Silke H Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 the magic returns Facebook album Feel free to befriend me on Facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silke H Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 And here is the link to my Instagram IG - Nutcracker General Rehearsal 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Wonderful photos! Thank you, Rob S and ChrisG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 The tiers were on their feet cheering but the stalls stayed seated. Come on folks! It was a lovely performance all round and it felt sooooo good to be in the building with all those familiar faces on stage and in the pit giving their all for us. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Wonderful performances by all concerned (though Vadim needs to brush up on his walking backwards technique!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 10 minutes ago, ChrisG said: Wonderful performances by all concerned (though Vadim needs to brush up on his walking backwards technique!) The flowers should’ve magically moved away from him 😆 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 44 minutes ago, capybara said: The tiers were on their feet cheering but the stalls stayed seated. Come on folks! It was a lovely performance all round and it felt sooooo good to be in the building with all those familiar faces on stage and in the pit giving their all for us. Standing in the stalls can be a problem at curtain calls. Prods in the back. Hisses of sit down. I gave my bravos and bravis from the front row and I think one my favourite dancers heard me. Fabulous afternoon 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oncnp Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 13 minutes ago, Rob S said: The flowers should’ve magically moved away from him 😆 No damage done, I hope - to him or Nunez' flowers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPD444 Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Wonderful to be back, if a little strange. not used to seeing ice cream in the auditorium ( stalls anyway). I see the cast list had the wrong conductor ( Koessels not Wordsworth ) but was Joe Sissons the soldier? Nela and Vadream just superlative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oncnp Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 The Telegraph has a few quibbles..... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/magnificent-royal-ballet-nutcracker-trapped-covid-bubble/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 3 minutes ago, oncnp said: The Telegraph has a few quibbles..... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/magnificent-royal-ballet-nutcracker-trapped-covid-bubble/ Tempting to ask what does he expect in the current situation? Frankly we are lucky to have anything at all to see. Anyway I shall see for myself tomorrow ! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 2 hours ago, ChrisG said: Wonderful performances by all concerned (though Vadim needs to brush up on his walking backwards technique!) New curtain call and flower choreography obviously not rehearsed 🤣 Hope that Vadim's OK. The dance writer Graham Watts has put the very moment up on Instagram! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Tony Newcombe said: Standing in the stalls can be a problem at curtain calls. Prods in the back. Hisses of sit down. I gave my bravos and bravis from the front row and I think one my favourite dancers heard me. Fabulous afternoon She definitely did hear you, Tony! I thought that that was a lovely moment. She was gorgeous as The Rose Fairy. PS I often stand in the stalls if I think that I have seen something really special and, if people have a problem with that, they usually stand up too. Kevin O'Hare is still being quoted as recalling the standing ovation for the company on the 12th March and I suppose that I was hoping for something similar today to welcome the RB back in a 'full length' work. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 1 hour ago, capybara said: The dance writer Graham Watts has put the very moment up on Instagram! I got it too but I'd never put that kind of moment on Instagram!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 15 hours ago, MJW said: Tempting to ask what does he expect in the current situation? Frankly we are lucky to have anything at all to see. Anyway I shall see for myself tomorrow ! Sadly the article is behind a paywall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oncnp Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Sim said: Sadly the article is behind a paywall. In today's links I think. It seems to work if you use that link. Edited December 12, 2020 by oncnp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 6 minutes ago, Sim said: Sadly the article is behind a paywall. Look on the bright side. You don’t have to read it. I found it quite depressing in these depressing times. Revue in The Times is far more uplifting 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oncnp Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Tony Newcombe said: Look on the bright side. You don’t have to read it. I found it quite depressing in these depressing times. Revue in The Times is far more uplifting True. He seemed to spend most of his time whining about the COVID reworking...and that the bars were closed. Edited December 12, 2020 by oncnp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyTaylor Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I was lucky enough to attend yesterday's performance having booked blind in terms of casting, but just hoping that the 1st performance would have Gary Avis as Drosselmeyer, without whom for me, no Nutcracker is complete. The bonus of Marianela and Vadim plus two of my favourite dancers, James Hay and Anna Rose O'Sullivan in the other main roles was too good to be true! For me, it was a magical afternoon. As the curtain opened on the opening scene of Drosselmeyer grieving for his nephew, emotions were at a very high point. My two favourite moments of the ballet - the growth of the tree and the Clara/ Hans-Peter pdd were executed perfectly - and the wonderful music lifts emotions even higher (if that's possible). Yes, there are less dancers on stage in the new production: less children, angels, soldiers, rats etc but to carp at that necessity is to take things to a very negative mindset. Rather, feel sorry for all those dancers who were denied the opportunity to perform as usual. Also, was there less glitter than usual - what did anyone else think? The whole cast were on fire and the entire afternoon was a complete joy. The power and acting detail which Gary Avis brought to the performance as he led the story telling was superb and I found myself drawn to watching him in Act 1, in particular as his cape swished and twirled around the stage: no-one can do it better. Marianela and Vadim executed their technically difficult solos and pdds with exquisite accuracy and brought their usual unique radiance to the stage. The whole experience made the 2 hour drive out of London to home (only 25 miles) much more bearable. I normally take the train but don't trust it at present. I was still in an extremely happy mood - that wonderful feel good factor which live ballet brings. