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The Royal Ballet's Don Quixote


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Thanks Alison. Hmmmm.....another modern take on an old classic. I so hope he does well with this one! Interesting that he is choreographing Guys & Dolls, too. I love that show, so will go along to see it when it opens here in London next year.

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I'm joining the debate somewhat late. I have a DVD of Don Q by the Dutch National Ballet where Basilio is danced by Matthew Golding and Kitri by Anna Tsygankova. They both give fine performances and capture the joie de vivre of the ballet admirably. Golding’s jumps are sensational. Golding is already coming to ROH for La Bayadere, but I’d love to see him dance Basilio, either with Anna or Marianela. DNB used two fine actors for the parts of Don Q & Sancho Pancho and the whole production is a joy to watch.

 

Failing Golding, my vote for Basilio, like that of several other forum members, is for Steven McRae.

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  • 9 months later...

 

The latest ROH Friends' newsletter says:

 

Don Quixote Gala: 30 September
We still have a very limited number of tickets in the rear amphitheatre and sidestalls ranging from £12 to £54 a seat. Please call 020 7212 9269 to book.

 

 

Just a reminder:  There is a London Ballet Circle talk with Daria and Vadim on the same date.  This, unlike the the RB Don Q opening cast which on that occasion alone will be performing at inflated prices, is not scheduled to be repeated (let alone repeated at a different - e.g., lower - price scale) as far as I know.  I was heart-broken when I learned that ABT have now taken to charging different prices for different performances with different dancers.  This is a new practice and one that should I think not be repeated or encouraged or stood for .... except in those instances where the incoming funds are ALL explicitly being given to an outside charity and all participating artists are taking part on a voluntary basis in recognition and knowing support of such as outlined in the guidelines long established by the Theatre Guild (which the dancers' union has also long recognised).  It seems that ABT charged most this past season for the Osipova/Vasiliev performances.  While this is, I suppose, understandable given their world market estimation as marketable stars which surely cannot be argued with, the marketing practice is a damaging slope for ANY company to follow in my estimation.  It is truly discriminatory.  You can see this in terms of the pricing policy for the opera as practiced by the ROH.  If such had been the balletic case what I wonder would have ABT done in a similar circumstance during the dance boom when they had  a company that numbered on any given night, say, Kirkland, Barynishnikov, Makarova, Nureyev, Dowell, Gregory, Bujones, etc.  From my own personal perspective I will be attending the LBC programme as, in my own small way, a protest in recognition of the above.  I am delighted that the RB's coffers appear not to have been immediately filled in this discriminatory pursuit.  I would therefore hope that the powers that be might find it in their capacity to take note of such and revert from the continuation of any such practices.  Lecture herewith completed.  Sorry but this REALLY angers me.

Edited by Meunier
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I'm joining the debate somewhat late. I have a DVD of Don Q by the Dutch National Ballet where Basilio is danced by Matthew Golding and Kitri by Anna Tsygankova. They both give fine performances and capture the joie de vivre of the ballet admirably. Golding’s jumps are sensational. Golding is already coming to ROH for La Bayadere, but I’d love to see him dance Basilio, either with Anna or Marianela. DNB used two fine actors for the parts of Don Q & Sancho Pancho and the whole production is a joy to watch.

 

Failing Golding, my vote for Basilio, like that of several other forum members, is for Steven McRae.

 

Golding is guesting with ENB in Le Corsaire this fall. Considering he still has to dance for DNB as well, I doubt he has time to do Don Q with the Royal too! You might also like to check out the DNB DVD of their Nutcracker with Golding/Tsygankova, which has recently been release.

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Golding is guesting with ENB in Le Corsaire this fall. Considering he still has to dance for DNB as well, I doubt he has time to do Don Q with the Royal too! You might also like to check out the DNB DVD of their Nutcracker with Golding/Tsygankova, which has recently been release.

 

Toursenlair,

 

That is good to know. Many thanks.

