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Bouquets on way for men of ballet? - and flowers in general


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On 06/01/2022 at 17:40, capybara said:

Admittedly before the current management arrived, I got a big NO when I suggested that flowers for men should also come on stage as it was “not the ROH’s practice”.

 

I think that’s why a number of male dancers come out holding presents of food.

I can just imagine Vadim bowing graciously with a jar of my home-made chutney in one hand..

 

Seriously -  the idea of different presents for the sexes is  19th century.

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On 06/01/2022 at 17:40, capybara said:


Admittedly before the current management arrived, I got a big NO when I suggested that flowers for men should also come on stage as it was “not the ROH’s practice”.

 

I think that’s why a number of male dancers come out holding presents of food.

 

But times have changed massively in the last 10-12 years. Does anyone feel like raising the subject again?

Recently the only thing I’ve seen the men at ROH being presented with is bottles of champagne at leaving performances (with a shower of tossed flowers) or when receiving their 25 year medal. However, now that we’re discussing it, I remember Edward Watson being given a large bouquet at the end of The Winter’s Tale a little over five years ago when it was his birthday that day. 

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  • 9 months later...

I have noticed all this year at AusBallet performances that each principal role now gets company flowers (never from others unless retiring) at every performance, whether danced by a male or female dancer.

 

This is new.

 

Under the previous direction only female dancers got flowers and only on first nights.

 

I approve of the new policy.

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I think the male dancers should be asked if it’s something they want and if not what they would prefer. If my husband got a bouquet I think he’d be embarrassed (not that he’s a dancer though). As a man I think he’d like a bottle of champagne or a slab of beer or even a hamper of food or fancy toiletries or a power tool, but flowers not so much. I agree not only the ladies should be presented with something after the performance though, just that some men may feel uncomfortable about receiving flowers.  

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Many thanks Rob!

 

For completeness and so as not to clog up the Mayerling thread, I’d emailed Kevin O’Hare on Monday:

 

“I’m very much enjoying the fabulous run of Mayerlings and am hoping to provide bouquets for a number of dancers over the remaining performances.

Last Season I thought Francesca’s presentation to Will after their final Swan Lake very touching and I was wondering if that might have broken the mould, enabling presentations to be made on stage to male dancers?

Both Vadim and Matthew gave astonishing first performances and I’m very much looking forward to seeing them again. And of course we’re awaiting Marcelino’s debut.

One of the joys of having flowers presented on stage is the focus it brings to those dancers and with presentations there’s always an increase in applause as audiences share in the recognition of the dancers’ artistry. I wouldn’t hesitate to order bouquets for Rudolfs if they were presented on stage but am uncertain what to do if they remain simply private gifts.

I’m sure many audience members would welcome on stage presentations to male dancers although I do appreciate that others may prefer established practice. But I’d have thought it would be great in this day and age if bouquets from audience members were presented on stage to male dancers, and particularly for Mayerling.”

 

In the Mayerling thread I quoted Kevin O’Hare’s key point giving the green light to flowers being presented to male dancers:

“There is no rule against any of the male principals receiving flowers on stage so please, do send them if you would like to acknowledge their performance in that way.”

 

Vadim received two bouquets on stage so others may well have made representations to Kevin O’Hare. I cannot know what weight might have been attached to my email or any of the points raised but hopefully the email helped.
 

And the result is of course what really matters, with male dancers now being presented with flowers on stage should audience members wish to recognise their artistry by giving flowers.

 

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54 minutes ago, Angela Essex said:

I think the male dancers should be asked if it’s something they want and if not what they would prefer. If my husband got a bouquet I think he’d be embarrassed (not that he’s a dancer though). As a man I think he’d like a bottle of champagne or a slab of beer or even a hamper of food or fancy toiletries or a power tool, but flowers not so much. I agree not only the ladies should be presented with something after the performance though, just that some men may feel uncomfortable about receiving flowers.  


Interestingly, one of the replies I had from the RB on the subject of flowers for men mentioned the risk that fans sending presents to male dancers would expect those to be handed over on stage as well. I believe that bottles of wine for Carlos Acosta were mentioned to illustrate the potential problem.

However, my case has always been for flowers only. If any male dancer doesn’t want them brought on, they can always say but my guess is that they will welcome it.

(Incidentally, I’ve seen a picture of Vadim at the Stage Door on Friday with 3 large bouquets.)

