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8 hours ago, LinMM said:

I absolutely loved Hayward and Corrales in R &J last time around they were both totally convincing together ....one of the last times I was truly moved by the ballet... so deliberately decided not to see them together this time as that was such a special memory. 
Ive booked for Kaneko and Bracewell and it’s starting to look like hopefully they are going to create another special memory! 

 

I am a bit worried in case they don't live up to last time, when I found them the best of the 5 casts I saw, but decided to book to see them again & hope!

 

All the comments on Kaneko & Bracewell are making me want to see them but I'm already going tonight & next Wednesday & don't think I can really justify a 3rd visit within an 8 day period given I'm supposed to be only going occasionally because of covid.

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33 minutes ago, alison said:

They do have another, more regularly-timed, performance on the 23rd, if that works for you.

 

BTW, I see the ROH is offering "brunch" for the 11.30 matinee on Saturday :)

The 23rd is the first day of half term so I wouldn't want to travel down to London on that day as I fear both the trains & central London will be busy with lots of children - currently the age group with the highest covid rate I understand.

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3 hours ago, RobR said:

I can recall Darcey Bussell and her partner, walking out their steps in studio kit rather than costumes, at one general. Other BCPs may have …….


I believe that, with new casts, the General would not be their only stage call. ( Photos on social media certainly showed Fumi Kaneko and William Bracewell on stage last week. ) But, sometimes when dancers are reprising leading roles, it could be that they have not been on stage previously.

I can recall several occasions (largely well in the past) when dancers at General Rehearsals have marked their parts or have walked through a role. That is their right and, whilst those present might be disappointed about this, it would be regrettable (in my view) if any comment about it was to appear in print.

 

That said, I do take the point that people on BCF could be encouraged to buy tickets if the reaction is positive - as it is in this case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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20 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

Although Morales is probably too old to be Romeo, my betting is he will equal anyone in technique and poetry!

I don’t agree with the first part of your sentence but I definitely agree with the second part! I saw a tantalising glimpse of his Romeo at the Evening of Music and Dance last year (seems like a lifetime ago). He danced with a boyish ardour that was quite breathtaking.

 

Sorry to divert off-topic. I hope all members who are at tonight’s performance have a wonderful evening.

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22 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

For me, her mourning of Tybalt is the high point of the ballet when she's cast.

 

Absolutely.  She really is exceptional.  One of those scenes in which I find myself forgetting to breathe.

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1 hour ago, Anna C said:

 

Absolutely.  She really is exceptional.  One of those scenes in which I find myself forgetting to breathe.

 

It finished several minutes ago & my breathing still isn't back to normal. That music! Even though I damn well know what is going to happen I was so tense watching that I was shaking from the start of the sword fighting to the end of Act 2.

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Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere but the latest Friends email or booklet mentioned that the Balletboyz film of Romeo and Juliet : Beyond words with Hayward/Bracewell has been nominated for an Arts Emmy Award. Hope it wins. It deserves to though I don't know what the competition is.

 

Also they're partnering again in Swan Lake? I bet that's really special. 

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And, on a very personal note, can I say how nice it is to see Julia Roscoe back on stage after eighteen months of surgery and rehabilitation following a career threatening injury 😀

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A wonderful night.  The friend I took with me said it was the first time she has felt truly happy in 20 months.  The atmosphere was great on the stage and in the audience.  Everyone was just so darn happy to be there, in a full, appreciative and grateful house.  

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I thought tonight's performance was amazing & the cast were just as good as they were in 2019 (not an absolutely identical cast but nearly). I did wonder whether a couple of years as a real-life couple would have reduced Hayward & Corrales' stage chemistry but I didn't think it had. I think Ball's Tybalt is amazing - I prefer him as Tybalt to Romeo - and only wish the character had more to do & didn't get killed off at the end of Act 2!  I was pleased not to have to wait until February to see Magri in this ballet & she's had a harlot promotion since last time from Mercutio's to Romeo's!

 

I should probably have apologised to the people I was sat next to tonight for the amount of time I spent crying and/or shaking with emotion. Admittedly I did get pretty emotional when I saw this cast in 2019 but I seemed to be even worse tonight, perhaps because it's the first live ballet I've seen & live unamplified orchestra I've heard since March 2020.

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Fabulous to be back in the theatre to see this performance, a full house, and such an appreciative audience. A tremendous cast and really well matched. I think I was marginally more impressed by the 2019 performance when the Romeo/Tybalt fight scene seemed even more manic and I’m sure those Act 2 Romeo/Mercutio/Benvolio and three harlots jete-ing across the stage were more in unison. So I think there’ll be even more from this cast next performance and I’’m delighted to have a ticket.

 

I’m afraid mask wearing seemed very much an exception rather than the norm. My sympathies are with the ROH who do all they can to encourage mask wearing. But Government in England washes its hands, presents itself in Parliament and at party conference as non mask wearing, and isn’t prepared to make mask wearing a requirement (although it remains part of plan B if necessary). In these circumstances there’s very little the ROH, or travel companies, can do. I find it worrying, if not sufficiently so for me not to attend performances I’ve booked, but I may rethink my plans for Swan Lake tickets.

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48 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I’m afraid mask wearing seemed very much an exception rather than the norm. My sympathies are with the ROH who do all they can to encourage mask wearing. But Government in England washes its hands, presents itself in Parliament and at party conference as non mask wearing, and isn’t prepared to make mask wearing a requirement (although it remains part of plan B if necessary). In these circumstances there’s very little the ROH, or travel companies, can do. I find it worrying, if not sufficiently so for me not to attend performances I’ve booked, but I may rethink my plans for Swan Lake tickets.