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Meunier, I'm really not sure what the problem is here.  It's standard practice these days (and has been for a while) for the Royal to have the first night of a major new production as a gala, with inflated prices.  Those of us who don't wish to pay them can, I'm sure, manage to contain our excitement until a later date (including the cinema broadcast). It's not as if they're charging more because Acosta's dancing, otherwise that would apply to all 4 of his performances.

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 It seems that ABT charged most this past season for the Osipova/Vasiliev performances.  While this is, I suppose, understandable given their world market estimation as marketable stars which surely cannot be argued with, the marketing practice is a damaging slope for ANY company to follow in my estimation.

 

ABT, like some other N American companies, has adopted "dynamic pricing", which means that the price goes up to reflect demand, but after the tickets go on sale. So Vasipova Don Q orchestra seats cost $150 by the time the performance happened, but they started off at the same price ($115 maybe?) as the other performances. ABT announces casting way in advance, so if you want to see a particular cast, you just have to buy your tix as soon as they go on sale (first to subscribers and then to individuals). I was at the Vasipova performance and there wasn't a spare seat in the whole 1000-seat orchestra (stalls) level, so I don't know how this can be considered "damaging" for ABT, or why they would abandon the practice. I think ABT has slightly different prices for weekends and weekdays but that is not uncommon either.

Likewise, San Francisco Ballet has dynamic pricing, so by the beginning of May two mixed programs were selling at the standard $105 for stalls seats but the same seats (which had also started out at $105) had gone up to $225 for Wheeldon's Cinderella opening a few weeks later, which sold  so well they had to add an extra performance.

Ballet companies have to make money somehow. In the US they don't have any government subsidy to speak of so they have to find it where they can.

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I understand, Katherine ....As long as that was the SAME situation for ALL casts then I wouldn't have an issue.  It's just putting a premium on one set of principals and not another I think is rather distasteful.  Certainly it never used to be that way .... but then that's true for so many other things, huh :)

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Meunier, I'm really not sure what the problem is here.  It's standard practice these days (and has been for a while) for the Royal to have the first night of a major new production as a gala, with inflated prices.  Those of us who don't wish to pay them can, I'm sure, manage to contain our excitement until a later date (including the cinema broadcast). It's not as if they're charging more because Acosta's dancing, otherwise that would apply to all 4 of his performances.

 

Really, Alison???  Funny, I don't remember this.  There wasn't a premium as far as I can remember for the opening of the Olympic Titian mixed programme ... and that was hailed at the time as the second coming.  (That said I didn't go to the opening - only because I wasn't available - but to the other three performances ... and found great value in much of that intriguing work.) 

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I understand, Katherine ....As long as that was the SAME situation for ALL casts then I wouldn't have an issue.  It's just putting a premium on one set of principals and not another I think is rather distasteful.  Certainly it never used to be that way .... but then that's true for so many other things, huh :)

 

It is the same situation for all casts, in principle. If demand were overwhelming for Gomes/Part, they would have put up the prices for them too. If there was a premium on Vasipova, it was because demand was huge. All casts start out at the same price.

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I wasn't sure about this until I saw the trailer and now I'm convinced that I need to attend the live cinema screening. All of the dancers from the RB in the video are injecting so much life into their steps, I've only ever seen the Bolshoi production so it will be interesting to compare two pieces with choreography new and old. 

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I am pretty sure my ticket for DonQ with Marianela and Carlos on 26/10 in the Amphi was dearer than a similar Amphi seat for a different evening cast.  I need to check to be 100% but the observation did stick in my mind hence my comment.  I need to check tho to be sure.

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I believe that the Royal Ballet sometimes have different prices for matinees than evenings, but otherwise all casts are the same (for Winter booking, Jewels and Giselle have different pricing for Mat/Eve whereas the Gloria triple has a fixed price for all performances). Obviously the gala evening is different, with the tickets being priced identical to a normal performance but with an added 'donation' on top. Hence my SCS ticket is £16 rather than around £10 (although I still consider this 'cheap' for a gala performance - there's plenty of tickets still in a reasonable price range!). 

