RB Nutcracker Dec/Jan 23/24

[Emeralds]

5 hours ago, LinMM said:

A little bird told me that there is possibly no Nutcracker next year which is why I’m extra gutted to miss this year. 
Was also going to see Lauretta Summerscales in ENB version next week as well so very disappointed to have to miss her as well. 

 

If it's any help, LinMM, there are two certainties in life: death and the Nutcracker at Christmas. (Taxes is technically wrong because if you don't earn enough to meet the income tax threshold, you technically don't pay income tax. Yes, there's VAT but in the UK you generally don't "see" it added on). The Nutcracker will be back another time and after that too. 

 

Will send you some good luck vibes that maybe you might get a slot (a last minute cancellation) early enough to catch an ENB & an RB Nutcracker in January? 🍀 🍀 🍀 Stay healthy and don't catch any colds/bugs while waiting please! 

[Emeralds]

On 15/12/2023 at 16:29, Dawnstar said:

They really are racking up the cast changes for this run. That's now all 3 men replaced for 18th & 22nd mat (having been booked for the 18th since booking opened back in July, it's a bit like And Then There Were None watching them drop out one by one!) while for the 20th and 23rd matinees Bracewell is the only originally cast dancer left. I wonder if Cuthbertson's already injured so soon after returning or if she's just got some sort of seasonal lurgy. Zuchetti & Dean presumably are injured given he's been off since after the first Don Q & she vanished from Dante Project cast lists mid-run.

 

I'm pretty happy with the cast changes for the performances I'm booked for, now I just need to make sure I can actually see them. I wonder how an NHS doctor is going to respond if I tell them this evening that they have to sort out my blocked tearduct immediately because I have 2 Nutcrackers to see next week?!

Hope your blocked tear duct is resolved very soon, Dawnstar!

[Blossom]

I think it would be wonderful to see Cinderella again at Christmas next year and of course BRB are back at RAH next year- booking is already open. 
I have always thought that Fille would make a great Christmas ballet too as it has lots of Panto quality. 

[Emeralds]

5 hours ago, Tattin said:

I urge all of you who are able to see the RB Nutcracker at the ROH, and those who, like me, watch it in the cinema every year, to watch the latest NYCB digital offering (in Ballet/Dance News & Information) as  it is a fascinating comparison of the Ivanov choreography for the adage (the RB version is largely Ivanov and many of you will know whether this  is also true of ENB & BRB) & Balanchine's. It is moderated by the erudite Alastair Macauley. If you only want to watch the Ivanov part it is roughly from 10 mins to 45. Unfortunately only available til tomorrow, Dec 17th.

NYCB/Balanchine still keeps (in slightly modified version using modern stage technology) Ivanov's choreography/staging in the part in the adagio at the end where the prince/Cavalier brings on a large swathe of tulle/chiffon-like material and Sugar Plum Fairy balances on it en pointe (either on two feet or one foot) and the man gently pulls the cloth and hence her forward by a few inches, and they have to be careful she doesn't get knocked off balance. It can feel a bit "random" and "why is he bringing out this bit of gauze for her to stand on? Weird" but it's in photos of the original, and in fact, was actually in the original RB production when Sir Peter Wright staged it in the early 80s. I believe Francesca Hayward's grandparents own the video where Lesley Collier and Anthony Dowell perform it in their grand pas de deux!

 

I do like seeing it as it's kind of bonkers but unique at the same time and does add to the otherworldly character that the SPF & Kingdom of the Sweets have. It's gone from the RB production mow, NYCB's is slightly modified, and most companies don't include it,  apart from the Staatsballett Berlin one which was a reconstruction of the original Ivanov version. (Not sure if the company have given up the production?) 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Emeralds

[Ondine]

The tulle 'pull' is somewhere on YouTube as I have seen it fairly recently, all rather strange and yes always looks dangerous!

 

Two Sugar Plum Fairies, compare and contrast. 

 

 

I very much prefer this one.

