Katia Kapustin

On the subject of the Rose Adagio and so-called "milking the audience" (something Bolshoi dancers do a lot). It all really depends on how the ballerina projects herself during those difficult balances. The Rose Adagio is a great showcase of virtuosity, of mastering technic and having strength. If the ballerina looks strained and seems to struggle when holding onto each balance it may look as if she is "milking the audience" but if she fully masters her balances and holds each balance with ease, then I don't feel the ballerina is "milking it". If she has full mastery of her balances why not showing it. I have seen several ballerinas holding on to each balance for what seemed liked ages and - because they did it with so much assurance and ease - it looked very elegant and natural, and fitted well into the story of Aurora having grown into a confidant young woman. In each one of the acts Aurora's age and personality are very different and the Rose Adagio balances illustrate her confidence and maturity. Beautifully executed and fully mastered Rose Adagio balances set a ballerina apart and deserve applause.

I am from Quebec sf-herminator. SF friends got me a ticket to attend Wednesday 13th evening performance. We may attend another one

Thank you sf-herminator for providing the link! great to know we can listen via the link you provided. I am from Canada so not all that familiar with SFB but looking forward to their SB!

So do we need a performance ticket for tomorrow, the Opening Night, to be able to attend the interview with Yasmine Naghdi? I have a ticket for her Wednesday eve performance.

A first glimpse of Joseph Walsh rehearsing with Yasmine Naghdi.

I fully agree with you Josette . Dancing Aurora is not just about learning and executing the steps: it also demands for great artistry - as in each act Aurora is at very different stages in her life - and a ballerina needs to be able to clearly portray this to her audience. The Royal Ballet Principal Yasmine Naghdi is a complete product of The Royal Ballet School system of training: to produce dancers with a strong, clean classical technique with great emphasis on artistry, musicality, purity of line, co-ordination and quality of movements being totally free of mannerisms. Her guesting with SFB will be a great opportunity for the audience, as well as for the dancers, to observe and appreciate the English style of dancing classical ballet. I for one can't wait to see her dance again.

Based on info from a UK Ballet Forum this is not an "exchange" situation. Several RB dancers scheduled to dance the role of Frankenstein are injured so choreographer Liam Scarlett urgently needed a replacement dancer who had danced the role before: Wei Wang was an obvious choice since he has danced Frankenstein before with SFB. Naghdi on the other hand has a four week performance gap between her two "Don Quixote" Kitri performances in Covent Garden and thus was free to dance Aurora with Joseph Walsh.

I can understand some fans are upset because their favourite soloist will not get a chance to debut as Aurora but I think the most important factor here is that Joseph Walsh needed a suitable and experienced partner, and for this reason Helgi must have felt the need to invite a guest ballerina who has Aurora in her repertoire. The Royal Ballet's Principal Yasmine Naghdi is a highly classical ballerina and no doubt she and Joseph Walsh will look stunning together. Thanks to her coming over from London Joseph Walsh will be able to dance his debut as Prince Desire.

So am I! I saw her dance a couple of times at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden when visiting London and she's absolutely stunning, with an amazing, clean and very strong technic. I can't wait to see her on Wednesday 13th.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 – 7:30 pm Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreography: Helgi Tomasson after Marius Petipa Conductor: Martin West Aurora: Yasmine Naghdi Prince Desiré: Joseph Walsh Lilac Fairy: Koto Ishihara Bluebird: Cavan Conley Enchanted Princess: Julia Rowe Principal ballerina Yasmine Naghdi, The Royal Ballet, London, is guesting with San Francisco Ballet.

If there was a LIKE button on your post Mashinka I would press LIKE several times. UK ballet criticism is at an all time low!

Clearly her coach must have approved of her very individual interpretation. I really enjoyed her take on this role and she was very different to anyone else who ever danced it.

I very much enjoyed reading your erudite post Ashton Fan, thank you. You have a valid point where you refer to Antoinette Sibley who was not considered suitable for the role of Lise in "Fille mal Gardee" because Ashton found her "too sophisticated". That is I think the case with Yasmine Naghdi too. She has danced in many MacMillan ballets but few Ashton ballets. The Ashton ballets in which she did shine were in his abstract works "Symphonic Variations" and "Monotones". As you say: "Perhaps if you grow up with MacMillan and dance far more of his choreography than you do that of the "Founder Choreographer" it is difficult to break the habit of acting a role rather than simply dancing it in the appropriate style. I seem to recall that Cojocaru was criticised for acting as if she was in a MacMillan ballet when she tackled Chloe in 2004." ...and how often does the Company dance Ashton? Not so often.

