26 replies to this topic

[Jane Simpson]

The RB has just announced next season's programme, which includes the company premiere of Ballo della Regina, and two new pieces - one by Wayne McGregor, the other Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's a very 'home-grown' season. Dates are the opening night of each run - no further dates or casting yet available.

Onegin (Cranko)  (Sept 30 2010)

La Valse (Ashton)/new Brandstrup/Winter Dreams (MacMillan)/Theme & Variations (Balanchine) (Oct 15 2010)

Sylvia (Ashton) (Nov 3 2010)

Cinderella (Ashton) (Nov 30 2010)

Peter and the Wolf (Hart)/Tales from Beatrix Potter (Ashton)
Les Patineurs (Ashton)/Tales from Beatrix Potter (Ashton)

Giselle (Jan 11 2011)

Swan Lake (Jan 22 2011)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (new Wheeldon) (Feb 2011)

Rhapsody (Ashton)/Sensorium(Marriott)/Rite of Spring (MacMillan) (Mar 16 2011)

Manon (MacMillan) (Apr 21 2011)

Ballo Della Regina (Balanchine)/new McGregor/DGV (Wheeldon) (May 13 2011)

Scenes de Ballet(Ashton) /Voluntaries(Tetley)/Still Life at the Penguin Cafe(Bintley)  (May 28 2011)

[Mashinka]

Ballo Della Regina?  Isn't that the one with the fiendish passage danced almost entirely en pointe?

Wonder who in the RB will get to dance that, though I can think of a few that shouldn't even attempt it.

[Jane Simpson]

Nunez was the name I immediately thought of....

[Leigh Witchel]

Here's a link to the full calendar - http://www.roh.org.u...rmanceDates.pdf

[jsmu]

Mashinka, on Mar 10 2010, 12:18 PM, said:

Ballo Della Regina?  Isn't that the one with the fiendish passage danced almost entirely en pointe?

Wonder who in the RB will get to dance that, though I can think of a few that shouldn't even attempt it.

Probably Rojo and Lamb, Mashinka? and there may be a new dancer or two with dynamite jumps and footwork whom we know not of...would be a good thing to put a dazzling young corps member in--

[Simon G]

Jane Simpson, on Mar 10 2010, 06:04 PM, said:

The RB has just announced next season's programme, which includes the company premiere of Ballo della Regina, and two new pieces - one by Wayne McGregor, the other Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's a very 'home-grown' season. Dates are the opening night of each run - no further dates or casting yet available.


La Valse (Ashton)/new Brandstrup/Winter Dreams (MacMillan)/Theme & Variations (Balanchine) (Oct 15 2010)


Rhapsody (Ashton)/Sensorium(Marriott)/Rite of Spring (MacMillan) (Mar 16 2011)


Ballo Della Regina (Balanchine)/new McGregor/DGV (Wheeldon) (May 13 2011)

Scenes de Ballet(Ashton) /Voluntaries(Tetley)/Still Life at the Penguin Cafe(Bintley)  (May 28 2011)

This is why Mason is such a canny operator when it comes to programming triple bills - I'd love to see Scenes de Ballet, La Valse, Rhapsody - the pieces they're on with, not so much. But she knows that the Ashton lovers will risk the other pieces, maybe... though the Royal's treament of Ashton isn't exactly wonderful in the execution. Though it is great that Mason has programmed so much of it.

T&V, Ballo - you'll get a very Royal reading on Balanchine, especially if they give Cuthbertson the Suzanne Farrell second movement. This is bizarre, the way Mason programmes her in Romantic or lyrical ballerina roles, she has all the lyricism and mystique of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.

The Ballo one is a tricky one, I'd really love to see what they do with it, for curiosity if nothing else. They deffo will give Nunez the Ashley part - I can't think of anyone else who could dance it properly at the Royal. (Maybe Rojo or Lamb could give it a good go? If they gave it to Cojocaru I reckon her body would finally give up altogether and break down) but the thought of paying to sit through DGV or another bloody MacGregor makes my teeth ache.

I know I go on about having to see something to be able to properly criticise it and I've seen Random Dance Co. several times, the pieces he did for Rambert & Chroma, Limenal & Infra - so I think I've done my time.

[Helene]

Simon G, on Apr 21 2010, 04:24 AM, said:

Jane Simpson, on Mar 10 2010, 06:04 PM, said:

La Valse (Ashton)/new Brandstrup/Winter Dreams (MacMillan)/Theme & Variations (Balanchine) (Oct 15 2010)

Rhapsody (Ashton)/Sensorium(Marriott)/Rite of Spring (MacMillan) (Mar 16 2011)

Ballo Della Regina (Balanchine)/new McGregor/DGV (Wheeldon) (May 13 2011)

Scenes de Ballet(Ashton) /Voluntaries(Tetley)/Still Life at the Penguin Cafe(Bintley)  (May 28 2011)

This is why Mason is such a canny operator when it comes to programming triple bills - I'd love to see Scenes de Ballet, La Valse, Rhapsody - the pieces they're on with, not so much. But she knows that the Ashton lovers will risk the other pieces, maybe... though the Royal's treament of Ashton isn't exactly wonderful in the execution. Though it is great that Mason has programmed so much of it.

