GISELLE United Ukrainian Ballet 13-17 September, Coliseum

[Beryl H]

I thought about going on the Saturday night but when I saw the cheapest was the back row of the Upper Circle for £30, I changed my mind.

[Geoff]

5 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Almost forgot- NEWSFLASH for those concerned by the ticket prices/range of budget options aside from the £10 tickets.....

 

The balcony sections for this Giselle have opened for public booking 👏👍 for two of the performances: the first night (Tues) and the Thursday matinee on the 15th!!! Over 440 seats available per show from £10 to £40 to choose from in the balcony (sounds like bargains compared to the £100 amphitheatre seats for the same season at the Royal Opera House!) 

Many thanks Emeralds. Just to add, some of these new £10 tickets are in the second row of the Balcony. For those thinking that these seats might be a great bargain, they are, but only in a way. There was a recent discussion on the Forum: members pointed out they are some of the worst seats in the house, because of the bar blocking your view, 

[JNC]

@Geoffnot just the second row but the first row too! 
 

I always find this website helpful https://seatplan.com/london/london-coliseum-theatre/seating-plan/

 

Honestly I really wouldn’t recommend any seat in either of the first two rows for the coli. 

[JNC]

Have just seen on those dates they’re charging £40 for the front row of the balcony!! At that price it’s definitely not worth it - sit in the third row! 

 

I wonder why they have only opened up for those two dates. I may be tempted to pick up another £10 ticket (side of the balcony not the second row!) if they opened up some of Katja’s performances (have already booked for Alina). 

[bridiem]

5 hours ago, JNC said:

@Geoffnot just the second row but the first row too! 
 

I always find this website helpful https://seatplan.com/london/london-coliseum-theatre/seating-plan/

 

Honestly I really wouldn’t recommend any seat in either of the first two rows for the coli. 

 

A lot of balcony seats are in fact impeded to a greater or lesser extent by the bar. It's extremely annoying!! (And the rake is completely inadequate and the seats extremely uncomfortable. So I really don't like going to the Coliseum, which is a great pity.)

[Emeralds]

The Coliseum normally has such good bargains in other areas that I haven’t bought balcony seats in a very very long time. The bar that blocks part of the first row if you’re short wasn’t a problem for me and my friend the very last time we ended up there (because another friend insisted on sitting in balcony for £10) as we are both tall enough, but it’s true that the lighting rigging blocks some of the view in the first 2 rows as well, if you’re not tall.

 

There are still lots of affordable and comfortable seats below £50 with excellent sight lines in the upper circle, and if your budget is £90 or under, plenty of choice in the stalls and dress circle. 

 

Maybe it was the issue of the sight lines that made the management unkeen to open up the balcony for booking Giselle initially. Doesn’t seem to put off the Nutcracker customers though!  

Edited July 30, 2022 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

7 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

A lot of balcony seats are in fact impeded to a greater or lesser extent by the bar. It's extremely annoying!! (And the rake is completely inadequate and the seats extremely uncomfortable. So I really don't like going to the Coliseum, which is a great pity.)

Bridiem, why don’t you just get the £10 seats in the Upper Circle? They’re about the same view as first few rows of the ROH amphitheatre- and a fraction of ROH prices. More comfortable than the balcony, where the seats are more like bench seats. I think it will be worth it for Cojocaru and Khaniukova, and I think the Ukrainian Ballet Giselles may pleasantly surprise us too. 

[LinMM]

You can usually get a very good comfortable seat in the Upper Circle for many events at the Coli for under £50 which unless you are going multiple times is a bargain!! It’s a long time since I’ve sat up in the Balcony there as well. 
 

Edited July 30, 2022 by LinMM

[bridiem]

Just now, Emeralds said:

Bridiem, why don’t you just get the £10 seats in the Upper Circle? They’re about the same view as first few rows of the ROH amphitheatre- and a fraction of ROH prices. More comfortable than the balcony, where the seats are more like bench seats. I think it will be worth it for Cojocaru and Khaniukova, and I think the Ukrainian Ballet Giselles may pleasantly surprise us too. 

 

I'm not sure yet if I will be going to this production, but if I do (or on any other future visits to the Coli) I will certainly look at the Upper Circle!

[Emeralds]

I must say the rake for seats is excellent in the Upper Circle and Dress Circle at the Coliseum - it is possible to lean quite far forward without blocking anyone behind you, whereas at the Grand Tier and Balcony Circle at ROH you only need to move forward slightly by an inch or so and you block someone behind you. 

