National Ballet of Canada at ROH summer 2020

[bridiem]

Delighted to see that the National Ballet of Canada are coming to the ROH (28 July-1 Aug 2020) with Nureyev's production of The Sleeping Beauty!

[Bruce Wall]

Hope we might catch a glimpse of Lunkina in this then

 

Richard, I understand details of the Heritage Programme are laid out in the Summer Magazine.  For those who aren't privileged with such a copy might you lay those out for us??? 

 

Seems an expiring mind would like to know

[bridiem]

1 minute ago, Bruce Wall said:

Hope we might catch a glimpse of Lunkina in this then

 

Richard, I understand details of the Heritage Programme are laid out in the Summer Magazine.  For those who aren't privileged with such a copy might you lay those out for us??? 

 

Seems an expiring mind would like to know

 

I've just put the details in the Spring Season Casting thread (though no casting yet). (No idea about which season is which any more I'm afraid!).

[alison]

Oooh ...  It's a while since the Nureyev Sleeping Beauty's been over here.  La Scala, sometime after the house reopened, but I can't remember when.

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I've just put the details in the Spring Season Casting thread (though no casting yet). (No idea about which season is which any more I'm afraid!).

 

For Main Stage ROH ballet at least,  an extended "Autumn" ends 16 January, with the last performance  of The Sleeping Beauty.

"Winter"  has yet to arrive...it manages to  hold off until 18 January (Onegin)  and  then extends to 16 May, the last night of Swan Lake!

Meanwhile "Spring" encroaches  into  "Winter" by starting with the Triple Bill on 02 April,  ending  01 June (last Dante Project).

 

No wonder the website has given up with Seasons.... 

 

Perhaps it's all to do with climate change?

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Richard LH

[bridiem]

13 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

 

For Main Stage ROH ballet at least,  an extended "Autumn" ends 16 January, with the last performance  of The Sleeping Beauty.

"Winter"  has yet to arrive...it manages to  hold off until 18 January (Onegin)  and  then extends to 16 May, the last night of Swan Lake!

Meanwhile "Spring" encroaches  into  "Winter" by starting with the Triple Bill on 02 April,  ending  01 June (last Dante Project).

 

No wonder the website has given up with Seasons.... 

 

Perhaps it's all to do with climate change?

 

[JohnS]

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

No wonder the website has given up with Seasons.... 

 

I may well have missed the point on all this but if you go into ‘What’s on/Tickets and events’ you can still use ‘filter’ and select the season that’s of interest.

[Lizbie1]

Just now, JohnS said:

 

I may well have missed the point on all this but if you go into ‘What’s on/Tickets and events’ you can still use ‘filter’ and select the season that’s of interest.

 

It was just that the season page was a nice, simple, at-a-glance view of main stage productions organised by booking period, and a simple way in to finding any given production without having to click 5 times then scroll around.

[Shade]

This SB sounds interesting

[Don Q Fan]

I can't see a post about NBC on the spring casting thread 🤔

Could a link to the post be put in here to save hassle going to another thread? 

[jmhopton]

3 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

It was just that the season page was a nice, simple, at-a-glance view of main stage productions organised by booking period, and a simple way in to finding any given production without having to click 5 times then scroll around.

 

Just what I think Lizbie and have said so (twice now in the last 2 days) to Graham Boland,  Customer Services Manager. He said the old calendar link had been removed and gave me the link to the 'new calendar option which makes it easier to see what is coming up' (his words). I've just replied and said the new calendar seem to rely on you knowing what day you want to attend,  whereas I loved the clarity and simplicity of the old calendar when all productions are laid out and you can see at a glance how the season fits together, and if you want to know casting/seat availability for a specific production you can just click on that production and it's there without endless scrolling through the ordinary website. he said he'd pass my comments on to the web designers but I'm not holding my breath. I asked why the ROH couldn't have both systems as the good one is only one page so I'll see what he says. As I said to him, coming on the same day as the news of Vadim's non appearance in Onegin (devastating for me) it's been a hugely disappointing ROH day.

[Richard LH]

3 hours ago, JohnS said:

 

I may well have missed the point on all this but if you go into ‘What’s on/Tickets and events’ you can still use ‘filter’ and select the season that’s of interest.

But as Lizbie points out, John, not the same as the at-a-glance pages that were available before....which covered past years' seasons as well,  now all gone.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Richard LH

[David]

14 hours ago, jmhopton said:

 

I loved the clarity and simplicity of the old calendar when all productions are laid out and you can see at a glance how the season fits together, and if you want to know casting/seat availability for a specific production you can just click on that production and it's there without endless scrolling through the ordinary website.

