NEWS - Laura Morera to retire as Principal dancer of The Royal Ballet after 27 years

[Jane S]

11 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Naming no names I was told many years ago by a teacher at the Royal Ballet School who is has long departed to the great studio in the sky that Monica Mason would never be given Aurora though she was Lilac Fairy (a role she said herself she didn't think partcularly suited her) and of course she was Carabosse as her physique was wrong for Aurora, broad in the back etc.

 

 

 

Though she did actually do Aurora a couple of times

[Ondine]

I'm merely relating what was said to me,  decades ago, to illustrate the whims of management!

 

It was ever thus.

[Benjamin]

17 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I would have loved to see Laura “do the double” of both Young Girl and Gypsy Girl! (Just like dancers doing both Nikiya and Gamzatti during the same run.) The technical and aesthetic elements of the Young Girl role would have been no problem for her. The acting would of course be superlative. 

 

I think some dancers do ask for certain roles in roles in their interviews and appointments with their ADs. One principal at ENB also described how she actually asked Rojo, I want to become principal, how should I go about doing that? - and was given advice on what to work on to achieve her goals and get cast. (But ENB does do multiple consecutive shows in different cities, so the opportunities to dance leads in the classics are greater.) 

 

I would like to have seen Laura as Juliet, and the fact that she could dance Tatiana and Manon successfully makes Juliet a logical choice. I bet, seeing as Laura has hinted she would contemplate making a comeback for certain roles and that she isn’t stopping her dancing, if they programmed Romeo and Juliet in autumn 2024 and cast Laura as Juliet as a guest artist, her performances would be the first to leave the “100+ seats remaining” and then sell out. That would be a fairly radical move for RB to make, but it would be great box office! She is loved and respected by many former dancers, current dancers as well as fans. 

Amazing idea. They will do quite a few of things to get tix to sell so I can’t see why not. What a comeback.

[jmhopton]

5 hours ago, capybara said:

Which needs to be filmed. Best overall cast by some distance in Spring 2022 but the opportunity missed.

Interestingly, the three partners Laura mentioned in her recent London Ballet Circle were, as expected, Ricardo Cervera and Federico Bonelli - but also Vadim.

I have mentioned filming the Japanese Laura/Vadim Month in the Country to Kevin as the London performances were so incredible. I was thinking of a Japanese company filming it as Fumi is part of the mixed bill and Vadim is very popular there. Clutching at straws I know but you can only ask.

 

Also, why are Japan getting a Royal Celebration Concert and we're not?!

[Guest oncnp]

22 minutes ago, JNC said:

apart from Osipova and Nunez who do seem to have very large followings, are there enough audience members who really care about casting (to the mass of filling the house?). I imagine at least 50%, if not more of each audience to not be so bothered by casting and more about dates that are convenient to them. 

Fair point and I agree with you.  But I do think being "fit for the role" involves multiple factors, not all dance related. 

[OnePigeon]

28 minutes ago, JNC said:

apart from Osipova and Nunez who do seem to have very large followings, are there enough audience members who really care about casting (to the mass of filling the house?). I imagine at least 50%, if not more of each audience to not be so bothered by casting and more about dates that are convenient to them. 
 

For example I can’t see even Hayward (who perhaps gets the most PR with her dabbling in modelling and also acting with Cats) filling a house over and above say Naghdi or others. 

 

I’m not sure if I’m just naive or incorrect but I think the point is perhaps casting someone like Morera (or anyone else!) in my view isn’t going to make that much difference to ticket sales, positively or negatively (with perhaps the Osipova and Nunez exceptions as I think they may have the largest followings from what I have seen on ticket sales numbers on ROH website). 
 

So I can’t see why ticket sales would or should have factored into Morera (or others) being cast or not, at such a significant level. But that’s just my opinion/guess. 
 

And I’d take a gather that those who do care about casting are likely to be among us regulars who probably see more than one performance if we can, which will then even out those that aren’t bothered by casting to pick dates with more favourable tickets perhaps? 
 

If I’m wrong and sales do shift significantly depending on casting then I still don’t think it’s reason enough to stop casting or alternatively casting those who aren’t right for roles above others. 
 

It is very sad Morera wasn’t given opportunity to dance many key roles during her career. Having seen her Cinderella I think she would have been a fantastic Aurora and Juliet (among many others!). I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure if I see her as Odile/Odette but that’s not to say she shouldn’t have been given the chance given her rank - as already mentioned given how frequently swan lake comes around they could have let her have one run of it at least. It’s also very odd she wasn’t cast as Tatiana again. 

