Scheherezade Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) 15 hours ago, capybara said: Patrons were therefore being urged to ‘book blind’ for the Ashton programmes, although they are able to return or swap without financial penalty. This certainly makes it easier for Patrons, who have the luxury of being able to afford the most expensive seats, to ‘book blind’ since there will invariably be a choice of acceptable seats available if and when they decide to swap. The same is not true for those on a budget restricted to the cheaper seats. Edited February 18 by Scheherezade 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Looks like we plebs will have to book blind and just risk it then...unless they get the casting out very, very soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnzi5 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 1 hour ago, Sim said: Looks like we plebs will have to book blind and just risk it then...unless they get the casting out very, very soon. I am most definitely a pleb! I suppose I'll just have to risk and book if the casting isn't announced before my booking opens. It usually doesn't work out well when I 'blind book' though (not that I've had to do it that often, but paying the £4 admin fee is a little tiresome if I return the ticket). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 Maybe it should be suggested that returns and exchanges related to tickets purchased before the Ashton casting was announced should not incur a fee? 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 On 17/02/2024 at 21:57, Dawnstar said: Does Les Rendezvous have significantly-sized lead roles or is it more of an ensemble piece? When I looked it up on the ROH database there was a very long cast list so I'm guessing maybe it's more of an ensemble piece? If so then maybe it'd be sufficient for booking if the RB could just announce the leading pair for both Rhapsody & The Dream, especially given they are the two pieces appearing in both programmes so will cause more problems with people trying not to duplicate casts. For Les Rendezvous there is one lead couple and maybe one female soloist type role. I don't remember it being a technically formidable sort of ballet- anyone can dance it well, it's down to artistry of the lead man and lead ballerina. Eg Miyako Yoshida, Darcey Bussell and Marianela Nunez have danced the lead ballerina part. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 My greater concern is that Premium Friends who buy SCS might be inclined to buy more dates to spread their bets, leaving fewer for those of us lower down the pecking order... I'm not actually so concerned at the moment about casts as between the 2 Ashton programmes I can only make 3 dates. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane S Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 (edited) 19 hours ago, Emeralds said: For Les Rendezvous there is one lead couple and maybe one female soloist type role. I don't remember it being a technically formidable sort of ballet- anyone can dance it well, it's down to artistry of the lead man and lead ballerina. Eg Miyako Yoshida, Darcey Bussell and Marianela Nunez have danced the lead ballerina part. As well as the lead couple there's a pas de trois (1f/2m) which is very fast and completely non-stop - it's actually not much more than 2 miutes but must feel like eternity to them! (Original cast included Ninette de Valois and Robert Helpmann) There used to be 6 couples in the corps de ballet but I think at the last revival there were 10 - and there's also a pas de quatre for what used to be known as 'the little girls', later changed to 'ladies' - Ashton added it soon after the first performances, and one of the little girls was Margot Fonteyn. The two leading roles were created for Alicia Markova and Stanislas Idzikowsky (the great virtuoso of his day - though he actually only did the first 3 performances) and they each had a brilliant solo. It's a lovely piece, one of my most favourite Ashton ballets - it would be wonderful to find they'd ditched the costumes from the last revival but I guess that for just 5 performances they won't) (And I thought Darcey Bussell was totally miscast!) Edited February 20 by Jane S 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 7 minutes ago, Jane S said: As well as the lead couple there's a pas de trois (1f/2m) which is very fast and completely non-stop - it's actually not much more than 2 miutes but must feel like eternity to them! (Original cast included Ninette de Valois and Robert Helpmann) There used to be 6 couples in the corps de ballet but I think at the last revival there were 10 - and there's also a pas de quatre for what used to be known as 'the little girls', later changed to 'ladies' - Ashton added it soon after the first performances, and one of the little girls was Margot Fonteyn. The two leading roles were created for Alicia Markova and Stanislas Idzikowsky (the great virtuoso of his day - though he actually only did the first 3 performances) and they each had a brilliant solo. It's a lovely piece, one of my most favourite Ashton ballets - it would be wonderful to find they'd ditched the costumes from the last revival but I guess that for just 5 performances they won't) (And I thought Darcey Bussell was totally miscast!) I think RB has quite a lot of dancers who can do the pas de trois well in all ranks- so I don't think they necessarily need to announce it in advance. I didn't catch Bussell and Bolle's cast unfortunately- you'll may well be thinking "you mean to say 'fortunately'!" 