I agree Mashinka "The Cunning Little Vixen" is ok as a one-off, as a Ballet School performance, but certainly isn't one destined to be performed by the professional dancers of The Royal Ballet. I enjoyed Yasmine Naghdi as the "Young Girl" in Two Pigeons. Her very individual interpretation of the role and her Act 2 "Reconciliation" Solo and Pas de deux were beautiful, velvety, very moving and tear inducing. She was a "Thoroughly Modern 21st C. Millie", a "Young Girl" with a mind and personality of her own, she wasn't easily going to give in to her boyfriend's wishes simply to please him, she was not a shy young woman, easily intimidated, but she stood up, strongly, against the Gypsy Girl attempting to seduce her boyfriend. Naghdi's modern take and interpretation didn't please everyone but I found her portrayal utterly refreshing and she gave Ashton's Two Pigeons a modern look, she brushed away aged, dated cliches. This role is not really a ballerina role, the role suits soubrette-style dancers better. Naghdi's physique lends itself naturally to the grand ballets such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy to name just a few. She is far too classical for soubrette-style roles. Nevertheless it was lovely to see her partnered by Alexander Campbell as well as James Hay and bring Two Pigeons into the 21st C. I certainly can't wait to see her dance Kitri in Carlos Acosta's "Don Quixote" in two weeks time.

The Royal Ballet is live streaming Carlos Acosta's "Don Quixote" rehearsal, tonight at 7:30 UK time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx77D8113cM

The Royal Ballet has announced the casting for their Summer Season https://www.roh.org.uk/mixed-programmes/the-firebird-a-month-in-the-country-symphony-in-c On Opening Night: Yasmine Naghdi will dance The Firebird partnered by Edward Watson, making his comeback after a long absence. The title roles in "A Month in the Country" will be danced by Marianella Nunez and William Bracewell. In "Symphony in C" we'll get Natalia Osipova and various other dancers.

I frankly hope the London Palladium cancels his performances! The London audience should make a very strong stance and show their disagreement with what Polunin posted on Instagram. If we just let him get away with it all it sends out the wrong message to our young people: that one can say whatever you want and hurt people along the line, that one does not have to respect others. Polunin...Trump....Putin (his heroes, as Polunin stated on his Instagram account, now deleted) They are BAD examples of intolerance and inciting hatred!

The music is also very upbeat and easily carries the audience away alongside the dancing. In my local cinema the audience applauded all three Solos.

Yes I agree Mashinka, the Shades were a mixed bag, depending which cast one saw (I think there were 3 casts of Solo Shades). Fumi Kanaeko is indeed a beautiful First Soloist, she was likely dancing in the 2nd cast of Shades.

Beautiful. All three Variations are so very different, as is the music. For this Variation the music is very uplifting and cheerful. Each Variation demands a different technic and each one of the three ballerinas demonstrated that very beautifully. Natalia Makarova picked her three ballerinas for these Variations based on their individual artistry and technical abilities.

Would you care to explain Mr/Mrs Laurent? This Act 2 Variation 2 was part of the world wide live screening cinema relay of "La Bayadere" and all fully approved by Makarova and the AD - before and during the screening. This is a clip from the live cinema relay. I don't get why/what you are trying to criticise as she has received rave reviews in the UK for this solo variation! This is The Royal Ballet: nothing flashy, a very clean and controlled mastery of the classical Royal Ballet technic. Perhaps Russian dancers do it differently, but to each their own unique artistry I'd say.

Natalia Makarova also coached Principal ballerina Yasmine Naghdi in the Act II Shade Solo no.2 Variation. This video was posted by the Royal Opera House on their Facebook page to advertise the Encore screening of "La Bayadere". This is one of the most notoriously difficult very slow solos, demanding utmost control and a steely technic.

Yes Yasmine Naghdi & Matthew Ball are absolutely superb in "Romeo&Juliet" and very much loved by the UK audience.

Anyone who has The Royal Ballet "Giselle" DVD (Osipova/Acosta - recorded in 2014) can see a beautiful Pas de six. During the Pas de six Yasmine Naghdi and Francesca Hayward (both are now Principals but they were still in de Corps de ballet at the time of recording) perform a pd2 together: when you see them you'll understand what musicality is all about. They are two of the most musical Principals at The Royal Ballet.

I think Mr O'Hare is gradually moving away now from having his older Principals filmed and is turning to his younger Principals: Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball will be filmed during the live cinema relay of "Romeo & Juliet" on the Covent Garden stage on 11th June 2019. Their performance will also be shown via the BP Big Screen on Trafalgar Square.