Ashton's Cinderella - new Royal Ballet production

[LinMM]

Oh very disappointed not to be seeing Cesar on the 29th 😥 

However I hear Naghdi and Ball are very good together!!! 

[Jamesrhblack]

A pity for Cesar Corrales and Marcellino Sambé, but very pleased for Nicol Edmonds, who was so tenderly solicitous with Claire Calvert for their Swan Lake debut; also to see Itziar Mendizabal in a full dancing role (although I think she might, perhaps with Hannah Grennell, have been an uproarious Step Sister). Interesting to see James Hay cast as a Sister. In Sambé’s absence, he might have seemed a suitable partner for Akane Takada.

[ElleC]

22 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:Interesting to see James Hay cast as a Sister. In Sambé’s absence, he might have seemed a suitable partner for Akane Takada.

I agree - would have loved James Hay to be Akane’s prince. I do hope he’s also dancing one of the fairy cavaliers as well as a stepsister. I also remember him being a wonderful jester last time around.

[Dawnstar]

15 minutes ago, ElleC said:

I also remember him being a wonderful jester last time around.

 

Does the Jester have a reasonably large role? When I stage dored after Woolf Works on Saturday one of the dancers (I guess I'd better not say who as the casting hasn't been publically announced) told me he'd been cast in that role but as I've never seen Ashton's Cinderella I have no idea what it actually involves.

 

I'm pleased to find I'll be seeing both the male & female stepsister pairings. It's interesting that all the male stepsister pairings have quite a big age discrepency between the 2 dancers. Somehow I wasn't expecting that.

 

I was hoping maybe Morera would do the Fairy Godmother, after seeing her coaching the role for the Insight livestream, but sadly not.

[ElleC]

The jester has a relatively large role in the ballroom scene as well as appearing in the trying on of the glass slipper.

 

And me too with regard to Laura and the fairy godmother.  I can never get enough of her dancing … 

[Dawnstar]

Thank you @ElleC. I'm pleased to hear it's a decent-sized role.

[capybara]

My bet is on some of the younger, more junior dancers to be the Jesters.

[art_enthusiast]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

I was hoping maybe Morera would do the Fairy Godmother, after seeing her coaching the role for the Insight livestream, but sadly not.

 

Well we don't know who the Fairy Godmother is for the Takada/Edmonds or Osipova/Clarke casts yet!

 

I suppose only one cast is being recorded/cinema streamed for this, as per usual

[Dawnstar]

21 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

Well we don't know who the Fairy Godmother is for the Takada/Edmonds or Osipova/Clarke casts yet!

 

True but given Morera's Cinderella performances are during the same period as those 2 casts' performances, including 2 on the same days as 2 of the Takada/Edmonds ones, it seems unlikely she'll be doing the Fairy Godmother with either of those casts.

[Guest oncnp]

This all looks great. Now all they need to do is sell some tickets. 1 April matinee and 5 April sold out (both Nunez) and Gala getting there but some of the other early performances have scads of tickets left. They do have another week or so.  Perhaps if opening night is well reviewed sales will pick up. 

 

[Odyssey]

11 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

 

I was hoping maybe Morera would do the Fairy Godmother, after seeing her coaching the role for the Insight livestream, but sadly not.

I think it unlikely that she would be coaching a role she herself would appear in, in the same season- I can’t think of any recent examples of this happening, but I know some with more extensive knowledge may put me right.  I’m also hopeful that Clare Calvert  and  Yuhi Choi will get an opportunity.

[MaddieRose]

Melissa Hamilton posted on her Instagram story the other day with a photo of Hannah Grennell, Yuhui Choe and Mica Bradbury and said the three of them would be dancing fairies (I can't remember who was who but I think it was Autumn, Winter and Summer). 

[Guest oncnp]

14 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

I think it unlikely that she would be coaching a role she herself would appear in, in the same season- I can’t think of any recent examples of this happening, but I know some with more extensive knowledge may put me right.  I’m also hopeful that Clare Calvert  and  Yuhi Choi will get an opportunity.

Would love to see either but as Claire Calvert is now second trimester I don't think she'll be performing any time soon

[JNC]

4 minutes ago, oncnp said:

Would love to see either but as Claire Calvert is now second trimester I don't think she'll be performing any time soon

I thought this too.

 

I think O’Sullivan is the only principal that hasn’t been cast as either Cinderella or a Godmother, so I imagine she may be taking the Godmother role in the final few casts?

 

That leaves Choe as the remaining first soloist to be cast. 
 

Assuming there will be three more casts I would have guessed either Gaspirani (but she notes on Instagram she be dancing Spring and Autumn fairies so think not), Storm-Jensen or Sasaki perhaps. Or it could just be repeat of an earlier Godmother (or two). 
 

The casting looks fantastic to me in any case, so even if they just repeat the existing godmother/sisters combos for the remaining dates I wouldn’t complain! It’s getting close enough for me to start getting excited to read and see initial thoughts and pictures, although I’m not going until mid April! 

[Guest oncnp]

Onstage this morning

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpzZ9hZtWob/?hl=en

Edited March 15, 2023 by oncnp

[JNC]

I was also going to say for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the insight - it was fab!

 

sneak peak at costumes, lots of excellent insights from Wendy Soames, Laura Morera demonstrating she’s a fantastic coach, it was really well done with a bit of everything!!

[Guest oncnp]

Interesting article in today's Telegraph culture section on the history of Cinderella (paywall)

 

Slave, princess, killer: why we underestimate Cinderella at our peril (telegraph.co.uk)

[jmhopton]

I emailed the box office to ask about running times for Cinderella; also if there would be a Friday Rush for the opening Gala night. I was told there is no Friday Rush for the Gala, and the ballet is in 3 acts (therefore 2 intervals) and the running time 'will be under 3 hours'. They said they had only just begun technical rehearsals so couldn't be more exact.

