Royal Ballet Promotions, New Joiners and Leavers, Summer 2024

[Linnzi5]

Interesting promotions and so many!  Sissens and Richardson were not a surprise - I think both could have done with another year, perhaps, before being promoted, particularly Sissens, but I did enjoy Richardson in The Dream and thought it was a strong debut. The first soloist promotions are most deserved, as are the others in the lower ranks too. I agree with @Sim about Julia Roscoe, who was just delightful when I saw her dance recently. 

[Candleque]

Congrats to all the promoted dancers 👏
 

3 hours ago, Bruce said:

Artist Stanislaw Węgrzyn leaves The Royal Ballet to take up a soloist contract at the Semperoper Dresden.

 

I feel a bit cheated that Stanislaw Węgrzyn didn't get a chance to really shine at the RB. He always caught my eye when he was on stage. As a Prix de Lausanne winner, he obviously has talent. But didn't seem to get cast in featured roles much (in the shows I saw). All the best to him in his new adventure in Dresden.
 

[alison]

2 hours ago, lady emily said:

 

To be honest I almost always feel like the principal promotions are premature. 

 

I've felt that on probably all but 2 or 3 cases since O'Hare took over, so have had to accept that that's just his way, and that I'm still looking at the company as if we were back in the days of Mason or even Dowell.  Have I been persuaded that I was wrong during the first year of those dancers being a principal?  No, I don't think so - but it generally doesn't seem to have harmed their progress.

[Blossom]

A lovely bounty of promotions and so thrilled for so many of the dancers, especially promotions lower down the ranks. Somewhat disappointed not to see Marco Masciari promoted. He has a certain something which was abundantly apparent in Les Rendezvous and as Brother Clown. I may have shared my thoughts with KOH 🙊. 
 

[lady emily]

55 minutes ago, Anna C said:

He has; I saw him in the role.  Nicely danced, not such good acting.  

 

I wonder if he will go out and seek more professional acting training now that he is a principal. In an interview a few years ago, Sarah Lamb said that this is something that principals sometimes do. 

[Lizbie1]

23 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I've felt that on probably all but 2 or 3 cases since O'Hare took over, so have had to accept that that's just his way, and that I'm still looking at the company as if we were back in the days of Mason or even Dowell.  Have I been persuaded that I was wrong during the first year of those dancers being a principal?  No, I don't think so - but it generally doesn't seem to have harmed their progress.

 

I was very struck by how early NYCB promotes its principals: of the twenty in the programme I have before me, ten were principals within six years; two more joined as soloists and were promoted after one and three years; eight took more than six years and only three of those more than ten.

[alison]

1 hour ago, Anna C said:

He has; I saw him in the role.  Nicely danced, not such good acting.  

 

Although I believe it was the first role he'd been required to act in - well, standalone role, anyway.

[LinMM]

However good all the new promotions are at Principal and First Soloist level  I will be devastated if any of them get cast before Cesar does as Onegin!! 
I notice Cesar is not in the new McGregor piece in the Autumn. 

[FionaM]

Regarding lack of partnering skills relating to Joe Sissens.  This applies to Cesar Corrales too.  I’d be wanting to ask the company how wise it is to cast possible future principals in soloist roles such as Lescaut in Manon and Mercutio in R&J where there is little partnering.  How are they supposed to get partnering practice.
 

Something to think about with others cast in this line such as Joonhyuk Jun. 

[MildConcern]

27 minutes ago, LinMM said:

I notice Cesar is not in the new McGregor piece in the Autumn. 

How do we know this? I haven’t seen any casting for Maddaddam yet 

[bridiem]

4 minutes ago, MildConcern said:

How do we know this? I haven’t seen any casting for Maddaddam yet 

 

It's now in the RB Autumn 2024 Casting thread.

[FionaM]

Cesar’s movement doesn’t suit contemporary pieces IMO.  He was stiff in both McGregor and Pite.  

[lady emily]

55 minutes ago, FionaM said:

Something to think about with others cast in this line such as Joonhyuk Jun. 

 

I thought his partnering in Rhapsody was superb. 

[Anna C]

1 hour ago, lady emily said:

 

I wonder if he will go out and seek more professional acting training now that he is a principal. In an interview a few years ago, Sarah Lamb said that this is something that principals sometimes do. 

That would be a good idea; some dancers seem to be much more naturally instinctive actors than others.   Absolutely nothing against Sissens, but I think he needed another year at least.  I’m less surprised by Calvin Richardson, but I’ve probably seen him dance more this season than I have Joseph Sissens, purely on the luck of the draw in terms of casting.  
 

