RuthE Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 The Royal Ballet has reported on Twitter that Reece Clarke has been promoted to First Soloist. 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nycitybird Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Can't believe he wasn't a first soloist already as he does so many principal roles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Well, that's unusual, to have it happen mid-season, but it's overdue, considering other dancers who are already at First Soloist level. Congratulations to him. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Reece is replacing Vadim as Onegin. This is big news for Reece. Many congratulations. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Well deserved. A hearty 'hear, hear' from this quarter. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) Text from Graham Watts on Facebook .... Congratulations to Reece Clarke who has been promoted to First Soloist of The Royal Ballet. Born in Scotland, Reece trained at The Royal Ballet School and graduated into the Company during the 2013/14 Season and was promoted to First Artist in 2016 and Soloist in 2017. Clarke grew up in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire. He trained at the Janis Ridley School of Dance in Scotland before joining The Royal Ballet School. Awards while at the School included the Young British Dancer of the Year in 2012, the Lynn Seymour Award in 2013 and an award from the Ballet Association. Awards since joining the Company have included the Emerging Artist Award at the 2016 Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. His roles with the Company include Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty), Prince (The Nutcracker), Aminta (Sylvia), Polixenes (The Winter’s Tale), Espada (Don Quixote) Des Grieux (Manon) as well as Principal roles in Concerto, After the Rain and Symphonic Variations. Reece replaces Vadim Muntagirov as Onegin on Saturday 18 January, Friday 7 February and Wednesday 12 February. Additionally, Itziar Mendizabal replaces Lauren Cuthbertson as Tatiana on Saturday 18 January (matinee), Saturday 22 February and Saturday 29 February. On Tuesday 21st January, Saturday 8th February and Thursday 27th February Reece Clarke is replaced by Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød as Prince Gremin. The rest of the cast remains unchanged. Casting for Dances at a Gathering by Jerome Robbins has also been confirmed. On Monday 17 February, Tuesday 18 February, Tuesday 25 February and Wednesday 4 March, the cast comprises Marianela Nuñez Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Fumi Kaneko, Laura Morera, Alexander Campbell, William Bracewell, Federico Bonelli, Valentino Zucchetti and Luca Acri. On Friday 28 February and Wednesday 4 March, the cast comprises Sarah Lamb, Mayara Magri, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Tierney Tierney Heap, Marcelino Sambe, Nicol Edmonds, Reece Clarke, Benjamin Ella and James Hay Edited January 7, 2020 by FionaE My typo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Very well deserved and about time too, in my humble opinion! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I am sure this has to do with the fact that he is going to do Onegin; highly unusual for a promotion to happen mid-season. I am absolutely thrilled for him; it's way overdue. Very sad not to see Vadim as Onegin, but what a great opportunity for Reece. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Just now, Sim said: Very sad not to see Vadim as Onegin, but what a great opportunity for Reece. Vadim is a lovely dancer in absolutely everything, but somehow Reece strikes me as more suited to the character... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, RuthE said: Vadim is a lovely dancer in absolutely everything, but somehow Reece strikes me as more suited to the character... I would very much rather see them both actually dance in the roles before coming to a view on that. Delighted for Reece Clarke, but very disappointed not to see Vadim Muntagirov in Onegin. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_New Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Vadim was a superb Lensky, and the choreography for that role seemed to suit him so well. It would have been interesting to see him as Onegin, but Lensky was such a good fit for him IMHO. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Very well deserved - clearly this has been anticipated for some time - just surprised it didn’t happen last summer ! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Congratulations to Reece. 👏 Are we permitted to speculate about why this great news has been announced in January? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Because it's just happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Well to state the obvious, gifting a role like Onegin to anyone below Principal is usually unthinkable. So a mere Soloist? I’d say his promotion to First Soloist was the minimum that had to be done! Plus he is also performing in Japan shortly in Hikaro Kobayashi’s curated shows. All the other participants are principals or first soloists. It’s going to create more of a problem for the next round of principal male promotions .... quite a few in the frame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 FionaE thanks for your info but you have two casts for Dances at a Gathering for 4th March! The 4th March is the Lamb O Sullivan cast. Also just heard of Reece replacing Vadim on 12th Feb from ROH I will be disappointed not to see Vadim in this role but am equally pleased for Reece ...I think he’s going to be good in this role. