RHowarth Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) I had a rather awful time. 12 minutes in the queue, and then I encountered the issue I've had before where the site won't let me type my 3-digit code into the text field, so I can't pay. After 4 different credit cards and much swearing I finally managed to pay... I also had the issue for the RBS matinee where it won't let you put tickets in your basket because you've reached your limit (even though I had an empty basket). I lost a few seats that way although ended up with decent amphi. Having had such a stress with the RBS I decided to check them out and then go back for the main stage Ashtons I wanted. Checked out fine for the RBS, it was with my 2 subsequent transactions that I had the credit card issue. After having (finally) checked out my main stage Ashton tickets, I decided (glutton for punishment) to go back in AGAIN to look at Sarasota, which I'd written off thinking I wouldn't get tickets. I couldn't believe it when at 9.40am I managed to get 2 seats plum in the middle of row b of the dress circle. Then had the credit card/3 digit number issue all over again. Had I known there was actually a chance of getting Sarasota tickets, my strategy would have been completely different this morning...but anyway, I suppose it worked out OK in the end...! Edited March 27 by RHowarth 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) I got in after a wait but the ticket prices are so high, even for the Ashton bills, I've left it for now. £168 for a good Swan Lake ticket is just crazy money now when combined with near £100 for transport it's not value for money. Edited March 27 by Don Q Fan Typo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceinwoolfland Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) I naively logged on at 9am, to find that there was already a 20 minute queue! Really wanted front row Grand Tier seats for The Winter's Tale (treating a family member for her 70th) but got row B, so pretty happy overall. Edited March 27 by aliceinwoolfland 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 By the time I booked (finished about 10 mins ago) only slips left for RBS show so no good for me unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) 1 hour ago, alison said: No standing left by then for either Swan Lake or Winter's Tale on dates that I could manage, so I haven't booked anything for WT. Will have to wait and hope I can get standing nearer the time, and/or that there's a decent offer for WT, because I certainly can't pay £49 just to have a seat, thank you very much. And here's me being grateful that Winter's Tale is only £49 for my usual seats. I mean, compared to £75 for the same seats for Swan Lake.... ETA I'm surprised to find there's still a queue at 11.15am. Edited March 27 by Dawnstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silke H Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 17 minutes ago, LinMM said: By the time I booked (finished about 10 mins ago) only slips left for RBS show so no good for me unfortunately. TBH - there was already slim pickings when booking opened for Friends of the RBS a couple of weeks ago. Most tickets must have gone to Family (and friends) of RBS students. The annual RBS matinee is becoming increasingly popular each year. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Sorry to hear others had a bit more of a stressful time! I was very much focussed on Ashton for this booking season so I didn’t bother at all with WT or SL. I will say whilst my post portrayed everything running perfectly I actually had two devices (laptop and phone) lined up. the first one i tried (laptop) I was able to select a ticket for Sarasota but when I went to checkout my basket had automatically emptied which was very concerning and I envisioned tickets being double booked/snapped up. Luckily it all then went smoothly on the second device so I’m not complaining overall but there still sometimes seems to be a gap between the seat map adding to basket and checking out not corresponding! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 36 minutes ago, LinMM said: By the time I booked (finished about 10 mins ago) only slips left for RBS show so no good for me unfortunately. I can never get tickets for the RBS show - sometimes a date issue but often just booked out. Another great chance to see some of the same content - and closer up - is at their Next Gen performances at the Linbury and there are plenty of tickets available. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) Queue wasn't very long for me this time- 5 minutes, although I was in an appointment and could only log on at 9.50 rather than 9.00. Edited March 27 by Emeralds Rest of the comment looked more suitable for another thread 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I had only the RBS show to book for this morning and was all done and paid by the time 0902 clicked around on my laptop. I think that's a record for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Does anyone know what this will be - ‘All About Us’ – Celebrating diverse voices in ballet as part of the Next Generation Festival? