ROH 23/24 season announced

[Emeralds]

Some number crunching:

 

If Sarasota Ballet danced only on Tue and Sun on the (according to the ROH website Calendar) currently vacant main stage, and did a matinee and evening performance both days, that’s a total ticket availability of slightly over 9000 tickets/seats. Just dancing on 2 double show days. 

 

If they did 10 shows over 6 days at Linbury Theatre, they would still sell only 3940 tickets. That’s not many for 10 shows and 6 days  of very hard work. 

 

Even if they declined to do a matinee on Tuesday and only did 3 

performances on the Main Stage (with 2 shows on Sunday) on the apparently-unbooked days of 4th and 9th, that still gives us over 6,700 tickets- way more than Linbury. 

 

I now sincerely hope someone at RB is reading this forum and taking on board how much demand there will be for Sarasota Ballet and the Ashton ballets!

 

The ballets won’t be too small for the Main Stage- if we can put Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Manon pas de deux and Afternoon of a Faun on the Main Stage, we can fit all Ashton ballets on it. (And welcome news for those in restricted view seats. 😊) 

[Dawnstar]

4 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

There's 4th October for Winter (including Manon) as well.

 

Thanks. I thought it would be odd for there to be 1 booking period less than usual.

 

At least next season the ballets are fairly well spaced out over the booking periods, unlike some years when there seemed to be more than half the ballet season all in the first booking period. Though unfortunately most of the operas I'm considering bookings for are in the first booking period so it's still going to be an expensive one for me!

[Emeralds]

3 minutes ago, Sim said:

Errrrmmm...Robert Binet is male!!  

2 new works (Binet and McNally), and the two female choreographers are Kristen McNally in Linbury, Cathy Marston in Main Stage (The Cellist).  😊

 

To reply to Max’s query about 2 separate topics. 😉

[Sim]

3 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

2 new works (Binet and McNally), and the two female choreographers are Kristen McNally in Linbury, Cathy Marston in Main Stage (The Cellist).  😊

 

To reply to Max’s query about 2 separate topics. 😉

It's just that they way it's written looks like you're referring to Binet and McNally as females!! 

 

[Ondine]

Truth is the general public will never have heard of Sarasota ballet, not a huge company, or the Ashton ballets being shown, designed for small stages and small companies. The scenery won't simply transfer for a start.

 

I suspect the small theatre will be a sell out, the larger one is far too big a risk to take.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Ondine

[JNC]

46 minutes ago, ellyb said:

 

Don't they hold some back for general release? Had a feeling they did for main stage though I may be mistaken.

Not for Linbury I don't think. 

 

Half the theatre is restricted or anyway (or so it feels like!)

[Emeralds]

15 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Sarasota isn't a big company used to huge stages / theatres and so the rep is cut according to the cloth (smaller scale Ashton designed for smaller spaces) and scenery is too?  I doubt that things could be just moved from the smaller theatre to the larger.

So it could come down to :

 

1) do you perform the ballets without scenery on the Main Stage to keep fans happy and reach bigger audiences,

2) do you do something like 3 shows a day (?!!) to meet demand

3) stick to your artistic principles and ship over all your scenery, use a small stage, do a limited number of shows.....and end up not making enough money to pay for the trip and the shipping? 

 

Am sure that with tickets being scarce, they could charge £150 per non-restricted view ticket, less for restricted views, and still sell out (but not break even financially). But am just thinking that there is a solution of using the main stage to solve different challenges at one go. (Provided it really is empty on Tue and Sun, and not waiting confirmation of some gala or something.) 

 

 

 

[Emeralds]

7 minutes ago, Sim said:

It's just that they way it's written looks like you're referring to Binet and McNally as females!! 

 

I agree, Sim! 😂 ( only those who read Max’s original comment would know it meant that one of the women wasn’t doing a new work because he thought there were no new works.....I was assuming nobody would care about what I say anyway. 😅) 

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

But am just thinking that there is a solution of using the main stage to solve different challenges at one go. (Provided it really is empty on Tue and Sun, and not waiting confirmation of some gala or something.) 

 

The article linked to earlier talked about a joint gala performance ('The two companies will join together for a gala performance in which Sarasota dancers will perform “Valses,” “Façade” and “Varii Capricci”'), which may take some of the pressure off.

