Royal Ballet 2023/24 Season - predictions/wishes

[Benjamin]

4 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Actually I’ve just remembered the students performed in the main Auditorium …same time as “Cunning  Little Vixen” not the Linbury…on one of those rare occasions had the main stage other than in July. 

I know Peter and the wolf was a while ago was that in the RBS main stage or the Linbury. Prokofiev’s music is amazing.

[Jane S]

Reviving Les Sylphides wouldn't be that biig a deal, surely? They last did it in 2009 I think - Choe was one of the soloists - and even if the set has fallen to pieces it's not exactly a lavish production.

 

Some confusion with La Slyphide here perhaps?

[Benjamin]

4 minutes ago, Jane S said:

Reviving Les Sylphides wouldn't be that biig a deal, surely? They last did it in 2009 I think - Choe was one of the soloists - and even if the set has fallen to pieces it's not exactly a lavish production.

 

Some confusion with La Slyphide here perhaps?

Les Sylphides, La Sylphide are so similar, I assume we are taking about Les Sylphides. They could probably receive both. Also this reminds me that Choe Still isn’t a principal!?

[LinMM]

Actually Les Sylphides and La Sylphide are not that similar at all other than in a similar sounding title! 
La Sylphide has a proper story even if a bit away with the fairies lol whereas Les Sylphides is just pure dance. 
 

[Benjamin]

4 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Actually Les Sylphides and La Sylphide are not that similar at all other than in a similar sounding title! 
La Sylphide has a proper story even if a bit away with the fairies lol whereas Les Sylphides is just pure dance. 
 

Yeah Les Sylphides is 30 mins, La Sylphide is an hour (not including the interval)

[JNC]

1 hour ago, Jane S said:

Reviving Les Sylphides wouldn't be that biig a deal, surely? They last did it in 2009 I think - Choe was one of the soloists - and even if the set has fallen to pieces it's not exactly a lavish production.

 

Some confusion with La Slyphide here perhaps?

I think it’s not lavish but for 30 minutes it still requires various romantic tutus and a backdrop (though arguably you could get away with no backdrop perhaps if you were being minimalist). 
 

I agree it’s probably not mega bucks compared to restaging a proper three acter with various sets and costumes but I was thinking more from the perspective that many modern pieces have little to no backdrop, and almost just leotards for costumes (with generally fewer dancers on stage I sense but I could be wrong!), which would be much cheaper than the romantic tutus and commissioning a full painted backdrop. But I have no idea how much these things actually cost so I may be totally wrong. 
 

Anyway I love it, the music is so expressive. I have to admit I’m not a fan of La Sylphide, maybe I wasn’t in the mood for it but the story and choreography didn’t resonate with me and I didn’t like the “Scottish” costumes/setting (I saw ENB’s production). I’d be willing to give it another go though! But it just doesn’t have the same emotional impact as Chopin and the pure dance as Les sylphides for me.

Edited April 9, 2023 by JNC

[Ginny]

Well, ROH just posted the chicken dance from La Fille on their IG page as a “Happy Easter” blast, so maybe there’s hope for La Fille!  😊🤞🏻

[Dawnstar]

I replied to their post saying I hope they'll be reviving Fille soon. Not that I have any hope they'll read my comment. I comment quite often on their Twitter posts but never get so much as a "like" for acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

[zxDaveM]

19 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I replied to their post saying I hope they'll be reviving Fille soon. Not that I have any hope they'll read my comment. I comment quite often on their Twitter posts but never get so much as a "like" for acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

 

you're unlikely to get a response (let alone a reply) unless you say something they really want to hear, confirming what they want to do

[Guest oncnp]

27 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I replied to their post saying I hope they'll be reviving Fille soon. Not that I have any hope they'll read my comment. I comment quite often on their Twitter posts but never get so much as a "like" for acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

 

It's a notice board, rather than any attempt at audience engagement. 

[Fonty]

7 hours ago, Benjamin said:

I wonder if they will do a The Dream/ Marguerite and Armand/ Les Patineurs bill, would taht be too long, I don’t think so. They did a The Dream/ Marguerite and Armand/ Symphonic Variations in 2017

 

Two out of three for me.  I am not a huge fan of Marguerite and Armand.   A triple with Symphonic Variations, The Dream and Les Patineurs?  I would probably buy a ticket for every performance.  

