World Ballet Day 2021 - discussion

[alison]

40 minutes ago, Anna C said:

 

I wish I could see them, full stop.  I do wish they’d had more than two performances. 😭😭

 

No cast has more than two performances - except for some reason Lamb and McRae, who I think have 4.

[zxDaveM]

absolutely loved the corps rehearsal for act2 of Giselle, with Sam and Sian running the dancers through their paces, and putting in those tiny corrections for hand/foot placements of mere inch or two. Fantastic to watch - especially 'the hops'! For me, the best part of the day. But is it just me, or did they finish half an hour early?

[Cescablue]

2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

I started crying watching Kaneko & Bracewell rehearse the balcony pdd.

You weren't the only one!

[Anna C]

4 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

absolutely loved the corps rehearsal for act2 of Giselle, with Sam and Sian running the dancers through their paces, and putting in those tiny corrections for hand/foot placements of mere inch or two. Fantastic to watch - especially 'the hops'! For me, the best part of the day. But is it just me, or did they finish half an hour early?

 

Samantha Raine is such a terrific Ballet Mistress; she always gets the absolute best from the hardworking ladies of the Corps. Lovely to see Claire Calvert and Melissa Hamilton in rehearsal as Moyna and Zulma (sp?) too.

[Dawnstar]

I wish they could have some way of indicating who's who in corps rehearsals. Out of the 24 dancers I could only definitely identify about half of them & there were at least a couple who I didn't even recognise, let alone try to put a name to.

[Sim]

1 hour ago, alison said:

 

No cast has more than two performances - except for some reason Lamb and McRae, who I think have 4.

I guess McRae has to make up for lost time!

[Sim]

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

Now Monica Mason on the other hand...one of the best!! 

Absolutely terrifying!  And as Carabosse, too!  

[WoodlandGladeFairy]

Been a wonderful World Ballet Day, 3 hours of Bolshoi followed by 5 hrs of The Royal Ballet is a lovely treat on a dreary grey day.

 

Plus it's brilliant having so many more companies showcasing their incredible talents.

 

Loved watching Marianela Nuñez rehearse the part of Myrtha with Monica Mason and the Royal Ballet corps de ballet rehearsing Giselle Act II with Samantha Raine.

 

Also watched Stuttgart Ballet and English National Ballet's contributions, which were also good, looking forward to catching up with the many other companies over the next few days. 

[Sim]

Did the rehearsal of the corps in Giselle come straight after Monica/Marianela?  I had to switch off at that time.

[Blossom]

I think the mix of content from the Royal Ballet this World Ballet Day has been excellent in terms of 

• High profile content for key productions on stage
• Highlighting junior dancers and giving them screen time in the 'draft works' rehearsals
• Showcasing and celebrating new choreography, including from across the company ranks 
• Covering inclusivity and diversity with the Paralympics and Chance to Dance slots
• Mix of dancers in class - driving familiarity with the company

I would love to understand more though in terms of how they use WBD to drive incremental interest in ballet in the UK and its effectiveness. I am sure I'm not fully exposed to all of their event PR/recruitment, but wonder whether they have specific audience targets (total), specific target audiences they are trying to drive penetration with, beyond  social media platforms reaching their existing audience how they are reaching new audiences and other than celebrating ballet, what their key ambition is in terms of driving growth over time - to build a secure audience for the future and get bums on seats, the latter seemingly a little challenging based on remaining ticket availability for Autumn...

 

Out of interest was anything going on at the ROH itself today? Even a screen in the piazza? 

[Anna C]

4 minutes ago, Sim said:

Did the rehearsal of the corps in Giselle come straight after Monica/Marianela?  I had to switch off at that time.

 

No, there was quite a gap between the two; a chat with Joseph Sissens and Federico Bonelli about the Chance to Dance scheme, a couple of short bits etc. and (IIRC) the Draft Works rehearsal. 

[maryrosesatonapin]

3 hours ago, Sharon said:

Yes I agrees, she's a fantastic Myrthe, I'm so glad she's performing it. It's good to see Nela reveal another part of her personality instead of the sweet good girl side that we see a lot.

I do hope Marianela dances Myrthe's part in one of the Giselles I have booked - there doesn't seem to be any clue on the ROH website as to the casting of that role, or am I looking in the wrong place?

[RosiesDream]

 

11 minutes ago, Blossom said:

I think the mix of content from the Royal Ballet this World Ballet Day has been excellent in terms of 

• High profile content for key productions on stage
• Highlighting junior dancers and giving them screen time in the 'draft works' rehearsals
• Showcasing and celebrating new choreography, including from across the company ranks 
• Covering inclusivity and diversity with the Paralympics and Chance to Dance slots
• Mix of dancers in class - driving familiarity with the company

 

It's a nice balance but I do wonder how much the content would rate for attracting new followers to ballet. I get the feeling the paying public prefers fewer grey leotards and more frou-frou. 

[Blossom]

10 minutes ago, RosiesDream said:

 

 

It's a nice balance but I do wonder how much the content would rate for attracting new followers to ballet. I get the feeling the paying public prefers fewer grey leotards and more frou-frou. 