 

 

Exactly. It was always my first port of call, so much more so when the old site was replaced by the current bloated, self-indulgent monstrosity that has no regard for its users and its primary function, only for the self-esteem of its designers, and presumably of the Managers who commissioned it and seem intent on bringing the House into disrepute.  

Edited January 8, 2020 by David

[jmhopton]

To get back to the original thread about the NBC visit I find I am in danger of becoming (or have already become) a Grumpy Old Woman re the ROH. Having been devastated by Vadim not dancing Onegin and cross about the removal of the calendar I'm now disappointed that if NBC are coming they're not also dancing The Merry Widow which is one of my favourite ballets and the only really favourite ballet I haven't seen live. The nearest we've got is the cinema broadcast from Australian Ballet last year but I would have loved to see it at the ROH. We've just seen our excellent RB Sleeping Beauty but will probably never get the chance to see The Merry Widow unless NBC or Australian Ballet bring it over here. I've very fond memories of my old VHS recording with Karen Kain which I transferred to dvd and still love watching. It would have been great to see it live and very (very) slightly made up for not seeing Vadim in Onegin. I know touring is massively expensive and the sets and costumes are so opulent it would have been a huge financial outlay to bring them and they may not have recouped their costs which are a lot easier to guarantee for Sleeping beauty as has been seen with the latest sell out run by the RB despite massively inflated ticket prices. Still it would have been a great summer treat to look forward to.

[David]

15 hours ago, Don Q Fan said:

I can't see a post about NBC on the spring casting thread 🤔

Could a link to the post be put in here to save hassle going to another thread? 

Can I echo this please. Do we actually know what they are bringing? Is there information re   the the NBC visit  somewhere on the ROH website?  If so can someone help with the link please.

[RuthE]

15 hours ago, Don Q Fan said:

I can't see a post about NBC on the spring casting thread 🤔

Could a link to the post be put in here to save hassle going to another thread? 

 

4 minutes ago, David said:

Can I echo this please. Do we actually know what they are bringing? Is there information re   the the NBC visit  somewhere on the ROH website?  If so can someone help with the link please.

 

I think bridiem's reference to the Spring casting thread may have been related to her statement about the Heritage programme, not NBC's visit.

[bridiem]

There's an advert for the NBC performances in the ROH magazine but I don't know if they're shown on the ROH website yet. The season is presented by Victor Hochhauser and information is apparently on that website though I haven't looked. (I don't quite understand Don Q Fan's post I'm afraid.)

[bridiem]

5 minutes ago, RuthE said:

I think bridiem's reference to the Spring casting thread may have been related to her statement about the Heritage programme, not NBC's visit.

 

Ah, I see! Yes, it was about the Heritage programme.

[Jan McNulty]

It was ever so easy to find the information about the NBoC visit on the ROH website - I just clicked on "See all ballet and dance" and scrolled to the end.

 

To link a page.  Copy the URL of the page you wish to link.  Paste it into your post.  Easy peasy lemon squeeze.

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/the-sleeping-beauty-by-national-ballet-of-canada-details

[Dawnstar]

25 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

To get back to the original thread about the NBC visit I find I am in danger of becoming (or have already become) a Grumpy Old Woman re the ROH. Having been devastated by Vadim not dancing Onegin and cross about the removal of the calendar I'm now disappointed that if NBC are coming they're not also dancing The Merry Widow which is one of my favourite ballets and the only really favourite ballet I haven't seen live. The nearest we've got is the cinema broadcast from Australian Ballet last year but I would have loved to see it at the ROH. We've just seen our excellent RB Sleeping Beauty but will probably never get the chance to see The Merry Widow unless NBC or Australian Ballet bring it over here. I've very fond memories of my old VHS recording with Karen Kain which I transferred to dvd and still love watching. It would have been great to see it live and very (very) slightly made up for not seeing Vadim in Onegin. I know touring is massively expensive and the sets and costumes are so opulent it would have been a huge financial outlay to bring them and they may not have recouped their costs which are a lot easier to guarantee for Sleeping beauty as has been seen with the latest sell out run by the RB despite massively inflated ticket prices. Still it would have been a great summer treat to look forward to.

 

That would have been lovely. I've not seen The Merry Widow as a ballet but I love it as an operetta so would be very interested to see what the ballet version is like. It would also be more interesting if they did something, anything, that wasn't also in the RB's rep. That is why I chose to see Spartacus & The Bright Stream when the Bolshoi came over last summer, rather than Swan Lake or Don Q.

[Blossom]

It does seem somewhat silly to dance Sleeping Beauty when there has been a long Royal Ballet run this season. Had hoped to see something new with such a top heavy first half of the season. 
 