😉 - to be able to compare but I thought Miyako Yoshida was excellent at the performance I saw. It's also one of the Ashton ballets I enjoy a lot (sadly not staged as often as Enigma Variations or Symphonic Variations nowadays; hasn't been danced by RB for over 18 years) and I keep clamouring on these discussions for it to be revived, so huzzah, sounds like the RB leadership are either reading these comments and granting wishes, or it's a lucky coincidence 😊. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 I asked the Friends office if they thought Ashton casting would be announced by the 29th (Friends+ booking) and they said probably not. A lot of apologies and ' things outside our control' and 'unforseen circumstances ' which wasn't made clear so I'm hoping for a miracle by Saturday but not really expecting one. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard LH Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 15 hours ago, jmhopton said: I asked the Friends office if they thought Ashton casting would be announced by the 29th (Friends+ booking) and they said probably not. A lot of apologies and ' things outside our control' and 'unforseen circumstances ' which wasn't made clear so I'm hoping for a miracle by Saturday but not really expecting one. Perhaps one of the unforeseen circumstances is Alex Campbell's impending departure to RAD? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 3 minutes ago, Richard LH said: Perhaps one of the unforeseen circumstances is Alex Campbell's impending departure to RAD? Perhaps, but how many can there be to delay casting until after the tickets go on sale?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 perhaps lots of dancers off on holidays and/or guesting elsewhere, so they are currently assessing who is left at ROH this June 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 17 minutes ago, zxDaveM said: perhaps lots of dancers off on holidays and/or guesting elsewhere, so they are currently assessing who is left at ROH this June 😉 Guesting is almost always organised months in advance, so it shouldn't be any surprise to them. Should dancers be going on their holidays before the end of the season?! Perhaps there are injuries, etc. I do hope not, for the dancers' sakes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 11 minutes ago, Sim said: Perhaps there are injuries, etc. I do hope not, for the dancers' sakes. I asked a dancer about this and apparently not, unless they are planning around recent returnees. Could there be any challenges in terms of casting with the ballet owners? There are of course still plenty of principals and first soloists, some of whom haven't had much - if any -stage time since Nutcracker, so I can't imagine what else could be the driver. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnePigeon Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I thought it might be to do with the various owners having a say in the staging and casting of the works - perhaps opinions are divided. There could be all manner of issues going on behind the scenes though and I do wonder about them still assessing if certain dancers are fit enough for certain roles - I think Corrales would be great in Rhapsody if he’s able to dance it, but he’s been cast in SL so maybe he needs a slower start back. I’m sure it’s not ideal for anyone and they would put up casting if possible. I’d love to know the reasons for the delay though as I’m very nosy 😆. The Macmillan casting was very late too and some choices and omissions were surprising. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Perhaps McRae might be back? With Corrales as a potential no, this leaves Ball/Sambe/Bracewell/Clarke/Muntagirov and assuming would have different principals for each piece so this is potentially quite a heavy load. For the ladies assuming Takada is out still? Hayward/Naghdi/O'Sullivan/Kaneko/Osipova/Nunez/Lamb/Cuthbertson/Magri Potentially easier to work with but can imagine still might need a couple of additions. Would the owners allow first soloists to take any of the principal roles or is this perhaps where the delayis coming from? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 33 minutes ago, OnePigeon said: I think Corrales would be great in Rhapsody if he’s able to dance it Definitely - he and Hayward were great together in the 2022 triple bill. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 It's not exactly an easy ride for one returning from injury... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Corrales was very good in Rhapsody last time around. He has the panache, though not the purist of classical techniques. (Hips wide open on jetes which should be forward facing, for instance. But this is a purist quibble that doesn’t matter to many.). I didn’t see Sambe … I assume he was super in this role. McRae was on return from previous injury and it was substandard for him. I was surprised that Vadim wasn’t cast last time… perhaps it clashed with him being in the other parts of the triple bill. I can’t remember the details. Daichi Ikarashi should be doing Rhapsody. His technique surpasses dancers in higher ranks including Corrales. And he’s done it at school level. He could show the panache too, though it was rather dampened in his Acteon solo at the Erik Bruhn competition. That’s a fault of RB coaching IMO. I wonder which of the other other technically advanced dancers like Nakao, Jun, Lee, Masciari, Sissens, Hay, Rovero, Boswell … have all the attributes to pull this role off. I’d hope some of these are shadowing. Where is Valentino Zucchetti? Shame David Yudes isn’t around. Both would be good. The virtuoso technique required is beyond what I’ve seen of Ball, Bracewell, Clarke. I hope to be pleasantly surprised by the casting 🤞 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 11 minutes ago, FionaM said: I was surprised that Vadim wasn’t cast last time… perhaps it clashed with him being in the other parts of the triple bill. I can’t remember the details. Where is Valentino Zucchetti? Muntagirov was doing Month in the Country, wonderfully, with Morera in some performances & Scenes de Ballet with Lamb in other performances so probably too busy to do Rhapsody as well! Zuchetti is supposed to be dancing Lescaut on 2nd & 8th March so fingers crossed he has now recovered from injury & can do so. