Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker, Winter 2022/3

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

I'm at ENB's Nutcracker tonight instead so I hope someone posts who actually does the RB's Spanish!

It’s  Joonhyuk Jun - poor Joonhyuk! They finally corrected it shortly before the show began. Possibly after the site almost crashed with lots of fans rushing to log on to see the howler, and others contacting them to try to tell them to correct it...... 🤣

 

I guess Emergency-what’s-his-name won’t be getting that big break on the West End stage just yet. 😂

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, Silke H said:

Spanish dance casting has been updated to Joonhyuk Jun

Sorry, Silke, missed your post when my device was dormant for a few hours. 

[Rob S]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jan McNulty]

11 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

I agree that I wouldn’t want to pay for ballet and get hip hop instead - but it’s interesting to compare the different disciplines. There’s definitely unique skill on both sides; I believe there are some interesting collaborations on YouTube between ballet/hip hop dancers.

Probably not suited for the Nutcracker though!

 

There's a video feature about Hiplet (a fusion of hip hop and ballet) in the links on 30th December:

 

 

[FLOSS]

A ballet going acquaintance of mine once pointed out to someone who was complaining about seeing junior dancers in senior soloist roles that they needed to remember that the technical standards of the company's dancers and their quality was such that most would be at least one rank  higher in any other ballet company. I would add that if those standards are to be maintained young dancers need to be given opportunities while they are young, enthusiastic, fearless and ready to learn.There is nothing worse than seeing dancers left until any ambition they may have had has atrophied while the technical challenges which major roles present have grown in their minds to such an extent that they have become all but insurmountable. Fonteyn certainly thought this was the case and said so in interview.

 

The trick for management is to judge the right time and place for such experiments in casting, The performances close to Christmas tend to be those chosen for such experiments as it is often a time when the more junior.Principals are left holding the fort. As to the non-appearance of the company's female First Soloists Calvert, Choe, Hamilton, Hinkis and Mendizabel, Calvert, Choe and Hinkis were cast as the SPF while Hamilton has been appearing in the Arabian dance. Kevin is clearly using this run of Nutcracker performances to try out some of the younger dancers by casting them in roles above their pay grade. From what I have seen this approach has paid off. It will be interesting to see if he applies the same casting policy to the important supporting roles in  Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

 

I was at the performance at which Dias and Richardson made their official debuts as the SPF  and her Prince. At the same performance Boswell made an unscheduled appearance as Hans Peter. I was very impressed by Boswell's efforts to create a character rather than merely dancing the choreography. H.e did the same thing in the role of Drosselmeyer's assistant.I thought that his characterisation was stronger than his partnering which occasionally seemed to succeed more by luck than design. I certainly look forward to seeing him in other roles.

 

There was a great deal to like about the performances which Dias and Richardson gave.They always seemed fully aware of the presence of their partner on stage.Unfortunately there was a major mishap towards the very end of the first section of the pasde deux. Suddenly Dias seemed to be far too off centre for Richardson to be able to control her movement unobtrusively. It was as if Richardson had momentarily stopped concentrating on what was happening in front of him. While he managed io avert total disaster, he did manage to retrieve the situation, but he was forced to make a very obvious and obtrusive intervention which could never have been mistaken for part of the choreography. Both dancers recovered and delivered their solos with confidence. Much as I like seeing young dancers given opportunities I am not sure that it always makes sense to require two inexperienced dancers to make a joint debut in a pas which is so technically demanding for the woman. The pas may seem short to the audience but the ballerina's choreography is strength sapping and it would have been better if Dias had been given a more experienced nd attentive partner for her official debut. An experienced partnaer would almost certainly have avoided the need for intervention by preventing things from  going wrong or at least intervening at such an early stage that few would have noticed the problem and the audience would have been spared such a jarring and obvious intervention to avert disaster. I look forward tp seeing how their careers develop. I shall be very surprised if Dias does not turn up as a season fairy in Cinderella and Richardson is not cast as one of the Prince's friends.