 

 

[Emeralds]

In the NYCB version, the lead Marzipan (aka Mirliton) has the hardest female variation rather than SPF, and Dewdrop (aka Waltz of the Flowers lead) has the most demanding (stamina/energy) variation. Also, their SPF doesn't dance her famous solo in the finale after the adagio but at the start of Act 2 upon meeting Clara and young Nutcracker Prince, which felt out of place the first time I saw it, but got used to it by the second time. I think the NYCB version feels more spectacular live in person (whether the movie version or broadcast version from the stage) but the RB is spectacular on film/DVD/cinema relay as in person. I like both!

[Ondine]

And if we want a trio:

 

 

 

I quite like the Bolshoi Nutcracker as it's different, with the emphasis on 'couples'. I like the sets too.

 

However, out of the three the choreography of the RB SPF is, to me, the most interesting (and challenging, with the gargouillades, though many do fudge them a little). Also a proper pink sparkly tutu, as befits a Sugar Plum Fairy.  You can't beat Julia Trevelyan Oman's designs. (Don't start me on the Royal Opera banishing her La bohème).

 

ttps://www.bristol.ac.uk/theatre-collection/explore/theatre/julia-trevelyan-oman-archive/

 

Mirlitons.  Reed pipes, sweets, also a type of squash!

 

https://jonathanstill.com/2016/11/01/mirlitons-2/

 

I'm trying to recall which old fashioned choccie box they used to come in, a small cylinder of marzipan with ends dipped in chocolate.

 

[Emeralds]

Oh, NYCB SPF has a shiny tutu also- an outfit change, very glamorous. She wears it for the grand pas de deux - it is multicoloured, pastel shades. Looks very  nice in close up when the children and other fans pose with her at fundraisers.

 

What I would love is for RB, BRB, ENB, NB and Scottish Ballet to do fundraisers like NYCB's Nutcracker family fundraiser.  They posted pics from it- a lunchtime matinee event, with gingerbread houses, colouring books for the kids, orange juice and party type food, a performance, and a meet and greet/autographs/selfie with some dancers.

 

The price was not bad for a show, food and goody bag as it was afternoon and not night time. Better value than those rip off winter wonderland theme parks that are popping up all over the UK (admittedly some are better than others). I must admit I was most excited about the gingerbread houses to take home! (Despite being a fan of the company, venue and production!) The company says it raises a lot of funds. Hint hint, RB and others......

Edited December 16, 2023 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, Ondine said:

The tulle 'pull' is somewhere on YouTube as I have seen it fairly recently, all rather strange and yes always looks dangerous!

 

Two Sugar Plum Fairies, compare and contrast. 

 

 

I very much prefer this one.

 

 

Maria Kowroski in the NYCB version  (top) and (everyone probably knows) Lauren Cuthbertson in the RB version (in the performance celebrating the 90th birthday of Sir Peter Wright, I believe). Maria has an RB connection- her husband is former RB soloist Martin Harvey. 😀

[Silke H]

4 hours ago, ellyb said:

Aw, I know I'll be in the minority but I'm a bit sad about that if it's true! Might it mean they're intending a revamp, this production is getting on a bit so might this be the last time we see it? It seems a bit of an odd financial decision as I believe it's the one production across both ballet and opera that is guaranteed to completely sell out, and at top dollar prices? If they're needing to keep prices so high as they are struggling, is it really sensible to get rid of their most profitable show?

@ellyb - I don't think you need to fear this Nutcracker going away any time soon.

 

The Royal Ballet gives The Nutcracker a little rest from time to time over the Christmas period.  In 2019/20 we saw Coppélia around Christmas/New Year, 2014/15 was Alice and Don Q, 2010/11 was Tales of Beatrix Potter/Les Patineurs

[Ondine]

I said this on another thread, but more decades ago than I care to think about aged five for Christmas my mother made me a 'Sugar Plum Fairy' dress, pink taffeta silky bodice and pink net skirt, I had a 78 rpm 'Nutcracker Suite' record (still have it) and was allowed to play it on the HMV wind up gramophone and TWIRL.  So the Sugar Plum Fairy is very dear to my heart!

