RBS Students at the Linbury - Next Generation Festival

[LinMM]

I’m not sure what the protocol is for commenting on RBS students performance at the Linbury as they haven’t actually graduated yet but another lovely evening of young dancers at their best. 
It seems a bit mean to mention any in particular really but a few future stars for me are Caspar Lench…just absolutely stunning in his solo piece…. Milde Luckute, Liya Fan, Francesca Lloyd and Tom Hazleby and the choreographer for the piece Forgetting (who was also the other dancer with Francesca) 

They are not the only ones full of promise of course!! Won’t comment further in case it’s not allowed etc. 

 

[Ondine]

29 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Caspar Lench

 

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Ondine

[Ondine]

29 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Milde Luckute,

 

 

[Ondine]

32 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Liya Fan

 

 

[LinMM]

I hasten to add that I did not start this thread…as I was waiting for advice on whether it was okay to comment on students who have not yet graduated!!

I don’t really appreciate other people starting threads in my name …sorry! 
 

[alison]

A very enjoyable evening, I thought, and the dancers really looked as though they were enjoying themselves, and I was struck by how well they communicated with the audience.  It will be interesting to see how they manage with the far larger ROH main stage and auditorium (and with a live orchestra rather than recorded music?) - certainly some of the pieces would probably benefit from being on a larger stage, especially the vision scene from Don Quixote, where the number of tutus on stage must have made it quite difficult for the dancers to manoeuvre.

[Blossom]

An incredibly enjoyable evening and a well thought out programme from RBS. A great opportunity to see some pieces I haven’t seen before and also very much appreciated by a friend who is new to ballet/dance in general who got to explore lots of different styles. As with BRB2 I would love to see more of this sort of programming to entice people to give ballet a try at an exceptionally affordable price while being relatively low cost to put on and providing great performance experience.

 

The standard of dancing was excellent, but also of note was the acting ability of the students which was more impressive than some professional companies where acting seems to be undervalued, particularly in classical works.

 

Interestingly Carlos Acosta was in the audience last night and I wonder if he has his eye on anyone to join BRB next year. Very interested to see the destination of leavers as a result!

 

Jiri Kylian’s Sechs Tanze was a surprising delight of the evening.

 

Quick question for those in the know- will the repertoire here be a part of the RBS summer performance on the main stage?

[Bluebird]

36 minutes ago, Blossom said:

Quick question for those in the know- will the repertoire here be a part of the RBS summer performance on the main stage?

 

A while ago, Friends of the RBS were sent details of the Holland Park programming (see below).  Last night's repertoire seems to have been taken from this and, usually, most of the Holland Park repertoire is repeated in the Main Stage performance.

 

"Watch a rich selection of works performed by the future stars of ballet at four days of Summer Performances at Opera Holland Park, featuring the Dream Scene from Carlos Acosta’s vibrant Don Quixote for The Royal Ballet performed by Upper School 1st Year, 2nd Year and Pre-professional students, Konservatoriet, August Bournonville’s vaudeville work for the Royal Danish Ballet performed by our White Lodge students with 1st Year Upper School soloists, and Kenneth MacMillan’s inventive The Four Seasons set to three Verdi operas. 

 

Fans of contemporary will find lots of exciting works, including BOLD by Goyo Montero created with students from 24 ballet schools around the world at this year’s Prix de Lausanne, and, in a first for the School, excerpts from acclaimed alumnus Christopher Wheeldon’s glowing masterpiece, Within the Golden Hour.”"

Edited June 21, 2023 by Bluebird

[Ondine]

10 hours ago, LinMM said:

Francesca Lloyd

 

Another competition prizewinner, Francesca Lloyd. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/AllEnglandDance/photos/a.189717144554655/1645576905635331/?locale=en_GB

[LinMM]

Is there any way Mods can restore what I was writing in a post!! It was quite long and not keen to do it again! 
usually when you just go out to check a name spelling etc when you come back to the thread the unsent post is still there but this time it had disappeared in about one minute!!! 

[Sim]

Just now, LinMM said:

Is there any way Mods can restore what I was writing in a post!! It was quite long and not keen to do it again! 
usually when you just go out to check a name spelling etc when you come back to the thread the unsent post is still there but this time it had disappeared in about one minute!!! 

I don’t think we can retrieve lost text, sorry.  We always suggest writing a long post on a Word document or similar so that you can check things and edit it before you copy and paste the final version onto a thread.  Once posted, you only have 30 minutes to make any further changes.  