I suspect this was part of the issue earlier in Morera’s RB career as there were big names who did bring in audiences, eg Bussell, Guillem ,Rojo, Cojocaru (dare I open that can of worms again 😁).  By the time they had all departed she was a more senior member of the RB and so I have no idea why they dug their heels in and refused to give her certain roles.  I think there have always been favoured dancers and suspect there is more to it than dance ability.  Obviously that’s pure speculation and I’m just musing on something that seems mystifying from a dance perspective.  Lynn Seymour never fit the mould either and suffered many career disappointments over the years.

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, balletfanatic said:

Surely there is another company which could ask her to guest in one of these roles. Seems so sad that she never had these key opportunities 

 

After reading Morera's interview yesterday, I found myself thinking about Melissa Hamilton's stint at the Dresden Ballet some years ago. I remember reading about it at the time & being a bit baffled that a dancer would choose to dance with a smaller ballet company rather than one of the largest companies in the world. That was before I started watching the RB regularly & realised how few of the main roles she is allowed to dance, when it then made total sense. I wonder if Morera ever considered doing something similar so she could dance some of the roles the RB wouldn't let her do, especially Aurora & Odette/Odile given that almost every ballet company has those pieces in their rep. Morera does seem pretty weddd to the RB though. Am I right in thinking that she doesn't do masses of international gala or guesting appearances, compared to some of the RB Principals? Or did she used to do more of that & has wound it down in recent years when approaching retirement?

[Ondine]

 I think Melissa Hamilton is always going to be the bridesmaid. Is it not down to the fact she is seen as having stamina issues? And so she went elsewhere to attempt to either build this or prove she could do it? Beautiful dancer.

 

(And then there is the delightful Yuhui Choe, but I think that ship too has now sailed!)

 

As for all that guesting abroad others do, the RB has so many principals hasn't it, they need to keep busy, and make their mark and money while still able to be at top of the game? Hence the guesting. Cannot sit in London doing nothing.

 

 All have future careers to consider once their dancing days are done.  You need to have moved around, made a name internationally, to coach / teach / choreograph become an AD and the rest.

 

That podcast with Brandon Lawrence mentions this. He's in part moving to broaden his repertoire and also with his future in mind. Sad loss to BRB but this is the futire of ballet as a career I think.

 

[art_enthusiast]

28 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

That was before I started watching the RB regularly & realised how few of the main roles she is allowed to dance, when it then made total sense.

Exactly, I think that’s the danger of being part of a such a large company with so many excellent dancers (and extremely good young talent coming through every year it seems), that you risk being under utilised and not able to reach your full potential.

It would have been really interesting if Morera had guested elsewhere. Not too sure how it works, do they have to wait for an invitation?

[OnePigeon]

I remember Doreen Wells saying that she requested to go back and dance with the Sadlers Wells company instead so that she could actually dance more and get the opportunity to dance the big roles.  It was a tough era if your name wasn’t Margot.  It’s a shame, in many ways, they no longer even have that option.

[Guest oncnp]

17 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

It would have been really interesting if Morera had guested elsewhere. Not too sure how it works, do they have to wait for an invitation?

 

I believe you do. Not sure how the RB to NB/BRB/Scottish (and the Brno Bayadere last year) guesting  arrangements work. 

[Guest oncnp]

10 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

I remember Doreen Wells saying that she requested to go back and dance with the Sadlers Wells company instead so that she could actually dance more and get the opportunity to dance the big roles.  It was a tough era if your name wasn’t Margot.  It’s a shame, in many ways, they no longer even have that option.

 

But they can guest with very few restrictions, it seems. 

[Emeralds]

31 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 I think Melissa Hamilton is always going to be the bridesmaid. Is it not down to the fact she is seen as having stamina issues? And so she went elsewhere to attempt to either build this or prove she could do it? Beautiful dancer.

 

(And then there is the delightful Yuhui Choe, but I think that ship too has now sailed!)

 

As for all that guesting abroad others do, the RB has so many principals hasn't it, they need to keep busy, and make their mark and money while still able to be at top of the game? Hence the guesting. Cannot sit in London doing nothing.

 

 All have future careers to consider once their dancing days are done.  You need to have moved around, made a name internationally, to coach / teach / choreograph become an AD and the rest.

 

That podcast with Brandon Lawrence mentions this. He's in part moving to broaden his repertoire and also with his future in mind. Sad loss to BRB but this is the futire of ballet as a career I think.

