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RB 2014-2015 season - wishes / predictions


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Re current principals as Tatiana in Onegin, I've seen Marquez and Nunez, both with Soares and both very good indeed, overwhelming applause at the end.

Edited by Grand Tier Left
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I too had Onegin on my wish list as I think it is a marvellous vehicle for dramatic dancing for Osipova and any other Royal principals. I'm also intrigued as to how they will cast the male roles. I can see Matthew Golding as Onegin but what about Vadim? He is quite tall so would make a good Onegin but will those casting think him too young? If so he will make quite a tall Lensky who traditionally seems to be shorter than Onegin. Also, will Steven MacRae get the chance to play Onegin? What about Edward Watson? I don't know why he has been overlooked for the role given his success in Mayerling.

 

Fille is another wonderful ballet I would like to see again. Interestingly the Mikhailovsky have just aquired it. I think it premiers either the end of this month or the beginning of next. It will be interesting to see what the Russians make of Ashton's humour especially as it didn't seem to last too long in the Bolshoi's rep.

 

What about Graduation Ball? I can't remember the last time I saw that performed live. I have a very old recording of Festival Ballet performing it with Sanguine Fan; another great dramatic ballet that never seems to be performed.

 

An Ashton triple with Patineurs sandwiched between A  Month in the Country and Enigma Variations would be good. I find the trouble with Royal Triples is that there is usually one ballet I'm not interested in and it's usually in the middle. The Concert and the Dream is a good case in point. I'd like to see both but am not bothered about the other ballet. When you travel 200 miles and have to spend on travel and accommodation these things matter.

 

I've been re-watching the Ballet Russes doc and am struck with all the wonderful dramatic ballets that Massine created and seldom seem to be performed today. Even the well-known ones like Tricorne, Train Bleu and Gaite Parisienne. Let's see some fun, dramatic ballets that are so little performed it will be like seeing new ballets.

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Having read this thread there are two points which strike me.  I have to agree with Aileen that BRB make the Ashton rep a speciality and this has to be the direct influence of David Bintley who is very much an Ashton disciple.  For this we are extremely grateful and I really looking forward to the Ashton triple bill in June.  (sorry, this is probably a bit off the main thrust of this thread.)  I do wish we could see Choreatium again though.

 

The other point concerns A Month in the Country.  It is one of my dreams that Opus Arte will release a DVD of the BBC programme to mark Ashton's (I think) 75th Birthday.  We had Marion Tait and David Ashmole in Les Rendezvous, Montones II, the trio for Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee with Lesley Collier, Wayne Sleep and Graham Fletcher and it finished with the original cast of A Month in the Country.  I know a lot of this is available on You Tube and I still have on very watery video but a crisp new print of the real thing would be wonderful.

 

sorry, this is me just wandering off to dreamland on a Sunday afternoon.

Edited by Two Pigeons
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It would be good if there were one or two revivals of major Ashton works, e.g. Scenes de Ballet, Daphnis, Symphonic or Illuminations. I'd also dearly like negotiations with the Robbins' Trust to regain a performing licence for Dances At A Gathering and , if possible, to get the rights to perform NY Export: Opus Jazz.

Other revivals I'd enjoy would be the Nureyev production of the Kingdom of the Shades from Bayadere (different from and superior to the Makarova version performed as part of the complete ballet) and Les Biches.

New works from Russell Malliphant, Mark Morris and Liam Scarlett would be welcome.

I won't hold my breath, though.

Do other people feel that the number of performances and the number of ballets in a season has declined in recent years? It seems a long time since the company did a long continuous season in London (or elsewhere). Even discounting when the ROH was closed, I remember seasons at Drury Lane, the Coliseum not to mention in the "Big Top". Why not again? I also think the reason given for not performing at the Linbury is a load of old rubbish. Does the PR department think we're stupid?

Edited by Douglas Allen
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Do other people feel that the number of performances and the number of ballets in a season has declined in recent years? It seems a long time since the company did a long continuous season in London (or elsewhere). Even discounting when the ROH was closed, I remember seasons at Drury Lane, the Coliseum not to mention in the "Big Top". Why not again? I also think the reason given for not performing at the Linbury is a load of old rubbish. Does the PR department think we're stupid?

 

The Royal Ballet with 97 dancers:
2010/11 - 12 programmes / 7 full length / 5 ‘triple bills’ (16 different works) / 137 performances in the year (excluding touring)
2011/12 - 15 / 9 / 6 (16) / 140
2012/03 - 13 / 7 / 6 (18) / 123
2013/04 - 12 / 8 / 4 (12) / 129
 
Paris Opéra Ballet with 154 dancers:
POB 2013/14 - 10 programmes / 6 full length / 4 ‘triple bills’ (9 different works) / 138 performances (excluding touring)
 
I think the RB has decided that it was working dancers and other staff too hard and has cut back somewhat. Interesting to compare with Paris Opéra Ballet which has slightly more performances (but fewer programmes) this season with a company about 50 percent bigger. They apparently add another 42 touring performances in France and elsewhere. Not sure how many RB performances there are on tour this season.
 