 

[Linnzi5]

4 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

A ballet going acquaintance of mine once pointed out to someone who was complaining about seeing junior dancers in senior soloist roles that they needed to remember that the technical standards of the company's dancers and their quality was such that most would be at least one rank  higher in any other ballet company. I would add that if those standards are to be maintained young dancers need to be given opportunities while they are young, enthusiastic, fearless and ready to learn.There is nothing worse than seeing dancers left until any ambition they may have had has atrophied while the technical challenges which major roles present have grown in their minds to such an extent that they have become all but insurmountable. Fonteyn certainly thought this was the case and said so in interview.

 

The trick for management is to judge the right time and place for such experiments in casting, The performances close to Christmas tend to be those chosen for such experiments as it is often a time when the more junior.Principals are left holding the fort. As to the non-appearance of the company's female First Soloists Calvert, Choe, Hamilton, Hinkis and Mendizabel, Calvert, Choe and Hinkis were cast as the SPF while Hamilton has been appearing in the Arabian dance. Kevin is clearly using this run of Nutcracker performances to try out some of the younger dancers by casting them in roles above their pay grade. From what I have seen this approach has paid off. It will be interesting to see if he applies the same casting policy to the important supporting roles in  Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

 

I was at the performance at which Dias and Richardson made their official debuts as the SPF  and her Prince. At the same performance Boswell made an unscheduled appearance as Hans Peter. I was very impressed by Boswell's efforts to create a character rather than merely dancing the choreography. H.e did the same thing in the role of Drosselmeyer's assistant.I thought that his characterisation was stronger than his partnering which occasionally seemed to succeed more by luck than design. I certainly look forward to seeing him in other roles.

 

There was a great deal to like about the performances which Dias and Richardson gave.They always seemed fully aware of the presence of their partner on stage.Unfortunately there was a major mishap towards the very end of the first section of the pasde deux. Suddenly Dias seemed to be far too off centre for Richardson to be able to control her movement unobtrusively. It was as if Richardson had momentarily stopped concentrating on what was happening in front of him. While he managed io avert total disaster, he did manage to retrieve the situation, but he was forced to make a very obvious and obtrusive intervention which could never have been mistaken for part of the choreography. Both dancers recovered and delivered their solos with confidence. Much as I like seeing young dancers given opportunities I am not sure that it always makes sense to require two inexperienced dancers to make a joint debut in a pas which is so technically demanding for the woman. The pas may seem short to the audience but the ballerina's choreography is strength sapping and it would have been better if Dias had been given a more experienced nd attentive partner for her official debut. An experienced partnaer would almost certainly have avoided the need for intervention by preventing things from  going wrong or at least intervening at such an early stage that few would have noticed the problem and the audience would have been spared such a jarring and obvious intervention to avert disaster. I look forward tp seeing how their careers develop. I shall be very surprised if Dias does not turn up as a season fairy in Cinderella and Richardson is not cast as one of the Prince's friends.

 

 

Thanks for this, Floss. Very interesting insight and thoughts.

 

I saw the 'insights' rehearsal with Richardson and Dias. Both of these dancers impressed me. I love Dias's smile and her stage presence. Richardson is very elegant, in my opinion. I think they have a promising future. I am surprised, as you say, about putting two inexperienced dancers together for such a demanding PDD - just because many dancers talk about how demanding both physically and technically (particularly for the Sugar Plum) this PDD is. Usually, it seems to be that a fledgling Sugar Plum is partnered with a more experienced and often senior male (who has performed the PDD in a public performance previously) and vice versa. From the insights, though I thought both dancers were delightful, I did wonder if they were both ready to be dancing such a demanding PDD together. Certainly, though I am no technical expert, would never claim to be and understand it was a rehearsal, I felt they had a way to go to perfect some of the choreography and to present it in a way that I felt was similar to that of more senior dancers.

