Royal Ballet Summer Season Swan Lake Casting !!

[CharlieH]

From what I saw, it appears to be a very dark, grim, Germanic Goth, and “heavy” production. Maybe more lights will be turned on during the actual shows?

[Buddy]

On 5/10/2018 at 10:18 AM, JMcN said:

The Insight evening is being live streamed via Facebook, starting in just over an hour.  It will probably be available via YouTube at some time.

https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/?hc_ref=ARQFMqwzMe8tEGC8dnNGqnlM6PHTikGmw-MaAptQD80Uklz1O2NiGvTFrTopOA-XAiE

Thank you, JMcN. I enjoyed it very much, especially watching Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov, both of whom I like a lot and hearing Liam Scarlett"s enthusiasm. His mentioning of how demanding the steps are in these 'classics' was interesting.  I've seen one of Liam Scarlett's earliest works, the one that Edward Villella commissioned (I believe) for the Miami City Ballet and liked it very much. He seems to enjoy 'animation' which I even detected at the end of the duet, but like Drew I would want to see how this all looks together.

[Ashton Fan]

#mnacenani,

I seem to recall that while the prince claims to be bored by pretty much everything that might excite others in his aria sung at the party which he hosts he proclaims on several occasions "chaque un a son gout" which suggests that he accepts that each one has their own tastes and their own interests. In the current  context his assertion  suggests that he would accept wholeheartedly  that we are none of us equally interested in the same aspects of ballet, its style, its choreographers, an individual company's repertory or held in thrall by the same dancers. It is that lack of agreement which can make discussions on a site like this so interesting.

I don't know what knowledge you have of the various versions of Swan Lake staged by the Royal Ballet and its predecessor companies over the years but to put it mildly their designs have all had exceptionally long shelf lives even in those cases where the ballet's text has been adjusted or radically revised over time. This, I think, explains the interest being shown in the glimpses of the new production we have been given. Anything and everything that suggests that the new production retains a reasonably recognisable text including the traditional mime and stages the pas d'action as sections involving interaction between the main characters and has not acquired a jester is likely to be welcomed by most of those who have tickets for the initial run of performances, On Thursday we shall know whether or not we have a production that we can live with. Staging an entirely new production of one of the nineteenth century classics involves a massive investment of time and money. Even if the production needs substantial adjustment and there is ample choreographic patching material to hand in the Royal's archive we shall be seeing the designs for years to come.

As I haven't seen the designs in use on the Covent Garden stage lit as intended I don't feel able  to comment on the mood or style  conveyed by the designs except to say that they do not look particularly dark or grim to me. I am intrigued by the words "German Goth" I don't pretend to understand what CharlieH means when he uses them. Does he mean Gothic, Gothick or something completely different?

Edited May 11, 2018 by Ashton Fan

[Ashton Fan]

Swan Lake cast changes at Bow Street.

It has been known for some time that Willian Bracewell will replace McRae at all performances. McRae has been out through injury for much of the season.I saw what is now the Bracewell, Takada cast last night. Bracewell was pretty impressive at what was only his second performance as Siegfried. On last night's showing he has good technique, is a secure unobtrusive partner and does not waste a minute of his time on stage. He actively responds to what he is being told in the mime passages and even makes what can seem merely to be "arm and hand gestures I have been taught"  into gestures which have meaning in the context of the narrative. I have seen him in smaller roles but not in anything so long,exposed and demanding in terms of stamina and technique . I fear yet another name to add to the list of dancers whose performances have to be booked, if at all possible.

