bridiem

Well in my view anyone who was at tonight's performance had a real treat... Nunez was just incredible! Throughout, but especially in Act 2 where she imbued all her movements with both strength and delicacy, so physically embodying both the goodness and the vulnerability of Giselle. In one of the early solos as she rotated slowly in arabesque she was like a turning point in a still world, her movement the symbol of the salvation she was trying to win for Albrecht. There was another solo sequence where she danced as I've never seen a Giselle dance before - I can't describe it properly but there was applause in the middle of the solo which I've never heard before and I hope someone better informed than me will be able to say what she did that was different. All I can say is that it was breathtaking. And when Albrecht's salvation had been won and dawn broke, her effort was spent and she succumbed once more to the spirit world, visibly slipping through Albrecht's arms. I was struck for the first time tonight by the flowers: Albrecht brings extravagant, aristocratic flowers to Giselle's grave; she in contrast brings him small, graceful wild flowers. And when she has returned to her grave, Albrecht is drawn not to the flowers there but to the single, small white bloom in the centre of the stage. He picks it up with ineffable care, as if it is the essence of Giselle's love and purity, the thing which must be treasured and preserved above all. Bonelli danced beautifully and acted with sincerity, but I didn't think that he matched the depth of interpretation of Nunez. I thought that Heap was a terrific Myrna - glamorous and strong and taking an almost erotic pleasure in the demise of Hilarion (Gartside brilliant as usual) and the anticipation of a similar fate for Albrecht until her power was finally thwarted. AND the major treat of Naghdi and Campbell leading the Pas de Six! Both wonderful, and Naghdi dancing with such feeling and intense musicality that it nearly moved me to tears. I became so involved with them as a couple that I almost didn't want to get back to Giselle and Albrecht! And Olivia Cowley a ridiculously beautiful Bathilde, dazzling Giselle until she unwittingly broke her heart. A great performance.

I don't know - there's sometimes a glint in her eye that I find very interesting!

Given how wonderful she was as Sugar Plum Fairy, I find it difficult to understand why there should be any doubts about Hayward's suitability for 'tutu' roles.

Have received an ROH email with casting and as far as I can see it's exactly as above. Not back on the website yet though. Maybe it was supposed to go to 'subscribers' before going on the website and they got their timing wrong.

I'm not sure that is the case, in fact. I think that sometimes debutantes are only given a couple of performances of a big role even when others are doing more.

Though I'm sure Bonelli will be excellent.

Of course that's true, and I don't suppose any dancer has ever given a performance that they judge to be 'perfect' (though some observers might think it so, and it might indeed be as near perfection as is possible). But for principals, any mistake/fluff/hesitation/cover-up etc is seen (at least by more knowledgeable watchers) - they're completely exposed, in a way that corps dancers rarely are.

Principals also 'carry' a show, which must be incredibly demanding psychologically in addition to the physical demands. Their performance is crucial to the success of the show. And every eye is on them and they can't afford the tiniest mistake. Although of course the best performances are those where every single person on stage is at their best.

Don Q Fan supplied this info in her first post.

Wonderful! Thank you.

This forum is a mine of unexpectedly useful information!

Thank you so much for posting this, Don Q Fan, including the wonderful photos. What an amazing tomb and it's so moving to see it. I can't believe it's 25 years ago that he died.

I really enjoyed the performance tonight. Song of the Earth started quite serenely but built up to a terrific intensity with Tamara Rojo's Woman blazing at its centre. I found Joseph Caley very moving as The Man - sincere and powerful. I thought that Fernando Carratala Coloma, who I'd never seen before, danced beautifully as The Messenger, and the whole company gave a committed and very effective performance of this wonderful work. And then La Sylphide - ?! I did find that rather a weird combination; but they were both so enjoyable that I can't complain. At first I found the costumes for La S a bit startling, especially the yellow kilts; but once I'd got used to them I was delighted by the riot of colour, the gorgeous music and lovely dancing. Dronina was a beautiful Sylphide and Hernandez a very credible James. Of all ballet's leading men (or women, for that matter) I find James the one to whom I most want to shout 'Oh you silly flaming plonker' (or words to that effect). But Hernandez was so charming and handsome and danced so thrillingly that I completely forgave him. Anjuli Hudson was an excellent Effy and Jane Haworth a terrific Madge - really frightening. I was struck by the sheer beauty of this production and the other-worldly light in which the stage so often seemed to be bathed. A wonderful and surprisingly moving performance.

Thanks MissMonk. I'm using IE11 and in fact I've just re-tried the tutus forum and it's fine now.

I see that if you finish the above link with nrn_str it takes you to a Twitter account for new STR researchers; if you finish it with TheSTR it takes you to the main STR Twitter account. I'm not sure where the talk will be streamed though.

Very sad news. A wonderful dancer. RIP

Well there are quite a lot of 'regulars' after all; and if the ROH only caters for an audience that has had no opportunity to develop any critical assessment of what they're seeing, how can they seriously claim to be nurturing/developing the art form? Which is, I assume, why they get such a high level of public funding.

Good point, Mary. Who cares about access to the building if you can't afford to go to the performances??

So it looks as if the tickets which have been £25 for full-lengths will be £29 for Swan Lake; I make that a 16% increase (in the middle of a season). Does the ROH now think that 'Swan Lake' is some sort of luxury 'brand' for which they can charge higher prices because of it's name/reputation? As far as I'm concerned it's a staple of the repertoire, not a kind of pantomime or West End musical for people to go to once and so they don't mind how much they pay. If they've had a lot of sponsorship, that should have allowed them to keep prices at the same level as they are for other full-length productions (including the current Swan Lake). (I can't stand for long periods, and there must be many other people who can't either, even if there were plenty of cheaper standing spaces available.) Will the higher prices apply to Swan Lake for ever more now?

Given all that sponsorship, I would hope that ticket prices needn't be any higher than usual.

I've just read this online. I suppose he has such a strong stage presence that perhaps it's not surprising that he's attracted to using it in other spheres too. But I really really hope that he sticks with ballet for now! He's such an exceptional talent and has so much still to do and give. I hope that perhaps the editing or conduct of the interview made it sound less ballet-focussed than it could have been. After all most people probably aren't that interested in reading about ballet in any detail, so they were probably trying to broaden it out by banging on about cricket and showbiz etc. Well I hope so anyway...

I have done this myself; but to be honest I tend to assume that these ROH questions are more of a PR exercise than a real wish to find out what people are thinking. But maybe I'm just being cynical. And yes, there don't seem to be that many 'regulars' who have posted (last time I looked) - quite a few sound as if they've only been once, or only seen a live screening, etc.

Is Christopher Wheeldon likely to be considered a potential candidate?

Strewth!!!

Thanks, I'll look at youtube. I was actually very upset when the Dowell production premièred, because I found it so dark and crowded and 'heavy' compared to the previous RB version which I absolutely loved in its clarity and (comparative) simplicity. And I really disliked the new swan tutus. But over the years I've come to be very fond of much of the Dowell production too, in fact, and I felt very upset when I saw it for the last time! (Fickle or what.) The only aspect I never came round to was the waltz; but my eyes gradually adjusted to (most of) the costumes and some of the sets, and I came to appreciate the very different beauty of this production.