 

I am curious to know exactly why the non performance of Les Sylphides is based on an "artistic decision"?  I have to say that the last time I saw it, I wasn't keen, but mainly because I thought it just wasn't very well danced.  I don't see why it would be considered old fashioned though.  It is just beautiful classical ballet, isn't it?

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, oncnp said:

It's a notice board, rather than any attempt at audience engagement. 

 

Many theatre companies do use social media to engage with their audiences though. Evidently the ROH doesn't, which I think is a pity.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Dawnstar
Added 2nd sentence.

[JohnS]

2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

I replied to their post saying I hope they'll be reviving Fille soon. Not that I have any hope they'll read my comment. I comment quite often on their Twitter posts but never get so much as a "like" for acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

I too thought the ROH’s Fille Easter greeting too good an opportunity not to ask for Fille for Easter 2024 in the new season’s announcement at the end of the month. 

[Sim]

36 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

A triple with Symphonic Variations, The Dream and Les Patineurs?  I would probably buy a ticket for every performance.  

 

Oh so would I, so would I!

[Richard LH]

3 hours ago, Ginny said:

Well, ROH just posted the chicken dance from La Fille on their IG page as a “Happy Easter” blast, so maybe there’s hope for La Fille!  😊🤞🏻

Not only that, but they advertise that the full 2005 Fille is available to watch on Streaming. As it is plainly deemed  acceptable to watch in that way,  there is clearly no issues of social or cultural sensitivity to prevent it returning live!

[jmhopton]

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

 

Two out of three for me.  I am not a huge fan of Marguerite and Armand.   A triple with Symphonic Variations, The Dream and Les Patineurs?  I would probably buy a ticket for every performance.  

 

I am curious to know exactly why the non performance of Les Sylphides is based on an "artistic decision"?  I have to say that the last time I saw it, I wasn't keen, but mainly because I thought it just wasn't very well danced.  I don't see why it would be considered old fashioned though.  It is just beautiful classical ballet, isn't it?

 

When I said  'artistic decision' earlier I was trying to be tactful as I

couldn't see it being a priority for Kevin O' Hare to stage it. Perhaps too old fashioned for someone who seems to prefer modern choreographers.  However, I've no actual knowledge about this. Just an opinion. And he did rescue Two Pigeons from obscurity for which I'll always be grateful, so he isn't totally in thrall to modernity. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by jmhopton

[Richard LH]

21 hours ago, oncnp said:

As you can tell, the vast majority of the current content is from previously released DVDs. Winter's Tale is an exception.

The Winter's Tale (2018) is also available on DVD/ Blu-ray.

[Guest oncnp]

18 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

The Winter's Tale (2018) is also available on DVD/ Blu-ray.

but not with that cast 

Edited April 9, 2023 by oncnp

[Richard LH]

55 minutes ago, oncnp said:

but not with that cast 

Apologies, yes that's right - the disc version is a 2014 cast, not 2018.

[RobR]

I know I’ve already placed a vote but might I add a plea for Ashton's 'La Rendezvous'?

[Benjamin]

3 hours ago, JohnS said:

I too thought the ROH’s Fille Easter greeting too good an opportunity not to ask for Fille for Easter 2024 in the new season’s announcement at the end of the month. 

They should’ve just announced it then! I hope they do it in 23/24.

[capybara]

BRB also posted the chickens from Fille on their IG !

[Scheherezade]

I would be very happy to see Les Sylphides back, although I have to say that it is now one of those pieces that I find increasingly difficult to disassociate from The Trocks. 

[FLOSS]

I have a feeling that it is that good and faithful arts apparatchik Alex Beard who decides what is fit and proper for us to watch. There are  rumours that he has decreed that Petrushka, one of Fokine's greatest ballets, will not be seen at Covent Garden while he is in charge of the theatre. For me that is a much greater loss than not being  permitted to see Markarova's staging of the Soviet reworking of La Bayadere. Ratmansky's staging for Berlin based on the Stepanov notations is far more interesting than  Markarova's version will ever be. 