 

Hmm, I haven’t seen any stamina issues with the roles Hamilton has had. I saw her Juliet and that’s a long ballet where Juliet is around for all three acts and she wasn’t just fine - she was amazing. My friend said, I’ve seen lots of good ballerinas and great ballerinas, but Melissa IS Juliet! I missed her Manon with Matthew Golding because of work clashes and am very peeved she hasn’t a public slot (ie not schools matinee) since. She’s been fine as Lilac Fairy ages ago (can’t we have her back?- I’d book to see her specially) and Fairy Godmother this season, and notably, she’s one of the few dancers who’s never struggled during both the Queen of the Dryads variation and Raymonda first variation. I agree, she is a beautiful dancer. 

54 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

After reading Morera's interview yesterday, I found myself thinking about Melissa Hamilton's stint at the Dresden Ballet some years ago. I remember reading about it at the time & being a bit baffled that a dancer would choose to dance with a smaller ballet company rather than one of the largest companies in the world. That was before I started watching the RB regularly & realised how few of the main roles she is allowed to dance, when it then made total sense. I wonder if Morera ever considered doing something similar so she could dance some of the roles the RB wouldn't let her do, especially Aurora & Odette/Odile given that almost every ballet company has those pieces in their rep. Morera does seem pretty weddd to the RB though. Am I right in thinking that she doesn't do masses of international gala or guesting appearances, compared to some of the RB Principals? Or did she used to do more of that & has wound it down in recent years when approaching retirement?

I know with Melissa, the Dresden stint started off with Jiri Bubenicek requesting her to be his Manon at his farewell performance with Semperoper Ballett Dresden, but I don’t know how he came to think of choosing her though. Melissa is also a popular guest with Roberto Bolle’s tours and his Danza con Me tv show in Italy. In fact, for the last 5 years, it feels like the Italians see more of Melissa than we do! I wish Bolle would bring his tour here and some tv station would buy the Danza con Me programme to air. Marianela Nuñez appeared recently on it and posted online about how thrilled she was to dance Paquita for the first time.

 

Laura doesn’t seem to do as much international guesting as some of her colleagues, although she has appeared in charity galas organised by RB colleagues in the U.K.. It would be fantastic if she started dancing as a guest with other companies eg Northern Ballet (which Bonelli is now leading), Scottish Ballet (like her colleague Ryoichi Hirano did), ENB etc etc as Juliet, Odette/Odile or Aurora if they had a large block of tour performances they needed help with! Also, am sure the box office would do very well when she dances.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Emeralds

[Fonty]

8 minutes ago, oncnp said:

 

I believe you do. Not sure how the RB to NB/BRB/Scottish (and the Brno Bayadere last year) guesting  arrangements work. 

 

I suspect that if a principal found that a less well known company was performing a ballet they were very keen to dance in, it would help the advance booking no end for that company?  If I had found that Morera was guesting with Another Company as Juliet, and it was within reasonable travelling distance, I would have been there like a shot!  Having said that, the problem might be rehearsing with whatever partner you would be dancing with.  Although that would be a problem no matter how big the company was, if it wasn't someone you regularly dance with or have had masses of rehearsal time with.

Edited to add that Emeralds posted while I was still typing.  Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, are you listening?  

Edited April 30, 2023 by Fonty

[Emeralds]

24 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

Exactly, I think that’s the danger of being part of a such a large company with so many excellent dancers (and extremely good young talent coming through every year it seems), that you risk being under utilised and not able to reach your full potential.

It would have been really interesting if Morera had guested elsewhere. Not too sure how it works, do they have to wait for an invitation?

You have to get invited, but if you have an agent, sign on to a professional listing, or set up your own website with contact details for guest appearances, it tells artistic directors and impresarios that you are available. If you don’t have any of these contact points out there, the directors and impresarios will assume you are not available or not interested. I am told she also does teaching, so that would keep her busy also. 

[Emeralds]

3 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

I suspect that if a principal found that a less well known company was performing a ballet they were very keen to dance in, it would help the advance booking no end for that company?  If I had found that Morera was guesting with Another Company as Juliet, and it was within reasonable travelling distance, I would have been there like a shot!  Having said that, the problem might be rehearsing with whatever partner you would be dancing with.  Although that would be a problem no matter how big the company was, if it wasn't someone you regularly dance with or have had masses of rehearsal time with.

Edited to add that Emeralds posted while I was still typing.  Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, are you listening?  

Sorry, Fonty, 😁😉, we think alike! Agree to all the above. 

