Royal Ballet's Swan Lake (Spring 2022)

[Jamesrhblack]

16 hours ago, capybara said:

That’s great to know but don’t all reviews represent the honest position of their writers?

Perhaps my use of language wasn’t precise enough. I felt that the writer’ addressed the  position within the company of both Claire Calvert and Nicol Edmonds in a way that might usually have been glossed over. It was also good to see somebody being enough editorial space to write at length. I thought it a fine, evocative piece of writing and wanted to flag it up. I’m sorry if that is an issue for capybara. I notice with responses to other people’s posts that there is quite a lot of sniping on the forum at the moment, which makes one disinclined to contribute.

[bridiem]

7 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Perhaps my use of language wasn’t precise enough. I felt that the writer’ addressed the  position within the company of both Claire Calvert and Nicol Edmonds in a way that might usually have been glossed over. It was also good to see somebody being enough editorial space to write at length. I thought it a fine, evocative piece of writing and wanted to flag it up. I’m sorry if that is an issue for capybara. I notice with responses to other people’s posts that there is quite a lot of sniping on the forum at the moment, which makes one disinclined to contribute.

 

I didn't read capybara's question as a criticism, Jamesrhblack - more as genuine curiosity as to what you meant, which you have clarified very well here. So thank you.

[Linnzi5]

Rob S - lovely photos! Thank you!

[Jamesrhblack]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I didn't read capybara's question as a criticism, Jamesrhblack - more as genuine curiosity as to what you meant, which you have clarified very well here. So thank you.

And thank you Bridiem. If a moderator might correct my early morning writing errors (my macular thickening meant my eye wasn’t quite “in”), I’d be grateful.

 

Essentially, a rogue apostrophe after “writer” in line one and “having” not “being” in line four. Thanks in advance. JRHB 

[capybara]

2 hours ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Perhaps my use of language wasn’t precise enough. I felt that the writer’ addressed the  position within the company of both Claire Calvert and Nicol Edmonds in a way that might usually have been glossed over. It was also good to see somebody being enough editorial space to write at length. I thought it a fine, evocative piece of writing and wanted to flag it up.

 

Thanks for explaining, James. I understand now why you used the word 'honest' about Gerald Dowler's piece. I agree that it's good when there is space for a writer to set a performance in the dancers' context as well as the story and I'm really looking forward to reading his review.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by capybara

[bridiem]

A final thank you to all those amazing swans who have worked so hard and created such stunning beauty, night after night. 

[Candleque]

On 28/05/2022 at 07:31, Jamesrhblack said:

review of the Calvert / Edmonds Swan Lake by Gerald Dowler in the new Dancing Times

What issue is this in please? Print only? (googling but I cannot find it online)

[TomS]

6 hours ago, Candleque said:

What issue is this in please? Print only? (googling but I cannot find it online)

It's from page 39 on June 2022 issue. It's available online, but requires a subscription or a single purchase. 

 

I have a digital-only subscription on pocketmags.com and it's 9.99 per year. 

Edited May 29, 2022 by TomS
added cheaper option to read

[Candleque]

Thank you @TomS

[alison]

I was disappointed not to be able to stay to the end on Saturday, but after an extremely draining 10 days I felt too tired.  But from what I did see, I thought Sarah Lamb's Odette/Odile very fine.

[Emeralds]

Thank you to RobS for the lovely photos of Sarah, Steven and their colleagues, and for the photos during this run!

 

Lovely to see all the ladies dancing swans receiving a rose! I’d love to see it catch on elsewhere. A good corps de ballet of swans  is so important for Swan Lake. The conductors (who don’t often get flowers) appreciate it when Sarah gives them a rose too! I always enjoy watching her give her partner and her conductor a rose each from her bouquet. 

 

I can now see why we we end up with long runs of Swan Lake from various companies as I’m already dreaming of casts I’d like to book to see for the next run....

[bangorballetboy]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

 

Lovely to see all the ladies dancing swans receiving a rose! I’d love to see it catch on elsewhere.

 

Other companies just need to find a supporter who recognises the importance of the corps enough to provide them!

[capybara]

Other companies need to support the supporter and value the corps by presenting them on stage.

Unfortunately …….. 🫢

[Emeralds]

I agree! 