 

Strangely I can't imagine Kevin being that keen on allowing a Ratmansky reconstruction of the ballet to be seen in Bow Street. He does not seem to be that keen on old repertory, ballet history or attempts at authenticity. He clearly wants to be seen as an innovator and commissioner of new repertory, whatever its quality, rather than as an active custodian of the great works which the first three directors collected or created for the company. Another difficulty for Kevin might be the fear that a Ratmansky staging would call into question the quality of some of the productions which he has authorised such as the company's less than perfect Swan Lake . 

 

When it comes  to La Bayadere I would quite happily settle for Nureyev's staging of the Kingdom of the Shades with a corps of thirty two shades in place of the full ballet. It is the choreography for the Shades which is the masterpiece. The rest of the ballet in the productions best known in the West are essentially soviet reworkings of an exotic orientalist melodrama set in  India. As to why elements of the ballet may be unacceptable today I suspect that the section of the work which causes most difficulty involves the  blacked up Fakirs who appear un the first act where they jump over the sacred fire. 

 

As far as the 2023/24 season is concerned I think that both resident companies are likely to be careful, if not timid, when it comes to repertory choices for the coming season. They will want to play safe but as far as the opera is concerned its management seems to find it  very difficult to know  precisely what that safe popular repertory actually is at present. Boheme  and Traviata  in their current productions do not sell that well possibly due to over exposure and there is some evidence that on occasion management has resorted to papering the house. Both companies will inevitably find that  increased ticket prices add to their difficulty in selling seats.

 

 As far as the ballet repertory for 2023-24  season is concerned according  to the revival timetable we are due for a Manon revival this season. While I should like a Nutcracker free Christmas I think it unlikely that this will be possible because the company is not that imaginative and it is desperate to make money. But perhaps we could have a dozen or so performances of Coppelia immediately after Christmas as a way of introducing young ballet goers to a bit more of the repertory or even a family friendly mixed bill ?

 

While  MacMillan has three full length ballets which are timetabled for triennial  revival  it should be noted that there is not a single Ashton ballet that has a guaranteed place in the company's active repertory, not even Fille has a guaranteed place in the regular turnover of repertory. There are ballets from virtually every period of Ashton's career, from Capriol Suite ( 1930) to Varii Caprici (1983) that have languished unperformed for years. It is difficult to know where to begin when even Fille which was once a staple of the repertory no longer has a guaranteed  place in the company's programmes. Then when the company makes the effort to restore a ballet like The Two Pigeons to the stage no one seems that interested in keeping it in the collective consciousness with further revivals. 

 

Management's ambivalent attitude towards Ashton and his works does not help. On the one hand Ashton is acknowledged as the company's Founder Choreographer who played a significant role in the company's artistic development but in practice his continuing importance to the company's identity  does not seem to be part of the story the company tells about itself and its  artistic identity. When Fille was revived in autumn 2017 the Artistic Director did not seem at all embarrassed to be reported as  saying he had forgotten how good a ballet Fille is. While there are a few exceptions the bulk of Ashton's output seems more likely to be rediscovered and then dropped than to win a long term place in the active repertory. Part of the problem it seem to me is that while management neglects to stage many of Ashton's ballets it  assumes that no active marketing is required when it stages one of his neglected works. It is as if the powers that be in Bow Street either think that the audience will recognise the name of the neglected work automatically know its qualities and be prompted to buy tickets or believe that the Royal Ballet brand will in itself sell  tickets without any effort on the part of the company or the marketing department.

 

One of the problems is that If you have never travelled outside London to see ballet performances then by my calculation you would have to be close to fifty to have had any chance of seeing early works like Facade and  Capriol Suite. I should really like to see the results of some of the Ashton Foundation's ballet archaeology find its way onto the stage. In particular I should like to see Apparitions in its entirety. I think that Bracewell and Ball would be very effective as the poet and Hayward would be a good choice as the Woman in a ball dress. I also  think that management should take advantage of the presence in the company of the few Ashton dancers it has. I should like to revive  two works closely associated with Fonteyn namely Daphnis and Chloe and Ondine. 

 

Here are my suggestions for the forthcoming season. I accept that my choices may not boost the company's finances but I think that the company needs to restore its reputation as a serious arts institution. I have  held off from programming the Song of the Earth and Daphnis and Chloe in the same season as I don't want to  bankrupt the company.Taking active steps to remind the  the ballet audience that the bulk of the great twentieth century ballets are one act works would be a step in the right direction.