 

I just noticed on the ROH website there is now a 'ticket search' box on the front page where you can select a price range and date range and see what tickets are available that fit your constraints - quite a nice addition to the website. 

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Well, it's either a fancy gala at inflated prices, or they artificially inflate the price of the new production for, say, the first run, so they can recoup a bit more of the costs early on.  The latter was certainly the case for the 1994 Sleeping Beauty, and I think one of the later ones.  It may be more noticeable on the opera side of things, where productions often tend to get replaced on a more regular basis.

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It is the same situation for all casts, in principle. If demand were overwhelming for Gomes/Part, they would have put up the prices for them too. If there was a premium on Vasipova, it was because demandacceptage. All casts start out at the same price.

I'm surprised that this is not only accepted, but even considered LEGAL. In Italy there are people who live buying tickets and selling them, against low, at an higher price, but I've never heard of a theatre doing that. I think this is not legal in UK too.

I think it would be more acceptable a higher price for some casts, but we should start talking of refunds in case of cast change!

In Hamburg first nights have a higher price, but it doesn't change over time.

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The ENB website states that the prices for Le Corsaire at the Coliseum may increase if there is high demand. I think it would be for the whole run though.

 

And to rebound on the Titian bill, there was no surcharge on the fist night, but tickets were more expensive than for other triple bills (understandable given that it apparently will never be repeated)

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I'm surprised that this is not only accepted, but even considered LEGAL. In Italy there are people who live buying tickets and selling them, against low, at an higher price, but I've never heard of a theatre doing that. I think this is not legal in UK too.

I think it would be more acceptable a higher price for some casts, but we should start talking of refunds in case of cast change!

In Hamburg first nights have a higher price, but it doesn't change over time.

 

The model is the same used by airlines and hotels, where the price goes up as fewer seats/rooms are left available. I don't think there's anything illegal about it. It is a response to market demand. The companies are trying to get as much money as they can out of their product. But seeing as none of them are awash in money, I don't think we can blame them. Likewise, for performances that aren't selling well, theatres will discount tickets, often via Groupon but sometimes on their own website. Of course we don't complain about that! (and of course it happens less....)

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The ENB website states that the prices for Le Corsaire at the Coliseum may increase if there is high demand.

 

Ouch. Wonder whether we shall get to find out? 

 

I too wondered whether it was entirely legal, or whether it would fall foul of the Sale of Goods Act or something in this country.

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Ouch. Wonder whether we shall get to find out? 

 

I too wondered whether it was entirely legal, or whether it would fall foul of the Sale of Goods Act or something in this country.

 

I am not familiar with the Sale of Goods Act, but I doubt that it would prevent a seller from charging whatever it wants to charge for an item.  If Tesco sells sugar for 1 pound this week and 2 pounds next week, why should they be stopped in a free country?

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Current prices for ENB Le Corsaire are valid until the end of the month.

 

It's up to them to decide what high demand is, but there seems to be plenty of tickets available for most performances.

 

Perhaps (as per another thread) if ENB are determined to force a commercial catch and see their seat values climb they should bring in more STARS to heat up the commercial attraction to the desired higher-fee paying public.  There are, of course, few such marketable entities.  Sadly Vasiliev (who has danced Ali in this production in various guises a goodly number of times) is not available as he is dancing at La Scala during the majority of the London ENB Corsaire season.   

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I would not pay extra to watch Ivan Vasiliev, however I probably would to see Elena Glurdjidze who so far has inexplicably not been cast in Corsair.

 

MAB (i) Many would I think pay the extra.  We're talking about commercial forces here ... and his have shown as an odd's favourite they work.  That is based in fact not guesswork.  (In such matters of course - no matter WHO it is - one has to often take one's own personal feelings out of the commercial frame .... because it is just that:  commercial ... and in that regard the market ALONE sways.)  (ii) I agree with you.  I would love to see Elena in the Corsaire.  I, myself, don't know why she isn't there.  She was oh, SO radiant in the Raymonda I, myself, went a second time just to luxuriate in the joy of her glorious performance.  Stunning.  Thank heaven she has a few Nutcracker performances.    

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