 

I don't know whether this is an additional date or one of those already announced for the main stage. My money would be on the 7th June as this is an outlier, date-wise, for the second main stage Ashton programme.

[Mary]

11 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Truth is the general public will never have heard of Sarasota ballet, not a huge company, or the Ashton ballets being shown, designed for small stages and small companies. The scenery won't simply transfer for a start.

 

I suspect the small theatre will be a sell out, the larger one is far too big a risk to take.

Yes that does sound sensible, I wish they were going to Sadlers Wells instead though, surely not too big, and good sightlines for all - unlike the Linbury.

 

[Emeralds]

9 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Truth is the general public will never have heard of Sarasota ballet, not a huge company, or the Ashton ballets being shown, designed for small stages and small companies. The scenery won't simply transfer for a start.

 

I suspect the small theatre will be a sell out, the larger one is far too big a risk to take.

Btw OndIne, I already know that lots of friends and former colleagues of Webb and Barbieri will want to be there, and that’s a lot of people! So....I’m not even sure how many tickets there will be left over for people who are not in any way connected to the old SWRB, Ashton Foundation, Royal Ballet School etc. Bet they could do an auction for the very few remaining tickets and raise a lot of money. 😅😂

[Ondine]

It also doesn't say in which theatre the gala will be held does it? Facade needs scenery, It would be nothing without it.

[Ondine]

"I wish they were going to Sadlers Wells instead"

 

Well maybe in future? Small acorns etc.

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, Ondine said:

It also doesn't say in which theatre the gala will be held does it? Facade needs scenery, It would be nothing without it.

 

It seems unlikely they'll stage a gala in the Linbury.

[Sim]

12 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I agree, Sim! 😂 ( only those who read Max’s original comment would know it meant that one of the women wasn’t doing a new work because he thought there were no new works.....I was assuming nobody would care about what I say anyway. 😅) 

We care about what everyone says on this forum!!

[Ondine]

“Valses,” “Façade” and “Varii Capricci”' from Sarasota and a few excerpts from ROH dancers? It's possible it's only planned to be small scale.  Who knows.

 

Volpe said the company has a small touring fund to cover some of the expenses associated with the travel, which include shipping sets and costumes to London, but “we’re going to need to raise another $250,000 to $350,000 and I feel confident that can be done.”

[JNC]

I've been doing a bit more of a 'deep dive' and some interesting thoughts. 

 

Firstly, didn't realise how much swan Lake is spread out - not just beginning to end but some gaps in March/April with some weeks only one (or no) performances! 

 

On matinees, it is looking a bit disappointing. 

 

DQ - 3 saturdays

The Limit (Linbury) - 2 saturdays but both with the Rudd/Wye cast so I wish they would have swapped them for one week so one matinee with Hayward/Campbell

Nutcracker - only 1 Saturday (!) there are 3 midweek matinees just before Christmas though (I am not including performances not available to the public

Manon - 3 

Swan Lake - 5 including 1 on Easter Monday

Macmillan mixed - NONE

Ashton Mix 1 (Rendezvous) - 1

Ashton Mix 2 (short works) - 1

Winter's Tale - 1 (but the Saturday before a bank holiday Monday so many families may be away on holiday 

 

I haven't done Dante or the Cellist bill as I'll be honest I won't be booking for those! 

 

I think it is odd that Nutcracker only has one weekend matinee particularly given it is advertised to children. I noticed that for Cinderella, it was the matinees that sold out first so clearly there is an appetite for them. Ditto for Winter's Tale (I know this won't be strictly aimed at children the same way Nutcracker/Cinderella may have been but I can see it appealing more to families than something like Manon which has more matinees!)

 

For non-Londoners who work Mon-Fri and want to save money on accommodation (and we all know trains work better during the week, 50/50 on Saturday and pretty poor on Sunday) it's not great. I'm also not complaining from my side as personally I'm much more likely to see Manon).

 

Interesting to hear a likely gala on main stage for Sarasota - I do hope this will be a matinee but that may be asking too much. 