[Linnzi5]

I emailed ROH customer services to find out if the recent Swan Lake live cinema relay would result in a dvd - the very polite answer was no, because there is already a 2018 dvd (I already own that, as well as an earlier version). I did ask about online streaming being a possibility but that part of my email wasn't answered, so I've emailed again for clarification on that. I am quite disappointed, but wonder if the sales don't justify releasing DVDs very often? Anyway, I'm definitely sulking now! 😡

[MJW]

1 minute ago, Linnzi5 said:

I emailed ROH customer services to find out if the recent Swan Lake live cinema relay would result in a dvd - the very polite answer was no, because there is already a 2018 dvd (I already own that, as well as an earlier version). I did ask about online streaming being a possibility but that part of my email wasn't answered, so I've emailed again for clarification on that. I am quite disappointed, but wonder if the sales don't justify releasing DVDs very often? Anyway, I'm definitely sulking now! 😡

 

I wonder if the ROH are missing a trick here - they have plenty of cinema screenings which haven't been released on DVD - why not make them available to stream and produce some more income?

[Linnzi5]

Just now, MJW said:

 

I wonder if the ROH are missing a trick here - they have plenty of cinema screenings which haven't been released on DVD - why not make them available to stream and produce some more income?

Yes, I agree. I understand that producing DVDs is probably expensive and they wouldn't sell enough to make a profit, but online streaming is surely the way forward? I'd think somewhere like Amazon could be a good place to sell them? Or even just the usual steaming service they offer? 

[art_enthusiast]

3 minutes ago, Linnzi5 said:

Yes, I agree. I understand that producing DVDs is probably expensive and they wouldn't sell enough to make a profit, but online streaming is surely the way forward? I'd think somewhere like Amazon could be a good place to sell them? Or even just the usual steaming service they offer? 

Exactly. They could certainly make a substantial income from their own personal streaming service, if they made more performances available online - e.g. the recent Ashton triple bill, Like Water for Chocolate, the Dante Project, and live cinema relay recordings such as the recent Swan Lake/R+J with Sambé and O'Sullivan, which I would certainly love to see again in full!

Would absolutely be a dream come true if a service like this existed. It would also stand to pull in more international audiences who aren't within physical range of cinemas.

[Rob S]

I think the gap between the filming dates of the last two Nutcracker dvds is shorter than that of the 2018 Swan Lake and now.

[jmhopton]

I did email customer services about the possibility of Like Water for Chocolate being streamed as the cinema release isn't until Jan, and was told 

 

The upcoming autumn programme for ROH Stream will be announced in the coming months. Whilst there has been no announcement, I do hope it will make an appearance on the platform at some time.

 

I didn't realise the streaming programmes  were seasonal and am now wondering if they're waiting until then to release the Ashton triple stream as I'm sure we're getting it sometime. I was hoping it would be soon after the recording or at least over summer but possibly not. I'm disappointed, even though they didn't film the right cast for Month in the Country (in my opinion at least)

 

[Odyssey]

Without wishing to divert  from the main topic of this thread, I’d just add that hopefully the BBC might show it  once it has been filmed. They have done so with each major new RH production in recent years. Though with the changes to BBC4 who knows? 

[Sophie_B]

On 01/06/2022 at 16:10, art_enthusiast said:

Would absolutely be a dream come true if a service like this existed. It would also stand to pull in more international audiences who aren't within physical range of cinemas.

I realise we're no longer strictly on the Swan Lake topic here, but did you see them trialling a Netflix-style streaming service this past winter? I replied to the mailing list asking for beta-testers and gave my two cents at the end. It was a little cumbersome because I found it annoying to set up the link between laptop and TV, and if I'm just going to watch something on my laptop then it's probably while cooking or something, so not fully paying attention. The choice of pieces was a bit limited (obviously only one recording / cast per ballet, and I'd already seen most of those streamed or owned the DVD) but it would have potential for those who are curious to see recordings of multiple casts, or an on demand pay as you go streaming library. Not sure about the monthly subscription model unless there is tons of content.

[Guest oncnp]

Interview with Claire Calvert on becoming Odette (and Flore Diamant on photographing her)

 

https://glorioussport.com/articles/ballet-becoming-odette-flore-diamant-claire-calvert/