Bella12

This doesn't apply to e-tickets. I've definitely been able to return e-tickets by phone. As for paper tickets, Friends of Covent Garden can take a photo of the voided ticket and return it by email. Others have to return the original paper ticket to the Box Office. Edited to add that I suppose it's possible that the return of e-tickets by phone might only apply to Friends of Covent Garden. You'd have to check this with the Box Office

Here it is

You’re entitled to your opinion, Mashinka, but there are many, many people who would completely disagree with you. Yes, Lauren Cuthbertson had a bad day when this Beauty was filmed. Even the best of dancers has an occasional off day. However, on countless other occasions, she has shown herself to be more than worthy of her position as a highly valued Principal of the Royal Ballet

There are 67 day seats but they are not sold on line until all those in the day seat queue have been served. If a performance is particularly popular, there is an outside chance that all seats will be sold to personal callers.

I think Robert Greskovic needs to check his facts. Jonathan and Leanne Cope might share a name but he is not her father and, as far as I know, they are not even related to each other.

Meunier fan, I hope you don't mind if I correct a typo. It appears that the brave dancer who 'attempted the fouettés' was, according to the above press report, Daria Bochkova.

Mara Galeazzi's final performance with the Royal Ballet was actually last Saturday, June 29 in Monaco. Here's a picture from twitter of the cast list from that performance 29 Jun Tonight's Manon cast. In bocca @maragaleazzi! #RBOnTour pic.twitter.com/niI6Q2YxB4

Galeazzi danced the child at all her performances as did Melissa Hamilton. I don't have the cast sheets to hand but can vouch for that as I was lucky enough to be at all the performances of the recent run of Mayerlings.

How very strange. I have the cast sheet for Alina Cojocaru’s performance on June 5 in front of me. It states "Mary Vetsera as a child: Alina Cojocaru". Maybe you are looking at Princess Valerie as a child? She was played by Gemma Pitchley-Gale.

I agree that Leanne makes a very convincing twelve year old, however, amongst the dancers currently playing the role of Mary Vetsera, she is not unique. They have all played the role of the twelve year old Mary. In fact, in the performances I’ve seen over the last 11 seasons, (during 5 of which Mayerling has been performed) all the dancers playing Mary have played their younger selves. Perhaps this was not the case in earlier seasons? Edited to add that I've just checked the Royal Opera House Performance database and it would appear that, until Viviana Durante and Leanne Benjamin played Mary in 1992, the twelve year old Mary was played by a younger or smaller dancer. That year the two of them were the only ones to play the twelve year old Mary but they clearly started a trend which has continued from the 2002 run onwards.

In his penultimate season (2010/11) Wayne Eagling promoted a number of male dancers – but not a single girl. There were no promotions at all in the 2011/12 season. One can only speculate on the reasons for this. During the current season there has been only one promotion, that of Vadim Muntagirov to Lead Principal. It is surely time to promote some of the female Artists who have been dancing principal roles during the last few years. The two who come immediately to mind are, as cycological says, Ksenia Ovsyanick(who has danced Giselle and Aurora and who created the Firebird in George Williamson’s Firebird) but also Shiori Kase who has recently shone in the ballerina role of Etudes. Both of these dancers are currently mere Artists of the Company.

If I'm not mistaken, the clips in the first YouTube segment above are not from the recent cinema relay featuring the cast in the second segment but from the performance filmed a number of years ago for television and DVD. It featured Carlos Acosta, Marianela Nuñez, William Tuckett and Jonathan Howells.

"In the evening Cojocaru (back on ROH stage after 3 months) and Kobborg (back there after SEVEN months) were absolutely beautiful in the pdd, and capable to deal with the terribly slow tempo given by the conductor (the same of the afternoon...informed people reported he was conducing his first ballets...)." Although I agree with you about the slow tempo, I’m afraid to say that your ‘informed people’ are not very well informed. Here is an extract from Dominic Grier’s online biography: He was a permanent staff conductor at the Royal Opera House from 2008-10, where his work included guest and cover conducting with The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and an affiliation with the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme. He is currently Associate Guest Conductor with Northern Ballet, a guest conductor for The Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet And here is a list of the works he’s already conducted: Bizet Symphony in C (Balanchine) - Royal Ballet 2010 Feeney Hamlet (Nixon) - Northern Ballet 2011 Schoenberg Cleopatra (Nixon) - Northern Ballet 2011 Shostakovich Concerto (2nd Piano Concerto) - Royal Ballet 2010 Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker - Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet 2011 The Sleeping Beauty - Scottish Ballet 2011 (NB Apologies if this post appears twice. My first attempt seemed to disappear).