 

I'm also a little annoyed that the Ashton bills aren't better condensed. Even if you had to pay for accommodation, if they did a few performances in a row and you could work remotely, you would at least save on travel costs. I would have liked to see as many performances as possible but envision I'll have to go on two separate trips to catch 1-2 performances each, which considering I could have seen three Cinderella across Friday night to Saturday night in one trip and two overnight stays feels a bit annoying, but hey ho. It's a similar story with Winter's Tale with the first few performances quite spread out, and apart from the early May bank holiday weekend they don't overlap hugely with Swan Lake on at the same time either. 

 

I fear I will be spending more to see less, and that's without even thinking about the ticket prices. 

 

My priorities certainly will be the Ashton and Macmillan mixed bills, with hopefully a DQ and Manon thrown in if casting/price/dates align. 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by JNC

[Suffolkgal]

Just picking up on DD I did in fact see a number of the performances in the original run of this piece with original lead Wayne Eagling - utterly gut wrenching and depressing and set to Verklarte Nacht. He was great in it but from memory it was in a programme with Song of the Earth! Depending on who is it might be a swerve! The bath drowning - anyone else remember that? Xxx

[Linnzi5]

Late to the party - saw my email about the new season at work but have been too busy to study it closely until now. 

 

Thank you to those who posted all the details and poor Jan! That post must have taken hours to put together - but thank you!  

 

Well. I'm pleased. Some works I will probably skip (either seen before and not loved or don't appeal and I can't afford to see everything in the seats I want, so some things will have to give), but that's ok by me. Looking forward to Manon - just hoping the casting will be what I am praying for, The Dream, Rhapsody, Ashton and McMillan bills. I love Swan Lake, so I am really pleased. Nutcracker is a Christmas tradition for me. Yes, I've seen it so many times that it's ridiculous, but I am glad it is on (it's not my favourite ballet but I do love it). It's a crowd pleaser and ROH needs the revenue from it, same for Swan Lake, I presume, so I say that's a good thing and I like them both, so . . . 

 

I do hope the prices don't increase too much. I thought they were hiked up considerably this season, so I'm crossing fingers that doesn't happen again.

 

Forgot to add DQ is a definite for me!

 

I'd better start saving now!!! 🤣😱

Edited April 26, 2023 by Linnzi5

[Mary]

3 minutes ago, JNC said:

For Londoners who work Mon-Fri and want to save money on accommodation (and we all know trains work better during the week, 50/50 on Saturday and pretty poor on Sunday) it's not great.

for non-Londoners?

yes indeed.

 

 

[Dawnstar]

26 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Btw OndIne, I already know that lots of friends and former colleagues of Webb and Barbieri will want to be there, and that’s a lot of people! So....I’m not even sure how many tickets there will be left over for people who are not in any way connected to the old SWRB, Ashton Foundation, Royal Ballet School etc. Bet they could do an auction for the very few remaining tickets and raise a lot of money. 😅😂

 

Wouldn't it be likely that friends/relatives/ex-dancers would be able to attend some sort of invite-only dress rehearsal? Anyway, it sounds as though I need to downgrade my ticket expectations from "unlikely to get a ticket" to "not a hope of getting a ticket" & not even bother trying for it when booking opens next March.

[Sim]

1 minute ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Wouldn't it be likely that friends/relatives/ex-dancers would be able to attend some sort of invite-only dress rehearsal? Anyway, it sounds as though I need to downgrade my ticket expectations from "unlikely to get a ticket" to "not a hope of getting a ticket" & not even bother trying for it when booking opens next March.

Go for it, Dawnstar....you have as much (or as little!) chance as most of the rest of us....and you never know your luck!

[JNC]

12 minutes ago, Mary said:

for non-Londoners?

yes indeed.

 

 

Yes sorry, too many thoughts! And you spotted soon enough for me to actually edit, thank you!

Edited April 26, 2023 by JNC

[Ondine]

There's a rather good review here of three of the Ashton ballets Sarasota are bringing.

 

https://dancetabs.com/2021/05/sarasota-ballet-ashton-bill-valses-nobles-et-sentimentales-walk-to-the-paradise-garden-facade/

 

I also wondered given recent  er... sensibilities what would happen to the character dancing the tango in Facade, I see he's now to be known as the gigolo.  😊

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/photos/6171434563  Sir Fred in the role.

