Royal Ballet, Swan Lake, 2020

[redshoesgirl2]

3 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

Yes, tomorrow. It's still showing as Hallberg for the other Osipova nights

thanks so much. i wonder if he is still going to be dancing after he takes over in australia.

[Jan McNulty]

4 hours ago, redshoesgirl2 said:

thanks so much. i wonder if he is still going to be dancing after he takes over in australia.

Amelia posted this link about David Hallberg’s retirement from dancing in the thread about his appointment on the News forum:

 

https://www.gramilano.com/2020/03/david-hallberg-becomes-new-head-of-australian-ballet-farewell-gala-in-2021/

[San Perregrino]

I guess it’s a sign of the times when, at the end of Act 1 of Swan Lake, you go into the toilet humming Tchaikovsky and come out singing Happy Birthday without consciously having switched tunes in your head 🦢

[bangorballetboy]

Just now, prs59 said:

I guess it’s a sign of the times when, at the end of Act 1 of Swan Lake, you go into the toilet humming Tchaikovsky and come out singing Happy Birthday without consciously having switched tunes in your head 🦢

 

I'm now using the chorus of supercalifragilisticexpialidicious and three "um-diddle-iddle-iddle-um-diddle-ay"s (which allows for a key change)...

[Rob S]

 

 

[alison]

Oh dear.

[Shade]

Thanks for posting Rob S

[Rob S]

There were enough changes for the announcer to just refer us to the front of house for details  😆

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, prs59 said:

I guess it’s a sign of the times when, at the end of Act 1 of Swan Lake, you go into the toilet humming Tchaikovsky and come out singing Happy Birthday without consciously having switched tunes in your head 🦢

 

I found I had the opposite problem earlier today when I had the ending of Swan Lake so strongly stuck in my head, thanks to watching having watched the video of the multiple endings that was posted up-thread, that my brain wouldn't go onto Happy Birthday for handwashing purposes.

[Rob S]

The full Osipova fouetté display is back 😍

[bridiem]

6 minutes ago, Rob S said:

The full Osipova fouetté display is back 😍

 

It was breathtaking! 🎆

[LinMM]

I'm sure the ending of Swan Lake is just as good as Happy Birthday for hand washing purposes though may be a tad longer!! 

 

What other songs do people think may work for this ...perhaps "I will survive" or "it can only get better" 

Perhaps a new thread though .....unless certain refrains from Swan Lake could work?  Like the Spanish Dance? Or Cygnets perhaps? 

 

 

 

[standingticket]

Can I ask if Benno has been wearing dark leggings in act III in other performances this run so far? Ben Ella was tonight, and it is a definite improvement on the Nutcracker prince costume/cream leggings of the last run

 

On a different note, I thought Reece Clarke gave a fabulous debut tonight, and he was also the first person to make the new ending moving for me. It wasn't rushed and the impact was much greater.

 

Still in the last act, I do miss the exhilarating rush of swans to defeat Von Rothbart that comes with that big major sweep of music in act 4. It never failed to give me goosebumps in the Dowell production, and although there is still a similar entrance of the corps, it feels diluted somehow. 

 

Elsewhere, Isabella Gasparini danced all 4 acts as Siegfried's sister and a cygnet, and was wonderful. Melissa Hamilton stood out among the princesses, and Hay and O'sullivan were vivaciously wonderful in the Neopolitan dance. And Osipova's foettes were incredible. Took me right back to the first time I saw her dance with the Bolshoi. 

[Rob S]

15 minutes ago, standingticket said:

Can I ask if Benno has been wearing dark leggings in act III in other performances this run so far? Ben Ella was tonight, and it is a definite improvement on the Nutcracker prince costume/cream leggings of the last run

 

Yes he has 

[bridiem]

I also thought Reece Clarke's début was excellent - in fact you'd never have known it was a début. His dancing is so beautiful and musical and although he's so tall he always seems to have so much time to complete his movements. He's elegant and assured, and he acts well and partners strongly.

 

And what a partner he had! Osipova was phenomenal. She was the angriest Odette I've seen - vulnerable and loving, but also ragingly furious at her entrapment and trying desperately to use her wings/arms to beat her way out of her confinement. Dramatic and agonising. And then morphing into an Odile so apparently seductive that she sought to entrap Siegfried not just with her eyes but with her body and arms too, like an evil snake. And those fouettés!! She went off like a firecracker, pouring all her strength and power and determination into them and turning so fast she was almost a blur. Absolutely thrilling. Poor Siegfried didn't stand a chance. And in the final act, Odette's anguish is so deep that it transcends the personal - she seems to be expressing all the sadness and tragedy of the world. And her final resolve to commit suicide follows on inevitably. A monumental performance.

 

I enjoyed Benjamin Ella's light, bouncy Benno, and Gary Avis's dark, steely Von Rothbart. It was interesting that it was so clearly the moment when Siegfried said NO to Von Rothbart that the latter clutched his chest and began to transform into the evil sorcerer, as if that moment of failure propelled him into the darkness of his evil nature where he could dominate the swan maidens without fear of challenge. Chilling.

 

Anna Rose O'Sullivan and James Hay were fizzy and charismatic in the Neapolitan Dance, but I still felt it was slower than usual and that means it loses its pulse and rhythm and becomes almost laboured at times.

 

Claire Calvert and Mayara Magri were well matched and very musical as the big swans, and very touching when they supported Osipova/Odette in the final act. All the swans were superb again in fact, and seemed to form a single entity with their suffering queen. Brilliant.

 

 

[redshoesgirl2]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

I also thought Reece Clarke's début was excellent - in fact you'd never have known it was a début. His dancing is so beautiful and musical and although he's so tall he always seems to have so much time to complete his movements. He's elegant and assured, and he acts well and partners strongly.