Although I do think one of the Royal Ballet’s aims - and our other UK companies - is to prove that ballet is not just pretty tutus and sugar plum fairies, that it can be contemporary and appeal to everyone (still trying to convince my husband but hopefully Dante on Tuesday will help make him see things differently).

[MJW]

As I’m on holiday this week I have watched some of World Ballet Day on my phone but as that has done my eyes no good at all I will leave it until I am back home. However the R&J rehearsal looked fantastic from what I could see - very tempted to book and see Bracewell and Kaneko a second time. Hope those going on Saturday enjoy them as much as I did.

[JennyTaylor]

40 minutes ago, MJW said:

As I’m on holiday this week I have watched some of World Ballet Day on my phone but as that has done my eyes no good at all I will leave it until I am back home. However the R&J rehearsal looked fantastic from what I could see - very tempted to book and see Bracewell and Kaneko a second time. Hope those going on Saturday enjoy them as much as I did.

It will be my 3rd viewing of this pairing, as I hit the jackpot when I saw them at the Friends rehearsal.  How lovely that the rehearsal is now filmed for posterity.  I was fascinated to hear them talking about it too - when Fumi said she had goosebumps when she danced the role with Will right from the start. They feel a connection and are able to convey this to the audience. 

Edited October 19, 2021 by JennyTaylor
typo

[Sabine0308]

I watched Bavarian Staatsballett doing class (yes, with beautiful Shale Wagman 😀) and the Cinderella rehearsal. Madison Young and Jinhao Zhang are a BEAUTIFUL couple as Cinderella and Prince. They were coached by Jason Fowler.  Also catched glimpses of beautiful Maria Baranova and Dmitry Vyskubenko rehearsing as other cast. Third couple in the studio were Jonah Cook and M. Fernandes and I felt sorry for Jonah. She was clearly struggling and especially lifts were...ummm....a challenge for her. Why she as a total beginner has been picked before others to rehearse with a principal dancer a principal role...that's beyond me. 

 

I also began to watch Staatsballett Berlin class and then I thought "wait a minute...I have seen this before". And indeed. It was a recorded class from October 2nd, for the audience at Staatsoper Berlin, and I was there.😀 It's a very entertaining class especially because of ballet master Tomas Karlborg. He's a great singer!! Check it out on their youtube channel.

 

Catched also some Mariinsky, BEAUTIFUL as always.💖

Edited October 19, 2021 by Sabine0308

[Sharon]

2 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

It will be my 3rd viewing of this pairing, as I hit the jackpot when I saw them at the Friends rehearsal.  How lovely that the rehearsal is now filmed for posterity.  I was fascinated to hear them talking about it too - when Fumi said she had goosebumps when she danced the role with Will right from the start. They feel a connection and are able to convey this to the audience. 

After watching the rehearsal and having already absorbed all the fantastic reviews for this couple, I was persuaded to check out what ticket were available for their next show......God knows why as not only am I working there's absolutely no way I could afford either the the ticket or train fare. 😭

Edited October 19, 2021 by Sharon
Spell

[Lynette H]

7 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

But is it just me, or did they finish half an hour early?

 

They finished about 3:30pm, so yes, earlier then advertised.  I think a promised segment on rehearsing The Dante Project may have gone missing around noon, which might account for it. But I was distracted at the time so I might have missed this. 

[capybara]

1 minute ago, Lynette H said:

 

They finished about 3:30pm, so yes, earlier then advertised.  I think a promised segment on rehearsing The Dante Project may have gone missing around noon, which might account for it. But I was distracted at the time so I might have missed this. 

 

Their script caused them to claim 5 hours but it was 30 minutes short.

I didn't see any Dante.

[jmhopton]

Haven't watched RB yet but that's a treat to come over the next few days, also Stuttgart rehearsing Onegin.  However I have seen the ENB doc about Raymonda which looked very promising and exciting.  It's one of the few ballets I thought could actually benefit from a compete re think as the original plot and characters are very boring (to me at least). Just wish they'd announce the casting.

[RosiesDream]

6 hours ago, jmhopton said:

Haven't watched RB yet but that's a treat to come over the next few days, also Stuttgart rehearsing Onegin.  However I have seen the ENB doc about Raymonda which looked very promising and exciting.  It's one of the few ballets I thought could actually benefit from a compete re think as the original plot and characters are very boring (to me at least). Just wish they'd announce the casting.

 

I echo your feelings about Ramonda, it could do with a make-over. although in contradiction to what Tamara says about the ballet, her gala performance of the Ramonda pas de deux with Steven McRae is breathtaking.

 

I'm quite passionate about ENB. In my eyes, they dance for the right reasons, not the gloss and the fame, but to bring ballet to ordinary folk like me. And I wish I saw as much written about Alina Cojocaru on here as is printed about RB Nunez. Alina is such an exquisite dancer, her technique is quite flawless, and she is one of the few dancers who can make me feel a shred of sympathy for stupid Manon...

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet are on tour this week so didn’t participate live in WBD but issued a couple of films including this one about the beautiful duet that ends act 1 of 1984.  This includes a brief interview with Martha and Toby, who created the roles.