[LinMM]

Bridiem I don’t know if you are a Friend of ENB but when the Company is performing at the Coli they usually offer very good reductions in prices which sort of allow me to sit in Upper Circle!! I must admit I’m mostly going to Coli to see them and other Ballet productions. I will often go at least twice to any production there but don’t usually go more than twice to any production these days even at ROH mostly because of added travel costs etc though if I still lived in London I would go more often sometimes but not always as I do find that more exhausting these days!! 
I think if you are somebody who is choosing to see lots of casts then obviously paying much more than £30 for a seat can get very expensive so I suppose you set your top price at a different level to people who may only go once or twice to each production like myself. 
Of course even only going say twice to each production across Companies at ROH, Coli, Sadlers Wells etc etc ..just in London …the costs can soon mount up! So I can see why some think paying more than £30 for a ticket looks extravagant!! 
I haven’t yet worked out exactly what I spent on Ballet performances this last season but probably quite a bit more than I planned to!! 
I’ve already quickly bought tickets for most of the performances am wanting to go to between September and end of December including this Giselle before it gets to the point I decide I really can’t afford it any more …with everything else happening!! 
Goodness knows what will happen from January 2023 onwards. 

I may be up in the Balcony again at the Coli and for sure and only standing at ROH so making hay why sun still shining!! 
 

[Jamesrhblack]

I have booked three seats in the front row of the Upper Circle Box further from the stage for the premiere, which seems a bargain at £50 a seat, even if there may be a viewing restriction.

[CHazell2]

Will there be mime in this production and is it based on the Ratmansky production for the Bolshoi? Or will it be completely different?

[FionaM]

4 hours ago, CHazell2 said:

Will there be mime in this production and is it based on the Ratmansky production for the Bolshoi? Or will it be completely different?

 

Yes it is being based on his previous work on Giselle for the Bolshoi.   

[CHazell2]

Splendid, I love that production

[capybara]

New English Ballet Theatre has announced in its newsletter that its dancers will be participating in this production of Giselle.

[Beryl H]

The Balcony is now open for all performances, prices from £10, think I will go to the Saturday evening, but probably not in the Balcony, not sure if I can put up with the discomfort. Will wait to see if any casting appears.

[Emeralds]

On 03/08/2022 at 19:12, CHazell2 said:

Will there be mime in this production and is it based on the Ratmansky production for the Bolshoi? Or will it be completely different?

Ratmansky has said on camera before that he loves mime in ballet so this Giselle is likely to have lots of mime (just like his previous productions of Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Giselle, Nutcracker etc etc). I think there may be some details that differ from his Bolshoi production but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever see Ratmansky trying to modernise, reboot, or deconstruct a classical ballet. He has great respect and love for the beauty and subtleties of old works. His production for Olga Smirnova and the Bolshoi dancers was beautiful and I expect this production will be similarly so. PS it’s premiering tonight! Hope we have forum members in the Netherlands who are able to attend and spill the beans.... I mean give us their feedback/reviews. 💐

[LBC]

The London Ballet Circle are delighted to be ‘in conversation’ with Alexei Ratmansky about this new creation and company on Wednesday 7th September at 7pm (UK time) via Zoom.  He will be interviewed by Graham Watts

 

Zoom access is free to LBC members.

 

Everyone is welcome to join this zoom … purchase zoom access for £5 here https://www.tlbc.org.uk/events/in-conversation-with-alexei-ratmansky-via-zoom

 

[li tai po]

I see that they are performing Giselle at the Koninklijk Theatre in Carré on Monday 22 August and Tuesday 23 August.  The top price is 69 euros and the cheapest tickets are 29 euros (plus a 1.5 euro transaction fee).

 

When I looked this morning, I estimated that the 7 performances at the Coliseum were just under 20% sold in total.

[alison]

Someone needs to publicise this, then!  I've seen posters on the Underground, but nothing else as yet (unless anything has appeared in the Links in the past few days, when I haven't been able to check them.

[capybara]

11 hours ago, li tai po said:

 
I saw that too (about the low level of ticket sales). Rather upsetting.

Katja Kanuikova and Alina Cojocaru are absolutely fabulous Giselles - in fact Alina is one of the greatest of all time.

I do fear that the prices were pitched a bit too high……

Edited August 16, 2022 by capybara

[JNC]

Such a shame if this doesn’t sell well. Hopefully the opening of the balcony and “cheaper” tickets will help. I do think more advertising would help as well, and even things like selling tickets through today tix (even at full price) will catch an audience who may otherwise not be aware. If it weren’t for this forum I wouldn’t have known about this. 
 

But I fear the cost of living crisis is really beginning to hit hard, so I don’t think it’s exclusive to this production. I really feel for theatres at the moment. 

[maryrosesatonapin]

12 hours ago, li tai po said:

I see that they are performing Giselle at the Koninklijk Theatre in Carré on Monday 22 August and Tuesday 23 August.  The top price is 69 euros and the cheapest tickets are 29 euros (plus a 1.5 euro transaction fee).