Another minor point: Tomas Mock was not at White Lodge (the Lower School of the RBS). He joined the Royal Ballet School in the First Year of the Upper School - i.e. at the age of 16 or thereabouts.

"But this is the problem, it's a company you don't know and given that a cheap seat in the Gods is now in the region of £70, a seat for a 3 acter easily in the £100+" Where do you get these figures from, Simon? The maximum price for 'a seat in the Gods' may be £64 for next Autumn's Beauty but there are many seats available at far lower prices. A full view seat "in the Gods" to see Beauty can be bought for as little as £24. For Jewels the prices range from £9 to £55. For mixed bills these seats range from £6 to £36. Obviously prices are higher lower down in the House but it is only for Beauty and Nutcracker that the top price seats come to £100+. I would add that, if you don't mind a very slightly restricted view, it's possible to see multiple performances for your £100+. Personally, I never pay more than £15 for a full evening ballet or £6 for a mixed bill.

I think your first thoughts are correct. The ROH site is most often seriously out of date. I don't know who is in charge of it but casting changes always take a long time to appear there - and often don't appear at all! Having said that, it's most likely that the replacement hasn't yet been decided as the dancers are still on holiday.

"Bolotin (Stashkevich's Franz)" A lovely review, Drew, and I am reluctant to question anything but I think your memory might be a little faulty. If you still had your cast sheet I think you'd find that Stashkevich's Franz was Lopatin. Edited to add that I saw the Friday night performance. Although Lopatin was scheduled to do the Saturday afternoon performance with Stashkevich, maybe he was replaced?

I hate to dampen your spirits but, according to the Period 4 press release (April 6) Lauren Cuthbertson has been replaced in Electric Counterpoint. She is, however, still down to do Chroma later in May. http://www.roh.org.uk/uploadedFiles/Press_...mp;DanceBP4.pdf I would add that the Box Office is not usually very well informed. They appear to rely on the ROH website (which does still give Lauren Cuthbertson's name in the castlist for Electric Counterpoint). This website is notoriously inaccurate. For example, it has been known for some time that, because of Federico Bonelli's injury, Sarah Lamb would be dancing with Ryoichi Hirano in Concerto. For reasons best known to itself, the ROH website has persisted in stating that Lamb's partner would be Valeri Hristov.Yesterday, a friend called the Box Office to ask who was dancing. He was informed that Valeri Hristov was definitely dancing last night. This proved to be completely wrong and Sarah Lamb's partner was, of course, Ryoichi Hirano. I would therefore advise you to treat casting information from the ROH Box Office with caution!

I was surprised to read this and therefore checked back in various archives. It would appear that Marta Barahona created the role of Clara in this production and that, because Marta was injured, Alina Cojocaru replaced her the evening the production was filmed for television. I would add that the production was very much Peter Wright's rather than Anthony Dowell's.

" The contempory works in addition to Medea which was rather extensively used were Genue and another which I am not sure of it' title, it involved women in long black dresses and an oblong table. A lot of thumping and shouting by a male lead and the women. You may reconise it, but sorry I did not." Thank you for this. I also enjoyed the film enormously. As for the work you weren't able to identify, I believe it was Mats Ek's House of Bernarda Alba. I have to add that I found it a pity that Wiseman felt he didn't need to provide captions identifying the main dancers and choreographers. Of course he wouldn't have been able to identify everyone, but maybe the main dancers could have been identified the first time that they appeared? He said that he did not do this as he felt that people who knew the company wouldn't need the captions and that the rest of his audiences wouldn't need to identify the dancers. To be fair, he also said that he felt that captions would spoil the aesthetic effect of the film but I do wish he had found some way of getting around this problem as, for many of us, it would have added to the interest of an already fascinating film. ps I hope you don't mind if I point out a typo. The McGregor work was Genus.

According to the British Council website, the Ballet Boyz have made a film of the tour. According to them, the film will be shown on UK TV towards the end of the year. Here is the link to the relevant item: http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-dance-r...allet-cuba.htm)

It couldn't be easier, Nanarina. The cinema is at 3, Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square. It's just a few stops on the Piccadilly line from King's Cross to Leicester Square . The Cranbourn Street exit from the station is clearly marked.

There will be two screenings of the film during this month's BFI London Film Festival - October 15 at 6.30pm and October 16 at 1.30pm at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square. http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/368

Alina Cojocaru is Clara in the Royal Ballet Nutcracker which was filmed during the 2000/2001 Christmas season. I believe she wasn't promoted to principal until April 2001. I just noticed that Marianela Nuñez is also on this DVD - as one of the leading flowers! She didn't become a principal until 2002.

Alina Cojocaru is Clara in the Royal Ballet Nutcracker which was filmed during the 2000/2001 Christmas season. I believe she wasn't promoted to principal until April 2001.