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 11 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said: that wonderful feel good factor which live ballet brings Many thanks JennyTaylor. Fabulous to read your post and very much looking forward to the ‘live-streaming’ which gives so many of us who are not currently going to the theatre that edge of the seat live experience at home even if it’s relayed a few hours after the performance. I’ll try to remember not to look at Ballet Forum that afternoon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 38 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said: Also, was there less glitter than usual - what did anyone else think? The whole cast were on fire and the entire afternoon was a complete joy. I think that having fewer snowflakes dancing perhaps made it seem longer than usual before the snow started to fall. But, as you say, Jenny, the fact that the cast was on fire was what mattered and what made the performance. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 16 hours ago, capybara said: She definitely did hear you, Tony! I thought that that was a lovely moment. She was gorgeous as The Rose Fairy. PS I often stand in the stalls if I think that I have seen something really special and, if people have a problem with that, they usually stand up too. Kevin O'Hare is still being quoted as recalling the standing ovation for the company on the 12th March and I suppose that I was hoping for something similar today to welcome the RB back in a 'full length' work. Agree but we should remember that not everyone can stand (or can stand easily). It takes me ages to persuade my legs to work after a performance and I love watching curtain calls but unless I can get seats in rows A or H of the stalls, I rarely get to see an unobscured curtain call because of people standing in front of me (more often to leave the auditorium than to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation). I’m so glad the first performance of “Covid-safe Nutcracker” was so wonderful - what a great cast! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Well it’s lovely to be back - first time since February 👏 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Anna C said: Agree but we should remember that not everyone can stand (or can stand easily). It takes me ages to persuade my legs to work after a performance and I love watching curtain calls but unless I can get seats in rows A or H of the stalls, I rarely get to see an unobscured curtain call because of people standing in front of me (more often to leave the auditorium than to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation). I’m so glad the first performance of “Covid-safe Nutcracker” was so wonderful - what a great cast! Anna C - just to say that I do relate to those behind me when I want to stand and would not dream of doing so regardless of other people. I turned round to check in the Stalls Circle yesterday but, of course, there was no one there! The ‘leaving the auditorium’ syndrome is a difficult one. Yes, there are trains to catch but, if so, timing one’s exit just as the curtain goes down is preferable to the sometimes mass exodus while the dancers are taking their bows. Interestingly, there was none of that yesterday. Really looking forward to hearing about the performance today (Sat). Edited December 12, 2020 by capybara 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPD444 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 1 hour ago, capybara said: Anna C - just to say that I do relate to those behind me when I want to stand and would not dream of doing so regardless of other people. I turned round to check in the Stalls Circle yesterday but, of course, there was no one there! The ‘leaving the auditorium’ syndrome is a difficult one. Yes, there are trains to catch but, if so, timing one’s exit just as the curtain goes down is preferable to the sometimes mass exodus while the dancers are taking their bows. Interestingly, there was none of that yesterday. Really looking forward to hearing about the performance today (Sat). I would think the lack of people leaving as soon as the performance ended was due to the request by the management that we should remain in our seats until the ushers said it was our turn to leave. Social distancing to be kept. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Sorry, Capybara, I may have missed something in the thread but I was in row J yesterday afternoon and from my vantage point I could see that the Stalls Circle seemed quite well populated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Although I have been up to London quite a few times since March - the most recent being Monday when I went to see the new exhibition at the Queen's Gallery (highly recommended by the way) - this afternoon's matinee was my first time back at Covent Garden. I wasn't sure what to expect but considerably less queuing than I anticipated and most people were in their seats in good time (save for a very late entrance on the other side of the Stalls!). Despite what the critic of the Telegraph said yesterday personally I think the Royal Ballet have done extraordinarily well in managing to put on a performance in the current climate. For those of us who have seen the Nutracker before its clear to see where it has been pared down or pieces cut but I don't really think it made much difference to the whole experience and no-one would have been short-changed. James Hay and Anna-Rose Sullivan make a lovely Hans-Peter and Clara and are a terrific pairing (I think the couple I have seen the most over the past few years) and Laura Morera and Federico Bonelli were an excellent Sugar Plum and her Prince. Interested to see that the Rose Fairy's escorts weren't wearing their wigs and looked much better for it! I have booked again for next Saturday but the signs aren't good...I hope for the sake of all the dancers, staff and audiences that the run can continue until the New Year. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I see Gary Avis remembered to do his sparkle shower during the curtain call today, yesterday we only got the swirly cape. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oncnp Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, Rob S said: I see Gary Avis remembered to do his sparkle shower during the curtain call today, yesterday we only got the swirly cape. Said on IG he got "caught short" yesterday and was making up for it today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 46 minutes ago, RobR said: Sorry, Capybara, I may have missed something in the thread but I was in row J yesterday afternoon and from my vantage point I could see that the Stalls Circle seemed quite well populated. It was - but Row B is deliberately cordoned off! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 18 minutes ago, Rob S said: I see Gary Avis remembered to do his sparkle shower during the curtain call today, yesterday we only got the swirly cape. A whole shop-full of glitter! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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