I assume the aim is to interest as broad an audience as possible though, which I suppose will always make the visiting repertoire unoriginal (and no doubt pricey).

[bangorballetboy]

1 minute ago, Blossom said:

It does seem somewhat silly to dance Sleeping Beauty when there has been a long Royal Ballet run this season. Had hoped to see something new with such a top heavy first half of the season. 
 

I assume the aim is to interest as broad an audience as possible though, which I suppose will always make the visiting repertoire unoriginal (and no doubt pricey).

 

Pretty much sums up the conversations I had last night!

[Blossom]

Just now, bangorballetboy said:

 

Pretty much sums up the conversations I had last night!

Glad I am not alone in my grump!

[Mary]

Not alone at all.

 

It is marvellous to have the Canadian ballet- I have never seen them and would like to very much indeed.

But why Beauty??

I will have seen 4 performances this year already.

It is not at all equivalent to having a company with an offering of half a dozen ballets  - including a couple we rarely or never see here - as in previous Russian visits.

Maybe there is a large public to see another Beauty but I rather wonder about that.

 

Removing the Seasons page is just plain daft- does it save any time or money to remove it?

It was useful and well used- so what do they gain?

 

 

[Bruce Wall]

1 hour ago, Blossom said:

It does seem somewhat silly to dance Sleeping Beauty when there has been a long Royal Ballet run this season. Had hoped to see something new with such a top heavy first half of the season. 
 

I assume the aim is to interest as broad an audience as possible though, which I suppose will always make the visiting repertoire unoriginal (and no doubt pricey).

 

I saw that the prices were £8 to £120 which (if memory serves) was only a little less than the Bolshoi.  (Certainly the cheapest standing room for that was £10.) 

 

I would imagine this programming is largely targeted to the tourist market at that time of year.  Myself, I will be glad to see the Nureyev SB again.  I did see Obratsova and Sarafanov in it with La Scala when they were here ... but before that it was back in the days of Nureyev, Veronica Tennant and Karen Kain with NBoC and that WAS a long time ago ... Heady times they were (or so my memory would like to serve).  

 

In terms of catching up with the Canadian company at least SB does also offer a lot of soloist and demi-soloist possibilities and gives you a chance to really evaluate the state of the corps work.  That may have been the Company's factor when in discussion with the Hochhauser Organisation. 

 

It would have been nice if, perhaps, they brought Neumeier's Nijinsky (especially with Frola) as they did in Paris.  That too has so many different dancing possibilities - but I'm sure such would have been seen (with I fear some justification) as being too commercially risky.  

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Bruce Wall

[bridiem]

I'm really pleased they're bringing this SB - it's a rare (for me at least) opportunity to see the Nureyev production and as Bruce says it will give a really good picture of the strength of the company.

[RuthE]

15 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

I saw that the prices were £8 to £120 which (if memory serves) was only a little less than the Bolshoi.  (Certainly the cheapest standing room for that was £10.) 

 

I would imagine this programming is largely targeted to the tourist market at that time of year.

 

Will tourists flock to NBC in the same way that they flock to the Bolshoi, though?  For those who aren't ballet aficionados, the Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi (and possibly the Mariinsky) might be the only companies a lot of people have heard of.  Don't some of the prominent international companies which tour to e.g. the Coliseum have trouble selling tickets?

Edited January 8, 2020 by RuthE

[Bruce Wall]

29 minutes ago, RuthE said:

 

Will tourists flock to NBC in the same way that they flock to the Bolshoi, though?  For those who aren't ballet aficionados, the Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi (and possibly the Mariinsky) might be the only companies a lot of people have heard of.  Don't some of the prominent international companies which tour to e.g. the Coliseum have trouble selling tickets?

 

I think, Ruth, a big part of the selling factor IS the Opera House itself - and, of course, SB is a balletic standard.  I remember SFB selling very well at the opera house but sadly very poorly last year at Sadler's Wells.  Also the Sleeping Beauty will be sold as part of a ROH booking season.  In terms of marketing I fear the Coliseum does (at least in my experience) little for anyone.   I agree certainly that it is a greater risk than the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky (or practically anyone) doing Swan Lake.  

 

Time, of course, will tell.  It always does.  

Edited January 8, 2020 by Bruce Wall

[Dawnstar]

45 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

It would have been nice if, perhaps, they brought Neumeier's Nijinsky (especially with Frola) as they did in Paris.  That too has so many different dancing possibilities - but I'm sure such would have been seen (with I fear some justification) as being too commercially risky.  

 

 

I'd forgotten that Frola & Emma Hawes dance with the NBC as well as ENB. I wonder if they will be cast in SB or whether the NBC will choose to showcase dancers who UK audiences are less likely to have seen dance.

