Royal Ballet Announces 2022/23 Season

[Lizbie1]

All this talk about the expense of getting the chorus in for Les Noces... how about a triple of Les Noces, Gloria and Daphnis & Chloe (in whatever order)? If the chorus are paid per evening rather than on a meter, it would kill three birds with one stone!

[bridiem]

7 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

All this talk about the expense of getting the chorus in for Les Noces... how about a triple of Les Noces, Gloria and Daphnis & Chloe (in whatever order)? If the chorus are paid per evening rather than on a meter, it would kill three birds with one stone!

 

A truly mouth-watering prospect! And could be marketed as 'a unique collaboration between the RB and the RO' etc etc.

[Emeralds]

6 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

All this talk about the expense of getting the chorus in for Les Noces... how about a triple of Les Noces, Gloria and Daphnis & Chloe (in whatever order)? If the chorus are paid per evening rather than on a meter, it would kill three birds with one stone!

I’ve always felt they should do that- combine “choral” ballets to have one evening of them 😁. Also, it’s nicer for the chorus that they feel like they’re very integral to the whole evening and not just “dropping by”. I think Daphnis is quite long and would be able to be paired with one ballet only. Either should be fine- the fact that Noces and Gloria are usually performed last in an evening doesn’t mean they can’t be danced first. 

 

By the way, my suggestion that RB should do a mix and match of mixed bill combinations has been done before- in 2019, they had The Two Pigeons combined with the Royal Ballet School students dancing Scarlett’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and prior to that, TTP was combined with Monotones I & II , and later in the season, TTP was combined with Rhapsody as the curtain raiser instead. (I enjoyed Pigeons with Vixen or Rhapsody the most.) They could have Noces followed by Daphnis , then later or the following  week they could have Gloria followed by Daphnis. 

[SheilaC]

I dread to think what the New Lost Dog is about; the recommended age is from 14. That's 2 years older than for Mayerling which features rape, drug taking, murder and suicide (in my view the recommended age should be higher than 12). So how does The New Lost Dog require an older age?

 

I'm appalled at how McGregor dominates the programme: 43 performances altogether (Wolf Works : 12; his own company at the Linbury : 25; his new ballet in the mixed bill  that includes the original Anastasia: 6)

 

And how can a bill celebrating 60 years of the Royal Ballet not include an Ashton or even one of MacMillan's very good one act ballets?

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I feel as though I've chosen the wrong time to get interested in ballet. Why did I have to come upon a period when it seems all the ADs want to stage masses of modern works & very few heritage ones!

 

I'm looking at Checkmate casts on the ROH performance database & from a future choreographers point of view this cast from 1950 is quite something: Gillian Lynne as the Black Queen and both Cranko & MacMillan as Red Castles! https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=11039&row=5

I sympathise, Dawnstar! If you’d told me a few years ago would have recommended watching BRB but unfortunately David  Bintley has now also retired! Hmm...if you are ever thinking of planning a holiday abroad you might want to consider.....Sarasota, Florida. Sarasota Ballet is a dream company for lovers of heritage ballets or as a friend calls it, the good stuff. 😁 It’s run by Iain Webb and his wife Margaret Barbieri, both previously stars of.....surprise, surprise, BRB (when it was based in London and known as SWRB - Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet). 

[DanJL]

7 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

And how can a bill celebrating 60 years of the Royal Ballet not include an Ashton or even one of MacMillan's very good one act ballets?

It says this bill is celebrating 60 years of Friends of the Royal Opera House, not the Royal Ballet. The Ashton and MacMillan ballets chosen both coincide with anniversaries however. 

[Sim]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Do you think there will be any oportunities for new Mary Vetseras? Given the 6 dancers who did the role in the last run are all still there. (I hope Melissa Hamilton, as the only non-Principal, won't get sidelined like she did for the last Manon revival.)

Especially as she is a wonderful Vetsera.

[Lizbie1]

I'm a bit confused about this 60 year bill - the description says it *includes* "world premieres by Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti plus the Company’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds."

 

Do we know for sure there isn't more to this programme?

[Emeralds]

4 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

I dread to think what the New Lost Dog is about; the recommended age is from 14. That's 2 years older than for Mayerling which features rape, drug taking, murder and suicide (in my view the recommended age should be higher than 12). So how does The New Lost Dog require an older age?

 

I'm appalled at how McGregor dominates the programme: 43 performances altogether (Wolf Works : 12; his own company at the Linbury : 25; his new ballet in the mixed bill  that includes the original Anastasia: 6)

 

And how can a bill celebrating 60 years of the Royal Ballet not include an Ashton or even one of MacMillan's very good one act ballets?