 

I would happily have seen them dancing in a performance,  and mishaps occur, of course, but I would not have wanted that to be my only visit to Nutcracker. I also would not have purchased my usual seats, but some cheaper ones, I think. When I see performances, I do want to see Principals in technically demanding roles, on the whole. There have been notable exceptions, of course.  I am sure these two dancers will go a long way.

[Rob S]

Last night Drosselmeyer and Hans Peter were reunited in what appeared to be an incorrectly lit workshop so we saw more of the street scene than them.

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, FLOSS said:

A ballet going acquaintance of mine once pointed out to someone who was complaining about seeing junior dancers in senior soloist roles

 

Thank you very much for your reply to my query on the previous page but I would like to reiterate that I was not complaining about the casting, I was just curious about possible reasons.

[Rob S]

More workshop woe…this time the candle got knocked to the floor by the assistant (arsonist?!) on his way out the door. Mr Whitehead picked it up but it couldn’t be straightened out though did remain lit while collapsing to horizontal while he was preparing to leave….it blew out though and all was well 

[Angela Essex]

2 hours ago, Rob S said:

More workshop woe…this time the candle got knocked to the floor by the assistant (arsonist?!) on his way out the door. Mr Whitehead picked it up but it couldn’t be straightened out though did remain lit while collapsing to horizontal while he was preparing to leave….it blew out though and all was well 

Yes the candle was quite wonky after Mr Whitehead picked it up - I was there with my kids who found it hilarious.

 

Isabella Gasparini was beautiful to watch as Clara - so joyful, exuberant and happy in her dancing. Benjamin Ella did an amazing solo as Sugar Plum Prince and not sure who is was but there was one of the rose fairy escorts that really drew the eye (second from the left on my left of centre if anyone who was there today knows). Yuhui Choe and Leticia Dias beautiful sugar plum and rose fairies respectively. Superb performance by all to beautiful music from Orchestra conducted by J Lo. I always feel so lucky to be able to see the Royal Ballet and today was no exception. 2 out of 3 kids nonplussed by watching ballet so I will just be attending with my husband and son in future and will be leaving the others at home 🤣

[Rob S]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fonty]

I remember that in the old days, matinees were the place where inexperienced dancers were given a chance in the major roles.  Tickets were cheaper to reflect this, and my mother would seize a couple of these and take me to watch.  In the days when they had more matinees, of course.  

[Sophoife]

Lorna Hill drew much of the detail for her Sadler's Wells series (the first was published in 1950) from her daughter, who trained at the real Wells School.

5 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I remember that in the old days, matinees were the place where inexperienced dancers were given a chance in the major roles.

 

She has the eponymous Veronica at the Wells make her Odette-Odile début at a matinée. "Extry! Extry! Scenes at Covent Garding! Unknown bally dancer leaps to fame!"

 

Can anyone imagine any media outlet splashing headlines like that today?! Anywhere?! 

 

[art_enthusiast]

9 hours ago, FLOSS said:

There is nothing worse than seeing dancers left until any ambition they may have had has atrophied while the technical challenges which major roles present have grown in their minds to such an extent that they have become all but insurmountable. Fonteyn certainly thought this was the case and said so in interview.

 

Calvert, Choe and Hinkis were cast as the SPF while Hamilton has been appearing in the Arabian dance. 

I totally agree, there’s certainly nothing worse than denying younger dancers the chance to try larger roles - do you have a link to the interview where Fonteyn talked about this? Would love to hear more.

 

I would incidentally really like to see Melissa Hamilton as the Sugar Plum Fairy (though I know the Arabian dance is of course very well suited to her). I can imagine that she would be more than equal to the role.

[Angela Essex]

51 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

I would incidentally really like to see Melissa Hamilton as the Sugar Plum Fairy (though I know the Arabian dance is of course very well suited to her). I can imagine that she would be more than equal to the role.

Yes me too. Love Melissa Hamilton, she’s the most amazing dancer.