[Sim]

49 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Hmm, I haven’t seen any stamina issues with the roles Hamilton has had. I saw her Juliet and that’s a long ballet where Juliet is around for all three acts  - and notably, she’s one of the few dancers who’s never struggled during both the Queen of the Dryads variation and Raymonda first variation.

 

Juliet is around for all three acts but in Act 2 is only onstage for about 10 minutes (marriage scene) and doesn't do any dancing.  Act 3 is hers!  

 

I saw her do Queen of the Dryads twice or three times a few years ago and she didn't do it too well any of those times.  Maybe now it's better, and I hope we will get a chance to see in the new season.

 

I love Melissa in the MacMillan repertoire, and the modern rep, and other things.  I'm just not sure she would float my boat in the pure classical roles.  Having said this, I would be very happy to give it a go and prove myself wrong.  This is not a sleight on Melissa; I don't go to see Osipova and Hayward in the classical roles either.  It's just a matter of preference.

[capybara]

2 hours ago, JNC said:

It’s also very odd she wasn’t cast as Tatiana again. 

Somewhere on here, but probably on another thread, I raised the possibility of dancers who had been cast in a role multiple times over many years ‘making way’ so that others could have a ‘turn’. 
 

It felt to me as if that happened for the 2020 run of Onegin and, if so, the newcomer (Yasmine Naghdi) was a terrific Tatiana. But, at the same time, I missed Laura in the role. Who’d be a ballet company AD?

 

[art_enthusiast]

2 hours ago, oncnp said:

Fair point and I agree with you.  But I do think being "fit for the role" involves multiple factors, not all dance related. 

True. I’d also say that in order to be considered fit, should you not get to try the role once at least in a public performance? (E.g. Claire Calvert as Odette/Odile, which was brilliant.)
 

As it’s been said previously, O’Sullivan and Hayward weren’t completely perfect in their Odette/Odile debuts last year, which is understandable of course. But I believe they’ll get another opportunity next year where they will both be much improved, as they’re now more familiar with the role. I also found them both to be superb Auroras this year and both seemed very comfortable in the role, as they’ve done it previously.

 

So it seems a bit unfair that this chance isn’t extended to others.

[Fonty]

I think Hayward had been ill prior to her debut in Swan Lake, hadn't she?

 

 

[Emeralds]

43 minutes ago, Sim said:

Juliet is around for all three acts but in Act 2 is only onstage for about 10 minutes (marriage scene) and doesn't do any dancing.  Act 3 is hers!  

 

I saw her do Queen of the Dryads twice or three times a few years ago and she didn't do it too well any of those times.  Maybe now it's better, and I hope we will get a chance to see in the new season.

 

I love Melissa in the MacMillan repertoire, and the modern rep, and other things.  I'm just not sure she would float my boat in the pure classical roles.  Having said this, I would be very happy to give it a go and prove myself wrong.  This is not a sleight on Melissa; I don't go to see Osipova and Hayward in the classical roles either.  It's just a matter of preference.

I understand, I agree, not a slight at all. They were long runs of Don Q in the first few seasons and Fumi Kaneko and Yuhui Choe came a cropper when I went! I did start wondering at that point if it was a problem with lighting or whether someone was playing with their smartphone each time! Claire Calvert seemed to be coming to the same problem both had in the Italian fouettes, but then she put on a determined look and performed them all without a hitch-great job! Melissa’s was the only one I saw which looked serene, calm and under control, with no issues.

 

Funnily enough, that variation seems problem-free when BRB dance it (ok, I only managed to get to two shows, plus three if you count the tv broadcast) but all three of their Queens- Shang, Waine, Kurihara- seemed really at ease with it. Different costume, sets, lighting and orchestra, but both Acosta’s version of the variation (not too different from the standard version used in competitions and other productions). Slight digression, but speaking of Lucy Waine, I have been so impressed by her dancing at BRB- and only just realised recently that I’d already seen her dance at ROH before she joined BRB- in the Cunning Little Vixen with the Royal Ballet School (although most of the cast were unrecognisable because of the animal makeup and headwear). Great sets and costumes in that production though!  [end of digression] .

 

I hadn’t realised you didn’t book for Hayward and Osipova in the classical roles, Sim! But then again, it’s impossible to go and see every single cast. I never end up being able to see everyone that I want to-this season it’s been the transport strikes that have severely reduced my attendance, but every year there’s always something.