Sad, but not surprised that Melissa Hamilton hasn’t been promoted. 😕
 

I’m delighted for the (surprisingly large number of) promotions to First Soloist, and also for Viola Pantuso and Marianna Tsembenhoi (although I’m amazed that Marianna wasn’t already a First Artist!).   

[LinMM]

Same here regards Marianna! 

[zxDaveM]

2 hours ago, FionaM said:

How are they supposed to get partnering practice

isn’t that what rehearsals are for?

[FionaM]

6 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

isn’t that what rehearsals are for?

indeed.   But if your part has no partnering in it how can you? 

[Dawnstar]

4 hours ago, Loulabelle said:

I agree and Isabel Lubach! 

 

That thought did cross my mind when I saw her on stage tonight. I suppose there's a linit to how many promotions that can happen in one go though.

 

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

However good all the new promotions are at Principal and First Soloist level  I will be devastated if any of them get cast before Cesar does as Onegin!!  

 

I'd like to see Corrales as Lensky first.

 

3 hours ago, FionaM said:

Regarding lack of partnering skills relating to Joe Sissens.  This applies to Cesar Corrales too.  I’d be wanting to ask the company how wise it is to cast possible future principals in soloist roles such as Lescaut in Manon and Mercutio in R&J where there is little partnering.  How are they supposed to get partnering practice.
 

Something to think about with others cast in this line such as Joonhyuk Jun. 

 

Doesn't Lescaut require a certain amount of partnering skill for the drunk pdd? I would have thought it would be quite tricky to make it look like it's on the brink of disaster while making sure nothing actually goes badly wrong. (Side note: while I thought Richardson was very good as Des Grieux, I kind of regret he didn't get to have a go at Lescaut first.)

[Mahalia]

She doesn't get mentioned a lot, but I'm very happy to see Sumina Sasaki promoted. I have been watching her for a while now, and think she has an amazing future ahead of her. 

[cjp]

I agree with others in being surprised not to see Julia Roscoe among the promotions this time but hope it will come.  I also thought that Teo Dubreuil would have been a strong contender, but hopefully next time.

 

Other dancers I've enjoyed seeing this season (below principal level): Bomin Kim, Yu Hang, Mica Bradbury, David Donnelly, Marco Masciari, Taisuke Nakao, Giacomo Rovero - to be honest, everyone really!  The RB is fortunate in having such talent throughout the company at the moment that I don't envy KOH in making these decisions. 

 

Congratulations to all those promoted and thanks to all the company and those who work hard behind the scenes to support them, for a fabulous season.  I've attended a lot (despite the high prices) or seen cinema showings where possible and loved it all - won't be making quite so many visits next season, but fingers crossed for the following year!

[bridiem]

I'm very glad to see most of the promotions, though I do think that at least one of the principal promotions is premature, and, as others have said, there are already too many principals. The number of performances and the nature of the rep doesn't support so many, so most of the time principals do very few performances (at the RB) which is bad for them and bad for the audience (and, being hard-nosed about it) uneconomical for the RBO.

 

Part of the problem from my point of view is that I don't think that most of McGregor's work, or contemporary work generally (which seems to form the bulk of new work at the RB nowadays) needs principal-level dancers; the dancers are mainly used as bodies, not as uniquely talented and individually expressive classical dancers, so anyone in the company could be (and often is) used, and when principals ARE used, they're sometimes not even identifiable because costuming is also often generic and sets and lighting sometimes prioritised over the dancers. Add to this that in the coming season there is no Petipa, and we have another whole strand of principal work gone. From what I remember of Alice, there are hardly any roles that actually need principal-level casting (as evidenced by the fact that two artists are taking the main role next season). So it's no wonder that principals get to do so few performances. Very sad under-use/misuse of these wonderful dancers.

[RobR]

Insightful post @bridiem 👍

[Scheherezade]

I totally agree. With both Bridie’s post and RobR’s appreciative assessment. 

[Peanut68]

The number of likes for Bridie’s post says much!!

[LinMM]

Mind you it must be very disheartening and soul

destroying for these very fine dancers mentioned above or friends/parents etc of them to read here on this Forum that  they shouldn’t be or don’t deserve promotion yet or are awful partners etc etc. 

