Royal Ballet Sleeping Beauty, 2019-20

[zxDaveM]

ah right - shows how out-of-date I am!

[capybara]

1 hour ago, alison said:

I'd suspected as much - something respiratory at least - when Kevin O'Hare said he'd been advised not to perform.  That phrasing has been used a few times recently, and does seem to rule out other such ailments as upset stomachs and so on.

 

Various versions of 'a cold' have been running through the RB for weeks now. Some dancers, including Principals, have decided to perform with the virus, others (very understandably) have not.

[Richard LH]

 

5 hours ago, FLOSS said:

He may be a bit dim but he is the right prince in the right place at the right time

 

Indeed ... and actually his dimness is rather endearing !  I still chuckle, every performance,  when at first he seems unable to spot Aurora on the bed, then he seems surprised to find that she  is sleeping and doesn't know what to do about it, until Lilac Fairy  effectively mimes  that he should just use his noddle!    I suspect she has already had to explain his role to him, several times over,  during their carbon-neutral* journey through the enchanted forest..... 

 

* which is commendable, and  contrasts very favourably  with  Carabosse's vehicle, which is obviously  high-emission and also hopelessly inefficient as it has to be helped along by the rats...

 

Incidentally, does anyone know how (in reality) Lilac Fairy's vehicle moves so seamlessly around  the  ROH stage ? Are there a couple of stage hands hidden in the rear, pushing it along, for example?

 

[bangorballetboy]

1 minute ago, Richard LH said:

 

Incidentally, does anyone know how (in reality) Lilac Fairy's vehicle moves so seamlessly around  the  ROH stage ? 

 

 

Yes, I do, but it’s what is known as a “trick of the trade”.

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Also a new dancer for me at least the first time she has really come to my notice and that was Mariko Sasaki who danced in the trio Florestan and his sisters a lovely bright variation from her

Yes she really stood out for me in this role in the Hayward  Naghdi/ Campbell cast. Bright, as you say, and very good at projecting to the audience, I thought. 

[Richard LH]

5 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Yes, I do, but it’s what is known as a “trick of the trade”.

 

But if you were to share, it could be  be our little secret .....😉

[SugarPlum2000]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

I am puzzled though as in the programme and cast list it doesn’t indicate that it was O’Sullivans debut....there is normally an asterisk by the name indicating that it’s a first performance in a role but there was certainly no such asterisk in mine. 

A friend posted a photo of her cast sheet onto social media last night and her cast sheet displayed an asterisk next to O’Sullivans name.

[Geoff]

18 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 it’s what is known as a “trick of the trade”

 

...which has been explained more than once by the ROH over the years (at an Insight, in the Friends magazine and so on) One can probably find it online.

[Lizbie1]

 

4 minutes ago, SugarPlum2000 said:

A friend posted a photo of her cast sheet onto social media last night and her cast sheet displayed an asterisk next to O’Sullivans name.

 

Strange - there's none on mine, unless you mean the asterisk by "Princess Aurora", which signifies sponsorship of the role.

[SugarPlum2000]

9 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

 

Strange - there's none on mine, unless you mean the asterisk by "Princess Aurora", which signifies sponsorship of the role.

Ah, maybe that was what it was. Having seen An asterisk on the ENB cast sheets last week for the debut and the fact the one last night was next to aurora I made the assumption it was for Anna-Roses debut 😅

[Jane S]

19 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

 

 

Indeed ... and actually his dimness is rather endearing !

 

 

I always think Florimund is wrongly maligned: to my eyes he isn't dim at all (he's a Royal Prince, after all...)  - dazed, possibly, but then who wouldn't be? He's been dancing with apparitions, been led through a dark and threatening forest, then walked through a palace full of apparently dead people in the clothes of the previous century - all with no idea where this is leading - no wonder he doesn't instantly catch on who Aurora is and what he's supposed to do about it. We know, but then we've read the book.

 

(I also like the idea that his lightbulb moment is not because he's figured out what to do - he's remembered it: he's heard the story of the sleeping  princess who can oly be awakened by a prince's kiss and he suddenly realises that it's now real and that he can be  the one to break the spell. In fact when someone asks me to do a production of the ballet, he will be a descendant - great-grandson perhaps - of one of the Rose Adagio princes - they presumably were out of range of the spell after carrying Aurora offstage so  escaped to their homes, married other princesses and passed the story down to their children etc.)

 

 

[LinMM]

Yes that asterisk was saying who sponsored the role not that it was her debut.

if they have stopped doing it I think it’s a bit mean to be honest. 

[LinMM]

That’s a nice understanding post Jane S the protector of Fairy Tale Princes! Makes me feel a bit mean now! 

[zxDaveM]

49 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

 

Incidentally, does anyone know how (in reality) Lilac Fairy's vehicle moves so seamlessly around  the  ROH stage ? Are there a couple of stage hands hidden in the rear, pushing it along, for example?

 

 

a handful of White Lodge students chained up inside, electronically spurred on by a device in Lilac's wand...

[bridiem]

2 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

a handful of White Lodge students chained up inside, electronically spurred on by a device in Lilac's wand...

