[Dawnstar]

I did try starting a thread a while ago about what partnerships people would like to see if the RB stuck to set pairings rather than the current frequent swappings, but it didn't take off.

[Geoff]

5 hours ago, Sim said:

Morera has for the last decade at least been my 'unsung hero' of the RB.  Such an accomplished dance actress, such strong technique, such dedication and a real company player.  I just don't understand why she has never achieved the fame or recognition of other dancers, even though she doesn't do social media.  Her interpretations in particular of MacMillan are virtually unsurpassed, and she is one of the few who can really dance Ashton IMHO (I am hoping Francesca Hayward and others will be putting this mantle around their shoulders).  I will say again that my big regret for her and for us is that she never got the chance to dance Juliet. 

 

John, Sim, you probably noticed at the time: in the June edition of Dancing Times Clement Crisp was invited in interview to compare todays’s dancers with the great names of the past he saw in his very long career as a critic. He chose...Morera, who is, he said, “someone in whom the music lives, it is a nurturing liquid for her and it is wonderful to behold”.

[JohnS]

Thank you Geoff - I hadn’t seen that.  What a wonderful tribute.

[Jamesrhblack]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

On the one hand I imagine settled partnerships can achieve the special qualities that Sim describes, but on the other hand perhaps there is a risk of staleness and lack of new interpretation ? Haven't we been critical at times of certain RB partnerships being too fixed, come what may the production? Maybe this is an interesting topic that deserves its own thread.

 

Sibley and Dowell were universally acknowledged, quite rightly as magical together, but I saw Sibley with Wall a couple of times (and there’s a Manon Bedroom Pas de Deux on a grainy YouTube video from the Met) and he did bring something different out of her...

[JNC]

7 hours ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Hayward, Campbell; Magri, Coralles (on the strength of their Mistress, Lescaut performance); I think Fumi Kaneko, who looked gorgeous on World Ballet Day yesterday, would work well with Reece Clarke: such elegant dancers. And almost everybody seems to love Naghdi with Ball....

 

I agree re Clarke and Kaneko - both tall and very elegant looking. Not sure if you’re aware but they’re actually a couple in real life which I think makes their partnership even more special! I know when Takada and Ella danced Giselle together they found it incredibly special due to the fact they also are in a relationship in real life. Although of course there are many great partnerships on stage only! 

 

(hope it’s ok to post this even though it’s their personal lives as if you look at their instagrams it’s quiet open they are together but mods please remove if it’s felt this isn’t appropriate to share!) 

 

I think it’s good to develop some partnerships - I see Naghdi/Ball, Hayward and Campbell and Corrales respectively, O’Sullivan and Sambé, as well as (no one has mentioned) Nuñez and Muntagirov are frequently cast together and I presume will continue to be. However I think it’s good to also keep things a little flexible too - so Corrales also with Magri, perhaps Nuñez with Ball and other partnerships. 

 

I wonder if dancers preferences on partnerships are taken into account by O’Hare? 

[Shya100]

15 minutes ago, JNC said:

 

I agree re Clarke and Kaneko - both tall and very elegant looking. Not sure if you’re aware but they’re actually a couple in real life which I think makes their partnership even more special! I know when Takada and Ella danced Giselle together they found it incredibly special due to the fact they also are in a relationship in real life. Although of course there are many great partnerships on stage only! 

 

(hope it’s ok to post this even though it’s their personal lives as if you look at their instagrams it’s quiet open they are together but mods please remove if it’s felt this isn’t appropriate to share!) 

 

I think it’s good to develop some partnerships - I see Naghdi/Ball, Hayward and Campbell and Corrales respectively, O’Sullivan and Sambé, as well as (no one has mentioned) Nuñez and Muntagirov are frequently cast together and I presume will continue to be. However I think it’s good to also keep things a little flexible too - so Corrales also with Magri, perhaps Nuñez with Ball and other partnerships. 

 

I wonder if dancers preferences on partnerships are taken into account by O’Hare? 

 

I am not sure about preference but height is always the first consideration. I would presume they would cease to continue if the personalities involved were volatile together or made things difficult for each other and everyone else. Or if it just didn't really work between the. It depends how high up you are I guess but I really don't know. The RB are interested in their dancers though. They give them opportunities and seem interested in what they want from their lives vis a vis giving time off last year to those in Cats. Promoting Campbell and McNally with their presenting interests. Maybe they do listen to them.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Shya100

[Jamesrhblack]

"I agree re Clarke and Kaneko - both tall and very elegant looking. Not sure if you’re aware but they’re actually a couple in real life which I think makes their partnership even more special!"