 

The first of several tutus she made for me! 

 

I have this pattern, my mother kept it, it was with her sewing things when she died.

 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/199256158/simplicity-4863-1950s-girls-ballet?gpla=1&gao=1&

 

Slightly later one

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275366996268

 

I wonder how many of those they sold over the years?

 

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Ondine

[Ondine]

5 minutes ago, Silke H said:

The Royal Ballet gives The Nutcracker a little rest from time to time over the Christmas period.  In 2019/20 we saw Coppélia around Christmas/New Year, 2014/15 was Alice and Don Q, 2010/11 was Tales of Beatrix Potter/Les Patineurs

 

It does and I always feel sad for the children at the RBS who miss out 'their' turn!

 

 

[capybara]

9 minutes ago, Ondine said:

It does and I always feel sad for the children at the RBS who miss out 'their' turn!

I think the students are drawn from more than one RBS year so maybe no one misses out completely.

[jmhopton]

Even if the ROH do have a change from the Nutcracker next Christmas you may be able to see a past filmed version at the cinema.  This is what happened in 2019 when a past Nutcracker got a screening as well as the Christmas ballet Coppelia. 

[LinMM]

Perhaps some of the students will be given a chance in the Linbury if Nutcracker is rested. I seem to remember one year around February the RBS students did Les Sylphides and something else …was it Cunning Little Vixen? 

[Bluebird]

On 14/12/2023 at 12:40, Ondine said:

Small Nutcracker & RB deviation, I see 19-year-old Laura Griffiths has joined Australian Ballet, trained at English National Ballet School (David Yow) and was Senior Award Winner in the 2022 Cecchetti Classical Ballet Bursary Awards, adjudicated by Anita Young.

 

It’s interesting that you should mention Laura.  I’ve been to a number of performances in the current run of Australian Ballet Swan Lakes and Laura is one of the dancers who has consistently caught my eye, whether as a cygnet, as one of the dancers in the Neapolitan or as a member of the corps.  She definitely seems to be one to watch. 

 

Edited to apologise for taking the discussion away from the Royal Ballet.  I didn't see any other way of responding to this particular post. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Bluebird

[Ondine]

4 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

Edited to apologise for taking the discussion away from the Royal Ballet.  I didn't see any other way of responding to this particular post. 

 

Well it was a small deviation, I had actually forgotten there was this topic re joiners and leavers, so I put a link here too!

 

 

 

 

[FionaM]

9 hours ago, Sim said:

Yes, at the moment the ball does look rather summery.   But it somehow the rest of it feels festive to me, what with the winter fairy, the glitter at the end, the lighting, etc.  

For half of planet earth, Christmas actually does happen in summer 😉

 

‘Global South’ !!!

[bridiem]

5 hours ago, FionaM said:

For half of planet earth, Christmas actually does happen in summer 😉

 

‘Global South’ !!!

 

Well, yes. But we are discussing a production to be mounted in London.

[Sim]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

Well, yes. But we are discussing a production to be mounted in London.

And as far as I’m aware Cinderella is set in Europe, in the northern hemisphere…

[Ondine]

17 minutes ago, Sim said:

And as far as I’m aware Cinderella is set in Europe, in the northern hemisphere…

 

Where even in summer it's risky holding the ball in the garden.

 

While we have a Cinders digression, there's a not great quality (but good enough for nerds) ballroom PDD on YouTube of Dowell and Collier in the old production dancing the PDD where they are alone in the ballroom (no risk of rain) and it is utterly wonderful. Rapturous. Giddy with love, Collier spins and spins, faster than seems humanly possible, and Dowell can't believe his luck.

[OnePigeon]

7 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

Where even in summer it's risky holding the ball in the garden.