 

'Lilac' makes her sound like a dodgy character in a James Bond film. (Especially if she has something hidden in her wand...).  

[LinMM]

Going back a bit apart from the clarity of her performance I was particularly impressed with the way Sasaki covered that stage such a mover! 

[maryrosesatonapin]

1 hour ago, Jane S said:

 

he isn't dim at all (he's a Royal Prince, after all...) 

 

 

No comment

[Jane S]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

 Jane S the protector of Fairy Tale Princes!

 

Yes, and I also believe that Siegfried couldn't possibly have known that Odlie wasn't Odette.

 

Can't do much for Albrecht, though.

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

 

But if you were to share, it could be  be our little secret .....😉

 

Nothing to be shy about! I used to think that it was electronically controlled but the excessively high back gives the game away.

[capybara]

Also impressive at the matinee was Joseph Aumeer (Lilac Fairy's Cavalier).

 

[ninamargaret]

2 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Yes, I do, but it’s what is known as a “trick of the trade”.

Obviously it's a more efficient system than the one in SB many years ago which often got stuck and moved in fits and starts - hardly seamless!

[Mary]

38 minutes ago, capybara said:

Also impressive at the matinee was Joseph Aumeer (Lilac Fairy's Cavalier).

 

I agree- I think LinMM has pointed out his excellence above.

 

 

 

[alison]

3 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

funny - we were chatting about this the other day, at interval time. The consensus was that the asterix against a debut performance has long gone. Though I couldn't tell you when they were last there. I think they still appear in casting lists in the Friends 'About the House' magazine - though as I'm not a Friend, I don't see that mag anymore, so they might have gone there as well (at the same time?)

 

We've discussed this a number of times on here: I don't think the RB has ever (or at least as long as I've been going) marked debuts on the cast sheet.  ENB, however, does.  The RB/ROH marks them in the original casting announcement, which is of course subject to change.

[LinMM]

Yes Capybara have mentioned Joseph previously in thread  he is a fine dancer and hope to see more of him. 
sorry just seen posting at same time as Mary! 

Edited December 6, 2019 by LinMM

[alison]

41 minutes ago, capybara said:

Also impressive at the matinee was Joseph Aumeer (Lilac Fairy's Cavalier).

 

 

That said, though, the cavaliers seemed to have gone back to their lack of synchronicity of some years ago.  (Isn't it funny how quickly we acclimatise to dancers actually dancing together?)

[Geoff]

2 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

Obviously it's a more efficient system than the one in SB many years ago which often got stuck and moved in fits and starts - hardly seamless!

 

And in the opera La Donna Del Lago at the ROH in the early 1980s there was a radio controlled boat which worked perfectly throughout rehearsals but conked out on opening night. The soprano made a less than wholly dignified first entrance, standing astride a member of the production team in the bottom of her boat who was steering furiously to get it across the stage. 

 

(Sorry, back to Sleeping Beauty now)

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Geoff

[capybara]

1 hour ago, alison said:

 

That said, though, the cavaliers seemed to have gone back to their lack of synchronicity of some years ago.  (Isn't it funny how quickly we acclimatise to dancers actually dancing together?)

 

Well, the first step in that must surely be to cast cavaliers of a similar height together. The aero-dynamics of a taller dancer (e.g. Joseph Aumeer) are always going to have different 'look' from the shorter men alongside him (who, incidentally, weren't 'together' either yesterday!!!).

[MargaretN7]

6 hours ago, Richard LH said:

 

 

Incidentally, does anyone know how (in reality) Lilac Fairy's vehicle moves so seamlessly around  the  ROH stage ? Are there a couple of stage hands hidden in the rear, pushing it along, for example?

 

I attended an insight with the props department when they were preparing this production, began in the Clore then moved up to their workshops. That large section at the back of the Lilac Fairy's vehicle (look away now if you don't want to know the answer) is

 

for a mobility scooter driven by an intrepid stage hand.

And when it was pointed out to us that Aurora's grown-up bed hangings were the same colour scheme as her cradle, (anyone noticed that?) I did wonder why she hadn't changed them. 

[Springbourne3]

I’m going to tomorrow evening’s performance and just wondered if there’s a more detailed cast list ‘somewhere’ on the ROH website - thanks all.

[alison]

Sorry, Margaret.  I was trying to put Spoiler tags on your post, but it hasn't worked too well, and I can't see how to undo it

[JohnS]

 

I was wondering what to post after yesterday’s debut and was delighted to see this Instagram post.  I think the photo really captures Anna-Rose’s joy in celebration of such a special occasion - simply a privilege to be in the audience and many thanks to Susan for her post.

[bangorballetboy]

11 hours ago, MargaretN7 said:

And when it was pointed out to us that Aurora's grown-up bed hangings were the same colour scheme as her cradle, (anyone noticed that?) I did wonder why she hadn't changed them.

 

Because the colour scheme is lilac...

[penelopesimpson]

10 hours ago, JohnS said:

 

I was wondering what to post after yesterday’s debut and was delighted to see this Instagram post.  I think the photo really captures Anna-Rose’s joy in celebration of such a special occasion - simply a privilege to be in the audience and many thanks to Susan for her post.

gorgeous pics