 

...And those fouettés!! She went off like a firecracker, pouring all her strength and power and determination into them and turning so fast she was almost a blur. Absolutely thrilling. 

Gosh, i hope some of the production makes it onto youtube or facebook.

[Rob S]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Rob S

[JohnS]

Many thanks for posts and photos from last night - I hadn’t booked for the original Osipova cast but would love to see this cast. The website is still showing Hallberg for later performances but I take it that’s incorrect? 

[San Perregrino]

8 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Many thanks for posts and photos from last night - I hadn’t booked for the original Osipova cast but would love to see this cast. The website is still showing Hallberg for later performances but I take it that’s incorrect? 

I heard it at the ROH  last night that Hallberg has confirmed via his social media his next two performances and his Insight. That said however, world events are moving quickly and Hallberg is still in Australia. 

[capybara]

3 hours ago, prs59 said:

That said however, world events are moving quickly and Hallberg is still in Australia. 

 

I suspect that, given the response definition to the coronavirus outbreak will be changing today from 'contain' to 'delay', we shall be seeing a range of measures being introduced at the ROH itself.

But how lovely that people have been able to attend and enjoy two super performances this week and have shared them on here.

 

 

[Yrosered]

13 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

I suspect that, given the response definition to the coronavirus outbreak will be changing today from 'contain' to 'delay', we shall be seeing a range of measures being introduced at the ROH itself.

But how lovely that people have been able to attend and enjoy two super performances this week and have shared them on here.

 

 

Selfishly I am very much hoping for a bit longer of business as usual as I have amphi front row seats for next Sunday's matinee. A Sunday matinee is all that's doable for us in term time and they're pretty rare so I was thrilled to get these! And we have Geisha the night before as well... 

However, these are extraordinary times and there are far far bigger problems than ballet tickets obviously!

[Sim]

If the ROH were to close I would of course feel very sorry for myself, but much more sorry for all the dancers and staff who have worked so hard to prepare for Swan Lake.  I would feel especially sorry if those waiting to make their debuts were not able to and thus have to wait another year or two to do so....that would be soooo disappointing for them (and for us).

[Bruce Wall]

Scotland has just announced they are to limit gatherings of more than 500 people for a period.  

Edited March 12, 2020 by Bruce Wall

[Richard LH]

12 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Scotland has just announced they are to ban gatherings of more than 500 people for a period.  

Not sure if "announced ban" is quite the position yet...

From The Telegraph at 12:18

"Nicola Sturgeon has just told First Minister's Questions that the Scottish Government is likely to advise that from next week mass gatherings of 500 or more people should be cancelled"

 

[Bruce Wall]

Some might find this of interest:

 

https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2020/coronavirus-limit-stage-door-appearances-and-prohibit-backstage-guests/?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter1

[bangorballetboy]

18 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Some might find this of interest:

 

 

The ROH is already prohibiting the public entering the stage door in the usual fashion and Wigmore Hall has stopped public backstage access after concerts.

 

Let's get this thread back to Swan Lake.

[San Perregrino]

Received a little over an hour ago:

 

Dear Mr S,

The performance for which you booked is happening soon: The Royal Ballet's Swan Lake

When: Friday 20 March 2020 at 7.30pm

Where: Main Stage, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2E 9DD

Approximate performance timings:
The performance lasts about 3 hours, including two intervals.

Approximate end time: 10.30pm

Please Note:

Given the developing situation with the COVID-19 virus, customers are reminded to carry tissues with them and to wash their hands regularly as per government guidelines. Please do ask our staff if you need directions to the nearest bins or to toilets to wash your hands.

[penelopesimpson]

Magnificent pictures, Rob S

[capybara]

1 hour ago, prs59 said:

Received a little over an hour ago:

 

Well, this is astonishing. I am going tonight  and to daytime events next week but have received nothing. 

[San Perregrino]

11 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Well, this is astonishing. I am going tonight  and to daytime events next week but have received nothing. 

i agree as I don’t usually get such emails. dare I suggest that the ROH website has a virus? 😉

[Lizbie1]

Maybe it depends whether you have an e-ticket? I’ve noticed that they only send the e-ticket email (about a week ahead) then nothing more, whereas with paper tickets I’d get a reminder email a day or so ahead.

[RobR]

And, back to performances. 

I was there for Reece Clark’s debut as Siegfried. I’d originally booked this ticket without regard as to who was to perform. I think RB casts are uniformly good, albeit that some feature dancers whose performances I sometimes enjoy more than others.

 

So, it was with considerable pleasure that I learnt that Reece Clark was debuting. I thought he was excellent and, as an earlier poster remarked, it could as easily have been his twentieth performance as his first given, in my view, his competence and (justifiable) confidence. 
 

Apart from his dancing, which I enjoyed and admired, he acted the role convincingly - something that not all dancers, principals or otherwise, can manage although that was no great surprise having seen him recently as Onegin. 
 

What you had to be there to notice was the collective holding of breath by the audience during both his big numbers in Acts 1 & 2, coupled with the (almost audible) exhalation of relief and the applause that accompanied his successful completion of his performances; almost as though they were willing him on. 
 

A great debut. 

[bridiem]

Happy to see that my reaction to Wednesday evening's performance is shared by one Natalia Osipova . Her Instagram post: 'What a wonderful evening it was. With the best company and @reececlarke & @balletboy09 as my partners! A night to remember.'

 

I also saw a comment made by someone on Nunez's Instagram account, to the effect that it's so wonderful to see dancers giving their all and producing such brilliant performances at this incredibly difficult time. So true.