 

Gargouillades galore in that polka! 

 

As for Paradise Garden:  "Without the context of a bravura gala, the piece feels preposterous" Oh well.

 

 

 

[MAX]

Well if you are glad with this Royal Ballet Season great for you, but if directors don't start NOW with adding female choreographers (from today or from the past) then WHEN ?

 

An effort must be made to put and end to this patriarchal hegemony, it seems to me that it is the responsability of an artistic director in 2023.

 

Do have a look at Cathy Marston's season in Zurich !

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by MAX

[Ondine]

So, given that new works clearly cannot be afforded at present, which ballets from the existing rep can you suggest should be revived?

 

Obviously as the Cellist (which I think was good in parts, but I'd not rave, and the music was of course wonderful...) is being revived and Kristin McNally is choreographing a new piece it's not a total no show for women?

 

 

[Mary]

Nijinska, surely, is overdue.

[AnneL]

2 hours ago, capybara said:

 

 But Fumi has already danced Kitri brilliantly (it was during the first run of the production that she injured herself on stage) so dancing Mercedes is probably unlikely.

 

 

I was there the afternoon of her injury! Marianela Nunez took over and virtually single-handedly made me fall back in love with the Covent Garden stage and the Royal Ballet, after a 10 year absence on my part. This has cost my bank account dearly in the decade since October 2013. (From what I remember, Fumi did well in the part of Act 1 she was in).

I think there is a lot to look forward to in this new season announcement. I expect the only one I will definitely miss is Dante, although I won’t want to see more than one Manon or Swan Lake. (I will be seeing Manon in Paris this summer!) The MacMillan triple is all new to me, but seems to have some good composers. 
Facade will be a real treat - I only saw it once in 1970 and loved it. 

[ellyb]

21 minutes ago, MAX said:

Well if you are glad with this Royal Ballet Season great for you, but if directors don't start NOW with adding female choreographers (from today or from the past) then WHEN ?

 

An effort must be made to put and end to this patriarchal hegemony, it seems to me that it is the responsability of an artistic director in 2023.

 

Do have a look at Cathy Marston's season in Zurich !

 

 

 

 

I can obviously only speak for my (female) self but I attend ballets because I like them -  the music, choreography etc. I personally don't pick which ones to attend based on the creator's genitalia, or their skin colour, sexual orientation, disability etc. I don't feel offended by the 'patriarchal hegemony' in ballet, in fact I confess I never think about it at all. If a woman created a ballet that interested me I would watch it, so far I've not been interested in any of the recent female-made ballets so haven't bothered but I would of course decide on a case-by-case basis. Maybe one will pop up that catches my eye but if it doesn't, I don't really care. I don't tend to have much interest in most modern works anyway so there's certainly a chance I'll be solely supporting the 'patriarchal hegemony' for evermore. Would you genuinely sit through any old nonsense purely because of what's between the legs of the choreographer? I do find that odd to be honest, and actually rather sexist! 

[Ondine]

There's been recent work by Crystal Pite but it's been too recent to revive this soon?  (I loved The Statement)

 

Pam Tanowitz? 

 

 

[MAX]

As i said if you are glad with it no problem...

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

Go for it, Dawnstar....you have as much (or as little!) chance as most of the rest of us....and you never know your luck!

 

I gather from when comments on booking are made that a significant proportion of the posters on here have some level of Friends membership so, as I don't, I'd say I have less chance than all those.

 

As for female choreographers, it doesn't bother me in the slightest that most classical/heritage ballets are by male choreographers & I certainly wouldn't go & see something just because of the gender of its choreographer. I'd be interested in seeing some of de Valois' works - because they sound interesting rather than because she was female - but it doesn't look like the RB's likely to revive them any time soon (ever?). I have yet to see anything I like by any current female choreographers, but then I haven't liked much of what I've seen from current male choreographers either!

Edited April 26, 2023 by Dawnstar
Rearranged 2nd paragraph so the ideas flow better.

[Ondine]

Well do make some suggestions from the existing rep!  I'd say women have been given opportunities in the recent past. some works from the distant past could be revived (doubtful TBH) but maybe at this time what is needed are the old favourites to pull in the ££££££