I think Mayerling should be for over 18. I saw it at 15 - as a massive fan of Seymour and Wall since I was young and having heard how it was created on them, came all ready to admire it (although all the original cast had retired or moved on since) ....and um, it was a shock and a massive disappointment, to say the least. Even Manon should be for over 16. 

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

By the way, my suggestion that RB should do a mix and match of mixed bill combinations has been done before- in 2019, they had The Two Pigeons combined with the Royal Ballet School students dancing Scarlett’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and prior to that, TTP was combined with Monotones I & II , and later in the season, TTP was combined with Rhapsody as the curtain raiser instead. (I enjoyed Pigeons with Vixen or Rhapsody the most.) They could have Noces followed by Daphnis , then later or the following  week they could have Gloria followed by Daphnis. 

 

I agree it was nice having the two combinations. I saw both & enjoyed both. It's a pity that The Cunning Little Vixen is probably unlikely to be revived any time soon. Also in that season Symphony in C was done both with Infra & The Unknown Soldier and with Firebird & Month In The Country. In that case I only saw the latter combination, and was pleased that I didn't have to sit through Infra in order to see Symphony in C.

 

36 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I sympathise, Dawnstar! If you’d told me a few years ago would have recommended watching BRB but unfortunately David  Bintley has now also retired! Hmm...if you are ever thinking of planning a holiday abroad you might want to consider.....Sarasota, Florida. Sarasota Ballet is a dream company for lovers of heritage ballets or as a friend calls it, the good stuff. 😁 It’s run by Iain Webb and his wife Margaret Barbieri, both previously stars of.....surprise, surprise, BRB (when it was based in London and known as SWRB - Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet). 

 

With my frequent terrible ballet timing, I saw Bintley's Hobson's Choice when BRB did it at Sadler's Wells in 2019 & really enjoyed it. Then he retired! I've heard about Sarasota Ballet I'm afraid any trips to Sarasota aren't in the picture for me.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Dawnstar

[MaddieRose]

Rather surprisingly the Theatre in Paris website has recommended Mayerling for all ages. Not my personal recommendation for a family night out. 

 

https://www.theatreinparis.com/en/show/mayerling

[JNC]

6 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I'm a bit confused about this 60 year bill - the description says it *includes* "world premieres by Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti plus the Company’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds."

 

Do we know for sure there isn't more to this programme?

I think the Pam Tanowitz is maybe incorrectly listed as there is a separate Tanowitz double bill (Linbury not main stage) including her new work. 
 

so my guess would be the ‘Diamonds’ bill is that plus Zuchetti and For Four? Unless one of those two is significantly short, and the Tanowitz is also being performed? 
 

you could email customer service to ask, they are always quite helpful and get back relatively quickly. 
 

it would help if the webpage for it actually listed the works being performed. 
 

Generally I think the press release wasn’t the clearest and a clear list of performances would help. The new website makes it doubly difficult as searching for “Diamonds” for example doesn’t bring up the triple bill so I have to go to “What’s on” and scroll through lots and lots. You can filter by Booking Season/main stage performances but that presupposes you know what season it falls in…I still do miss the old website. Is there a better way of doing things? 

[Nina99]

7 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I was thinking that earlier. I can imagine some of the Principals, particularly those who are more clasically inclined, could be doing a fair amount of guesting elsewhere next season.

I think this is already happening. As an example, over the last six weeks or so,  Muntagirov has done 11 full length performances but only 3 (Swan Lake) have been for the RB, which seems a bit of a waste of his talents from the RB’s point of view.

[Emeralds]

18 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'm really sorry to correct you but Ashphodel Meadows was the other ballet Two Pigeons was paired with in 2019, rather than Rhapsody. I agree it was nice having the two combinations. I saw both & enjoyed both. It's a pity that The Cunning Little Vixen is probably unlikely to be revived any time soon. Also in that season Symphony in C was done both with Infra & The Unknown Soldier and with Firebird & Month In The Country. In that case I only saw the latter combination, and was pleased that I didn't have to sit through Infra in order to see Symphony in C.

 

 

With my frequent terrible ballet timing, I saw Bintley's Hobson's Choice when BRB did it at Sadler's Wells in 2019 & really enjoyed it. Then he retired! I've heard about Sarasota Ballet I'm afraid any trips to Sarasota aren't in the picture for me.