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) Sarasota Ballet sold very quickly upon the opening of General Booking for the public as we predicted last year. Opening night has now sold out, Saturday matinee has only a couple of standing places left. A few seats here and there left for all other Sarasota Ballet performances. If anyone is keen to see them I wouldn't wait for casting or whatever- would advise booking today as they're going very fast and a few other shows are close to sold out as well. It's been rather crazy trying to plan that and RB Ashton performances on the main stage (and ENB in Swan Lake) so as not to end up having to be on a long train journey every single night on the first 2 weeks! Couldn't help wondering if it might have been better to give Sarasota Ballet a few dates on the Main Stage- anyway, we will see what the scale of the productions are like when they come in June. Maybe they will suit a large stage, maybe they won't. It'll be my first time trying out the restricted view seats in Linbury! But glad to see there are enough performances for everyone to be able to at least get a ticket for something (including those without Friends membership) even if not one's first choice seating area or performance date. Looking forward to all the Ashton programmes. Edited March 27 by Emeralds 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 18 minutes ago, Blossom said: I can never get tickets for the RBS show - sometimes a date issue but often just booked out. Another great chance to see some of the same content - and closer up - is at their Next Gen performances at the Linbury and there are plenty of tickets available. Same, picked up some good Next Gen tickets for RBS, German Ballet, Brno, and Norwegian. Sounds like an interesting line up for this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 On the plus side, I did get an SCS for the Pappano Gala which was unexpected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) 26 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said: Does anyone know what this will be - ‘All About Us’ – Celebrating diverse voices in ballet as part of the Next Generation Festival? Sounds like it is a programme with non-professional students, younger professional students, and there may be some dances for wheelchair users (this is Joseph Powell-Main's specialty- he is an extraordinary performer; see the reviews on the Empower Gala thread). The participants are : Chance to Dance Legacy Company, Chance to Dance Connect, The Royal Ballet School’s Primary Steps, National Youth Ballet and Joe Powell-Main. More info from ROH page: Chance to Dance Legacy Company, Chance to Dance Connect, The Royal Ballet School’s Primary Steps, National Youth Ballet and Joe Powell-Main come together as part of the CHANCE2DANCE project for the Next Generation Festival. CHANCE2DANCE was created in 2011 with the objective of providing dance schools the best performance opportunities possible.The programme was founded on the belief that performing is a key element of being a dancer. With a clear emphasis on production and a highly dedicated team behind it, CHANCE2DANCE sets a benchmark for dance shows throughout the UK. For Next Generational Festival, CHANCE2DANCE brings together Chance to Dance Legacy Company, Chance to Dance Connect, The Royal Ballet School’s Primary Steps, National Youth Ballet and Joe Powell-Main for a showcase of young talent. For over 30 years NYB has provided transformational opportunities for young people in classical and contemporary ballet. NYB believes that creativity is a vehicle for change and that ballet should be inclusive and relevant for everyone. Their mission is to bring young people together through creative, joyful and inclusive ballet activities that nurture confidence, skills and positive values. Their vision is that young people are empowered to thrive, shaping the future of ballet and the world around them. The Royal Ballet School’s Primary Steps is a national junior schools programme that aims to provide children ages 7 to 11 with a positive introduction to creative ballet training for those who would not otherwise have the opportunity. Edited March 27 by Emeralds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 7 minutes ago, Emeralds said: Couldn't help wondering if it might have been better to give Sarasota Ballet a few dates on the Main Stage- I think I (and perhaps others here) was of the same mind. I suppose the auditorium is pretty big to fill but if they had maybe done a combination of Sarasota dancers plus RB dancers and given it the “gala” badging for one night only I’m sure enough people would have been tempted to go? My rationale is that anyone interested in attending one of the ten main stage Ashton performances would surely have equal appetite for this? Unless we think a fair proportion are only interested in RB (but this could be modified by having it being a collaborative gala as suggested). I do like the Linbury as it’s so intimate and you can really get close to the dancers the way you can’t on the main stage. (I’ve never really sat in the stalls but I presume with the orchestra pit even if you were front row the linbury is closer?) But the issue with the Linbury for me is: 1) due to size general seats available 2) bad design (honestly it’s shocking a newly designed theatre suffers from this there really is no excuse) meaning many seats are restricted view - further exacerbating seat numbers for those not