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Ha ha Angela Essex your post made me smile as I’m sure my partner would love a power tool or Japanese cooking knife over flowers as a gift even though he is into gardening too and definitely has the proverbial green fingers! 
I guess though that in the context of the theatre flowers somehow seem more symbolic and certainly much nicer to look at when presented on stage. 

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5 hours ago, capybara said:


Interestingly, one of the replies I had from the RB on the subject of flowers for men mentioned the risk that fans sending presents to male dancers would expect those to be handed over on stage as well. I believe that bottles of wine for Carlos Acosta were mentioned to illustrate the potential problem.

However, my case has always been for flowers only. If any male dancer doesn’t want them brought on, they can always say but my guess is that they will welcome it.

(Incidentally, I’ve seen a picture of Vadim at the Stage Door on Friday with 3 large bouquets.)

 

We've sent champagne before now but were told the bottles would not be presented on stage in case they were accidentally dropped and caused broken glass on the stage.  (This was not RB BTW).

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10 hours ago, LinMM said:

Ha ha Angela Essex your post made me smile as I’m sure my partner would love a power tool or Japanese cooking knife over flowers as a gift even though he is into gardening too and definitely has the proverbial green fingers! 
I guess though that in the context of the theatre flowers somehow seem more symbolic and certainly much nicer to look at when presented on stage. 

Yes agreed - flowers do look a lot nicer than the male dancers standing on stage having been presented with a power tool 🤣

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10 hours ago, Sabine0308 said:

I just can'tbelieve this is a topic to discuss...what on earth is "wrong" or "embarrassing" for a male dancer to receive flowers onstage or at stage door??? "Guess the century" would be a good question. Ha!

 

Well, to be fair, back sometime in the 1990s I got on the tube after a performance and noticed a Royal Ballet principal with his parents.  His mum was holding the bouquet.  So maybe he might have been slightly embarrassed to be seen in public with it. 

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On the subject of who does and doesn't get presentations on stage, I feel that if a dancer of whatever rank is giving a known last performance, he or she ought to be called to the front of the curtain calls and receive a bouquet (or bottle of wine) from the management.

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6 hours ago, joe blitz said:

I agree about presenting flowers to male dancers as well .

Many a time I've seen the ballerina give a flower rom her bouguet to her partner: e.g.Fonteyn to Nureyev

What a nice gesture

 

Yes I love it when they do that I’ve seen Marianela do it before - so thoughtful and respectful of the male dancers performance. 

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  • 1 month later...

I could have posted this on the Nutcracker or Mayerling threads but I thought it would sit more comfortably here. If I’m staying in London I sometimes go to the stage door and did so after last Thursday evening’s Nutcracker. I was very pleased to see Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball. Matt told me he’d pinned the message I’d written for his Mayerling bouquet on his dressing room wall. He was delighted to receive a bouquet, the first of what I’m sure will be hundreds now we have the green light for audience bouquets to be presented to male dancers. Rather touched that the message has outlasted the flowers which all goes to show how good it is that the Royal Ballet has provided such a welcome clarification regarding bouquets. And as a footnote, when Yasmine was checking which flowers I’d sent her, I was astonished and delighted to find that Bloomsbury Flowers hand write messages - I’d assumed a bit of cut and pasting went on but that’s only done if the message is in Japanese.

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3 hours ago, JohnS said:

I was astonished and delighted to find that Bloomsbury Flowers hand write messages

 

I hope they have nice clear handwriting. Personally my handwriting is so awful that I wish I had been able to type the cards for the flowers I gave 2 dancers today as I fear they may not be able to read my messages!

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15 hours ago, JohnS said:

I could have posted this on the Nutcracker or Mayerling threads but I thought it would sit more comfortably here. If I’m staying in London I sometimes go to the stage door and did so after last Thursday evening’s Nutcracker. I was very pleased to see Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball. Matt told me he’d pinned the message I’d written for his Mayerling bouquet on his dressing room wall. He was delighted to receive a bouquet, the first of what I’m sure will be hundreds now we have the green light for audience bouquets to be presented to male dancers. Rather touched that the message has outlasted the flowers which all goes to show how good it is that the Royal Ballet has provided such a welcome clarification regarding bouquets. And as a footnote, when Yasmine was checking which flowers I’d sent her, I was astonished and delighted to find that Bloomsbury Flowers hand write messages - I’d assumed a bit of cut and pasting went on but that’s only done if the message is in Japanese.

Yes, Bloomsbury have always hand written their notes.  I am glad that it's continuing under the new management.  Makes it a much more personal gesture.  If you go in and order flowers you can sit and write your own card.  

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