AnneMarriott

This does not surprise me in the least Geoff.  i have often told the story of a BRB performance of R&J where Monica Zamora was Juliet up to and including the ballroom scene and Sandra Madgwick took over from the balcony scene.  Monica Zamora was tall and dark and Sandra Madgwick was small and blonde.  Quite a few people in the audience did not seem to realise that the ballerina had changed mid-act!

 

We were there too and were a bit nonplussed, having driven to Birmingham specifically to see Monica's debut!

Yes I also got Bolshoi SCS for £15.

Then it must be my eyesight. Thanks everyone - a relief even if there may be no SCS left by the time I get to book!

£10-£145, SCS at 15

The seating plan shows the prices (with 'Superseats', ouch)

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/static.roh.org.uk/visit/pdfs/BOLSHOI-2016-seating-plan.pdf

It may be my eyesight or the colour differentiation on my screen but it looks to me as if SCS is GBP20 rather than GBP15.

Still no casting details for the Invitation, at least not on this page at time of writing.

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-invitation-by-kenneth-macmillan

 

Odd isn't it, given that booking has opened for higher level Friends.

 

 

 

I emailed a week ago to ask when we could expect casting to be published. The reply was that they hoped to have the information soon and it would be published on the website as soon as it was known. If it isn't published by the time ordinary Friends' booking opens on 1st March I'm going to hang fire - don't want to risk seeing the same cast twice because I've booked differrent casts for the rest of the programme.

Tutor for me too. Mind you, since none of the answer options were anything like what I'd choose given a proper choice, I don't know that it makes much difference.

Same here on both counts. Glad I'm not the only woman to get this role!

Oh dear. Well, hopefully, as a Professor of Oriental Languages, he did at least know that Japan is a monarchy even if he didn't know that Canada is one.

I actually met him in Japan and I think the topic of monarchy versus presidency may have come about because of the location.

He's Prime Minister. Sweden is a monarchy, it doesn't have a president.

Melody, this reminds me of an incident some years ago when I met a Professor of Oriental Languages from Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. I forget the context of the conversation but when I mentioned that the Queen is Queen of Canada he very rudely dismissed the notion and advised me to go away and get my facts straight. I aked him to name the President of Canada (or Australia and New Zealand for that matter). He couldn't, nor could he name the Canadian Prime Minister. He finished the conversation with the remark that Canadians would be laughing their socks off at the idea of the Queen as Queen of Canada.

 

Somehow one would hope better from a Professor.

 

If I were you I'd leave Geraldine Morris till the last - it's interesting but quite hard going in parts - unless it's an academic approach you're looking for.

I found it incredibly hard going and gave up, but then I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to enjoy the highly academic approach.

Incidentally, when checking booking dates this morning I came upon this statement on the ROH website:

 

 

8 December - Booking opens for Friends, Young Friends and Senior Friends for all ballet performances and events.

 

Who are these Senior Friends? Can I be one? Do they have privileges or a reduced subscription?

If they do, please let me know!

I forgot!

Oh! Perhaps it's the programming? In which case my joy is down more to the relative lack of interest than the relative speed of service and cornucopia of tickets.

 

edited to correct typo.

Booking opened this morning at 9 am. There was a brief wait and then I was in and out in a few minutes. Astonishingly there were stalls circle standing tickets - good ones too. some of them - available for all the dates I wanted to book. It hasn't been this good in years, so thank you to all involved. Fingers crossed that all previous glitches have been resolved once and for all.

Birmingham has been rightly proud of its support of the arts and it must be with a heavy heart that the council has made this decision. Very sad news.

 

Regarding disliking "Pigeons"; of course this is and must be a matter of personal  taste. Some of us like rice pudding and spinach, others don't and never will do. However, I don't go along with those who say they dislike the choreography. Ashton may not hit everyone's emotional button in this work, but a critique of his choreography should surely be supported by some concrete evidence. As I have said before, I think that the choreography of the gypsy dances has often been underrated, and Isay this with regard to their structure rather than their content. Of course I like the latter too, although others may not.