willing to compromise 3) the performances shown there are a bit more for hardcore ballet fans or those “in the know”. This means that you often have many people there with allocated tickets - eg RB/ROH management, RB dancers, connected people etc. (I actually like this because every time I’ve been I tend to spot a “ballet VIP” but again exacerbates the ticket numbers issue) 4) due to the more experimental/niche shows stated there they often have very short runs of less than a week, again meaning very limited tickets! Ultimately all the above means as a non-friend I always wonder whether I’ll actually get tickets for something in the Linbury and as someone who doesn’t live in London anymore and has limited funds for travel often I don’t take the risk and prioritise other main stage works and casts. If I lived in London still I would have been interested to see The Limit - that one with Campbell and Hayward?) - but I assumed I wouldn’t get tickets and I couldn’t align it with any Don Quixote casts really. (With Sarasota the dates nicely overlapped with Ashton on the main stage for me meaning a combined visit!) I think some shows are very much right to be in the Linbury. For example whilst I didn’t see it, The Limit was right for the Linbury, same with BRB2. And I still remember the very good Merce Cunningham Centennial - I feel doubly lucky to see this as Monotones that was due for the main state was cancelled due to the pandemic and appears to have been forgotten now. The Linbury to me is almost an experimental or testing ground for work and an opportunity for younger/lesser known dancer companies or for emerging choreographers. I don’t know what the appetite would be with regard to shifting tickets (eg if they did a longer run of BRB2, or Lemons etc would it have sold well? I think the longest run I recall there was the Wayne McGregor Odyssey and I can’t recall how well that sold). I think the Sarasota was correctly pitched for the Linbury but I am still optimistic that they could have done one main stage performance “gala” that would have sold well (see Gala for Ukraine or Ballet Icons Gala - “galas” seem to attract non regulars as well?) I’d also like to see slightly longer runs in the Linbury of say maybe two weeks over two weekends rather than one (I think The Limit did have 2 weeks in the end or thereabouts) to give people more opportunity to see it - particularly non Londoners. But ultimately I appreciate there is a supply/demand point ROH has to balance. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Yes I’m seeing RBS at Next Generation and Holland Park this year but always love the House atmosphere for main stage show …will look out for returns anyway …I did get lucky last year!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I managed to get everything I wanted this morning between 10 and 11 with a one minute queue. I had quite a bit of credit to use up from Decembe January and February so felt like most tickets were for free lol. I’ve opted for the two slightly different Ashton programmes and two Winters Tales and already had the Sarasota ticket for Linbury. I didn’t get RBS annual show only slips left by the time I booked but seeing the seniors in the Linbury ( and Holland Park) and still haven’t decided about Takada/Sissens Swan Lake on 25th June. I keep hearing she may not end up doing it so will risk waiting a bit longer. Have no used up all my credit anyway!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myrtle Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) Does anyone know if Sarasota dancers also use the Titania blonde wig for 'The Dream'? Thank you in advance Edited March 27 by myrtle grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 @jmhopton, just remembered our discussion last year about the Sarasota Ballet tickets ....hope you managed to get the one/s you wanted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, San Perregrino said: On the plus side, I did get an SCS for the Pappano Gala which was unexpected. How did you manage that, San Perregrino? My daughter tried on the dot of 9.00 and it was showing Sold Out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Scheherezade said: How did you manage that, San Perregrino? My daughter tried on the dot of 9.00 and it was showing Sold Out. It was showing sold out at 9am, I refreshed my screen and there were a few tickets available. £25-£250 Not often that I get lucky. It went some way to negate the disappointment for not getting tickets to the other performance. Edited March 27 by San Perregrino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, Emeralds said: Couldn't help wondering if it might have been better to give Sarasota Ballet a few dates on the Main Stage- anyway, we will see what the scale of the productions are like when they come in June. Maybe they will suit a large stage, maybe they won't. From what I saw online during lockdown and photos I've seen since, I'd guess that the main stage would have been way too big for them. But something the size of the Peacock Theatre would probably have been best suited, had it been possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amanda Liu Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 4 hours ago, alison said: Struggled to get tickets for the Ashton bill because The Dream is nearly an