The RB has no reason to perform elsewhere in London. Not sure what you mean by 'a long continuous season': the normal season is from October to June, continuously apart from a week off in the middle.
 
What is the 'rubbish' reason given for not performing in the Linbury? The RB uses it for First Drafts, 'Insight' sessions, and recently for Hansel & Gretel.
 
(I hope my figures are accurate.)
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Thanks John

 

Does anybody have similar numbers from the mid 90's?

 

That was a time when they (and ROH) forever seemed to be financially up against it and dancers had to travel across London from Talgarth Road to perform. I think the company was well less than 90 dancers too and also didn't have the enhanced pysio support envorniment they have now.

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I suppose someone must have access to all the details but the best I can do is go to Bob Kimber’s very useful Ballet Chronicles and tot up the number of full length and one act ballets each season. This gives:

 

1995/96 full 6 / one act 15

96/97 8 / 13

97/98 7 / 9

98/99 8 / 19

99/2000 4 / 26

00/01 7 / 20

02/03 6 / 15

03/04 8 / 17

04/05 6 / 20

05/06 8 / 20

06/07 8 / 18

07/08 7 / 16

08/09 7 / 16

09/10 6 / 17

10/11 6 / 17

 

Looks as if the number of programmes probably hasn’t changed much over time but, as Ian says, he doesn’t give the number of performances.

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I suppose someone must have access to all the details but the best I can do is go to Bob Kimber’s very useful Ballet Chronicles and tot up the number of full length and one act ballets each season. This gives:
 
1995/96 full 6 / one act 15
96/97 8 / 13
97/98 7 / 9
98/99 8 / 19
99/2000 4 / 26
00/01 7 / 20
02/03 6 / 15
03/04 8 / 17
04/05 6 / 20
05/06 8 / 20
06/07 8 / 18
07/08 7 / 16
08/09 7 / 16
09/10 6 / 17
10/11 6 / 17
 
Looks as if the number of programmes probably hasn’t changed much over time but, as Ian says, he doesn’t give the number of performances.

 

 

Any stats on number of dancers in the company over that period? To be fair I guess its number of dancers full time and guests, separately accounted.

Edited by Bruce
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Might I add a little bit in response?

I was mainly expressing a feeling that since the re-opening of the Royal Opera House, the repertory and the performance schedule has become more restricted compared with earlier years. It wasn't particularly a comment about changes over the last ten years. To take the comments about the size of the company. Currently it is in the mid-nineties. In 1964 the total was 132 of whom sixty five were members of the old touring company leaving 67 in the Covent Garden company. Guest artists were not included in these numbers, so it wouldn't include Fonteyn or Nureyev, but it did include those people on the staff of the company (e.g. Henry Legerton and Gerd Larsen) who appeared on stage in mime or character roles. At the end of the sixties the Covent Garden company had 77 dancers and the touring company had 63. The source for this is the 1969 Arts Council report on opera and ballet in the UK. The contracted size of the company can usually be tracked through the Royal Opera House annual reports (though these don't usually differentiate between the two companies and the Ballet for All group).

When I made my comment about the range of the rep, it was an impression I had rather than an exact measurement, but I've since looked up the details of a few years and I've noted the following:

 

1959-60   149 performances in London

1968-69    127 performances in London   9 full length  26 short

1980-81    135 performances in London   9 full length  22 short

 

In addition for much of the time between the late forties and the mid seventies there was a very extensive overseas touring programme which is nowhere near as prominent today. In 63-64 in addition to 120 performances in London the main company did 96 performances overseas, in 67-68 they did 127 performances in London and a further 118 in North America. I accept that the rep then was perhaps more homogeneous than that of today, but with a company size in the mid seventies and a performance schedule of well over two hundred a year it suggests that today's dancers could be being underused. This led to my point about the Royal Ballet's non-use of the Linbury.I don't see why the company can't put on performances of either new ballets created for the space or put on works from the repertory appropriate for the space and using small numbers of dancers. There are a number of ballets using a few soloists or principals which wouldn't need rehearsal time for large corps numbers. Afternoon of a Faun, Apollo (especially in Balanchine's truncated recension), some of the early Ashton works created for Camargo, Rambert and the Vic-Wells, Jardin aux Lilas and so on. It would also be possible to commission works from up and coming choreographers who wouldn't necessarily benefit from a main stage exposure. Also, the old Choreographic Group which Leslie Edwards ran for many years until Dowell brought it to an end has never been satisfactorily replaced - why not try out a successor at the Linbury? The reason given for not using the Linbury seemed to me entirely spurious - too much work and needing too much rehearsal time, thus impinging on main stage work is just absurd. It is much more likely to be rooted in convenience and cost.