[Pulcinella]

One example of a dancer who danced both the Young Girl and the Gypsy in Two Pigeons is Margaret Barbieri. She was originally cast, against type, as the Gypsy in the school performance (when Lesley Collier was the Girl) and continued in this role as well as then being given the Girl. She was marvellous in both roles. She also only danced Juliet once, this was before BRB added it to their repertoire. She had to ask for a performance at the ROH, which was granted and such a pity she was never able to dance it again.

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, capybara said:

It felt to me as if that happened for the 2020 run of Onegin and, if so, the newcomer (Yasmine Naghdi) was a terrific Tatiana. But, at the same time, I missed Laura in the role. Who’d be a ballet company AD?

 

To be honest I would have preferred either Morera or Lamb to have got another go at the role, as I would have liked to have seen both of them & I'm never going to get to do so now. Naghdi's got probably another decade of career to go & seems to have danced almost everything apart from Manon (which she will surely do next season) so I would have been happy if she had waited until the next Onegin run to do Tatiana.

[SheilaC]

40 minutes ago, Pulcinella said:

One example of a dancer who danced both the Young Girl and the Gypsy in Two Pigeons is Margaret Barbieri. She was originally cast, against type, as the Gypsy in the school performance (when Lesley Collier was the Girl) and continued in this role as well as then being given the Girl. She was marvellous in both roles. She also only danced Juliet once, this was before BRB added it to their repertoire. She had to ask for a performance at the ROH, which was granted and such a pity she was never able to dance it again.

I went to her performance of Juliet, it was a Saturday matinee, she was very good and really looked the part.

Her experience as a dancer was deepened by having been a dancer in Ballet for All, the  organisation run by Peter Brinson to show some of the classics to regional audiences in a sort of workshop mode of ballet plays giving insight into specific classics. In particular Maggie did Giselle and without doubt that experience contributed to her being one of the most moving Giselles of her era.

[Ondine]

10 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

Her experience as a dancer was deepened by having been a dancer in Ballet for All, the  organisation run by Peter Brinson to show some of the classics to regional audiences in a sort of workshop mode of ballet plays giving insight into specific classics. In particular Maggie did Giselle and without doubt that experience contributed to her being one of the most moving Giselles of her era.

 

Ballet for All was a wonderful idea, I remember it well! And yes a glorious Giselle, she looked every inch the romantic heroine too. Perfect. Made me cry.

[Emeralds]

22 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

I went to her performance of Juliet, it was a Saturday matinee, she was very good and really looked the part.

Her experience as a dancer was deepened by having been a dancer in Ballet for All, the  organisation run by Peter Brinson to show some of the classics to regional audiences in a sort of workshop mode of ballet plays giving insight into specific classics. In particular Maggie did Giselle and without doubt that experience contributed to her being one of the most moving Giselles of her era.

Ooh, we are having a great trip down memory lane. I only saw Ballet for All on tv, with Peter Brinson presenting, but it was fab- Margaret Barbieri as Franz!!! Demonstrating how the premiere of Coppelia had a female dancer, Eugenie Fiocre, dancing the male lead (no lifts obviously). I much prefer a male Franz, of course,  but those Ballet for All episodes were brilliant. David Blair appearing as Colas, the role he originated. Fun times.

[Emeralds]

39 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

To be honest I would have preferred either Morera or Lamb to have got another go at the role, as I would have liked to have seen both of them & I'm never going to get to do so now. Naghdi's got probably another decade of career to go & seems to have danced almost everything apart from Manon (which she will surely do next season) so I would have been happy if she had waited until the next Onegin run to do Tatiana.

Ditto Lamb for another run doing Tatiana from me too, as I never got to see her also. When are you next going to Stage Door, Dawnstar? You can speak with Mr O’Hare again - you’re officially my rep now. 😉😊

Edited April 30, 2023 by Emeralds

[Ondine]

6 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Ooh, we are having a great trip down memory lane. I only saw Ballet for All on tv, with Peter Brinson presenting, but it was fab- Margaret Barbieri as Franz!!! Demonstrating how the premiere of Coppelia had a female dancer, Eugenie Fiocre, dancing the male lead (no lifts obviously). I much prefer a male Franz, of course,  but those Ballet for All episodes were brilliant. David Blair appearing as Colas, the role he originated. Fun times.

 

 

I did see a performance of Ballet For All (live) can't recall the dancers where Colas hauled Lise up into ther chair lift then promptly dropped her.  In coming down and him trying to save her she ended up facing him and with her dress way up and showing her pants. Not Ashton's intended effect but we did give a huge round of applause to her bottom.