 

Most people around me were wearing masks, though I agree that a lot of people weren't. But even where mask-wearing is a requirement (e.g. on London Transport) it's not enforced and a lot of people don't wear them, so I think public compliance is just weakening. And to be fair, the Opposition presents itself as mask-wearing in Parliament and non mask-wearing at its party conference, so there's no consistency there either. I find it strange that people ignore the ROH's request - it just seems like a courtesy both to the ROH itself and to fellow audience members. But I didn't let it worry me either.

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2 hours ago, JohnS said:

I’m afraid mask wearing seemed very much an exception rather than the norm. My sympathies are with the ROH who do all they can to encourage mask wearing. But Government in England washes its hands, presents itself in Parliament and at party conference as non mask wearing, and isn’t prepared to make mask wearing a requirement (although it remains part of plan B if necessary). In these circumstances there’s very little the ROH, or travel companies, can do. I find it worrying, if not sufficiently so for me not to attend performances I’ve booked, but I may rethink my plans for Swan Lake tickets.

 

I was pleased to see that my fellow standees I could see were all wearing masks - which is only courteous when you're breathing down the necks of the people in front of you - but very disappointed with the general level of mask-wearing I could see.  Of the patrons who weren't complying at my level, it was very noticeable that hardly any responded to the repeated requests at the start of each act to put on a face covering :(   It reminds me of that article in the Links a couple of weeks ago asking whether audiences were actually putting the organisations they claim to support at extra risk of having to shut down again.

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11 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I was pleased to see that my fellow standees I could see were all wearing masks - which is only courteous when you're breathing down the necks of the people in front of you - but very disappointed with the general level of mask-wearing I could see.  Of the patrons who weren't complying at my level, it was very noticeable that hardly any responded to the repeated requests at the start of each act to put on a face covering :(   It reminds me of that article in the Links a couple of weeks ago asking whether audiences were actually putting the organisations they claim to support at extra risk of having to shut down again.



I felt the same way when I went to see Anything Goes at the Barbican.  The theatre was packed, not one spare seat, and yet only 5% of the audience, if that, were wearing masks.  Given that the average age was probably over 50, I was shocked that they could act so irresponsibly. 

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38 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I was pleased to see that my fellow standees I could see were all wearing masks - which is only courteous when you're breathing down the necks of the people in front of you

 

the guy next to me was maskless sadly, but about 75-80% of folk in the area around me were wearing them thank goodness. People shouldn't have had an excuse as the tannoy announcements were frequent and sympathetically done, I thought

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What glorious pictures Rob S took me right back to 2019 when the World seemed a bit more of a normal place.
Hayward looks visibly moved by the reception and just remembered how good Ball was in his role as Tybalt back then as well ...one of the very few dancers who has truly drawn me in and created a bit of sympathy for that character. 
Looks like a great night to have been at the ROH inspite of the non mask wearing etc. 

 

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I was fortunate to be in a ‘mainly masked’ zone.

What a show! The Corps hit the opening sequence in big ‘we’re back’ style and throughout provided high octane energy. Many of them would not have performed R&J before so it must have been extra special for them.

The principal players seemed (understandably) to need Act 1 to hit their stride. But, after that, their performances were stellar and extraordinarily moving.

Very happy to have been there.

By the way, have there ever been quite so many Principals on stage in R&J as there were last night? (Hayward, Corrales, Sambe, Ball and Magri - and Arestis, Avis and McNally.)

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Those of us who are vaccinated are protected as are those of us who’ve had Covid, and have the antibodies, and that’s the vast majority of us. 
 

If we catch anything it’s statistically likely to have little serious or long term effect. 


Of course we can wear a mask to protect the small number who have chosen not to have the vaccine or are unable to have it for medical reasons but my personal view is that the use of masks for protection is overrated although not wearing them is, as a consequence of the last 18 months, still counter-intuitive. 

 

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20 minutes ago, RobR said:

Those of us who are vaccinated are protected as are those of us who’ve had Covid, and have the antibodies, and that’s the vast majority of us. 
 

If we catch anything it’s statistically likely to have little serious or long term effect.

 

Perhaps, but as yet we still don't really know how "protected" we are - and how long that "protection" will last.  Don't foget that there are still a significant number of "breakthrough" infections in those vaccinated.  Plus, as we keep being told, the vaccine still doesn't prevent you from picking up the virus (e.g. inhaling other people's aerosols) and potentially transmitting it to others, even if you're less likely to suffer serious illness if you catch it yourself.

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1 hour ago, RobR said:

Those of us who are vaccinated are protected as are those of us who’ve had Covid, and have the antibodies, and that’s the vast majority of us. 
 

If we catch anything it’s statistically likely to have little serious or long term effect. 


Of course we can wear a mask to protect the small number who have chosen not to have the vaccine or are unable to have it for medical reasons but my personal view is that the use of masks for protection is overrated although not wearing them is, as a consequence of the last 18 months, still counter-intuitive. 

 

This was the case for the alpha variant, but the vaccine offers relatively little protection against catching the delta variant sadly. It does greatly reduce the chances of serious illness. But even standard Covid is a very nasty virus. I'm not sure there are studies showing a particularly great decrease in the chances of getting long Covid if you're vaccinated? On the other hand, for most people wearing a mask is by now an easy and familiar thing to do and plays a role in reducing infections. 

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1 hour ago, capybara said:

By the way, have there ever been quite so many Principals on stage in R&J as there were last night? (Hayward, Corrales, Sambe, Ball and Magri - and Arestis, Avis and McNally.)


I tried (in vain!) to move this thread away from masks and onto “the show”! But, in my haste, I forgot Bennet Gartside in my list of Principals.

 

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