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Matthew Golding to join Royal Ballet

bangorballetboy
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bangorballetboy

bangorballetboy

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Joining in February as a principal, according to ROH twitter feed.

 

Well, that will save me some money, as I'll probably not be booking for his performances.  IMHO a dreadful decision by Kevin O'Hare.  A dancer with limited facial expression does not fit the Royal Ballet.

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Nina G.

Nina G.

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Joining in February as a principal, according to ROH twitter feed.

 

Well, that will save me some money, as I'll probably not be booking for his performances.  IMHO a dreadful decision by Kevin O'Hare.  A dancer with limited facial expression does not fit the Royal Ballet.

Joining you...I will save my money too & skip his performances. 

aileen

aileen

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Are there likely to be any more hirings?!!! As well as Osipova (who, I notice, is dancing with the Bolshoi this autumn) and Golding coming in as principals Iana Salenko and Evgenia Obratzova are guesting in Don Q and R&J.

Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Here's the full text of the press release:

 

MATTHEW GOLDING TO JOIN THE ROYAL BALLET

 

Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, announced today that Matthew Golding is to join the Company as a Principal in February 2014. His first performance will be on 27 March dancing alongside Natalia Osipova in The Sleeping Beauty.

 

Matthew is currently a Principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet. Born in Canada, he trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Universal Ballet Academy in Washington D.C.  In 2002, he was awarded the Grand Prix from the Youth American Ballet Competition and received a prize scholarship at The Prix de Lausanne to attend The Royal Ballet School. Graduating in 2003, he joined American Ballet Theatre before moving to his current company in 2009. Matthew first danced as a guest artist with The Royal Ballet, partnering Zenaida Yanowsky in La Bayadére, earlier this year.

 

Speaking about the appointment, Kevin O’Hare said: “I have very much enjoyed watching Matthew dance over last few years, and in particular, when he made his UK debut with us last Season.  I am very pleased he is joining the Company and we look forward to welcoming him next year as the latest addition to our world class roster of Principals.”

simonbfisher

simonbfisher

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Am I the only one who is pleased about this? Apart from DVD/Youtube, I have only seen his Solor here earlier this year, and was quite impressed. I thought he was technically very good, and didn't notice any particular limitation of facial expression, but I guess that if he is on roll here he will be able to relax and emote a little more . . . And surely his experience with the wonderful Dutch National will be a useful ingredient in the new RB cake?

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mijosh

mijosh

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I have to say I was hoping for, and would rather have, either Cory Stearnes or Guillaume Coty. Both have guested with the RB and were possibly considered - asked even - but declined the invitation.

 

I too was far from enamoured by Mr Golding,but beggars (and the RB is in an unenviable position male principal wise at the present time) can't be choosers. Maybe he'll suprise us.

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aileen

aileen

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Very few male dancers have everything: perfect physique; good height; technical excellence; stamina; strong work ethic; strength in partnering and commitment to female partners; pleasant personality; stage presence and acting ability. I've not seen him dance live but he certainly has quite a few of these qualities and, unfortunately, there are (IMO) no men currently at the RB who are ready to be promoted to principal at the moment. If Tamara, who could choose whoever she wanted to dance with, chose Matthew he must have quite a lot going for him.

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LinMM

LinMM

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Oh dear! Ive never actually seen him dance live and this of course may make a difference to ones judgement but dare I say it....he looks like a fine dancer to me and nicely proportioned too!! I'm sure he still has time to develop his "dramatic" skills but technically he looks good to me! I don't remember Dowell initially having hugely dramatic talent but look what a brilliant dancer he turned out to be although still more of a pure classicist for me and there will always be dancers who can do it all as it were but are better in certain roles.

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Bruce

Bruce

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I hope Matthew Golding does not read this website.

If everybody is always looking over their shoulder all the time Bill, its not going to be much of a conversation!

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capybara

capybara

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Very few male dancers have everything: perfect physique; good height; technical excellence; stamina; strong work ethic; strength in partnering and commitment to female partners; pleasant personality; stage presence and acting ability. 

 

Vadim Muntagirov has. Leonid Sarafanov has.  The question is whether Kevin shopped widely and assiduously enough

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MAB

MAB

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Not totally convinced that the RB has absolutely no one worthy of promotion.  Alexander Campbell danced principal roles at BRB and would cope very well partnering Osipova in SB.  He danced the role with BRB in London and was very good, why can't he dance that role ot ROH?

 

Agree strongly with Capybara's point though.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Agree 100% with you about Alexander Campbell MAB!  At BRB he was a wonderful Romeo and Prince Florimund as well as Will Hobson and Cyrano and he danced the leading roles in many of the mixed programmes too.

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capybara

capybara

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Xander Parish anyone?

 

I saw Xander dancing at the Mariinsky earlier this year and, as others will no doubt testify on the basis of his appearances in London recently, he has come on by leaps and bounds. And he is reputedly debuting as Siegfried this coming year. But, if I were in Kevin's shoes, I would be keeping a close watch with a view to his coming in as a First Soloist initially.

barton22

barton22

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Given that Xander is in arguably the best classical company in the world with a director who nurtures him and gives him principal roles that he would be unlikely to get were he a First Soloist with the Royal, it is hard to see why he would be tempted back; especially when Kevin was part of the regime that (at best) overlooked him during his time in London.  I suspect that unless he finds that for political reasons he is unable to progress through the formal ranks in St Petersburg (it seems odd to me that he is still a coryphee when he dances more senior roles than many men in senior ranks to him), he'd be unlikely to give up the opportunities he has there.  The Mariinsky is terribly short of male principals and there must surely be several promotions to the male principal ranks coming up in the next few years as Zelensky has essentially gone (even though still listed on the website), Korsuntsev and Ivanchenko are now around 40 and Kolb is mid 30s, with Shklyarov the only one left.

Arky

Arky

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Am I the only one who is pleased about this?

 

No, simonbfisher, you are not!

 

A look at youtube for Wheeldon's Cinderella shows how technically good he is and his facial expressions are appropriate. It was well received by the critics.

 

One critic said "Matthew Golding, the Dutch National Ballet’s Brad Pitt, dances this brazen Prince Guillaume with ecstatic pleasure. His jumps seem higher and his face more jovial. Maybe it helps that his partner Anna Tsygankova is his sweetheart in real life too". I wonder whether Anna is staying put in Holland?

 

He is a good tall partner for Zenaida, whose sister was one of the ugly sisters in Cinderella.

 

Let's give him a chance to show what he can do!

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alison

alison

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I guess all bets are off as regards other Principal acquisitions then ... this is getting way too obvious.

 

As my sister just said, what is it about all these Canadians?  The Bank of England, now the Lawn Tennis Association, the RB, ...

 

And despite my enthusiastic review of Xander Parish in Sheherezade recently, I don't think he's principal-level yet, although I am surprised to see he's still a Coryphée.

chrischris

chrischris

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I hope this is the last principal acquisition until Acosta retires, and they don't take on any more female principals until Choe has been given a shot at more principal roles, and Morera used more.

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toursenlair

toursenlair

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As my sister just said, what is it about all these Canadians?  The Bank of England, now the Lawn Tennis Association, the RB, ...

 

 

It is a cunning Canadian plot to take over the world.

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