Will a new principal be appointed (by promotion or from outside) at the Royal Ballet

[FionaM]

Regarding Giorgi Potskhishvili… the RB does have a principal dancer who has big charisma and exciting personality on stage, like this.  Namely Cesar Corrales.

 

Cesar has much better classical technique, including very beautiful feet, both of which Giorgi does not.  
 

I really hope Cesar can stay injury free now that he is returning to the stage and truly develop into the awesome dancer that he should be.   His return seems imminent … I saw a clip of him with Mayara in the wings of an onstage dress rehearsal of Swan Lake. 
 

I doubt very much that Dutch National would let Giorgi go. He’s their crowd puller  But you can see him at Ballet Icons gala later this month! 

[Tattin]

In reply to several comments above:

 

1. Laura Morera mentioned recently - I think it was during a RB Insight evening that she was coaching - that she had asked KoH if she could dance Juliet just once before she retired (I think in Japan) and he refused.

 

2. I support all you Melissa Hamilton fans! It upsets me that she hasn't been promoted to principal, and if she was given numerous opportunities to dance the classics in Dresden, as I believe she was, then she can obviously cope with them. I love her elegant technique; she shines in everything I have seen her dance (only on screen), even in small roles such as one of the leading wilis. 

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, Tattin said:

In reply to several comments above:

 

1. Laura Morera mentioned recently - I think it was during a RB Insight evening that she was coaching - that she had asked KoH if she could dance Juliet just once before she retired (I think in Japan) and he refused.

 

2. I support all you Melissa Hamilton fans! It upsets me that she hasn't been promoted to principal, and if she was given numerous opportunities to dance the classics in Dresden, as I believe she was, then she can obviously cope with them. I love her elegant technique; she shines in everything I have seen her dance (only on screen), even in small roles such as one of the leading wilis. 

Tattin, you're right. And lots of UK fans would have paid good money to see Laura Morera as Juliet in a 2,256 seat theatre (ie ROH) in London too. She could have been given 2 matinées in the last run- one weekend and one weekday, which would have been helpful to her fans outside London and the Home Counties who could travel down to see her show and take the train back on the same day. The weekday matinées (regardless of the cast) struggled to sell but I bet the Morera magic would have fixed that. Unfortunately, too late for that now. 

[Legseleven]

Sometimes it seems that RB dancers who excel in the roles they have been given are ‘taken for granted’ and not given the chance to take on eg MacMillan roles as early as perhaps others may do. And it has sometimes appeared that excelling in the MacMillan roles is a passport to promotion even without being given classical roles (although I appreciate that that isn’t the case for Melissa Hamilton). 

[FionaM]

In the end it is the Artistic Director’s vision and decision.  If a dancer doesn’t get promoted because they don’t fit his ideas (for whatever reason) then that dancer has to choose what suits them.
 

Melissa has chosen to remain in RB and branched out with many guest appearances with Bolle and others, and now her own shows.  Valentino Zucchetti is blessed with choreographic talent as well as dancing talent.  Itziar Mendizabal has qualified as a teacher.  I wonder which direction the other older soloists will go.  Always fascinating to find out.  
 

Later promotions are not unknown, I think Ryo Hirano was 33. Laura Morera was 29, Ed Watson was 28.  So I think principal promotion is unlikely for any of those aged over 30. 
 

The only first soloists aged under 30 are Calvin Richardson and Joe Sissens.  Luca Acri is ~30.  All the others are older, including Gasparini (33/34).

 

 

[art_enthusiast]

2 hours ago, FionaM said:

In the end it is the Artistic Director’s vision and decision.  

 

True, it seems a lot like personal preference at the end of the day - which would vary under different ADs. I think the main way of reaching some sort of balance is to give first soloists as many principal opportunities as possible (not at the expense of principal opportunities obviously, but reaching some sort of equal distribution there - which is of course very hard at the RB as they are so top heavy).

 

When Luca Acri did Basilio earlier this season, my first thought upon seeing his entrance was - principal material! And I hope to see him do more principal roles in future, regardless of whether he is promoted or not - ditto all the first soloists.

[Fonty]

45 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

 

True, it seems a lot like personal preference at the end of the day - which would vary under different ADs.

 

It must be very hard for someone who was being nurtured under one AD, and then gets ignored when a new one is appointed.  I won't mention any names in case it isn't allowed, but there was one female dancer who was being given excellent roles, including leading ones, under Monica Mason.  Then there was a change, and those opportunities seemed to vanish.  

 

That must be terrible for an artist, to have something apparently within your grasp, and then have it effectively snatched away.  You are still the same person, dancing in the same way, but suddenly it doesn't seem to be good enough any more.  