My fault for being misleading - the Monotones and Rhapsody pairings  were  from an even earlier season (2015- 2016)! You’re right, Asphodel Meadows was the other opener for Pigeons in the Jan 2019 season. (I blame my phone going off while I was typing the reply!) (And my apologies to all for the typos and missing words in that post too!)  All four combinations worked well, I felt.

 

I think Cunning Little Vixen is very much a ballet school ballet though....not sure it would work with an older cast of professionals. But the students were brilliant- we had Madison Bailey as the Vixen, and Daichi Ikarashi was the Frog, and if you couldn’t tell the cast weren’t professional dancers as they were outstanding. I think you made the right choice about Symphony in C, much as I loved the pas de deux in Unknown Soldier. 

 

Hobson’s Choice is fabulous and the 2019 casts were wonderful. I have given it Modern Classic status, along with Still Life at the Penguin Cafe. Yes, I thought you might say Sarasota was out for the moment. I’m secretly hoping they can come here on tour one day! 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Emeralds

[AnneL]

I first saw Mayerling in 1980 at the age of 22 and I am not sure I was old enough even then! More seriously, I really didn’t enjoy it and didn’t give it another go until the last run in 2018, only to find it no more likeable than when I first saw it. I get that other people love it, and it’s great that we can all have different opinions (while on this theme, I would like to say I love the Firebird, including the tableau at the end!) Mayerling is the Marmite of ballet, I think. My problem with it is the totally unlikeable characters - I just can’t make myself like or sympathise with any of them. I can see that they are great roles for dancers, but they all leave me cold. Even though Manon is a flawed character, it is possible to feel that I can understand her and her world and the ballet is a satisfying thing to watch. Not so Mayerling- for me. Yet here I am, once again thinking of giving it another go - maybe another cast can make it work for me? 

[bridiem]

13 minutes ago, JNC said:

I think the Pam Tanowitz is maybe incorrectly listed as there is a separate Tanowitz double bill (Linbury not main stage) including her new work. 
 

so my guess would be the ‘Diamonds’ bill is that plus Zuchetti and For Four? Unless one of those two is significantly short, and the Tanowitz is also being performed? 

 

The website does clearly say 'The showcase will demonstrate the breadth and diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory, and includes world premieres by Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti plus the Company’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds.' (Should really say 'comprises' rather than 'includes', unless there are additional items not yet mentioned which I think is unlikely.)

[Dawnstar]

16 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

My fault for being misleading - the Monotones and Rhapsody pairings  were  from an even earlier season (2015- 2016)! You’re right, Asphodel Meadows was the other opener for Pigeons in the Jan 2019 season. (I blame my phone going off while I was typing the reply!) All four combinations worked well.

 

Many apologies. I read your "prior to that" as meaning earlier in the same season rather than several seasons earlier. I've edited my post to remove my first erroneous sentence. Unfortunately it's still there in your quote of my post. Oh, why do I always get everything wrong on here.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Dawnstar

[Emeralds]

Just now, Dawnstar said:

 

Many apologies. I read your "prior to that" as meaning earlier in the same season rather than several seasons earlier. I've edited my post to remove my first erroneous sentence. Oh, why do I always get everything wrong on here.

No, no, you are right Dawnstar....even I think it looks like same season when I reread! And it was good that you mentioned Asphodel Meadows as I was busy dealing with the phone call and forgot to type it in. Nunez,  et al  were wonderful in it.  And Morera was wonderful as Gypsy Girl with Cuthbertson and Muntagirov as the Young Girl and Young  Man. That was a lovely show. 

[alison]

3 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Either should be fine- the fact that Noces and Gloria are usually performed last in an evening doesn’t mean they can’t be danced first.

 

Well, as long as the cast for Les Noces weren't used for anything else later on - they'd have no legs left!

[miliosr]

16 hours ago, The Sitter In said:

Depressing reading indeed.  That Nijinska’s Les Noces is not to be revived in its centenary year and given the company’s history with the work is nothing short of scandalous - does no-one at the RB recognise that the company holds precious works in the history of ballet?

No revival of Les Noces at its centenary is indeed depressing. The revival in 1966 at the Royal Ballet was such a triumph for Ashton's directorship.

 

I recently bought the catalogue from a 1986 exhibition dedicated to Nijinska by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Just reading the section of the catalogue devoted to listing Nijinska's repertory makes for a sad read. As Lynn Garafola (who has a biography pf Nijinska out this year) noted in a recent interview with Fjord Review:

 

How many ballets did she make in total?

About 50, 60.

And how many are extant?