 

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I only wish I could offer concrete evidence to support my view of the choreography in Two Pigeons, but I am insufficiently expert. It is just the feeling I get when I watch it. I have seen it danced by BRB on several occasions and only booked for the RB run in the hope of revising my opinion. It was not to be. To me the bird-impression steps are irritating and rather embarrassing, and I sit praying that no-one is going to burst into The Birdie Song at any moment. I don't honestly feel that it's down to the dancers rather than the steps themselves. Perhaps the structure of the gypsy dances IS what is problematic rather than the steps themselves - I can quite see that a lot of technique and pizzazz is required, especially by the men - but the shoulder-shimmying by the women leaves me cold and the ensemble effect reminds me of a sort of musical theatre production in which the corps dances to the audience in a "love me" way rather than as a group of people dancing to express their joie de vivre. Similar dancing "to the audience" in other works can convey a sense of including the audience in a celebration, such as in Coppelia or Fille, and that works. I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself clearly, but I'm trying.

 

Floss in post No. 323 above is intrigued by a dislike of the choreography. It really does cut both ways! And needless to say I shan't book for it again ...

 

Incidentally I don't seen anything wrong with asking the potential audience what they would like to see ballet-wise, although the hunt for ratings has not done television a lot of good (again in my opinion).

Oh dear - do I detect a mild rebuke for those of us who don't care for The Two Pigeons? I don't dispute the underlying theme of reconciliation and forgiveness in any way and in fact I enjoy other ballets that deal with exactly the same aspect of human nature. But no amount of thought and analysis will redeem the Two Piegeons' choreography for me.

Late in the day I apologise for the Two Piegeons typo!

What a wonderful, educational and erudite post, Wulff. It shows the huge difference it makes when real thought and analysis are applied to a performance in addition to one's emotional experience of it. Thank you for taking the time.

Oh dear - do I detect a mild rebuke for those of us who don't care for The Two Pigeons? I don't dispute the underlying theme of reconciliation and forgiveness in any way and in fact I enjoy other ballets that deal with exactly the same aspect of human nature. But no amount of thought and analysis will redeem the Two Piegeons' choreography for me.

That's an awful photo. Stills are worse than vide or live performance though as the effects are fixed rather than momentary. I feel that the trend for leotards / pants and vests without tights does exacerbate 'the problem' (if there is one). At the recent RNZB performance I was sitting quite close to the stage (row G?) and I found flashes of white knickered crotches as some of the female dancers with their backs to the audience lifted their legs in lowish arabesques pretty uncomfortable. I would have found it really embarrassing if I had been sitting in the front row (which was very close to the stage) looking directly into their crotches.

 

I was in the front row and didn't know where to look ...

Ladies, I am curious to know what it is that makes you really uncomfortable about the gypsy dances?

Well I can only speak for myself of course but my discomfort is based as much on what I consider to be dreadfully twee choreography (rapidly dons protective clothing) as the stereotyping mentioned by Lindsay. I actually dislike the whole ballet (hides under dining table) and always have done. Yesterday evening's performance confirmed my view. The gypsies are just a particular bugbear. Apologies to the dancers, all of whom put on a wonderful display - my dislike has nothing to do with the delivery. I won't say more in a doubtless vain attempt to avoid rotten tomatoes, brickbats and other missiles being prepared by the legions of Two Pigeons' fans.

Dear all of you, I have just returned from a wonderful, heart-warming evening.

 

 

Two Pigeons:

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-       The “gipsy” business – while beautifully danced by the corps, who were, like Hirano and Morera, on fire tonight - nevertheless makes me feel really uncomfortable. Am I the only one?

 

 

 

No, you're not alone and I'm delighted to find that now neither am I!

I can't remember, that's the trouble!  Maybe something to do with RB ballerina left RB and took over artistic directorship of ENB?