[Lindsay]

On 01/03/2024 at 08:08, MAB said:

Okay, if this is to turn into 'nominate a foreign star'  If it is not too arrogant a suggestion.

 

Giorgi Potskhishvili

 

 

 

Well he has been in the studios at the ROH today rehearsing with Osipova - photos on both of their instagrams.  I hope this is for something we can see in London!

[FionaM]

Possibly at Ballet Icons gala 

[LinMM]

Cesar Corrales is that exciting dancer in the Royal. It is just such a shame he has been so injury ridden. 
I was gutted some years back when heard he was leaving ENB as thought he was most exciting dancer had seen for ages and now he was leaving!!! 
So joy was restored once knew was joining RB 

However since then he seems only to have had half a career and it takes a while each time to dance at full strength when returning. 
I can see why those who did not see him earlier at ENB may not rate him but I’m really hoping he can come into his own in the next season. 

[Lizbie1]

8 minutes ago, LinMM said:

I can see why those who did not see him earlier at ENB may not rate him but I’m really hoping he can come into his own in the next season. 

 

I was likewise very impressed with him at ENB but for whatever reason (maybe it's just me!) his early RB appearances didn't match up to his ENB form IMO.

 

I also have a bit of a thing about heavy landings and some of his were really clattering. I don't know if this is something that can be improved but they rather spoil the effect for me.

[capybara]

22 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I was likewise very impressed with him at ENB but for whatever reason (maybe it's just me!) his early RB appearances didn't match up to his ENB form IMO.

 

I also have a bit of a thing about heavy landings and some of his were really clattering. I don't know if this is something that can be improved but they rather spoil the effect for me.

 

Cesar didn't do many roles involving partnering while with ENB and maybe this relative lack of experience, and an amount of stopping and starting through injury and the pandemic, showed when he joined the RB.

In common with a number of similarly illustrious male dancers at the RB (and elsewhere), Cesar doesn't always absorb his landings 'through his legs'.

 

However, in my eyes, he is a real star who will bring something very special to the RB's stage and I've everything crossed that he will be able to develop his career from this week onwards free of injury.

[Sim]

6 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Cesar didn't do many roles involving partnering while with ENB and maybe this relative lack of experience, and an amount of stopping and starting through injury and the pandemic, showed when he joined the RB.

In common with a number of similarly illustrious male dancers at the RB (and elsewhere), Cesar doesn't always absorb his landings 'through his legs'.

 

However, in my eyes, he is a real star who will bring something very special to the RB's stage and I've everything crossed that he will be able to develop his career from this week onwards free of injury.

Let’s hope so…his start at the RB has been very sad. Let’s hope he can fulfill his potential from now on.  I have really enjoyed watching him and want to see more. Much more.  

[bridiem]

10 minutes ago, capybara said:

In common with a number of similarly illustrious male dancers at the RB (and elsewhere), Cesar doesn't always absorb his landings 'through his legs'.

 

Could that make dancers more prone to injury?

[LinMM]

Cesar could be a great actor/dancer though I know he’s keen to do the classics as well. His sometimes ( not always) rather heavy landings have some compensation in his beautiful feet ( as believe Fiona M mentioned up thread). 
I hope he doesn’t lose that wonderful bountiful enthusiasm of his with all this injury which must knock your confidence a bit. 
 

[Sim]

Just now, bridiem said:

 

Could that make dancers more prone to injury?

Definitely.  

[Scheherezade]

I thought he was really starting to come into his own just before his last injury. Having always enjoyed him in the virtuoso roles, and following on from his performances in LWFC where for me he totally stole the show, it came as something of a surprise to me just how good his Siegfried was in the last SL run.  

[DoctorDerry]

On 01/03/2024 at 11:38, JNC said:

I’m of the perhaps controversial opinion that if anything there are perhaps too many principals now.

 

this leads to current principles being under-utilised, and or very long runs of the same production so every principal can have their go (whilst still not casting certain principals ahead of first soloists or others ironically!). I do appreciate long runs may not be driven by this alone but it does seem like everyone has to have their go at swan lake unlike what for example Paris Opera Ballet do which is having more limited principals in a certain production and each principal tends to dance a few more performances as well. And of course another way of solving this could be solved by having more diverse repertoire with shows running overlapping in some dates (eg a contemporary mix against a classical or balancing a large company set piece against something requiring much fewer dancers). 
 