[JNC]

2 hours ago, capybara said:

Somewhere on here, but probably on another thread, I raised the possibility of dancers who had been cast in a role multiple times over many years ‘making way’ so that others could have a ‘turn’. 
 

It felt to me as if that happened for the 2020 run of Onegin and, if so, the newcomer (Yasmine Naghdi) was a terrific Tatiana. But, at the same time, I missed Laura in the role. Who’d be a ballet company AD?

 

All for making way for the younger dancers but also knowing Laura’s age and the fact Onegin doesn’t come round too often, I still don’t see why she wasn’t cast. I liked Naghdi in the role but she has quite a few years ahead of her yet so would have had the chance to do the role much more in future so like @Dawnstar would have preferred Morera to get cast. Similarly with so many Aurora’s this year why not cast Morera? 
 

I guess the RB can’t win everything. Do too many performances and you’ll get complaints on lack of diverse programming with mammoth runs. Do a shorter programme but then you can’t cast all the principals. Cast the older principals as their time is more limited/running out (this sounds mean but is the reality) but then younger dancers don’t get a go and chance to develop the roles over decades etc.

 

My preferred way of solving the problem would be to increase programming with shorter programmes and less guaranteed slots of the big three Tchaikovsky/MacMillan every three years to free up more slots. But we know that will never happen!

 

To be honest I think O’Hare is pretty good and fair with casting. With the exception of Morera and Hamilton, it seems most principals/first soloists get a go if not at everything at most things, and the guesting will fill some of the gaps for them.

 

I imagine there may be issues next time Giselle comes back with pretty much all principals wanting to be cast but with fewer performances than a swan lake run this could prove problematic. 
 

Hayward is a really interesting dancer - I love her as Aurora and the Sugar Plum as well as her Juliet but her Odette/Odile did not do it for me at all (and it wasn’t just a technique issue). Interesting I was also underwhelmed by her Giselle (sorry!). I also can’t see her as Nikiya or Sylvia for example. There’s no real logic to it but to me she is very hit and miss (for lack of a better phrase). Then you have someone like Nunez who never strictly misses, but also sometimes doesn’t bring the human depth that Hayward might because Nunez is so technically perfect. 
 

I think whilst casting is generally fair on stage (bar notable exceptions above) it is a bit annoying that for filming it is a bit less fair. Nunez has probably been recorded in everything now; and whilst I love her it’s getting a bit formulaic. For cinema relays they to be fair so seem to mix it a little bit (so we have Naghdi as Aurora this year and last time it was meant to be cuthbertson but ended up being Kaneko), but for DVDs it feels like it’s been pretty much Nunez in everything followed by Osipova for the three acters! 

[Emeralds]

4 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

I suspect not!

 

I came across this about her though. One for Gasparini fans.

 

https://www.onedanceuk.org/after-50-years-of-teaching-in-the-studio-brenda-last-obe-will-deliver-her-first-online-masterclass/

 

And if you follow the link to FB it has a small snippet of film of Cleo Nordi teaching a young Brenda Last.  I'm a sucker for this 'passed on' history stuff.

 

https://www.facebook.com/bbodance/videos/2678558679127192/

 

 

👍👍 (Still not topped up for likes yet- tried to sneak one in to no avail. 😂)

[Ondine]

Mine come and go!

[capybara]

2 hours ago, Fonty said:

I think Hayward had been ill prior to her debut in Swan Lake, hadn't she?

 

So it was said after the show. Maybe (and I say this with all sympathy), if Frankie didn't feel absolutely fit, it might have been an idea for her to have withdrawn on that occasion. I appreciate that dancers are reluctant to do that and that audiences can be disappointed, but..........!!!!

 

[Dawnstar]

38 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Ditto Lamb for another run doing Tatiana from me too, as I never got to see her also. When are you next going to Stage Door, Dawnstar? You can speak with Mr O’Hare again - you’re officially my rep now. 😉😊

 

I'm not sure there's any point in begging O'Hare for Onegin casting preferences until he actually schedules the piece again!

 

32 minutes ago, JNC said:

My preferred way of solving the problem would be to increase programming with shorter programmes and less guaranteed slots of the big three Tchaikovsky/MacMillan every three years to free up more slots. But we know that will never happen!

 

I imagine there may be issues next time Giselle comes back with pretty much all principals wanting to be cast but with fewer performances than a swan lake run this could prove problematic.

 

It kind of feels like the most comprehensive way to solve the problem would be to have fewer Principals!