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 He was in the frame whatever his ranking, surely? Anyway, Onegin has been danced by dancers below principal at the RB before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naomi M Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 21 minutes ago, FionaE said: Well to state the obvious, gifting a role like Onegin to anyone below Principal is usually unthinkable. So a mere Soloist? I’d say his promotion to First Soloist was the minimum that had to be done! Plus he is also performing in Japan shortly in Hikaro Kobayashi’s curated shows. All the other participants are principals or first soloists. It’s going to create more of a problem for the next round of principal male promotions .... quite a few in the frame. Reece Clarke is not participating in the gala curated by Hikaru Kobayashi http://www.royal-ballet-stars.jp/cast.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamk Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 As others said, totally deserved and entirely overdue ! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletfanp Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Well done to Reece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Congratulations to Reece. He is always a pleasure to watch. Thrilled for him. 👍 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Naomi M said: Reece Clarke is not participating in the gala curated by Hikaru Kobayashi http://www.royal-ballet-stars.jp/cast.html oh dear must be my mistake .... I was sure I’d seen that he was 🙈 ah I see he is dancing with Fumi Kaneko in Nanjing China on 29th Jan. Not at all the same. Edited January 7, 2020 by FionaE More info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, alison said: He was in the frame whatever his ranking, surely? Anyway, Onegin has been danced by dancers below principal at the RB before. Yes, when the RB first acquired Onegin, a soloist took the title role (and very good he was too)*. Subsequently, Martin Harvey was cast, in more than one run. [* I'm sure than someone on here will be able to provide his name but I apologise for my memory lapse.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 20 minutes ago, capybara said: Yes, when the RB first acquired Onegin, a soloist took the title role (and very good he was too)*. Subsequently, Martin Harvey was cast, in more than one run. [* I'm sure than someone on here will be able to provide his name but I apologise for my memory lapse.] In the first RB run of Onegin, the Onegins were Adam Cooper, Johan Kobborg, Nathan Coppen and Robert Tewsley. Martin Harvey joined this list in the second run, six months later. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 3 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said: In the first RB run of Onegin, the Onegins were Adam Cooper, Johan Kobborg, Nathan Coppen and Robert Tewsley. Martin Harvey joined this list in the second run, six months later. Thank you, BBB. The soloist I had in mind was Nathan Coppen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 minutes ago, capybara said: Thank you, BBB. The soloist I had in mind was Nathan Coppen. Extremely elegant dancer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 You all might be interested in these, given the news: https://www.flickr.com/photos/royaloperahouse/albums/72157712560790361 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) Clarke certainly looks the part, especially in the last two photos. I wonder whether he was in line for promotion but it got delayed when he was injured & unfortunately missed all his Romeos last season. Frankly the RB could do with another tall male First Soloist, with all the others apart from Bracewell being on the shorter side! Edited January 7, 2020 by Dawnstar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Well I for one will be screaming at Tatiana to run off with him! 🤣❤️❤️ 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I have to say that he looks both ridiculously tall and ridiculously good-looking in these photos. I hope Osipova has good eyesight (for both reasons). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saodan Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Just stumbled across this. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-17436349/airdrie-born-ballet-student-reece-clarke-scoops-dance-title 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 46 minutes ago, Saodan said: Just stumbled across this. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-17436349/airdrie-born-ballet-student-reece-clarke-scoops-dance-title Really interesting! And amazing that all 4 boys went to the RBS. I wonder if any of the others became professional dancers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 9 minutes ago, bridiem said: Really interesting! And amazing that all 4 boys went to the RBS. I wonder if any of the others became professional dancers. Yes, some did but I haven't got the details. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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