 

Full length works 23/24

Manon

 

Alice in place of Nutcracker

 

Coppelia or a child friendly mixed bill (see below for details)

 

 Fille (last seen in October 2016) with Sylvia (last seen in late 2017.)scheduled for 24/25.

 

Onegin

 

An Ashton mixed bill before Christmas of

 

Scenes de Ballet

Apparitions

Rhapsody

 

and later in the season

 

Scenes de Ballet

Daphnis and Chloe ( Craxton designs)

Facade

 

An all Balanchine mixed bill

 

The Prodigal Son

The Four Temperaments

Ballet Imperial

 

A Diaghilev/ Stravinsky mixed Bill

 

Apollo

Les Noces

The Firebird

 

A child friendly Mixed Bill for 23/ 24  or the 24/ 25 season

Solitaire

La Boutique Fantasque

Les Patineurs

 

Ondine  and the Song of the Earth pencilled in for 24/25 

 

There are plenty of other works I wouid like to see revived.

Perhaps this season we could have an Ashton mixed bill in the Linbury of Capriol Suite,Dante Sonata, Foyer de Danse and Les Rendezvous and next season an all Tudor one of Lilac Garden, Dark Elegies and The Judgment of Paris. While I know that these are really Rambert repertory on the basis of the performances I saw that company give in 2009 they bo longer have the dancers who can do those works justice as they all look far too lithe and athletic to embody the characters in these important twentieth century works.

 

Postscript.

I should love to see Les Sylphides again but it needs a carefully selected cast who can do it justice in both mood and style. It requires dancers who are able to evoke the ballet's mood of mystery and other worldliness and are capable of giving performances in which art conceals art and their technical prowess, strength and athleticism are nowhere to be seen and the audience is only aware of the apparently simple  beauty of the  choreography. Although  there is a fine recording of a Royal Ballet cast headed by Fonteyn and Nureyev it is not really a ballet in which the company has excelled. I have seen it danced beautifully with artistic insight and understanding but that was many years ago with  LFB/ENB casts headed by Nureyev and Evdokimova.

 

Casts need to be chosen with care. Letting people have a go to see what they cab do with it is a recipe for disaster. The dancers need to understand the work's style and have sympathy with Fokine's intentions when he made Les Sylphides. On the basis of the performances which the company gave in 2009 it is a work in which the company's then dancers had little interest in. The ballet's mood proved elusive in those performances with dancers showing little sympathy with Fokine's desire to evoke both the mood and the style of the  French Romantic ballet. Those performances emphasised what a fragile work Les Sylphides is. It needs to be staged with empathy and care. A great  revival is an extraordinary experience a poor revival is one of the worst ballet experiences you can have. It really is that simple.

 

Les Sylphides is known as Chopiniana in Russia. It is a ballet of mood not one of action, athleticism or bravura technique. Benois design's, like the ballet's change of name alluding to La Sylphide,may well have been intended by Diaghilev to flatter the Parisian audience in 1909. The designs,I think, were intended to create a mood of mystery and other worldliness by making visual allusions to the ballet of the nuns from Robert le Diable which is generally accepted as marking the  beginning of the Romantic era in ballet. For Fokine the French school  epitomised an approach to dance in which, unlike the Italian school, technique was a means to an end and never an end in itself. I don't think that the ballet would work  if it were staged in a modern minimalist style. The movements might be accurately reproduced but the ballet's meaning and mood would be lost.In short it would not be Fokine's ballet since the loss of the Bemois designs would deprive it of its full meaning and  mood. Watching a film of Alicia  Markova coaching dancers of the POB  made it clear to me that Les Sylphides  needs to be treated as a gesamtkunstwerk  rather than a work that would benefit from modern makeover with minamalist designs. Markova refers to gestures and movements which only make sense in the context of the ballet being  performed with the familiar Benois scenery and costumes or at  least costumes and scenery inspired by them.