I don’t think it should be a “race” to become a principal and personally in my untechnical inexpert view I don’t think there is anyone ready to be a principal right now. That’s not to say they don’t have talent and potential and shouldn’t still be cast in principal level/style roles (this seems to be happening already anyway) but my preferred dancers seem to be the ones that have the most experience and so I think you generally only get better with time. 
 

also interestingly I found I preferred some dancers as first soloists rather than principals as I saw them more but also found I preferred them in first soloists type roles, and the occasional principal role that felt it was suited/tailored to them. There’s one first soloist who I always made a point of seeing and then they were promoted to principal. I then found I didn’t enjoy them as much in some principal roles and now don’t tend to book for them as there are other principals I prefer and find to be more balanced across the repertoire. If I had unlimited money and time I’d happily see everyone but unfortunately that’s not the case, and I miss seeing my favourite first soloists in the same production as my favourite principals. (Selfish I know and regardless of my thoughts the promotion I thought was well deserved.) 
 

Of course you need to balance all this against motivating the younger ranks and giving them interesting casting opportunities but I think that is already happening. (But again sometimes at the expense of principals/first soloists who we don’t see for months, again could be solved by diversifying the repertoire.) 

I pretty much agree with all of this. Currently too many principals,all doing a bit of everything. Obviously excluding Campbell and Morera who were allowed to do almost nothing….very odd indeed

[alison]

On 02/03/2024 at 14:25, DVDfan said:

So, is it that to get that promotion a dancer needs to be exceptional in at least two styles of dancing, besides being good dramatically, and for the men, having good partnering skills?  are there other factors involved too?

 

I'd forgotten I'd intended to reply to this.  I remember, having watched the company through the Mason years and (less so) through much of the Dowell years (although I may have based it largely on Dowell), concluding that if you divided the company's repertoire largely into 4 chunks - Classical, Ashton, MacMillan and contemporary/ Balanchine - a dancer needed to have reached a high standard in at least two of those chunks to be promoted to principal.  That rule of thumb seemed to apply to all the promotions, and would account for the "outliers" like Wildor, Galeazzi and Watson who did so while doing little in the way of Classical.  I seem to recall that there wasn't the same tendency to let pretty much everyone have a stab at everything that there seems to be now back then, so that was probably less contentious.  (I wouldn't necessarily consider your "besides" qualifications as mandatory, though.) 

 

I haven't actually tried to apply that rule to promotions since O'Hare took over, so have no idea whether it still holds.

[capybara]

10 hours ago, DoctorDerry said:

I pretty much agree with all of this. Currently too many principals,all doing a bit of everything.

Marcelino Sambe applauded this “everyone can do everything” development in a fairly recent interview whereas (as I have often belaboured on here) I do not regard it as a win/win.

Occasionally something quite marvellous happens but I get the impression that some dancers push very hard for roles and that multifarious factors (other than suitability to be cast) are increasingly coming into play.

[Scheherezade]

Yes. Such as social media following. 

[Dawnstar]

4 hours ago, capybara said:

Marcelino Sambe applauded this “everyone can do everything” development in a fairly recent interview whereas (as I have often belaboured on here) I do not regard it as a win/win.

Occasionally something quite marvellous happens but I get the impression that some dancers push very hard for roles and that multifarious factors (other than suitability to be cast) are increasingly coming into play.

 

It's hardly surprising that Sambe is in favour of current casting trends, given he's getting cast in almost everything at the moment. It would be much more interesting to hear the opinons of those dancers who are not getting cast as much, but I suppose anyone who might be less happy about it wouldn't be able to say anything publically.

[capybara]

12 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

It's hardly surprising that Sambe is in favour of current casting trends, given he's getting cast in almost everything at the moment. It would be much more interesting to hear the opinons of those dancers who are not getting cast as much, but I suppose anyone who might be less happy about it wouldn't be able to say anything publically.

You’ve said it @Dawnstar

[art_enthusiast]

38 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

It's hardly surprising that Sambe is in favour of current casting trends, given he's getting cast in almost everything at the moment.

 

Yep, but I also think that casting against type is a good thing? For example, when Sambe was cast as Rudolf in Mayerling 2022 I think there were some doubts mentioned on here about his suitability for the role. However, I think he was absolutely brilliant.

 

I agree that casting everyone in everything isn't the most foolproof way to go about it though.

[Nogoat]

On 01/03/2024 at 11:38, JNC said:

I’m of the perhaps controversial opinion that if anything there are perhaps too many principals now.

 

Perhaps it's just KOH catering to our varied tastes when it comes to dancers? I can just hear him saying, in his best Groucho voice, “these are my principals. If you don’t like them, well, I have others”. 🤔

[Sharon]

On 04/03/2024 at 09:42, bridiem said:

 

Could that make dancers more prone to injury?

Without a doubt!