 

That I didn't know...

[RuthE]

On the couple of occasions when Nunez and Bonelli have accidentally ended up dancing together due to one or other of them replacing somebody else (a Swan Lake in 2012(?) springs to mind, when Nunez replaced Cuthbertson) it's resulted in a brilliant performance, so I wonder why it hasn't been done on purpose more often.

[capybara]

10 hours ago, JNC said:

I wonder if dancers preferences on partnerships are taken into account by O’Hare? 

 

The dancers are able to express a view but I guess that the Director's decision is final - in most cases, that is!!!!!!!!!!

[Dawnstar]

12 hours ago, JNC said:

 

I agree re Clarke and Kaneko - both tall and very elegant looking. Not sure if you’re aware but they’re actually a couple in real life which I think makes their partnership even more special! I know when Takada and Ella danced Giselle together they found it incredibly special due to the fact they also are in a relationship in real life. Although of course there are many great partnerships on stage only!

 

I think it's lovely when you get real-life couples appearing opposite each other on stage, whether it's dancers, singers or actors. It's a pity that none of the RB's couples (I can think of 4 couples & I daresay there may be more that I don't know about) seem to get to dance with each other very often, but I suppose with them all involving dancers of different ranks then it's not possible.

[Ingrid]

Hello everyone! I've been following this forum for a while and finally decided to be a part of it myself. 😊 I've always enjoyed reading your reviews and commentary and I would love to contribute too. Probably won't do it as often because I don't live anywhere near Englad but as a fan of the Royal Ballet I decided to join in regardless. My main form of contact with the Royal Ballet is through the live cinema relays (thank god they exist), DVDs, and all the content they put on youtube. Besides that, I saw  them live whenever I could for these past 5 years when I visited London.

 

Regarding the topic of partnerships I have some I like or would like to see more of: Marianela Nunez and Federico ( there are clips of different partnerships they did online , and I love all of them). Marcelino Sambe and Mayara Magri ( I don't think they have danced romantic roles opposite each other but I think both match each other in energy - they'll be dancing Swan Lake so I'll be curious to hear about that). Marcelino and Anna-Rose also proven they match. Matthew Ball and Yasmine Naghdi. Would love to see Magri and Corrales together so I'm glad people are enjoying them in Manon and have Coppélia to look forward. Fumi and Reece for me is one I never understood why they don't dance together more often since is no secret that not only they are in a relationship for years now but more than that they love to dance together ( and from the clips I've seen it's for a reason), I know it's not their decision to make though.

 

Now, the RB have some other real life couples in it's upper ranks that I would be curious to see together on stage, but maybe because they are more private or because they already have other stage partners they are constantly working with, it seems more unlikely to happen.

 

Please excuse any english mistakes and nice to meet you all.

[Sim]

Welcome to the forum, Ingrid!  We look forward to hearing more from you.

[alison]

Welcome, Ingrid, and never mind the odd mistake - not that I registered any  

[Anna C]

5 hours ago, RuthE said:

On the couple of occasions when Nunez and Bonelli have accidentally ended up dancing together due to one or other of them replacing somebody else (a Swan Lake in 2012(?) springs to mind, when Nunez replaced Cuthbertson) it's resulted in a brilliant performance, so I wonder why it hasn't been done on purpose more often.

 

I agree; their Manon in 2014 (?) was breathtakingly beautiful and I’m still grumpy that it wasn’t released on DVD, despite being live streamed. 

[Anna C]

20 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:

In my opinion Matthew Ball looks at his best dancing with Yasmine Naghdi (luckily we are getting them in Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia), they do have a chemistry which I don't feel when he dances with Lauren Cutbertson for example. I would love to see more of Vadim Muntagirov dancing with Yasmine Naghdi, two classical purist dancers with a beautiful classical line. Anna-Rose O'Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe too have a special chemistry, and Francesca Hayward with Alexander Campbell, they suit each other well (I haven't seen Hayward with Corrales). 

 

Re your point about Cuthbertson and Ball, Xandra, I do think they have chemistry together.  Wasn’t their Marguerite and Armand said to be rather wonderful? 

[Coated]

I'd prefer to see a mix of partnerships. If there is a strong affinity between dancers, it's great to cast them together for a larger proportion of performances, but not all of them. Keeps things interesting. 

 

The only partnership I have a hard time with at the moment is Hayward and Corrales - I just don't know who to focus on if they are not in the same location on stage and eyes start to swivel like a loon.