Two, “Les Noces” and “Les Biches,” in authoritative productions. A few other ballets have been reconstructed, such as “Le Train Bleu” by Frank W. D. Ries and “Bolero” by Irina Nijinska and Nina Youshkevitch for the Oakland Ballet. The “Three Ivans” from the last act of “The Sleeping Princess is also extant.” But that’s about it.

Edited April 6, 2022 by miliosr

[ellyb]

Another vote for disappointing unfortunately. Sleeping Beauty seems to have only just been on, I’ll no doubt book a couple of shows but probably only in Amphi. I’ve never been particularly taken by Cinderella but will give it a go, and I’ll likely stick to friend rehearsal for Nutcracker. So main one for me will be Mayerling, most of which I’ll unfortunately miss as I’m away for most of the run. I’m not sure I’m particularly excited by any potential Rudolphs… I think we have several men who could be outstanding in a few years, but to me most seem a bit young for such a complex role; I feel a bit of life experience helps develop the character beyond mad druggie psycho, and without a bit more depth it’s difficult to care what happens to him. Reading through this forum most of the Rudolphs people want to see aren’t even principals yet! On the other hand we have a vast array of women that I’m desperate to see as Manon, and who are more than ready. I maybe expected Fille as it does feel like it’s been ages since it was on, and seems to be very popular. Also seems a while since Alice though not sure how that sells? Would’ve liked to see the whole Anastasia, the triple bill seems a bit bizarre. I’m not personally a fan of contemporary so won’t be going, and does seem odd that’s the only triple. I would’ve thought that if KOH is desperate for people to watch contemporary dance he would be better off packaging them in bills with popular established one acts, not sure many people who don’t love contemporary will go just because they’re desperate to see Anastasia Act 3. I also wonder at the determination to keep staging very modern works when they don’t seem to sell well and seem a bit of a waste of some the best classical dancers in the world. Even though I’m sure they are more than capable, there are contemporary companies who would surely be as good or better at contemporary pieces. I don’t really understand why these shows would attract new audiences, not only because on the main stage they’ll be so expensive likely few people would risk it if they weren't already sure they’d like it, but if someone loves the modern stuff why would that mean they'd want to watch ballet? If the opera side started staging pop concerts would that encourage people to give Wagner a go, simply because it’s in the same building?! I assume most of us were young once and managed to develop a love for classical ballet, why is this generation any different? Or did most people start off watching the stuff that was newly created when they were young and migrate to the older stuff? I started off loving Swan Lake, then fell in love with MacMillan when I grew up, there's not that much been created in my lifetime (40 years) that I particularly enjoy. Whilst it is of course important to commission new works, I would personally prefer they primarily or even exclusively be ballet as I don’t see how endless contemporary works can possibly advance the artform. First post, and unfortunately a bit of a grumble! 

[MoVR]

Hi I'm new to the forum. I was wondering when reading this thread if people are always disappointed at the announcement of a new season or is this just a 2022-2023 thing? I think a lot of the critisism is reasonable and I wonder if KOH is aware of the fact that this programming is not a ballet fan's dream scenario. 

 

I was also wondering why the RB does such long runs of most classical ballets? I follow some russian dancers on social media and they seem to be doing sometimes up to three different ballets every week, which probably makes it a lot more enjoyable indeed for the corps dancers, that won't be stuck dancing a ballet they potentially don't like for a whole month. 

[alison]

7 hours ago, ellyb said:

If the opera side started staging pop concerts would that encourage people to give Wagner a go, simply because it’s in the same building?! 

 

Welcome to the forum, ellyb and MoVR!

 

The ROH has actually staged pop concerts - and comedy, for that matter - in the past.  Perhaps it breaks down the barriers of getting people into the building, but I've no idea whether those newcomers have been persuaded to try out the ROH's own offerings as a result.  Presumably there was some sort of box they had to tick as to whether they would allow mailings from the ROH itself.  Who knows, perhaps they're one of the groups which receives those nice silly discount offers when seat sales are slow?

[The Sitter In]

The problem with citing cost is that the RB only seem to watch the pennies with revivals of heritage works but throw buckets of cash at the new stuff - The Wind, anyone?  Les Noces and Les Biches should be staged regularly - they were set on the RB by Nijinska herself and thereby represent a precious part of ballet history of the 20th century.  Ditto Daphnis, Rake, Checkmate, Ondine, Sylvia etc etc etc

Regarding the triple bills that many on here are coming up with, surely it just shows that the basic problem at the RB currently is a serious lack of imagination…

If the company were to celebrate 60 years properly, they should stage at least one work from each decade… But that would take imagination.