[SPD444]

1 hour ago, Blossom said:

An incredibly enjoyable evening and a well thought out programme from RBS. A great opportunity to see some pieces I haven’t seen before and also very much appreciated by a friend who is new to ballet/dance in general who got to explore lots of different styles. As with BRB2 I would love to see more of this sort of programming to entice people to give ballet a try at an exceptionally affordable price while being relatively low cost to put on and providing great performance experience.

 

The standard of dancing was excellent, but also of note was the acting ability of the students which was more impressive than some professional companies where acting seems to be undervalued, particularly in classical works.

 

Interestingly Carlos Acosta was in the audience last night and I wonder if he has his eye on anyone to join BRB next year. Very interested to see the destination of leavers as a result!

 

Jiri Kylian’s Sechs Tanze was a surprising delight of the evening.

 

Quick question for those in the know- will the repertoire here be a part of the RBS summer performance on the main stage?

Carlos has signed up Tom Hazleby for BRB2 for one, not sure who else.

 

Check the “Dance News” topic there is a thread their.

Edited June 21, 2023 by SPD444

[LinMM]

Yes usually some of the Pieces at least will also be seen on the main stage in July. 
I loved Sechs Tanze thought they were all amazing to bring this off so well! This is why I mentioned Milde Luckute as she is such an elegant and pure classical dancer but equally good in pulling off the quirky moves and comedy of this Piece. 
I was also very moved by the Two Pigeons pas de deux ( Liya Fan and Tom Hazleby) not easy to get the feeling across when not in context of the whole ballet but they did. 
I really enjoyed the Piece Forgetting danced by Francesca Lloyd and Tom Cape…also the choreographer…Francesca is very good at communicating with the audience and also a lovely natural classical dancer though excels in the more modern works (I’ve seen her before in class) 

It was also very heart warming to see the talented dancer Caspar Lench has become. His solo piece Takademe to what sounded like Indian dance spoken rhythms was terrific.  This was also composed by another student…….can’t begin to work out how you choreograph a piece like this but Caspar was extraordinary in it. 

Another student I remember from YBSS days!!   He had wonderful musicality and expression even at 12 years old back then! 
I must have seen Macmillan’s Four Seasons before but can’t remember it very well. Dancers were all fine but on the whole found it a bit busy! Macmillan’s McGregor moment? But still a chance to see more of the students dancing altogether on stage. 
I agree with Alison about Don Q …beautifully danced by all …..Bethany Bartlett with great stage presence and acting ability in her pieces….but all the soloists in this were so talented …..however there was a moment when I closed my eyes as wasn’t sure whether there was going to be a collision of tutus as dancers made their way backwards through the lines!! 
There is another performance of these RBS students tonight….don’t know if there are any tickets still left but those in London who could get there will have a lovely evening and it finishes at 9pm so an early evening home or time for a celebratory drink afterwards! 

 

[LinMM]

Okay thanks Sim ….have rewritten!! 

[Ondine]

48 minutes ago, SPD444 said:

Carlos has signed up Tom Hazleby for BRB2 for one, not sure who else.

 

It's great to see hard work rewarded isn't it?

 

"Hi, my name is Thomas Hazelby and I’m 10 years old. I live with my mum, dad and sister Maya in Doncaster.

 

I started dancing at the age of three at my mum’s dance school, Hazelbiz Performers Academy. I was lucky enough to win my first national award when I was five at the British Championships, and since then have won lots of regional championships and bursaries. Before auditioning for Billy I trained with Miss Hatton on the Royal Ballet School Associate programme.

 

The best day of my life was when I was offered the role of Billy Elliot. I was so excited and determined to be the best Billy I could possibly be..."

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/325054221022658/

 

https://betm.theskykid.com/meet-billy-elliot-thomas-hazelby/

 

There's a delightful video of him in his 'younger days' on You Tube, too. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Ondine

[Jan McNulty]

41 minutes ago, SPD444 said:

Carlos has signed up Tom Hazleby for BRB2 for one, not sure who else.

 

Check the “Dance News” topic there is a thread their.

 

Quote from the recent announcement from BRB.  The dancers are all going in to BRB2 not the main company as yet.

 

 

"Joining the 2023/24 season BRB2 company as Artists we have Nasrullah Abdur-Rahman (USA / Boston Ballet School), Ariana Allen (UK / Royal Ballet School), Alisa Garkavenko (Ukraine / Princess Grace Academy), Thomas Hazelby (UK / Royal Ballet School), Rosa Lidia-Nuesi (Dominican Republic / Acosta Danza), Alexandra Manuel(USA / Royal Ballet School) and Alfie Shacklock (UK/Australia / Royal Ballet School). "

[alison]

No wonder I noted down Hazelby as being a good actor!