 

[oncnp]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Mind you it must be very disheartening and soul

destroying for these very fine dancers mentioned above or friends/parents etc of them to read here on this Forum that  they shouldn’t be or don’t deserve promotion 

 

I doubt very much they care about my opinion, nor should they. 

[DVDfan]

Hearty congratulations to all on their promotions, hard earned and well deserved.

 

Although he is of course not infallible my own feeling is that we have to assume that the AD knows his company and his job, and has good reasons for all his decisions, most of which he cannot share with the public.

 

A few years ago I read a review which commented on the brittle appearance that dancers get when they are not allowed to progress in their careers, and then watching the named dancer I saw exactly what was meant by that comment. So whilst it does dancers (and audiences) no favours to cast in roles they truly are not ready for, holding back for too long can produce equally undesirable results.

 

 

[lady emily]

9 hours ago, LinMM said:

Mind you it must be very disheartening and soul

destroying for these very fine dancers mentioned above or friends/parents etc of them to read here on this Forum that  they shouldn’t be or don’t deserve promotion yet or are awful partners etc etc. 

 

 

I think critique comes part and parcel with a public facing, subjective art job. Though so does exuberant praise! 

[LinMM]

Giving a view on a performance seen is one thing but I think saying somebody shouldn’t have been promoted who just has been  is a step too far ….for me anyway. 
The current promotions can only really be assessed from next season’s performances not right now. 

I think it’s okay to say you regret a dancer you particularly like hasn’t been promoted and maybe surprise at a particular promotion you weren’t expecting. 
I always try as best I can when saying anything a bit critical to imagine that the dancer is right in front of me. 
 

I would still like some here to explain in detail exactly why they think some dancers have bad partnering skills. 

A dancers name doesn’t have to be mentioned but just what they think constitutes a bad partner. 

[oncnp]

23 minutes ago, LinMM said:

I would still like some here to explain in detail exactly why they think some dancers have bad partnering skills. 

A dancers name doesn’t have to be mentioned but just what they think constitutes a bad partner. 

 

Fair enough. For me partnering is a part and parcel for a male principal. It should be smooth and seamless and look effortless. The ballerina should look comfortable and secure. From my personal observations from the front row of the stalls the dancer in question looked clumsy with his holds, the movements were jerky and the ballerina's facial expressions did not express confidence.  It did not help that also dancing was one of the company's principals who is known and celebrated for his partnering.  Add to that my opinion that the company is already bloated at the top and the last thing they needed was another principal. 

 

Would I say this to his face? Yes.  But in the end (beginning and middle) the only opinion that matters is that of the AD, who disagrees with me.  If someone is going to allow their soul to be destroyed by opinions of unknown provenance, they shouldn't be reading public forums

 

Perhaps we can agree to disagree? 

 

Edited Sunday at 09:56 by oncnp

[Jan McNulty]

Congratulations to the promotees!

 

 

I'm a bit torn by the question of partnering.  I suppose it depends on the roles you are given whether you get a good grounding in partnering so as long as someone progresses once they are doing a lot of partnering then that's fine with me.

 

Some styles - eg Bournonville - do not have much of what we would call partnering but would the likes of Johan Kobborg, Thomas Lund, Alban Lendorf and Ulrik Birkkjaer not be considered principal dancer material?

[oncnp]

3 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Some styles - eg Bournonville - do not have much of what we would call partnering but would the likes of Johan Kobborg, Thomas Lund, Alban Lendorf and Ulrik Birkkjaer not be considered principal dancer material?

 

Absolutely they should. My point is if partnering is a BFQ, as I believe it to be with the RB repertoire, then it should be considered. 

Edited Sunday at 11:06 by oncnp

[Fonty]

It is interesting reading these comments.  I seem to remember many years ago a few negative remarks about a certain lady being promoted to Principal, saying it was too soon.  Her name was Marianela Nunez.  

 

I haven't seen enough of some of the promotion beneficiaries to be able to make an informed judgement.  I did see Calvin Richardson as Oberon, and thought his partnership with Naghdi was delightful.  Both he and Sissens have  progressed steadily through the ranks, so the AD has had plenty of time to observe them and note their skills.  I am delighted that Sophie Allnatt has been promoted, as she was exceptional in Les Rendezvous.  I am pleased that Caspar Lench is now a permanent member of the company, although slightly surprised that he is joining at the Artist level.  After his wonderful debut as Puck, I would have thought maybe First Artist?  Although having said that, I am not sure what the difference is between the two levels when it comes to roles being danced.  

Edited Sunday at 11:20 by Fonty