 

As far as the  2009 performances are concerned they were dire. Anyone whose only  experience of the ballet was one of those performances could be forgiven for wondering what the ballet's reputation was based on and what all the fuss was about.Les Sylphides is, in its own terms a revolutionary work. It is Fokine's artistic riposte to what he saw as Petioa's  over reliance on technical prowess in his most recent Italian influenced Tchaikovsky ballets.That element of the ballet's aesthetic perhaps does not come naturally to today's dancers for whom athleticism and bravura technique seem to be at a premium but it is essential to an appreciation pf the work's significance whether as a dancer or an audience member.

 

r

 

[Guest oncnp]

Would you want a job where your boss pigeon-holes you and says you're only "this"? 

 

People learn and develop and grow by trying new things and (yes - gasp) failing.  How do you know what anyone can do until you let them try? 

[OnePigeon]

2 minutes ago, oncnp said:

Would you want a job where your boss pigeon-holes you and says you're only "this"? 

 

People learn and develop and grow by trying new things and (yes - gasp) failing.  How do you know what anyone can do until you let them try? 

Yes, but dancers don’t only exist on the stage - there are rehearsals and coaching in which to ascertain if a dancer is suitable for a role or not.  I do wonder if a large problem is that the dancers and stagers coming through the ranks today aren’t fully aware or engaged/interested in the history of ballet.  I have no insider knowledge of this, but I know it it’s definitely a problem in certain other areas of the arts.

[Jan McNulty]

A non-RB/BRB but RBS-trained dancer once told us he didn't like Fille because of all the skipping!

 

What I love about Fille and 2 Pigeons in particular is the way Sir Frederick Ashton brings characters you care about to life.  As well as his way with choreography that matters a lot and IMHO is timeless.

 

I'd love to see Scènes de Ballet again as well as Symphonic Variations, Facade and more.  When BRB was still doing mid-scale tours one of my favourite memories is of Celine Gittens as the debutant in Facade.  She gave us a master-class in timing and subtle comedy and was utterly BRILLIANT!!

[alison]

41 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

As to why elements of the ballet may be unacceptable today I suspect that the section of the work which causes most difficulty involves the  blacked up Fakirs who appear un the first act where they jump over the sacred fire. 

 

It's worth repeating that the fakirs aren't "blacked up" - they are wearing (smeared with?) grey makeup which is supposed to represent marks made by the ashes (soot, if they're jumping over it?) of the sacred fire.

[Benjamin]

Insightful article @FLOSS Sadly I don’t see them ever because We can assume that Alex Beard hates it but I just don’t know any ballet fans that would see that. Convent garden would have completely forgot about Petrushka 💀 I wouldn’t mind a Ratmansky Bayadere but only if they keep Yelena Sonnabends Designs. I would love a Nutcracker free Christmas but that’s basically impossible. Alice, Swan Lake and Manon I think are pretty likely. Onegin Is expecting a 2025 revival (hopefully with a brand new production because the original designs are so dated) Also I would be interested to hear your thoughts on Scarlett’s Swan Lake, perhaps here or on a new thread.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Benjamin
Rephrased it

[Benjamin]

12 minutes ago, alison said:

 

It's worth repeating that the fakirs aren't "blacked up" - they are wearing (smeared with?) grey makeup which is supposed to represent marks made by the ashes (soot, if they're jumping over it?) of the sacred fire.

100% agree but some people might not be able to see that from far away in the theatre.

[Guest oncnp]

2 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

 Also I would be interested to hear your thoughts on Scarlett’s Swan Lake, perhaps here or on a new thread. Also I don’t know why this text is so huge.

 

If you go back to the last Swan Lake thread I believe you'll find it, 

Edited April 10, 2023 by oncnp

[Benjamin]

Just now, oncnp said:

 

If you go back to the last Swan Lake thread I believe you'll find it, 

Ok, I’ll look for it. Personally I love the designs but Liam’s Updates are ok… But overall Dowells Production is just way better, Including Yelena Sonnabends designs. Don’t hate me for saying that they are amazing and no one will change my mind. Ok that’s it.

[OnePigeon]

Not sure if it’s a typo or not, but her name is actually Yolanda Sonnabend.

 

I also wonder how much of their programming choices is influenced by certain conditions laid down by their ACE funding? Worshiping at the altar of all things new, at the expense of honouring heritage, seems to be the way things go these days.