[Blossom]

16 hours ago, oncnp said:

This all looks great. Now all they need to do is sell some tickets. 1 April matinee and 5 April sold out (both Nunez) and Gala getting there but some of the other early performances have scads of tickets left. They do have another week or so.  Perhaps if opening night is well reviewed sales will pick up. 

 

My thoughts too. I've emailed Alex Beard and KoH about this as understand that their need to try out increasing seat prices to cover costs but it's obviously not working given this production is new, exciting and should bring in broader audiences. Surely more strategic thought is needed in terms of how they go on to filling their seats vs a last minute panic giveaway for almost nothing which doesn't necessarily drive the deeper engagement they obviously need. 

[AnneL]

19 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Does the Jester have a reasonably large role? When I stage dored after Woolf Works on Saturday one of the dancers (I guess I'd better not say who as the casting hasn't been publically announced) told me he'd been cast in that role but as I've never seen Ashton's Cinderella I have no idea what it actually involves.

 

I'm pleased to find I'll be seeing both the male & female stepsister pairings. It's interesting that all the male stepsister pairings have quite a big age discrepency between the 2 dancers. Somehow I wasn't expecting that.

 

I was hoping maybe Morera would do the Fairy Godmother, after seeing her coaching the role for the Insight livestream, but sadly not.

There is a lovely film of Ashton’s Cinderella from 1969/70 recently restored and released on DVD which will give a good idea of the complete ballet, if you are interested. The cast is amazing- from Sibley and Dowell onwards.

the jester is an important role with some spectacular choreography, originally made by Ashton for Alexander Grant, one of his favourite dancers. So I would imagine any current dancer would be excited to be cast in the role. 

[AnneL]

By the way, I am loving the fairy godmother casting announced so far. I have already booked three performances and am seriously considering booking a couple more. That’ll help sales a bit! In any case, I love the Prokofiev score - one of the greatest 20th century ballet scores, in my opinion. 

[LinMM]

I love the waltz music and it’s one of those pieces which seem to go on in your mind for quite a while after hearing it!!! 
We learned a section of this waltz on a workshop a few years back and found myself humming the tune for days afterwards! 

[Sim]

21 hours ago, LinMM said:

Oh very disappointed not to be seeing Cesar on the 29th 😥 

However I hear Naghdi and Ball are very good together!!! 

They certainly are.  They have been regular partners for about eight years now.  They love dancing together and they know each other very well so are incredibly comfortable together and feed beautifully off each other.

[LinMM]

I’ve never actually seen them dance together yet! But haven’t seen Cesar dance for ages now as haven’t been to many of the galas this year so was really looking forward to seeing him in this and how he got on with Naghdi too. 

[JNC]

Controversially what I’ve heard of the score I don’t like - I find it rather jarring! I’m going I’ll feel differently seeing it live with the ballet too…

[Sim]

21 minutes ago, JNC said:

Controversially what I’ve heard of the score I don’t like - I find it rather jarring! I’m going I’ll feel differently seeing it live with the ballet too…

It's not controversial at all....I really don't like the score.  Give me R&J any day!!

[Sim]

23 minutes ago, LinMM said:

I’ve never actually seen them dance together yet! But haven’t seen Cesar dance for ages now as haven’t been to many of the galas this year so was really looking forward to seeing him in this and how he got on with Naghdi too. 

They are (were) building an exquisite partnership.  They were really bringing things out of each other and I'm so disappointed that they won't be doing Cinders together.  I loved them in Nut and especially in Like Water for Chocolate.  

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, AnneL said:

There is a lovely film of Ashton’s Cinderella from 1969/70 recently restored and released on DVD which will give a good idea of the complete ballet, if you are interested. The cast is amazing- from Sibley and Dowell onwards.

the jester is an important role with some spectacular choreography, originally made by Ashton for Alexander Grant, one of his favourite dancers. So I would imagine any current dancer would be excited to be cast in the role. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion but I think I'd prefer to see it live first, especially given it's a new production. I don't really want to be seeing it live for the first time already comparing it. Assuming I enjoy it live I might then look back at past recordings. I'm glad to hear the Jester is a good role.

 

38 minutes ago, JNC said:

Controversially what I’ve heard of the score I don’t like - I find it rather jarring! I’m going I’ll feel differently seeing it live with the ballet too…

 

Is the score the same as that used in Wheeldon's Cinderella? If so then I wasn't very keen on it at my first hearing. I didn't like it nearly as much as R&J, which is the only other Prokofiev ballet score I know. I'm hoping maybe it'll grow on me with repeated hearings...

Edited March 15, 2023 by Dawnstar

[LinMM]

I can see my post isn’t the clearest 🙄

I meant I’d not seen Naghdi and Ball dance together yet …..even though I know they’ve partnered each other quite a bit now. 
I’m pretty sure I saw Cesar’s cast in Like Water for Chocolate so probably saw Naghdi with him then but not in anything else either. 

[Sim]

@Dawnstar yes, it's the same Prokofiev score.

[AnneL]

Yes, basically the same score. I have seen many choreographic versions of it, but Ashton’s is my favourite. 

[Dawnstar]

I'll definitely have to hope it grows on me with repeated hearings then!

[ninamargaret]

Sorry to be awkward, but I rather like the score!Having said that, when I first saw the ballet in 1958 i wasn't enthusiastic, particularly disliking the big minor key waltz in the ball scene.I wonder if it's just a case of expecting something 'prettier' to go along with our ideas of the Cinderella story? Prokofiev  obviously didn't have the same idea and I find his sharper and rather more melancholic take on the story refreshing.