 

I'm not worried about them not knowing Guillem or Rojo, but I thought they might have known Pavlova!  Didn't Paxman give dates, as well?

Yes dates were given - so I was a little surprised that they could have thought Margot Fonteyn was born in 1888. And I think the question about Tamara Rojo asked which Spanish ballerina left the RB to become AD of ENB. To be fair to the contestants one of them did think the name may have begun with R and they speculated with a couple of Spanish-sounding names before giving up and uopting for Fonteyn again.

I was at yesterday's matinee.

 

I won't say too much about Carmen. (snip) I couldn't wait for it to end. 

 

Sorry to say I didn't (wait, that is). For the first time ever I left while the performance was still in progress, leaving on tiptoe from my standing place without, I sincerely hope, inconveniencing anyone other than the St John's Ambulance man next to me.

 

 

I have been reading this thread with interest.

 

I am curious about one thing.  When someone is creating a new ballet, does anyone else come and look at it and give advice/opinions/suggestions?  Particularly if the creator is relatively inexperienced. 

 

 

 

There seem to be recurring themes in all the comments made about new ballets recently.  The most common one being "It needs pruning."  So why doesn't someone come along before then, watch it, and say, "It's too long."

 

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As for Carmen, I didn't enjoy it and I don't want to see it again. I agree with everything Luke Jennings said in his Observer review today.

 

It's worth having a look at Luke Jennings' review in the Observer today which covers this point in some detail.

I know this is off topic, but I remember the dreadful groan that went up at the Swan Lake pre-performance announcement that Sylvie Guillem was unable to appear (a rare event indeed!) and would be replaced by Yoshida Miyako. "Who's THAT?" said the woman to my left. "Don't worry, you may not be disappointed" I replied. At curtain call the woman to my left was on her feet, cheering, along with lots of others.

Anne, I think this is more down to the ?benzenes in the plastic bottle rather than the water itself.  There are some nasty chemicals in the plastic which start to leach into the water after a while.  At least, I think that's what happens.

I'm sure you're right, Alison and it's yet another reason for choosing tap water. But it was a silly juxtaposition.

There's a brand of bottled water (I think it's Volvic) which the label claims is "filtered through mountain rock for millions of years" and then has "best before March 2016" or similar.  Daft!.

I seem to be the odd one out here.  I thought Francesca's debut was wonderful in many ways, but it didn't move me.  It didn't make me feel anything much at the end except 'here is a wonderful dancer with great potential'....which was enough for me for a debut.  She did a great acting job, but didn't totally and naturally inhabit Juliet...  In Act 1, someone next to me said that she was more Manon than Juliet, and  could see what they meant.  

 

 

  

Glad to read I am not alone. I thought Francesca Hayward was absolutely wonderful as Manon but not as Juliet. She didn't move me, her dancing was lovely, but to me she was not convincing as Juliet.

I share the views expressed above. Having been totally blown away by Hayward's Manon I think I approached R & J with too high expectations. It was a lovely debut and deserved the ovation and profusion of bouquets at curtain call, but it lacked the wow factor for me. However the enthusiasm of the audience around me showed that I was definitely alone in that part of the house! And I must add that for the first time in ages I enjoyed R & J which has suffered from over-familiarity for some years.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Matthew Golding's performance as Romeo - convincing and beautifully danced. And Thomas Whitehead's Tybalt - I'd like him on my side in a fight but wouldn't want to bump into him on a dark night; just as it should be, I think.

I'm not sure if it's a question of cost, but rather of the lack of a train back to London after the show. Perhaps the critics don't want the inconvenience of an overnight stay, or even worse, hanging around for hours at the station waiting for the milk train just for the chance to review what has not proved a universally popular production.

 

Bruce drove to Bristol and back so no timing or transport difficulties. His problem was being trapped in his seat for 3+ hours because he was in the middle of a row, empty apart from a few seats at either end occupied by people with disabilities who had been assured when they booked that they would not have to stand up to let people by. An unusual variation on the theme of seating choices!