[San Perregrino]

7 hours ago, Angela Essex said:

and not sure who is was but there was one of the rose fairy escorts that really drew the eye (second from the left on my left of centre if anyone who was there today knows)

 

I suspect you are referring to Leo Dixon who has excelled throughout the 2022/2023 Nutcracker run in various roles.

 

Today's published escorts were:

Rose Fairy Escorts

Harris Bell, Leo Dixon, Giacomo Rovero, Francisco Serrano, with a post interval announcement that David Donnelly was replacing Harris Bell.

[Angela Essex]

On 01/01/2023 at 00:48, PeterS said:

 

I suspect you are referring to Leo Dixon who has excelled throughout the 2022/2023 Nutcracker run in various roles.

 

Today's published escorts were:

Rose Fairy Escorts

Harris Bell, Leo Dixon, Giacomo Rovero, Francisco Serrano, with a post interval announcement that David Donnelly was replacing Harris Bell.

Thank you - he was amazing 😍

[Henry]

Having attended the 29th Dec matinee, I was browsing cast sheets when I got home and was surprised to see how many of the corps and soloists were also dancing in that evening's performance.  Mostly the soloists were in a different role.  Having arrived at the theatre at, say, 09:30 for a 10:00 class, they will get to leave the theatre at almost 23:00 after showering and changing. 

 

The soloist roles of Clara & Hans Peter have always seemed very tough for me.  They are on stage for most of the performance, they are expected to join in most of the dances - Spanish, Russian etc.  Even when SPF & Prince are on stage, Clara & Hans Peter are expected to sit at the front of the stage and watch, rather than allowed to go off stage, have a drink of water, stretch a stiff muscle etc.  The role of the Prince has never seemed that demanding to me, compared to Hans Peter.  However, the Prince has been sitting out all of Act I, probably playing games on his mobile phone and having a coffee.  He arrives in Act II covered in biing, looking like he has spent the afternoon at the hairdresser's, does 10 minutes and gets the applause! 

 

Principals usually have only 2 or 3 performances in total in a run of Nutcracker.  Soloists will sometimes take on a principal role.  It is rare for a principal to take on a soloist role.  For example Osipova & Clarke are the last casting for this run.  What have they been doing since November??  

 

(Please don't take this too seriously)

[capybara]

2 minutes ago, Henry said:

Principals usually have only 2 or 3 performances in total in a run of Nutcracker.  Soloists will sometimes take on a principal role.  It is rare for a principal to take on a soloist role.  For example Osipova & Clarke are the last casting for this run.  What have they been doing since November??  

 

Reece Clarke danced The Nutcracker in Kazakhstan with Mayara Magri as his partner. He has also been doing some modelling type  photoshoots (see his IG).

Natalia Osipova has also been 'away' (no doubt Amelia can give us the details).

 

All the guesting on the part of RB Principals and First Soloists seems to be one of the consequences of their each getting relatively few shows in any run. But, of course, they are in great demand elsewhere because they are wonderful dancers. For example, for his Danza Con Me show on Italian TV, Roberto Bolle performed with no less than four RB ballerinas.

[Sim]

Reece also guested somewhere with Yasmine Naghdi (herself hugely in demand internationally these days) but I can’t remember where!  

[Candleque]

Post-pandemic, are Royal Ballet dancers doing more guesting? Or just posting about it more? — or am I just noticing more 😆

It does make sense for dancers at the top of their game to enjoy other opportunities if they have only 2-3 shows throughout the Nutcracker months.

[FionaM]

I think RB and ABT dancers (Boylston, Camargo) may be gaining more guesting slots that would have been filled by Bolshoi/Mariinsky dancers before 2022.  

[capybara]

Reece and Yasmine danced the Corsaire pas de deux in Italy fairly recently and also appeared together in the Middle East some months previously.

 

Guesting can impact on ‘home’ assignments  as dancers are not available to cover. I also remember an occasion many years ago when a ballerina was injured abroad and could not fulfill her RB schedule. There was some audience unrest about that!

 

But, in general, I think it’s great that RB dancers are being appreciated worldwide and that we can share a little of that via social media.