hour long, which restricts which seats I can be comfortable in, and most of the ones I was targeting had already gone. No standing whatsoever by then, surprise, surprise. Just saw a few SCS for the Ashton mixed bills on 18th and 21st June 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 49 minutes ago, Emeralds said: @jmhopton, just remembered our discussion last year about the Sarasota Ballet tickets ....hope you managed to get the one/s you wanted? Gosh, fancy you remembering Emeralds. Yes I did manage my Sarasota tickets thanks, with a little help from my friends, and upgrading my membership to Friends+. Been dreaming of seeing Sarasota since seeing their lockdown streams and was determined not to miss seeing them if this proves to be their only visit. Fingers crossed as it's sold well and months ahead of the actual performance dates, they may return for the end of the Ashton celebrations (or even before). I too think it would have been a good idea to have at least staged the Gala on the main stage so people would be guaranteed at least one performance with a good range of seats. I know they're only doing small pieces but the RB post lockdown performances consisted of pas de deux and small pieces and no one said they were too small. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, Amanda Liu said: Just saw a few SCS for the Ashton mixed bills on 18th and 21st June Darn, I was in transit on the train, and of course they've gone now, but thanks anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 4 hours ago, Dawnstar said: And here's me being grateful that Winter's Tale is only £49 for my usual seats. I mean, compared to £75 for the same seats for Swan Lake.... Yes, but these are side amphi tickets, which used to be relatively cheap. I'm not going to look at how much they were last time around, because it'll only depress me, but I'd guess they were £20 or below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 23 minutes ago, alison said: Darn, I was in transit on the train, and of course they've gone now, but thanks anyway. OTOH, some have popped up for various of what they're calling "The Dream" bill ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, jmhopton said: Gosh, fancy you remembering Emeralds. Yes I did manage my Sarasota tickets thanks, with a little help from my friends, and upgrading my membership to Friends+. Been dreaming of seeing Sarasota since seeing their lockdown streams and was determined not to miss seeing them if this proves to be their only visit. Fingers crossed as it's sold well and months ahead of the actual performance dates, they may return for the end of the Ashton celebrations (or even before). I too think it would have been a good idea to have at least staged the Gala on the main stage so people would be guaranteed at least one performance with a good range of seats. I know they're only doing small pieces but the RB post lockdown performances consisted of pas de deux and small pieces and no one said they were too small. Hurrah! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Just wondering, what was the reason for including The Dream and Rhapsody on both bills? I understand that it gives an opportunity for more varied casts to do the roles in both triple bills/saves money on staging, but was wondering if it would have made sense to choose different works for each bill? I've got a ticket to see the Short Works bill with Hamlet and Ophelia/Isadora Duncan, as that would be the most interesting for me. Though I am interested in Les Rendezvous - I've never seen it before - I am wondering whether it makes sense to get tickets for that as well (financially speaking probably not!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Frankly, I suspect they'll be pushed enough to rehearse everything already on the schedule without adding anything else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I can understand why they want to include The Dream & Rhapsody in both Ashton bills but it does make the lack of casting even more of an issue because even booking only 1 performance for each bill means that you have the risk of ending up with the same casts booked twice. 1 hour ago, alison said: Yes, but these are side amphi tickets, which used to be relatively cheap. I'm not going to look at how much they were last time around, because it'll only depress me, but I'd guess they were £20 or below. Ah, right. In which case I agree, I wouldn't pay that much for the side of the amphi. In fact I gave up ever sitting in the amphi about a decade ago, when the front few rows became too expensive for me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I’m guessing it’s how long a piece of string at this point but can we expect casting at any point soon? I’ve booked the two alternative bills on concurrent evenings so I’m hoping the cast for the Dream and Rhapsody will differ as they wouldn’t expect the same cast to dance them two nights in a row…? I don’t think I can justify a separate trip particularly with Sarasota meaning I’m extending the trip so I’m hoping even if it’s not my “first pick” of casts I get I at least get two different ones! If both are the same I may be tempted to return one of the tickets to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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