 

When I looked this morning, I estimated that the 7 performances at the Coliseum were just under 20% sold in total.

Goodness, that's a bargain.  I have tickets for the Coliseum that cost £150 each!  The pricing has clearly been messed up if they can't sell them.

Edited to add: But to still see Cojocaru whilst we can, is beyond price IMO.

Edited August 16, 2022 by maryrosesatonapin

[Sim]

27 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

Goodness, that's a bargain.  I have tickets for the Coliseum that cost £150 each!  The pricing has clearly been messed up if they can't sell them.

Edited to add: But to still see Cojocaru whilst we can, is beyond price IMO.

My Coliseum tickets cost £10 each....a real bargain!

[LinMM]

I feel the same that there is not much info around about it as I wouldn’t have known about it at all if it wasn’t for the Forum.  There are definitely very good seats for less than £150 though! 

[FionaM]

I’m pleased to see the team are upping the marketing for this show with this video by Dance Europe.  

Interesting interviews in here particularly with choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and with Katja Khaniukova.  
 

Alina Cojocaru also appears in studio rehearsals.  
 

[maryrosesatonapin]

So proud of BRB giving the costumes and scenery for free.

 

[maryrosesatonapin]

13 hours ago, LinMM said:

I feel the same that there is not much info around about it as I wouldn’t have known about it at all if it wasn’t for the Forum.  There are definitely very good seats for less than £150 though! 

I agree - my comment was in comparison with the top price of 69 Euros in Amsterdam.

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

So proud of BRB giving the costumes and scenery for free.

 

 

BRB has a history of this.  Many years ago when there were issues at Scottish Ballet, BRB lent them the set and costumes for both Fille and 2 Pigeons.

[Angela Essex]

On 16/08/2022 at 10:39, Sim said:

My Coliseum tickets cost £10 each....a real bargain!

Wow that’s fabulous - May I please ask what part of the house they’re in? I couldn’t see any for £10 when I checked a couple of the performances on the Coliseum website just now. I’d love to go, but I’ve booked a whole load of roh performances for autumn/winter so need a bargain 😂

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, Angela Essex said:

Wow that’s fabulous - May I please ask what part of the house they’re in? I couldn’t see any for £10 when I checked a couple of the performances on the Coliseum website just now. I’d love to go, but I’ve booked a whole load of roh performances for autumn/winter so need a bargain 😂

 

there are still £10 tickets available in the Balcony, though all the Upper Circle ones have gone now (I think). Need a stiff constitution for those seats though (concrete steps with some 'padding'). View is OK.

There is a link on the first page of this thread (about 4-5 messages down) which gets you there quickly

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, Angela Essex said:

Wow that’s fabulous - May I please ask what part of the house they’re in? I couldn’t see any for £10 when I checked a couple of the performances on the Coliseum website just now. I’d love to go, but I’ve booked a whole load of roh performances for autumn/winter so need a bargain 😂

Not promising anything, Angela, but sometimes I’ve booked a cheap seat/s for a very sparsely sold show for various companies eg a weekday matinee and managed to move forward to a more luxurious seat when the house lights went up because so many were empty. People unlikely to get seated after curtain up in front of other patrons if they are late, but might get shown to a back row discreetly. I then get up at each of the intervals and go for a stroll in case the actual patrons were just late and get upset if their seat appears occupied. (I also move to the front of an empty row on the logic that it’s discouraging for performers to see lots of empty seats in the front and it’s hard for them to see people at the back.) I move back to the front after the interval if it doesn’t  look like anyone is coming. NB for the link zxDaveM mentioned, you need to find the thread on the Dance News and Info forum (started by FionaE).

 

The company have also advertised on their Facebook page that they’re looking for volunteers to help put up some publicity posters and maybe assist on the opening night. They are offering a pair of tickets as a thank you. Haven’t had time to email them yet. I did wonder for a few minutes if it was legit and whether I should really be randomly emailing  strangers (haha, I sound like my mum) but I checked the name of the company (Wild Yak) and they are a legit theatre production company. I suppose one should  phone the company to check they’re actually involved with this ballet if thinking of getting involved. I’m  actually keen to help put up posters near us (am not free on opening night) as I’d love many first timers or dance lovers to support the dancers, see Ratmansky’s work and the company look great in the videos. And Giselle is just such a gorgeous ballet.

 

The free tickets aren’t really the issue for me as I’ve already bought tickets for the dates we are free to go. But the offer is a win win for both volunteers needing inexpensive (ie free) tickets and the dancers!  

Edited August 20, 2022 by Emeralds