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 James Hay has danced Rhapsody superbly before. I am so much hoping to see him over the summer in some Ashton. McRae was great in it IMHO. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 At this point in time I don’t think Daichi Ikarashi has anywhere near the same degree of stage presence as Corrales has. He is still very young though and although very good technically for me hasn’t yet acquired that “extra something” 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 1 hour ago, FionaM said: I didn’t see Sambe … I assume he was super in this role. He and Hayward were superb together, their version ended up in the Stream I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 1 hour ago, Mary said: James Hay has danced Rhapsody superbly before. I am so much hoping to see him over the summer in some Ashton. Yes, but for an unexplained reason he wasn't cast in the last run. Having been looking at the roles he's been doing since then, I have a nasty feeling he may not get cast this time either 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) 2 hours ago, FionaM said: Daichi Ikarashi should be doing Rhapsody. His technique surpasses dancers in higher ranks including Corrales. And he’s done it at school level. Completely agreed. I know he is already on a fast track, but I keep wishing it could be faster Edited February 21 by Texan spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 2 hours ago, Mary said: James Hay has danced Rhapsody superbly before. I am so much hoping to see him over the summer in some Ashton. He and Hayward were sublime all those years back. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) 2 hours ago, art_enthusiast said: He and Hayward were superb together, their version ended up in the Stream I think. It was my personal favourite of the three combinations I saw! would also love to see James Hay. He seems one of the underused first soloists at the moment, I can’t recall the last time I saw him actually (admittedly I haven’t been much to ROH this 2023/2024 seasons but even last year I don’t think I saw him in much other than the stepsisters in Cinderella?). Don’t get me wrong talent is talent no matter the official rank but I would like to see talented first soloists cast ahead of soloists and artists - they have more time to do these roles and build their experience! I feel many first soloists are being skipped over in favour of those lower down based on some casting I’ve seen over the last few years. Edited February 21 by JNC 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnePigeon Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I have a strong suspicion that Joseph Sissons will be cast in Rhapsody (and perhaps, with the departure of Campbell, soon promoted?) and can also imagine Luca Acri may be given a chance. I wouldn’t assume that it will automatically go to the principals any more, based on current casting trends, but who knows? (I mean who actually does know? I wish they’d tell us 😉). I think it’s a role more suited to a compact dancer though so can’t imagine someone with Clarke’s length of limb dancing it and don’t think it would suit Bracewell. I’m not sure about Ball, but think Vadim could be a great choice. Sambe and Hayward’s version is currently on the stream and he was incredible. My son was moaning about not liking it until Sambe came on doing some kind of gravity defying jumps, at which point he was transfixed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) There are quite a few RB dancers who can do Sambe gravity defying jumps!! Edited February 21 by LinMM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 James Hay and Francesca Hayward together for Rhapsody this June please! I missed out on their performances last time. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 As did we all - namely because Hay wasn't cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Alexander Campbell was not cast in either Winter's Tale or Swan Lake, nor in the Ashton. So his departure has nothing to do with the casting delay. I know, I know, you all want to know, but at least this is negative but confirmatory news. My source for this information is the horse's mouth. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard LH Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 18 minutes ago, Sophoife said: Alexander Campbell was not cast in either Winter's Tale or Swan Lake, nor in the Ashton. So his departure has nothing to do with the casting delay. I know, I know, you all want to know, but at least this is negative but confirmatory news. My source for this information is the horse's mouth. So he at least has known something of the casting for some time, if only that he was not himself included? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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