RB Casting - SPRING BOOKING PERIOD 2024

[art_enthusiast]

16 minutes ago, capybara said:

I think I observed on another thread that Mayara was being used significantly more than other female Principals (including a one-off Mercedes on the opening night of DQ (why?) and the DQ cinema relay as Kitri). And, looking from the outside, that doesn't seem fair to other dancers and does make one wonder about the factors which come into play in casting.

 

I thought that was because she isn't doing Manon? Whereas most of the other female principals are (except Anna Rose). Also, maybe they're doing more guesting than she is, so she's more available? I'm not too sure about everyone's international guesting schedules, I believe Marianela/Vadim/Fumi/Natalia do more than most though.

 

Looking at upcoming works, apart from Swan Lake, the next big main stage ones are the Macmillan and Ashton triple bills and The Winter's Tale. Maybe more of a variety of female principals will be showcased in those.

 

I really like Mayara, I just wish I was seeing someone new as the SPF (as I've already seen her in 2021). I booked for a Clara debut though.

Edited November 4, 2023 by art_enthusiast

[Don Q Fan]

Not fussed on any of the Swan Lake casts. The only one I would consider is Fumi/Vadim but only IF the ticket price for my usual seats isn't exorbitant......

[capybara]

Just to point out that Yasmine Naghdi will have been a Principal for nearly 7 years before she dances Manon. And wasn’t Francesca Hayward cast before she became a Principal?

So the timing of debuts inevitably varies.

 

[San Perregrino]

if Calvin Richardson gets to dance Siegfried in Swan Lake later in the season i'd buy tickets.

[Dawnstar]

Today's links includes a short article on Gramilano about the SL casting that says "Lauren Cuthbertson returns to the stage in a full-length ballet for the first time after the birth of her second child" but isn't she doing both The Nutcracker & Manon before SL? I suppose as the SPF only appears in one act of The Nutcracker then maybe that isn't counted as a full-length role but the title role in Manon certainly is full-length.

[ellyb]

Just noticed Swan Lake pricing - £118 to sit on a bench?! £175 top price... I know it's Swan Lake but this seems absurd surely, how can it be higher than Nutcracker? 

[FionaM]

3 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Today's links includes a short article on Gramilano about the SL casting that says "Lauren Cuthbertson returns to the stage in a full-length ballet for the first time after the birth of her second child" but isn't she doing both The Nutcracker & Manon before SL? I suppose as the SPF only appears in one act of The Nutcracker then maybe that isn't counted as a full-length role but the title role in Manon certainly is full-length.

yes you are right.   I pointed that out in his Facebook post.   Maybe he was quoting an RB news release? 

[Emeralds]

Re: Swan Lake casting, at some point it is customary (since 2018) for us to declare, "I wish they would announce the casting for Benno at the same time", since it is a role with a lot of dancing in this production. I was very pleased that BRB provided the casting for Benno at the same time as that of Odettr/Odile and Siegfried when I booked for their production earlier this year. So anyway, I've said it for RB now.  😀

[Guest oncnp]

SL casting (what there is of it) now on website

[Dawnstar]

A friend of mine, who sees a lot of theatre but ballet only occasionally, is thinking of seeing SL & has asked my opinion on which cast to go for. I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet, with Kaneko/Muntagirov, Naghdi/Ball & Lamb/Hirano as other possible options. I thought, for my own interest, I'd try asking on here if more experienced ballet viewers agree with my suggestions or not?

[bridiem]

19 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

A friend of mine, who sees a lot of theatre but ballet only occasionally, is thinking of seeing SL & has asked my opinion on which cast to go for. I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet, with Kaneko/Muntagirov, Naghdi/Ball & Lamb/Hirano as other possible options. I thought, for my own interest, I'd try asking on here if more experienced ballet viewers agree with my suggestions or not?

 

I completely agree with them!

[LinMM]

All the right couples but perhaps in the wrong order lol!! 
I should think any of those couples would be a really good bet I would just put Kaneko and Muntagirov first and Naghdi and Ball second. But if your friend has never seen SL before then she’d be happy with your selection Dawn Star. 

[Linnzi5]

8 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

A friend of mine, who sees a lot of theatre but ballet only occasionally, is thinking of seeing SL & has asked my opinion on which cast to go for. I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet, with Kaneko/Muntagirov, Naghdi/Ball & Lamb/Hirano as other possible options. I thought, for my own interest, I'd try asking on here if more experienced ballet viewers agree with my suggestions or not?