 

The final point I made was about the "long, continuous season" in London. This was just me trying to suggest that if there is competition for stage time with the opera (as has seemed to be the case for decades), why not move out of the Opera House for a month or two each year allowing the Royal Ballet to get 50 or 60 performances continuously. They did that from 9 June to 18 July 1964 at Drury Lane; in 1973 from May8 until 3 June they appeared at the Coliseum and they subsequently had two "Big Top" experiences in Battersea Park. I was simply suggesting a way in which the company could perform more frequently and continuously in London while retaining the Opera House as their home and main performance venue.

 

I hope this is helpful in clearing up any ambiguities in my initial post.

 

I hope this isn't too long, irrelevant or boring! 

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Great to see a bigger sweep from Douglas Allen - and reminding us of when more seemed to be done with less.

I too am saddened that RB make little use of the Linbury and Clore and yet the company is the largest it has ever been. I think they have of the order of 10 more dancers now then in the early 90's and yet many of the big productions are the same. They put on great Swan Lakes and Romeo's back then with the numbers they had - why not again do great shows from a similar sized company?

So I find myself thinking why not take 8-10 dancers out from the main company for a year and do new work in the Linbury and small theatres elsewhere in the UK - Ballet Black is the obvious quality but low cost model. RB dancers would be in the group for a year maximum  and then another tranche would replace. No new dancers would be needed but there would be much more emphasis on new work and growing choreographers

RB has a wonderful rep but it can't allow itself to be buried by it - some already call it Ye Olde Royal Ballet and while Kevin O'Hare has publicly committed to doing more new things, and we see some of that, there is still a feeling of it all happening on the main stage or not at all. And that is too creatively limiting.

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Bruce, you have outlined something which sounds like a very good idea. 

 

I would be very happy to see some new works in a smaller space.  I might even chance a new triple bill by McGregor.  A more initimate space would take away the need for new, expensive sets to fill the space on the main stage, and allow new works and/or choreographers to see what does and doesn't work for an audience. 

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Yes, it would be instructive to see how good choreography is without the distraction of fancy (and expensive) sets. When I'm watching new choreography (and I'm not just talking about McGregor here) I do sometimes wonder how effective it would be without the elaborate sets, moody or intricate lighting and, sometimes, bizarre or striking costumes. Of course a ballet like Sleeping Beauty needs an elaborate set and beautiful costumes but even if one took these elements away there would still be a lot of very interesting, varied and attractive choreography.

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I agree. Inevitably perhaps, only one or two bright young choreographers tend to get the chance, and then a lot is invested in them so of course they do more and..they then can become fixtures...

Sometimes, maybe, there are equally talented people who just didn't get that first chance.

 

 

I just booked to see Draft Works in Linbury-in June- short pieces by RB dancers. Tickets are going fast, so obviously lots of people also want to see new work on a smaller scale.

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I can remember a time in the early 90s when the RB had a small touring group called something like Ballet Bites. I went to a show at the Leicester Haymarket and saw Viviana Durante and Bruce Sansom do Thais and a pas de deux by Balanchine. It also included the young Darcey Bussell doing some Bill Forsythe. It's a real shame that such tours don't happen these days.

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And in recent years we have had new full evening works in the Linbury, the Kafka/Pitta Metamorphosis, garnering much praise and awards particularly for Ed Watson, and now on DVD, and then Liam Scarlett's Hansel and Gretel. (And most of the Insights and such events are now in the smaller, seating-wise, Clore because the Linbury is in use by visiting companies.)

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I can remember a time in the early 90s when the RB had a small touring group called something like Ballet Bites. I went to a show at the Leicester Haymarket and saw Viviana Durante and Bruce Sansom do Thais and a pas de deux by Balanchine. It also included the young Darcey Bussell doing some Bill Forsythe. It's a real shame that such tours don't happen these days.

 

It was called Dance Bites and it was good at commissioning new works. BUT it was very much sold as the Royal Ballet coming to town, so lots of little girls in taffeta turned up, come to see Darcy in a tutu... which was never delivered. The programmes needed to be more rounded really - or clearly marketed as non-classical.

 

 

And in recent years we have had new full evening works in the Linbury, the Kafka/Pitta Metamorphosis, garnering much praise and awards particularly for Ed Watson, and now on DVD, and then Liam Scarlett's Hansel and Gretel. (And most of the Insights and such events are now in the smaller, seating-wise, Clore because the Linbury is in use by visiting companies.)