 

(Maybe this subject needs a separate thread?)

 

 

[LinMM]

I always try to give an extra special cheer to Hans Peter and Clara at curtain calls because after their often superlative pas de deux in Act one there’s no chance for the audience to fully appreciate it as the music goes straight into Snowflakes. 
If I’m seeing the Royal Ballet Nut.  I also book performances based on who is dancing in these two roles as well as who is dancing Prince and Sugar Plum as there is such a lot of dancing and on stage presence etc for them. 
I think it’s great dancers are going off and guesting elsewhere when not too busy as it’s all the more experience for them which will benefit the Company as a whole. 
I believe one of the main reasons Muntagirov left ENB is that when Rojo took over as AD she did not like her Principals guesting elsewhere. 

 

[Guest oncnp]

5 hours ago, Candleque said:

Post-pandemic, are Royal Ballet dancers doing more guesting? Or just posting about it more? — or am I just noticing more 😆

It does make sense for dancers at the top of their game to enjoy other opportunities if they have only 2-3 shows throughout the Nutcracker months.

May also be an economic incentive as the ROH's last set of published accounts (ending Aug 2021) indicate the highest paid may have taken a permanent post-pandemic pay cut (pg 80)

[MJW]

Just posted on the ROH's YouTube -  a quick behind the scenes view of The Nutcracker - 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSm7p-Kzy28

[Henry]

1 hour ago, oncnp said:

May also be an economic incentive as the ROH's last set of published accounts (ending Aug 2021) indicate the highest paid may have taken a permanent post-pandemic pay cut (pg 80)

Thanks for pointing me towards the accounts.  Always an interesting read for any organisation! 

 

I had assumed that principals (apart of course, for guest principals) were normal full time employees - with rights to holiday days, holiday pay, sick pay, pension scheme etc.  Isn't it unusual for a full time employee to be allowed so much time to take on other paid work?

Edited January 4, 2023 by Henry
punctuation

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

I always try to give an extra special cheer to Hans Peter and Clara at curtain calls because after their often superlative pas de deux in Act one there’s no chance for the audience to fully appreciate it as the music goes straight into Snowflakes.

Isn't this a wonderful PDD, to one of Tchaikovsky's most sublime pieces?

I appreciate it all the more having recently watched Balanchine's NYBC version on TV, where the equivalent characaters are too young for  a  PDD and nothing is danced to this music (just one of the many faults in what is a pretty awful production IMHO, barring one or two highlights in Act 2).

[Guest oncnp]

42 minutes ago, Henry said:

I had assumed that principals (apart of course, for guest principals) were normal full time employees - with rights to holiday days, holiday pay, sick pay, pension scheme etc.  Isn't it unusual for a full time employee to be allowed so much time to take on other paid work?

 

At least one RB principal has been quoted as saying that Mr. O'Hare's liberal guesting policy is one advantage of dancing with the company. 

[LinMM]

And dancers careers are so short comparatively speaking. 

[annamk]

I see on the RoH website that Mariko Sasaki and Joe Sissens have replaced Akane Takada and Cesar Corrales (Sugar Plum and Prince obviously) for both their upcoming Nutcracker performances. 

[capybara]

19 minutes ago, annamk said:

I see on the RoH website that Mariko Sasaki and Joe Sissens have replaced Akane Takada and Cesar Corrales (Sugar Plum and Prince obviously) for both their upcoming Nutcracker performances. 

Not really a surprise and feeling very sorry indeed for Akane and Cesar. Cesar hasn’t been on stage this season and that must be so hard for a dancer.

Mariko’s original one SPF has now turned into four with Joe reaching five shows, I think. Nice for them!

[Dawnstar]

It looks like Saunders & Hinkis are still out injured too, with Saunders being replaced by Gartside tonight and Hinkis replaced by Allnatt on 10th & 14th. Also Corrales is being replaced by Clarke in Sleeping Beauty on 19th, though that's probably a comment for another thread (don't think we actually have an SB thread yet?).