I think you're spot on. A friend asked me which Nutcracker to go to (those before Christmas were sold out) and I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov - you know what you're getting and yes, they are a safe bet. I'd personally see many couples (budget permitting, though at the SL prices, the budget will be very limited!!!) but seeing two world class performers in an iconic ballet is very safe, I think.  

[Sim]

13 hours ago, LinMM said:

All the right couples but perhaps in the wrong order lol!! 
I should think any of those couples would be a really good bet I would just put Kaneko and Muntagirov first and Naghdi and Ball second. But if your friend has never seen SL before then she’d be happy with your selection Dawn Star. 

I agree.  For beautiful classicism and deep emotion I would opt for Kaneko/Muntagirov or Naghdi/Ball.  

[Guest oncnp]

My only caveat for Kaneko is that I haven't seen them dance together. On paper it should work but Naghdi/ Muntagirov should have worked as well but for me just didn't. 

[Sim]

Just now, oncnp said:

My only caveat for Kaneko is that I haven't seen them dance together. On paper it should work but Naghdi/ Muntagirov should have worked as well but for me just didn't. 

Did they dance Swan Lake together?  Dang, how did I miss that??

[Guest oncnp]

1 minute ago, Sim said:

Did they dance Swan Lake together?  Dang, how did I miss that??

Naghdi replaced Nunez in the last run of SL  d/t illness.  

[Sim]

5 minutes ago, oncnp said:

Naghdi replaced Nunez in the last run of SL  d/t illness.  

Thanks.  That's why I missed her.  Having seen their Mayerling, I think they might well work very much better in SL if they had another chance.  Although....their R&J didn't work for me, so who knows?

[Guest oncnp]

18 minutes ago, Sim said:

Although....their R&J didn't work for me, so who knows?

For me either, hence the hesitation

[San Perregrino]

15 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

A friend of mine, who sees a lot of theatre but ballet only occasionally, is thinking of seeing SL & has asked my opinion on which cast to go for. I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet, with Kaneko/Muntagirov, Naghdi/Ball & Lamb/Hirano as other possible options. I thought, for my own interest, I'd try asking on here if more experienced ballet viewers agree with my suggestions or not?

I’d suggest that, for a newbie, any royal ballet casting would be enough for a memorable evening. Ask what dates your friend can attend and then guide him/her according to who may be dancing on those dates. If you suggest Couple A and they’re not dancing on the right date for your friend, your friend may feel that they’re missing out or worse decide not to book any tickets at all. 

[capybara]

28 minutes ago, Sim said:

Thanks.  That's why I missed her.  Having seen their Mayerling, I think they might well work very much better in SL if they had another chance. 

But, since Yasmine and Vadim aren’t cast together, it isn’t really an issue.

Their one and only SL was very last minute and I thought it was such a shame for Yasmine to be virtually ‘thrown on’ on opening night (and yet so typical of the wonderful company player she appears to be).

I have seen Vadim and Fumi dance a full length R&J and several gala pdd together and they worked for me. If anyone remains doubtful, then why not just go for another pairing and be done with it?

[Sim]

5 minutes ago, capybara said:

But, since Yasmine and Vadim aren’t cast together, it isn’t really an issue.

Their one and only SL was very last minute and I thought it was such a shame for Yasmine to be virtually ‘thrown on’ on opening night (and yet so typical of the wonderful company player she appears to be).

I have seen Vadim and Fumi dance a full length R&J and several gala pdd together and they worked for me. If anyone remains doubtful, then why not just go for another pairing and be done with it?

Even if I were doubtful, I would still go and see them for the very reasons I stated above:  it's always exciting to see whether or not a pairing will work.  There are some which (in my own opinion) will always work (Kaneko/Bracewell, Naghdi/Ball), so it is interesting to see how they (especially the ladies) work with others.  Sometimes they click, sometimes not, but that's what makes it fascinating.  

[capybara]

3 minutes ago, Sim said:

Even if I were doubtful, I would still go and see them for the very reasons I stated above:  it's always exciting to see whether or not a pairing will work.  There are some which (in my own opinion) will always work (Kaneko/Bracewell, Naghdi/Ball), so it is interesting to see how they (especially the ladies) work with others.  Sometimes they click, sometimes not, but that's what makes it fascinating.  

Completely agree. My response was in the context of the question about casting recommendations to a ballet newbie which had become rather complicated.