Ah, but she programmed them first, so that unless you're dying to see "Theme" or Macmillan's "Rite of Spring", you can show up for the first ballet and then head out for dinner.  (Or after "Voluntaries".)

It's kind of a win/win:  she gets the cash for the ticket, and you get to vote with your feet.

[Leigh Witchel]

Even imagining Cojocaru in Ballo is cruel.  As much as I like her dancing, were she to attempt it I think she might spontaneously combust.

Nunez has the turns and the can-do demeanor; and I'm betting the speed. Rojo and Balanchine in my experience haven't been a good match; she's very ladylike in it but maybe Ballo would provoke her. In Symphony in C, why not give Yanowsky a crack at second movement? She made herself work in Sylvia with the "wrong" physique, here she's the right physical type.

Volcanoes permitting, I'm penciling mid-October and mid-March into my calendar.

[Helene]

Leigh Witchel, on Apr 21 2010, 07:29 AM, said:

In Symphony in C, why not give Yanowsky a crack at second movement? She made herself work in Sylvia with the "wrong" physique, here she's the right physical type.

RB has never cast Yanowsky in 2nd Movement?  She's the first dancer I thought of.  I would think she'd own the role.

[Simon G]

Helene, on Apr 21 2010, 03:34 PM, said:

Leigh Witchel, on Apr 21 2010, 07:29 AM, said:

In Symphony in C, why not give Yanowsky a crack at second movement? She made herself work in Sylvia with the "wrong" physique, here she's the right physical type.

RB has never cast Yanowsky in 2nd Movement?  She's the first dancer I thought of.  I would think she'd own the role.

The problem with Yanowsky is that they don't have anyone to partner her. They occasionally bring Bolle in when they want her in a tutu, and seeing that Bolle is indeed listed as a guest artist perhaps that's what's happening.

Bolle is a funny one isn't he, a worldwide classical principal with guesting in the major classical companies continually and yet he finds three pirouettes a challenge. But then at the RB he has our homegrown principals Watson and Pennefather who are pretty much in the same boat, technique-wise.

As to voting with one's feet, the problem is that more often than not I vote not to go at all. The RB is so expensive that paying £60 for a 25 minute ballet is a bit ridiculous. But the ROH operates at 90% capacity so I doubt Mason is worried about what I think.

[Ray]

Simon G, on Apr 21 2010, 07:24 AM, said:

T&V, Ballo - you'll get a very Royal reading on Balanchine, especially if they give Cuthbertson the Suzanne Farrell second movement. This is bizarre, the way Mason programmes her in Romantic or lyrical ballerina roles, she has all the lyricism and mystique of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.

Am I missing something here, Simon?  Do you mean the 2nd movement of Symphony in C?  Neither Ballo nor T&V have more than one movement; neither is associated with Farrell.

[Helene]

Simon G, on Apr 21 2010, 08:01 AM, said:

The problem with Yanowsky is that they don't have anyone to partner her. They occasionally bring Bolle in when they want her in a tutu, and seeing that Bolle is indeed listed as a guest artist perhaps that's what's happening.

They should borrow Oleg Gorboulev, who's still dancing and is tall enough.

[Simon G]

Ray, on Apr 21 2010, 04:05 PM, said:

Simon G, on Apr 21 2010, 07:24 AM, said:

T&V, Ballo - you'll get a very Royal reading on Balanchine, especially if they give Cuthbertson the Suzanne Farrell second movement. This is bizarre, the way Mason programmes her in Romantic or lyrical ballerina roles, she has all the lyricism and mystique of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.

Am I missing something here, Simon?  Do you mean the 2nd movement of Symphony in C?  Neither Ballo nor T&V have more than one movement; neither is associated with Farrell.

Sorry yes, you're right, I got symphony & T&V mixed up.

[Jane Simpson]

We already know the casting for T&V: Rojo/Polunin, Cojocaru/McRae and Nunez/Kish.

Yanowsky is doing Sylvia with Makhateli - they have danced it together before. Kish may also be tall enough for her. Bolle isn't listed for next season, so far as I can see. Yanowsky has done Symphony in C in the past, but not recently I think - in any case she wouldn't be cast in this season's run, as she's currently on leave after the birth of her second child. (Cojocaru and Nunez are doing it.)

[Simon G]

Jane Simpson, on Apr 21 2010, 04:31 PM, said:

We already know the casting for T&V: Rojo/Polunin, Cojocaru/McRae and Nunez/Kish.

Yanowsky is doing Sylvia with Makhateli - they have danced it together before. Kish may also be tall enough for her. Bolle isn't listed for next season, so far as I can see. Yanowsky has done Symphony in C in the past, but not recently I think - in any case she wouldn't be cast in this season's run, as she's currently on leave after the birth of her second child. (Cojocaru and Nunez are doing it.)

How do you think Cojocaru will hold up in Theme? The ballerina part is wickedly difficult, though not as fast or fleet as Ballo, more and more I think her injuries are holding her back in non lyrical classical roles. I think she's opted out of MacGregor works altogether, which can only be a good thing, he's a real backbreaker for ballerinas.