[JNC]

On 25/10/2019 at 07:39, Jamesrhblack said:

"I agree re Clarke and Kaneko - both tall and very elegant looking. Not sure if you’re aware but they’re actually a couple in real life which I think makes their partnership even more special!"

 

That I didn't know...

 

You may be interested in today’s Times Saturday Review (I’m sure it’ll be posted in today’s links) - Kaneko and Clarke are interviewed about their upcoming Sleeping Beauty performance as well as how their real life relationship plays into their dancing. 

 

Also (to take the thread further off track so apologies in advance, but it feeds into some casting/partnering discussion above) the same article has a couple of interesting points. I’m not sure if the writer (dance critic Debra Craine) has perhaps just used the phrases as embellishing statements and artistic licence rather than facts but if they are facts it’s quite interesting. 

 

For example, Craine mentions Clarke is in “great demand” as a partner and later goes onto say Kaneko was surprised O’Hare partnered her with Clarke because “the female principal dancers are ahead of her in the queue when it comes to picking a partner.” 

 

Whilst obviously this makes clear O’Hare has the final day (as one would expect!) it seems to indicate that dancers (principals at least) are given a preference on who they partner with and that feeds into O’Hare’s decision which I think is quite nice. (Subject to it being fair and certain dancers not always getting their way above others in the same rank at least!)

 

Anyway it was a really nice article, they seem like very lovely people and I hope they get to dance more together on the ROH stage too, as their real life relationship aside I do think they are physically and artistically suited (long-limbed, graceful dancers etc but also precise). 

 

Oh and the article also clears up that Clarke was down to do Romeo and Juliet last year but didn’t because of an injury (although I forget if this was common knowledge or not, but at least it wasn’t for me!). I wonder who he was down to be partnered with? Perhaps Nuñez as didn’t she end up dancing with the Bolshoi guest artist? I actually think Clarke/Nuñez could work quite well as then perhaps Muntagirov could explore other partnerships too as they always seem to be together in the classics at least? (I do like their partnership to be fair.) 

 

Anyway I hope Kaneko’s debut as Aurora goes well, I’m slightly sad not to see it now, and as both have expressed a desire to make it principal wish them both well in their journeys ( their casting certainly is positive anyway!). 

 

And sorry again to take the thread further off track! I was going to put it in Autumn Casting but felt it followed on better here from discussions above but mods please feel free to move if you think differently! 

[Jamesrhblack]

31 minutes ago, JNC said:

 

You may be interested in today’s Times Saturday Review (I’m sure it’ll be posted in today’s links) - Kaneko and Clarke are interviewed about their upcoming Sleeping Beauty performance as well as how their real life relationship plays into their dancing. 

 

Also (to take the thread further off track so apologies in advance, but it feeds into some casting/partnering discussion above) the same article has a couple of interesting points. I’m not sure if the writer (dance critic Debra Craine) has perhaps just used the phrases as embellishing statements and artistic licence rather than facts but if they are facts it’s quite interesting. 

 

For example, Craine mentions Clarke is in “great demand” as a partner and later goes onto say Kaneko was surprised O’Hare partnered her with Clarke because “the female principal dancers are ahead of her in the queue when it comes to picking a partner.” 

 

Whilst obviously this makes clear O’Hare has the final day (as one would expect!) it seems to indicate that dancers (principals at least) are given a preference on who they partner with and that feeds into O’Hare’s decision which I think is quite nice. (Subject to it being fair and certain dancers not always getting their way above others in the same rank at least!)

 

Anyway it was a really nice article, they seem like very lovely people and I hope they get to dance more together on the ROH stage too, as their real life relationship aside I do think they are physically and artistically suited (long-limbed, graceful dancers etc but also precise). 

 

Oh and the article also clears up that Clarke was down to do Romeo and Juliet last year but didn’t because of an injury (although I forget if this was common knowledge or not, but at least it wasn’t for me!). I wonder who he was down to be partnered with? Perhaps Nuñez as didn’t she end up dancing with the Bolshoi guest artist? I actually think Clarke/Nuñez could work quite well as then perhaps Muntagirov could explore other partnerships too as they always seem to be together in the classics at least? (I do like their partnership to be fair.) 

 

Anyway I hope Kaneko’s debut as Aurora goes well, I’m slightly sad not to see it now, and as both have expressed a desire to make it principal wish them both well in their journeys ( their casting certainly is positive anyway!). 

 

And sorry again to take the thread further off track! I was going to put it in Autumn Casting but felt it followed on better here from discussions above but mods please feel free to move if you think differently! 

Just read the very nice article and was about to flag it up on here! Late to the party as usual 🙂