 

Last night's performance was nearly 2 1/4 hours long - according to the cast sheet, some scheduled performances were replaced by others for an unspecified reason.  I don't know whether this will have any effect on the Holland Park performances.

[alison]

5 hours ago, LinMM said:

Is there any way Mods can restore what I was writing in a post!! It was quite long and not keen to do it again! 
usually when you just go out to check a name spelling etc when you come back to the thread the unsent post is still there but this time it had disappeared in about one minute!!! 

 

Too late for you now, Lin, but I often find - assuming that the computer is actually online at the time of writing, and that you're using the same device - that my text comes up the next time I click in the Reply box.

[Dawnstar]

Looking at the cast sheets, are the excerpts from Don Quixote and Two Pigeons the only really classical works being performed? Is The Four Seasons classical? I've just had another email from Holland Park encouraging me to book but if they're not doing Konservatoriet & most of the programme is modern then I'm not sure I want to go. (I wish I'd realised sooner that they were performing the same programme in the Linbury, as that's so much more convenient for me to get to than Holland Park.)

[Ondine]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

The Four Seasons

 

On 'John Hall' You tube channel

Irek Mukamedov and Viviana Durante - ‘Summer' PDD from ‘The Four Seasons’

 

Not an ideal staging but you can decide.

[LinMM]

Ha ha Alison it just has …but too late now as reposted already!! 
 

Dawnstar the Four Seasons is a classical Piece.   It’s okay but not on a par with his ballet Concerto another one of his pure dance pieces for me. 
You’d probably enjoy “Within  the Golden Hour” as well though.

 

Sechs Tanze is modern (but to classical music) but is so quirky and witty almost like a weird farce in parts….  it’s actually very enjoyable! 

Edited June 21, 2023 by LinMM

[AllAboutTheJourney]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

Looking at the cast sheets, are the excerpts from Don Quixote and Two Pigeons the only really classical works being performed? Is The Four Seasons classical? I've just had another email from Holland Park encouraging me to book but if they're not doing Konservatoriet & most of the programme is modern then I'm not sure I want to go. (I wish I'd realised sooner that they were performing the same programme in the Linbury, as that's so much more convenient for me to get to than Holland Park.)

I believe they are doing Konservatoriet at Holland Park but I'm not sure if it falls under the Upper or Lower school performances. 

[LinMM]

Meant to write this earlier but after already having had my small back pack ( about the smallest size you can get) checked at the door of the ROH I was just about to go to my seat in the Linbury  thinking I could sit quietly and go through the cast list etc when I was stopped and told I couldn’t take my bag into the Auditorium! I said well I’d been there with the same bag the previous week and no probs so why the change. No explanation except “security reasons” given. I traipsed back to put in the cloakroom feeling annoyed as now had phone water two pairs of glasses etc to juggle as had no other container 

I was told at the cloakroom that there had been some demos so there was extra security ….they obviously thought I might be a possible orange powder thrower lol!! 
I often put my bags and coat into the cloakroom by choice but usually when I have a bigger bag but I knew this one wouldn’t get in anyones way and had no coat and anyway it had already been checked and there were no notices anywhere saying no bags in the auditorium!! 
Anyway eventually got to seat trying not to drop anything but then got really annoyed all over again as the person who eventually sat next to me had a bigger back pack with them than my own and had come through exactly the same door so how was that  allowed through 🤔

Looking around there were a couple of others but also some ladies with very large handbags!!! 
Feeling a bit peaked about this still I couldn’t resist telling the person on the door in the interval that she had missed a few bags!
I was then a bit worried I might get thrown out for “no bags harassment” 

But I suppose I could have countered that I felt picked on!! 

Anyway none of this spoilt  the enjoyment of the dancing ….but was going to warn people they might not get away with a small backpack in the Linbury this evening!! 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by LinMM

[MJW]

12 hours ago, LinMM said:

Meant to write this earlier but after already having had my small back pack ( about the smallest size you can get) checked at the door of the ROH I was just about to go to my seat in the Linbury  thinking I could sit quietly and go through the cast list etc when I was stopped and told I couldn’t take my bag into the Auditorium! I said well I’d been there with the same bag the previous week and no probs so why the change. No explanation except “security reasons” given. I traipsed back to put in the cloakroom feeling annoyed as now had phone water two pairs of glasses etc to juggle as had no other container 

I was told at the cloakroom that there had been some demos so there was extra security ….they obviously thought I might be a possible orange powder thrower lol!! 
I often put my bags and coat into the cloakroom by choice but usually when I have a bigger bag but I knew this one wouldn’t get in anyones way and had no coat and anyway it had already been checked and there were no notices anywhere saying no bags in the auditorium!! 
Anyway eventually got to seat trying not to drop anything but then got really annoyed all over again as the person who eventually sat next to me had a bigger back pack with them than my own and had come through exactly the same door so how was that  allowed through 🤔

Looking around there were a couple of others but also some ladies with very large handbags!!! 
Feeling a bit peaked about this still I couldn’t resist telling the person on the door in the interval that she had missed a few bags!
I was then a bit worried I might get thrown out for “no bags harassment” 

But I suppose I could have countered that I felt picked on!! 