[LinMM]

I’m really pleased this company is coming and happy to see a different SB.

i think they will sell better at the ROH than if were at the Colisseum and it being summer and tourists and all the Opera House is better known  for ballet. 
Im wondering whether we might get a chance to see Shale Wagman who is back in Canada at mo recovering from a fractured foot bone he’s not with any Company at mo but perhaps he could guest with them? Just a thought. I hope so anyway. 

 

[Bruce Wall]

45 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'd forgotten that Frola & Emma Hawes dance with the NBC as well as ENB. I wonder if they will be cast in SB or whether the NBC will choose to showcase dancers who UK audiences are less likely to have seen dance.

 

I would imagine you would.  Here is principal casting from their last Toronto showing of the Nureyev SB in 2018.  (Some dancers have left, e.g., Tedaldi sadly - and Evan McKie (who some may remember from Stuttgart's last visit at the Wells) and Piotr Stanczyk were injured at that time.  I would hope that we might see both on the ROH stage as well.  Of course, there are new dancers too.) 

 

Princess Aurora
Heather Ogden (March 8, 14 at 7:30 pm/March 18 at 2:00 pm)
Svetlana Lunkina (March 9, 15 at 7:30 pm)
Jurgita Dronina† (March 10 at 2:00 pm)
Jillian Vanstone (March 10, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Xiao Nan Yu (March 11 at 2:00 pm/March 16 at 7:30 pm)
Elena Lobsanova* (March 13 at 7:30 pm)
Alexandra MacDonald* (March 17 at 2:00 pm)

 

Prince Florimund
Guillaume Côté (March 8, 14 at 7:30 pm/March 18 at 2:00 pm)
Harrison James (March 9, 15 at 7:30 pm)
Naoya Ebe (March 10 at 2:00 pm/March 13 at 7:30 pm)
Francesco Gabriele Frola (March 10, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Peng-Fei Jiang* (March 11 at 2:00 pm/March 16 at 7:30 pm)
Brendan Saye* (March 17 at 2:00 pm)

 

Bluebird
Francesco Gabriele Frola* (March 8, 14 at 7:30 pm)
Skylar Campbell (March 9 at 7:30 pm/March 17 at 2:00 pm) - now a principal
Kota Sato (March 10 at 2:00 pm/March 13 at 7:30 pm)
Siphesihle November* (March 10, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Naoya Ebe (March 11 at 2:00 pm/March 15 at 7:30 pm)
Dylan Tedaldi* (March 16 at 7:30 pm/March 18 at 2:00 pm)

 

Princess Florine
Emma Hawes (March 8, 14 at 7:30 pm)
Tina Pereira (March 9 at 7:30 pm/March 17 at 2:00 pm)
Jenna Savella* (March 10 at 2:00 pm/March 13 at 7:30 pm)
Miyoko Koyasu* (March 10, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Jillian Vanstone (March 11 at 2:00 pm/March 15 at 7:30 pm)
Rui Huang* (March 16 at 7:30 pm/March 18 at 2:00 pm)

 

*Debut †Company Debut +Guest Artist

Edited January 8, 2020 by Bruce Wall

[Dawnstar]

4 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

I would imagine you would.  Here is principal casting from their last Toronto showing of the Nureyev SB in 2018.  (Some dancers have left, e.g., Tedaldi sadly - and Evan McKie (who some may remember from Stuttgart's last visit at the Wells) and Piotr Stanczyk were injured at that time.  I would hope that we might see both on the ROH stage as well.  Of course, there are new dancers too.)

 

That might get me to go then! I thought Frola was terrific in Manon this time last year and he & Hawes lovely together in Cinderella in June. I'm booked to see them both in Le Corsaire on Saturday.

[Irmgard]

I, for one, am delighted NBOC is bringing Nureyev's "Sleeping Beauty" to London as it will be nostalgic in so many ways for me.  It was the production I grew up with and watched Kain many times as Aurora.  I was a dresser for their summer season of 'Beauty' before returning to the UK as a student so I got to know those fabulous costumes intimately!  It was also in the rep of LFB/ENB for many years and I thought it sad when it was jettisoned for the much less interesting production by MacMillan.  I saw many stars in the ballet and my abiding memory is of standing in the wings to watch Nureyev with Evdokimova because the Coliseum was completely sold out during the Nureyev and Friends season.

 

It would be interesting to see Hynd's "Merry Widow" but it is not a very challenging ballet for the dancers and I think Kain, during her final season as Artistic Director, will want to showcase the strengths of her dancers at all levels, and there is nothing like Nureyev's 'Beauty' for doing this, as anyone who has danced in it will tell you!