 

Kafka/Pitta Metamorphosis was great, but I don't believe it was a Royal Ballet commission - rather an ROH2 one (RIP), that used Edward Watson and other great dancers from elsewhere. Aside from the odd Draft Works, the only RB commission has, I believe, been Hansel and Gretel. I thought that was bold but it must have cost a lot (like a main stage production made smaller) when I think the money could have been used over perhaps a couple of bills and many more choreographers. I think there is a need, at this level, to dump costs and concentrate on choreography and clever design on a budget. Make a success of that a few times and then think about productions with a dramaturg, separate costume and set designers, lighting designer, custom sound-scape designer, video designer....

Edited by Bruce
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I agree with you, Bruce. Get a range of young choreographers in and give them a modest budget to produce some short works performed by some RB dancers. Ballet Black would be a good model for them to take inspiration from.

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Just for information, The Australian Ballet has regularly been doing around 187 performances a year initially with 59 dancers, then 65, now I believe around 70 if that. Prior to 1981 they used to do more then 200, but from then this maximium number of 187 was imposed.

However their repertoire is composed of long runs - 12 or 13 performances in Melbourne usually followed by 20 or 21 performances in Sydney, so there is not the problem of continually changing repertoire. One programme is rehearsed while the other is performed, and because of consecutive performances there is only need for new casts of the running programmes to be rehearsed.

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Just something on my wishlist sparked by this talk of small pieces. I would love to see Balanchine's Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux in a program at the Royal - although I can't imagine how it would fit into anything but a gala. There's a delightful clip of Nunez dancing the female variation on YT from a few years ago and, judging by her recent performances in Balanchine works, she'd likely be even more delightful in it now. It's such a beautiful and musical pas de deux and I would love to see some of the Principals' (along with some of the younger dancers!) interpretations of it. 

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It was called Dance Bites and it was good at commissioning new works. BUT it was very much sold as the Royal Ballet coming to town, so lots of little girls in taffeta turned up, come to see Darcy in a tutu... which was never delivered. The programmes needed to be more rounded really - or clearly marketed as non-classical.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I remember my niece being very disappointed for that reason.  If any ballet company is going to places where they don't normally appear, they have to have an understanding of their likely audience, and what that audience wants to see. 

 

When the RB toured when I was a child, I would have been most upset if the ballet didn't contain classical music, pretty tutus and pointe shoes.  I might have gone once and watched Forsythe, but I would certainly never have become a lifelong fan.

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Just something on my wishlist sparked by this talk of small pieces. I would love to see Balanchine's Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux in a program at the Royal - although I can't imagine how it would fit into anything but a gala. There's a delightful clip of Nunez dancing the female variation on YT from a few years ago and, judging by her recent performances in Balanchine works, she'd likely be even more delightful in it now. It's such a beautiful and musical pas de deux and I would love to see some of the Principals' (along with some of the younger dancers!) interpretations of it. 

 

Around 8 years ago the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux formed part of a mixed programme - with Ballet Imperial, Robbin's Afternoon of a Faun and The Firebird. It was danced by Alexandra Ansanellii and Federico Bonelli as well as by Marianela Nuñez and Carlos Acosta.

 

Edited to correct date.  I just checked the performance database and discovered that the date of this mixed programme was 2006.

Edited by Bluebird
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I think there is a need, at this level, to dump costs and concentrate on choreography and clever design on a budget. Make a success of that a few times and then think about productions with a dramaturg, separate costume and set designers, lighting designer, custom sound-scape designer, video designer....

 

I thought that Cathy Marston had done rather well in that regard in her ROH In-Residence time..... but clearly not sufficiently so to break the female choreographer ceiling to get a RB commission.  Bern reaped the benefit of all that, of course, but it was a long way to go!  And she's still out there ....... just saying, as folk say these days.

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I thought that Cathy Marston had done rather well in that regard in her ROH In-Residence time..... but clearly not sufficiently so to break the female choreographer ceiling to get a RB commission.  Bern reaped the benefit of all that, of course, but it was a long way to go!  And she's still out there ....... just saying, as folk say these days.

I think many of us thought she did very well. And Marston was working in the building when Monica Mason was running RB. But directors cant commission all they might warm to (or each of us individually might like) - all they can do is go with is their taste.

 

Marston has since gone on to run a company and get some terrific choreographic commissions elsewhere too. Quality wins out.

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Cinema screenings have somehow already been announced.

For ballet, as has already been announced, it includes Alice in December, Swan Lake will be in March.

I'm quite happy to also see a return of Manon and La Fille Mal Gardee, in October and May respectively.

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