The new information concerns Cuthbertson who is also now out through injury. She was replaced by Takada at what should have been her first performance in the run. It  is now clear that she is out for the entire run of Swan Lake  at Covent Garden. She is replaced on Saturday 2nd and Friday 8th June  by Lamb. She is replaced by Naghdi on the evening of Monday 18th June.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Ashton Fan

[JMcN]

18 minutes ago, Ashton Fan said:

 

It has been known for some time that Willian Bracewell will replace McRae at all performances. McRae has been out through injury for much of the season.I saw what is now the Bracewell, Takada cast last night. Bracewell was pretty impressive at what was only his second performance as Siegfried. On last night's showing he has good technique, is a secure unobtrusive partner and does not waste a minute of his time on stage. He actively responds to what he is being told in the mime passages and even makes what can seem merely to be "arm and hand gestures I have been taught"  into gestures which have meaning in the context of the narrative. I have seen him in smaller roles but not in anything so long,exposed and demanding in terms of stamina and technique . I fear yet another name to add to the list of dancers whose performances have to be booked, if at all possible.

 

BRB fans have known for some time that William Bracewell is pretty well unmissable!  I remember seeing his Romeo at The Lowry a couple of years ago and immediately declaring that he was the best Romeo I had ever seen in that production!

[Ashton Fan]

JMcN

Thank you for your comments about Bracewell. I have no doubt that he is an exceptional Romeo and I hope to see him in the role when the ballet is next revived at Covent Garden. There is a marked difference between MacMillan's dramballets and the nineteenth century classics however far "after Petipa" a production of Lac may be. MacMillan's dramatic  three act ballets do not expose the dancer's  basic classical technique as cruelly and unrelentingly as choreography by Petipa. Ashton and Balanchine does. Romeo is in many ways more a test of the dancer's stamina than his classical technique. While I like a Romeo who can actually dance the role  well it has not been unknown for a dancer whose technique has become a bit iffy to cover technical defects, sloppy landings and other misdemeanours by acting and emoting. I can think of one senior dancer at the RB who has been doing this for some years. I hasten to say that I don't think that Bracewell falls into the category of dancers who emote and sprawl their way through a role like Romeo, far from it, everything I have seen him do so far has been very good. He seems to capture the essence of the style of a  role and add a little extra to it. He is clearly a gifted and versatile dancer. On Thursday night he was an exceptionally elegant and involved Siegfried giving every choreographed gesture and movement its due weight and real meaning. On Friday night he was leading the Mazurka  the section which I think many experience as the low point of act 3 but he lifted it in the way that I recall Alexander Grant and Monica Mason did with the Czardas dancing with real verve ,energy and style. 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Ashton Fan

[Katia Kapustin]

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/casting-confirmed-for-the-royal-ballets-tour-to-spain-2018

Spanish audiences will be able to watch The Royal Ballet's hotly-anticipated new production of Swan Lake as part of an exclusive residency at Teatro Real in Madrid.

Principal dancers performing will be Federico Bonelli, Ryoichi Hirano, Sarah Lamb, Yasmine Naghdi, Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova, Akane Takada and Vadim Muntagirov. Spanish Company members performing during the residency include Itziar Mendizabal and David Yudes. Steven McRae and Lauren Cuthbertson have withdrawn due to injury.

This is the first time the Company have performed in the city since 1997, when they performed Anthony Dowell's production of The Sleeping Beauty.

Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, said: 'It’s an honour for us to be returning to the Teatro Real after over 20 years, presenting this hugely exciting new production of Swan Lake. Everyone in the Company is very much looking forward to performing in Madrid, and I'm thrilled to be able to share this production with Spanish audiences after it receives its premiere in London in May.’

Casting for Odette/Odile, Prince Siegfried:

18, 22 July: Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov

19 July: Natalia Osipova, Matthew Ball

20 July: Sarah Lamb, Ryoichi Hirano

21 July, 5pm: Akane Takada, William Bracewell (Steven McRae has withdrawn due to injury)

21 July, 10pm: Yasmine Naghdi, Federico Bonelli (Lauren Cuthbertson has withdrawn due to injury)

[Katia Kapustin]

On 19 July Principal ballerina Yasmine Naghdi replaced Natalia Osipova as Odette/Odile.