Anyway none of this spoilt  the enjoyment of the dancing ….but was going to warn people they might not get away with a small backpack in the Linbury this evening!! 

 

 

If the rules regarding bags have changed, ROH should make that clear!

[alison]

Perhaps they had some specific intelligence, because I was certainly allowed to take a reasonably large backpack in on the first night.  But yes, you would have thought that going through a bag check on entry to the building ought to have found anything suspect.

 

Was the casting much the same last night as on the first night, or were there noticeable changes?

[LinMM]

I wasn’t there last night but looking at the casting for the 21st there were a few changes. I see Bethany Bartlett was in the Two Pigeons and would like to have seen her take on it as she looks like could be good on the acting front and has an engaging stage presence though loved Liya Fan with her poignant performance  on Tuesday. A couple of changes in Don Q and Within the Golden Hour too. 
 

Was anybody else there last night? 
 

By the way Alison now you say you got your bag in on Tuesday I do feel picked on lol! I went through entry Door 2….perhaps those who went through Door 1 had better luck!! 

 

[Rob S]

The ROH entry bag check wouldn’t spot an industrial sack of orange powder in a small rucksack….I really don’t know what the point of it is other than it’s more about detecting body language. I brought my usual rucksack in through door 2 last night without any issues.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Rob S

[LinMM]

I must just look like the quintessential rebellious type then I guess…even at 75!! 

Edited June 22, 2023 by LinMM

[San Perregrino]

8 minutes ago, Rob S said:

The ROH entry bag check wouldn’t spot an industrial sack of orange powder in a small rucksack….I really don’t know what the point of it is other than it’s more about detecting body language. I brought my usual rucksack in through door 2 last night without any issues.

 

 

It is effective, however, in detecting babies, small infants, lapdogs, poultry and other small livestock that might otherwise disrupt a performance. 😉

[Ondine]

37 minutes ago, PeterS said:

poultry

 

 

Sad to think you can't take your poultry to appreciate a performance of Fille these days without problems.

 

Half off topic, as it isn't the RBS at the Linbury, but here's a snippet of the RDB in Konservatoriet (official link & film, from 1955)

 

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/soloists-of-the-royal-danish-ballet/konservatoriet/

 

 

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, PeterS said:

It is effective, however, in detecting babies, small infants, lapdogs, poultry and other small livestock that might otherwise disrupt a performance. 😉

 

Not sure about the lapdog effectiveness. Earlier this season I spotted a woman in the main auditorium with a lapdog!

[cackles]

I have a dog phobia, and I was told that the dog was allowed into the auditorium as it was a "comfort dog". Fortunately it was nowhere near my seat or I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on the performance on stage.

 

Regarding the cast changes for some of the pieces in The Linbury at last night's performance by the RBS, I was told by two of the School's teachers that there was a first and second cast. I was pleased that I attended on both evenings!

[JMFCballet]

2 hours ago, LinMM said:

I wasn’t there last night but looking at the casting for the 21st there were a few changes. I see Bethany Bartlett was in the Two Pigeons and would like to have seen her take on it as she looks like could be good on the acting front and has an engaging stage presence though loved Liya Fan with her poignant performance  on Tuesday. A couple of changes in Don Q and Within the Golden Hour too. 
 

Was anybody else there last night? 
 

By the way Alison now you say you got your bag in on Tuesday I do feel picked on lol! I went through entry Door 2….perhaps those who went through Door 1 had better luck!! 

 

I came on here to ask advice about pointe shoes but can't help commenting on this post!  I thoroughtly enjoyed last night.  Well done to all the teachers and dancers.  I thought Casper Lench's solo was stunning and I loved the duet with Francesca Lloyd. They really have something that you cannot teach.  Casper was so watchable and I saw Francesca perform the Firebird and she reminded me of Osipova.  I am hopeful that they will include the Firebird in one of the summer shows as it really was something that I'd love to watch again. Milde Luckute was also beautiful, so elegant.  I look forward to seeing all the pupils progress. Bravo RBS.