 

https://northernballet.com/digital-dance/insight-films/open-house-1984

[Bluebird]

19 hours ago, Jane S said:

The Times online today has a big photo of the RB's Aud Jensen dancers - all easily recognisable, maybe someone could name them which might help to pick them out in class? (The one in the middle is Darcy Bussell.)

 

19 hours ago, Bluebird said:

Have removed the names I posted so as to have time to  get someone to confirm the names as it would be dreadful if I’d made any mistakes!

 

This is a bit late but might be useful for those who are yet to watch the class. I've now had the original post confirmed:

 

Back row left to right Maddison Pritchard and Denilson Almeida; Marianna Tsembenhoi and Marco Masciari

Front row left to right Daichi Ikarashi and Olivia Findlay; Viola Pantuso; Ava May Llewelyn; Alix Van Tiggelen; Hanna Park and James Large

Edited October 20, 2021 by Bluebird

[AnneL]

11 hours ago, jmhopton said:

Haven't watched RB yet but that's a treat to come over the next few days, also Stuttgart rehearsing Onegin.  However I have seen the ENB doc about Raymonda which looked very promising and exciting.  It's one of the few ballets I thought could actually benefit from a compete re think as the original plot and characters are very boring (to me at least). Just wish they'd announce the casting.

I watched the Stuttgart Onegin rehearsal and I can thoroughly recommend it. ( I did miss a bit of the Giselle rehearsal as a result, but I can catch up with that.)  it was a reminder of the magnificent Cranko choreography which is less familiar to me than some other works which I have seen performed more often. I now dream of traveling to Stuttgart to see it! 

[maryrosesatonapin]

6 hours ago, RosiesDream said:

Alina is such an exquisite dancer, her technique is quite flawless, and she is one of the few dancers who can make me feel a shred of sympathy for stupid Manon...

Hear, hear!  She is an absolute poet of movement.

[Kate_N]

I was intrigued in the RB section of World Ballet Day, at how sort the coaching & rehearsal sessions were. Is this usual, or were they deliberately staged for World Ballet Day.

 

I'm used to rehearsals in the theatre/studio being 6-8 hours at a time. You might not call all the actors for the whole time, but a scene is worked on for several hours, usually.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Kate_N

[alison]

I got the impression from something said in the R&J rehearsal (I think something about going next door?) that dancers were being moved in and out of the one studio where the filming setup was, to give access to a variety of rehearsals.

 

And while we're on rehearsals, can I say how increasingly impressed I am with Ed Watson as a repetiteur?

[Dawnstar]

16 minutes ago, alison said:

I got the impression from something said in the R&J rehearsal (I think something about going next door?) that dancers were being moved in and out of the one studio where the filming setup was, to give access to a variety of rehearsals.

 

When they said that I wished we could have seen more of the R&J rehearsal instead of the modern piece that followed it!

[Lizbie1]

I've just finished catching up on the RB section from yesterday - I want to echo the general praise here, and add that I thought the pianist during class (Michael Pansters) was excellent and very musical.

 

Also - I can only wonder at being able to offer technical corrections to Marianela Nunez!

[Jane S]

10 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

 

This is a bit late but might be useful for those who are yet to watch the class. I've now had the original post confirmed:

 

Back row left to right Maddison Pritchard and Denilson Almeida; Marianna Tsembenhoi and Marco Masciari

Front row left to right Daichi Ikarashi and Olivia Findlay; Viola Pantuso; Ava May Llewelyn; Alix Van Tiggelen; Hanna Park and James Large

 

Thank you, Bluebird - I only knew one of them before but hope I can pick out a few more now!

[maryrosesatonapin]

1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said:

I can only wonder at being able to offer technical corrections to Marianela Nunez!

And Marianela was clearly so willing to learn, still, after all her experience.  It was beautiful to watch.

[JNC]

On 20/10/2021 at 07:01, RosiesDream said:

 

I'm quite passionate about ENB. In my eyes, they dance for the right reasons, not the gloss and the fame, but to bring ballet to ordinary folk like me. And I wish I saw as much written about Alina Cojocaru on here as is printed about RB Nunez. Alina is such an exquisite dancer, her technique is quite flawless, and she is one of the few dancers who can make me feel a shred of sympathy for stupid Manon...

I hope the ENB content is available online still as I have to admit after Creature I was hesitating on Raymonda. But it sounds like it’s a solidly classical works (which is my preference!). 
 

As for Alina her Manon with ENB is easily in my top 5 (top 3?) ballet experiences. Incredible, after that I saw the RB run with a few different casts and no-one came close. (Although I didn’t see Hayward who is meant to be very good.) 

 

I will catch up with the RB content shortly, sadly couldn’t see Kaneko/Bracewell in person but the rehearsal will be some small consolidation and I hope they continue to be partnered together in future. Very excited to see Nunez as Myrtha again and I hope it’s maybe for the Osipova cast that I have tickets for if that was the pairing last time (also opening night cast so a good bet). I do think it’s a shame they don’t list this casting alone as I presume it’s already decided in advance the same as ‘principal’ casting but it must be subject to more flex and later changes I suppose. 

 

Maybe just peg it down to some of the excitement finding out on the day!