[The Sitter In]

1 hour ago, MoVR said:

Hi I'm new to the forum. I was wondering when reading this thread if people are always disappointed at the announcement of a new season or is this just a 2022-2023 thing? I think a lot of the critisism is reasonable and I wonder if KOH is aware of the fact that this programming is not a ballet fan's dream scenario. 

 

I was also wondering why the RB does such long runs of most classical ballets? I follow some russian dancers on social media and they seem to be doing sometimes up to three different ballets every week, which probably makes it a lot more enjoyable indeed for the corps dancers, that won't be stuck dancing a ballet they potentially don't like for a whole month. 

Welcome to you.

Re. your question, no…this season announcement is particularly bad!

[DanJL]

5 minutes ago, The Sitter In said:

Welcome to you.

Re. your question, no…this season announcement is particularly bad!

In fact that's completely the opposite to my memory. I'm fairly sure we have exactly the same negative reaction every year and in the end people generally have a great time watching the vast majority of programmes, very much including the big classics! I'm sure a search through the forum will corroborate that. 

[bangorballetboy]

9 minutes ago, The Sitter In said:

 

If the company were to celebrate 60 years properly, 

 

The company (assuming you mean the Royal Ballet) is 91 years old...

[Pas de Quatre]

MoVR may be onto something.  I am sure that many years ago there were more varied programmes during the RB season, with fewer repeats of the same ballets.  However I am not sure if it is possible to check this anywhere.

[Mary]

2 hours ago, DanJL said:

I'm fairly sure we have exactly the same negative reaction every year and in the end people generally have a great time watching the vast majority of programmes, very much including the big classics! I'm sure a search through the forum will corroborate that. 

No, I think people are more disappointed this time. It's true that most people are quicker to moan than to celebrate, maybe. True that it's easy to stand on the sidelines and say 'What we would do', when we don't have to wrestle with budgets and committees. But then I think there is recognition on the forum of those difficulties, and a lot of sympathy in general for Kevin O' Hare and for the organisation- and many of us went on paying for tickets we didn't use, and paying Friend's subs, etc through the pandemic.

  I don't think it's right to dismiss the concerns of a group of keen and committed ballet-goers quite so easily. I think their concerns for the RB's heritage ought to be listened to carefully.

[Lizbie1]

5 minutes ago, Mary said:

No, I think people are more disappointed this time. It's true that most people are quicker to moan than to celebrate, maybe. True that it's easy to stand on the sidelines and say 'What we would do', when we don't have to wrestle with budgets and committees. But then I think there is recognition on the forum of those difficulties, and a lot of sympathy in general for Kevin O' Hare and for the organisation- and many of us went on paying for tickets we didn't use, and paying Friend's subs, etc through the pandemic.

  I don't think it's right to dismiss the concerns of a group of keen and committed ballet-goers quite so easily. I think their concerns for the RB's heritage ought to be listened to carefully.

 

I agree - and while I absolutely accept that there is a pressing need to fill the coffers, the balance just doesn't look right next season. And if people do have a good moan every year, maybe that says something about the general direction of travel, with increasingly long runs of "bankers" at high prices, new works that have at best mixed success at the box office, and, this year especially, little in between.

 

My one consolation is that the Cinderella run is sufficiently long that dancers at all levels might come out of it with a better ability to do Ashton justice. Does anyone know who will be staging it? That will be crucial!

[Lizbie1]

I don't think this has been posted (forgive me if it it has) but here's the press release:

 

https://static.roh.org.uk/for/pdfs/press-releases-22-23/Royal+Opera+House+announces+22.23+Season.pdf

 

It includes the date for the RBS summer performance, on a Sunday next year - July 16th (at 3pm according to the website).

[Rob S]

6 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I don't think this has been posted (forgive me if it it has) but here's the press release:

 

https://static.roh.org.uk/for/pdfs/press-releases-22-23/Royal+Opera+House+announces+22.23+Season.pdf

 

It includes the date for the RBS summer performance, on a Sunday next year - July 16th (at 3pm according to the website).

 

 

That's quite useful. it doesn't answer an earlier question about who is doing the staging of Cinderella but shows the Magic Consultant has already been finalised😄

[zxDaveM]

I think most of us predicted long runs of Nutcracker at Christmas, Sleeping Beauty, plus one of the 'big 3' MacMillan 3-acters. Cinderella came out of left field as we thought the problems of revamping the out-dated designs weren't going to be solved (glad they have been!). After those, many of us had hoped for 'more' of what ballet fans would consider the rep's gems, and not just new contemporary dance. The contemporay dance companies can't be that chuffed either...