 

Kaneko/Muntagirov or Naghdi/Ball all the way.

[HelenHelen]

15 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

A friend of mine, who sees a lot of theatre but ballet only occasionally, is thinking of seeing SL & has asked my opinion on which cast to go for. I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet, with Kaneko/Muntagirov, Naghdi/Ball & Lamb/Hirano as other possible options. I thought, for my own interest, I'd try asking on here if more experienced ballet viewers agree with my suggestions or not?

 

I think you've given great advice. When I started going to the ballet a critic friend told me to pick the dates danced by the first night cast if I didn't know who I wanted to see. I've seen all of these Odette/Odiles and been happy - such secure technique and no worries about whether they'll make it through the demands of Act Three. I was truly moved and dazzled by Kaneko/Bonelli in 2022 and the 2018 opening night of Nunez/Muntagirov.

 

I'm hoping to see two SL combinations I haven't seen yet: Naghdi/Ball and Kaneko/Muntagirov - who spent the summer performing in galas together and will have done Manon by then - this time. (And a repeat viewing of the lovely Cuthbertson/Bracewell pairing if I can find something affordable, because I'm greedy.) But I'd also tell anyone who asked for advice to go for Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet.

Edited November 20, 2023 by HelenHelen

[Guest oncnp]

46 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Their one and only SL was very last minute......

Actually I believe  it was twice.....Opening night and 5 March. Program still on my phone

 

Certainly if you can afford it, trying new pairings is a great idea. Unfortunately I'm not in that position.

Edited November 20, 2023 by oncnp

[annamk]

16 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

A friend of mine, who sees a lot of theatre but ballet only occasionally, is thinking of seeing SL & has asked my opinion on which cast to go for. I suggested Nunez/Muntagirov as the safest bet, with Kaneko/Muntagirov, Naghdi/Ball & Lamb/Hirano as other possible options. I thought, for my own interest, I'd try asking on here if more experienced ballet viewers agree with my suggestions or not?

 

I'll probably only go to one performance this time and my choice is Kaneko/Muntagirov; if I were to go to 2 performances I'd pick Kaneko/Muntagirov again !

 

 

[Silke H]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Did they dance Swan Lake together?  Dang, how did I miss that??

01 March 2022

[Fonty]

I really hope I can get to see Kaneko dance in something.  Never had a chance yet, for a variety of reasons.  

[capybara]

4 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I really hope I can get to see Kaneko dance in something.  Never had a chance yet, for a variety of reasons.  

 

Fumi is F A B U L O U S whatever she is dancing and whoever she is dancing with.

[alison]

Pretty much so.

[Nina99]

3 hours ago, oncnp said:

Naghdi replaced Nunez in the last run of SL  d/t illness.  

 

Actually Nunez did return for the last performance of SL with Muntagirov in that run.  I was lucky enough to see this performance and you would never have known that Nunez had been ill.  Needless to say they were both superb and I have a particular memory of how moving their Act 2 PDD was. 

 

 

[Dawnstar]

Thanks for the replies to my query. The reason I went for Nunez/Muntagirov first, before Kaneko/Muntagirov, is that the former have already danced together in 3 runs of this production while the latter haven't done this production together (I don't know whether or not they've ever done SL together in full abroad), hence the former seem the safer bet.

 

3 hours ago, PeterS said:

I’d suggest that, for a newbie, any royal ballet casting would be enough for a memorable evening. Ask what dates your friend can attend and then guide him/her according to who may be dancing on those dates. If you suggest Couple A and they’re not dancing on the right date for your friend, your friend may feel that they’re missing out or worse decide not to book any tickets at all. 

 

Actually based on the performances I saw in the last run of SL I can think of at least one Odette/Odile whose performance I didn't think was technically up to scratch. I did it that way round when he asked for advice on Nutcracker casting as he could only make a handful of the dates, so he'll be seeing Lamb & Hirano in that next month. However for SL he can make one of the Nunez/Muntagirov dates so that won't be a problem, at least as long as it doesn't sell out of reasonably-priced tickets (if any SL tickets can be considered reasonably-priced!) before public booking opens.

[Fonty]

15 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 However for SL he can make one of the Nunez/Muntagirov dates so that won't be a problem, at least as long as it doesn't sell out of reasonably-priced tickets (if any SL tickets can be considered reasonably-priced!) before public booking opens.

 

 

Is this friend a Friend then?  I thought he was only an occasional ballet goer?