 

While we have a Cinders digression, there's a not great quality (but good enough for nerds) ballroom PDD on YouTube of Dowell and Collier in the old production dancing the PDD where they are alone in the ballroom (no risk of rain) and it is utterly wonderful. Rapturous. Giddy with love, Collier spins and spins, faster than seems humanly possible, and Dowell can't believe his luck.

Do you know where the recording is from?  They are utterly mesmerising together.  I adore the version with Dowell and Sibley, but would love to see more of this performance.  Wasn’t she just pure magic to watch here? And I do so love Dowell’s partnering - none of that awful waist spinning from him! 

[Ondine]

6 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

Do you know where the recording is from?  

 

 

There are several clips on YouTube though some are really REALLY awful quality, search

 

Collier Dowell Cendrillon Cinderella.

 

This one isn't good but good enough for nostalgia! Five minutes of bliss.

 

Search

Lesley Collier and Anthony Dowell - PDD from ‘Cinderella’ 

 

John Hall (who has so, so much of historic interest on his YouTube channel)

 

1979 ROH

 

I'll message you the link and anyone else who wants it, though I won't post it as I'm sure the forum removal fairies will frown.

[bangorballetboy]

18 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

though I won't post it as I'm sure the forum removal fairies will frown.

You are most welcome to take over running the forum, moderating and taking the financial and legal risks.

[Ondine]

14 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

You are most welcome to take over running the forum, moderating and taking the financial and legal risks.

 

 

Oooh.  Nah I'll leave the forum fairies to it, with their magic wands. Are you being Carabosse today?

 

I thought it best not to post a link with unknown provenance, just in case those forum fairies were contacted with a takedown notice by some irate copyright holder though as the clip is from 1979 I & been on Youtube three years suspect not.

 

[Sim]

13 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

 

Oooh.  Nah I'll leave the forum fairies to it, with their magic wands. Are you being Carabosse today?

 

I thought it best not to post a link with unknown provenance, just in case those forum fairies were contacted with a takedown notice by some irate copyright holder though as the clip is from 1979 I & been on Youtube three years suspect not.

 

Your sarcasm is very silly and misplaced.  You have no idea what we have to deal with when it comes to copyright and other matters.  As Lee said, if you would like to take over please feel free.  

[Sim]

I am locking this post for now.

[Sim]

Now that we have had a breather, I am unlocking this thread.  May we respectfully ask that comments are kept to The Nutcracker.  The shows are ramping up in the countdown to Christmas, so there will be much to discuss and comment on.  Thank you.  

[Ondine]

17 hours ago, Sim said:

Your sarcasm is very silly and misplaced.  You have no idea what we have to deal with when it comes to copyright and other matters.  As Lee said, if you would like to take over please feel free.

 

OK, final word on this from me, it wasn't sarcasm at all (British humour has many facets) it was a bit of fun and yes I'm perfectly happy to be very silly at times.

 

Life would be dull if we were always dour wouldn't it? I reckon at my advanced age I've earned the right to be very silly indeed.

 

I try very hard not to breach copyright.

 

I've added a Tweet (an X doesn't sound right to me) from the ROH to the 'streaming' thread with details of fresh screenings and a lovely clip from the cinema relay of Nutcracker:

 

 

 

And another to the 'Ballet Miscellany' posts showing how the snow is enabled for Nutcracker.

 

 

 

 

 

[capybara]

30 minutes ago, Sim said:

Now that we have had a breather, I am unlocking this thread.  May we respectfully ask that comments are kept to The Nutcracker.  The shows are ramping up in the countdown to Christmas, so there will be much to discuss and comment on.  Thank you.  

Yes - a week filled with really interesting casts.

Really looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks about them.

[zxDaveM]

51 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Really looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks about them.

 

not that I'm biased or anything but the evening shows Tuesday and Friday will be brilliant! 😉

[alison]

Oh, right, since it's been decided on in advance I don't need to go, then

[JennyTaylor]

I'm unashamedly excited about the Weds matinee when I will see Will and Fumi again. Also Marianna and Joshua Junker who I have not yet seen together.  Plus the new Drosselmeyer!