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The Royal Ballet tour 2014


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The Royal Ballet sets off on tour tomorrow, first stop Moscow. Here's a Bolshoi promotional video (complete with busbies): 

 

 

Here's their full schedule.

 

The Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, June 17-22
TETRACTYS
17, 18 June - Federico Bonelli, Lauren Cuthbertson, Nicol Edmonds, Paul Kay, Sarah Lamb, Steven McRae, Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova, Thiago Soares, Akane Takada, Eric Underwood, Edward Watson
RHAPSODY
17 June - Laura Morera, Steven McRae
18 June - Yuhui Choe, Valentino Zucchetti
DGV: DANSE À GRANDE VITESSE
17 June - Zenaida Yanowsky, Natalia Osipova, Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova, Thiago Soares, Akane Takada, Eric Underwood, Edward Watson
18 June - Tierney Heap, Akane Takada, Melissa Hamilton, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Ryoichi Hirano, Tristan Dyer, Matthew Golding, Valentino Zucchetti

 

MANON
20 June - Manon, Marianela Nuñez; Des Grieux, Federico Bonelli
21 June (mat) - Lauren Cuthbertson & Matthew Golding
21 June - Sarah Lamb & Steven McRae
22 June - Natalia Osipova & Carlos Acosta

 

National Theatre, Taipei, June 27-29  
ROMEO AND JULIET
27 June - Romeo, Federico Bonelli; Juliet, Lauren Cuthbertson
28 June - Thiago Soares & Marianela Nuñez
29 June (mat) - Edward Watson & Melissa Hamilton
29 June - Valeri Hristov & Sarah Lamb

 

Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai, July 3-5
DON QUIXOTE
3, 5 July - Basilio, Thiago Soares; Kitri, Marianela Nuñez
4 July - Federico Bonelli & Sarah Lamb
5 July (mat) - Matthew Golding & Akane Takada

ROH press release

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Further proof that the RB is a bastion of tradition?  I was charmed to see one of the Corps, Kevin Emerton, put a picture of his personal bits-and-pieces 'Tour Box' out on Twitter last night, for it looks as if the Company is still using identical boxes to the two in our garage used by my wife from the Australia/NZ tour in 1958/59 and later.  I find it all very reassuring that the design and manufacture established way back then is still, as we now say, 'fit for purpose.'

 

I'm not sure that the photo link will work here, but let's see:

 

@Kevinemerton: What to pack in my tour box?? Shoes, make up, hydration sachets and definitely some treats! @TheRoyalBallet http://t.co/3mtnGfoVGi

 

(However, I don't suppose that personal trunks still have to be packed weeks in advance and sent to Harrods' Repository for onwards transmission by sea..... and not just because that distinctive building is now a block of flats.)

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Heh, loved the 'All Gone To Bolshoy', though I'm pretty sure there are still a few opera singers in the house....

 

Hope they'll have a wonderfully successful (and sold out) tour, and then return hale and healthy to a stage near me in September.

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As a matter of interest, can anyone say whether they tour using scheduled flights or special charter these days?  It appears that for what I believe was the first visit to the Far East (Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Manila), in April 1961, they used a chartered KLM DC-7 aircraft.

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As a matter of interest, can anyone say whether they tour using scheduled flights or special charter these days?  It appears that for what I believe was the first visit to the Far East (Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Manila), in April 1961, they used a chartered KLM DC-7 aircraft.

 

They use scheduled flights. I think I also heard they split the company over a couple of flights. Horrid to contemplate why you would do this but very sensible.

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If James Wilkie's posting on facebook is to be believed the company flew to Moscow on Aeroflot. Happily we know they arrived safely.

No need to worry about the RB flying Aeroflot. I flew east to west across Russia for 9 nine hours on that airline last year and its accommodation and service were superior to that of many others. But, whichever airline they use, it is good to learn that the entire Company does not travel on one plane.

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I once flew Aeroflot to Moscow. As we were coming into land the overhead locker burst open and my bag landed on a Babushka below. She smiled and shrugged, as if it happened all the time. No wonder Russians all clap the pilot when a plane successfully lands!

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The triple bill has been acclaimed by the Russian critics and got a great welcome from the audience. On the opening night, there were ovations after each ballet.

 

The "Vedomosty” newspaper wrote: “The Royal Ballet brought only two programmes to Moscow but they are able to instil an inferiority complex into the dancers of all other world theatres.”

 

“Rossiiskaya Gazeta” wrote: “The fact that the Royal Ballet as an apostle of traditions succeeds in training such dancers within its own company excites sighs, contemplation and envy. This feeling is not productive, so it is better just to admire them.”

 

And the usually most acrid of all critics wrote in the “Kommersant” newspaper that “the Royal company has confirmed its high status” and she especially praised “the resplendent Steven McRae, a rightful successor of Baryshnikov, who being imponderable as air, precise as a chronometer and impeccable as a textbook for highest artistry was racing around the Bolshoi’s vast stage as a mythical Ariel.”

Edited for typo.

Edited by Amelia
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Nina and Amelia, thanks so much for those wonderful clips.  What great quality the YouTube one is, unusually!  I guess people must just be allowed to film in the Bolshoi Theatre?  I've seen many clips from in there!

 

I notice that in the jail scene they leave out the more disturbing aspects of the choreography.  Is this because a Russian audience would find it shocking? 

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Nina and Amelia, thanks so much for those wonderful clips.  What great quality the YouTube one is, unusually!  I guess people must just be allowed to film in the Bolshoi Theatre?  I've seen many clips from in there!

 

I notice that in the jail scene they leave out the more disturbing aspects of the choreography.  Is this because a Russian audience would find it shocking? 

seems a bit odd that would let people just film in the Bolshoi Theatre would thay not have the same rules as the roh ?????

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seems a bit odd that would let people just film in the Bolshoi Theatre would thay not have the same rules as the roh ?????

Clearly not.  I was very surprised too that someone in the audience there has filmed an hours worth of "Manon"!

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Judging by the amount of ballet clips on youtube that have obviously been shot by a member of the audience it would seem that in Russia there are not the same restrictions on photography/filming that there are in the UK. I also remember that when I first saw the Kirov ballet in the Palais des Congrès in Paris, much to my surprise there were people taking flash photos all the time during the performance. With advances in technology these days it is no longer necessary to have a video camera to shoot high quality video. Many mid to high range DSLRs have a built-in video facility which is capable of giving excellent results and with the minimum amount of disturbance to the subjects or bystanders - no flash, no whirring motor.

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