dance-like-matty

[dance-like-matty]

what i love about wheeldon ballets is he also creates pieces that showcase multiple dancers. it’s not just a main couple and maybe a couple of solos. like to have a full lineup of 6 principal roles, how cool! alice in wonderland, winter’s tale, and now like water for chocolate. i just adore him.

[dance-like-matty]

the autumn casting for royal ballet is uhhhh interesting to say the least

[dance-like-matty]

ok well my principal promotions were right, excited to see the rest!!!

just putting my RB promotions predictions out there to see if i’m right lol

William Bracewell and Reece Clarke will be promoted to Principal.

- Bracewell because I think he’s stunning and seems to be doing all of the male principal roles anyway. I saw him as Prince Siegfried with Hayward, and he was the star of the show.

- Clarke for the same reasons as Bracewell (even more so really). I’ve never seen him dance, but he’s partnered with all of the top ballerinas in the company and I think it’s overdue.

Joseph Sissens and Gina Storm-Jensen will be promoted to First Soloist.

- I don’t have to explain Sissens. He is amazing.

- They’ve really been favoring Storm-Jensen this year. The reason why is beyond me, but they may just be filling out company positions. It wouldn’t surprise me if she gets promoted especially with Heap retiring.

Lukas Brændsrød, Leticia Dias, and Mariko Sasaki will be promoted to Soloist.

Joshua Junker, Giacomo Rovero, and Amelia Townsend will be promoted to First Artist.

This is all just based off of the roles and opportunities given past year and also their obvious favorites.

[dance-like-matty]

just putting my RB promotions predictions out there to see if i’m right lol

William Bracewell and Reece Clarke will be promoted to Principal.

- Bracewell because I think he’s stunning and seems to be doing all of the male principal roles anyway. I saw him as Prince Siegfried with Hayward, and he was the star of the show.

- Clarke for the same reasons as Bracewell (even more so really). I’ve never seen him dance, but he’s partnered with all of the top ballerinas in the company and I think it’s overdue.

Joseph Sissens and Gina Storm-Jensen will be promoted to First Soloist.

- I don’t have to explain Sissens. He is amazing.

- They’ve really been favoring Storm-Jensen this year. The reason why is beyond me, but they may just be filling out company positions. It wouldn’t surprise me if she gets promoted especially with Heap retiring.

Lukas Brændsrød, Leticia Dias, and Mariko Sasaki will be promoted to Soloist.

Joshua Junker, Giacomo Rovero, and Amelia Townsend will be promoted to First Artist.

This is all just based off of the roles and opportunities given past year and also their obvious favorites.

[dance-like-matty]

not maria khoreva debuting in legend of love😧🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

[dance-like-matty]

omg i totally agree i wonder who would be a good mary for him though, i know he’s done the role with melissa hamilton but idk if she’s be good even though she is really good at the “sexier roles”

Right, after complaining that I’d take Anastasia over Mayerling any day, and that this was a missed opportunity to bring it back, I’m saying that if they’re making a live stream in cinemas of Mayerling next fall, it has to feature Matthew Ball as Rudolph, anything else is not an option. And they should give Bracewell a chance at this role as well because damn, his Hamlet was definitely a hint at how great he could be as Rudolph.

[dance-like-matty]

Sarah Lamb, prima ballerina of the Royal Ballet.

Chroma, Alice in Wonderland, The Age of Anxiety, Afternoon of a Faun, Rubies, The Winter’s Tale, Mayerling, and Sleeping Beauty.

[dance-like-matty]

ugh i love her

Renata Shakirova in an amazing turn combination in One Thousand and One Nights.

[dance-like-matty]

put of curiosity, if royal ballet didn’t cancell their season, what shows do you think they would’ve done?

personally, i was almost positive they were going to do Giselle, Jewels, and Cinderella. maybe Sylvia. and I was hoping for some old ones that we haven’t seen in a while like Prince of Pagadogas or Ondine, and maybe the McGregor trilogy of Chroma, Limen, and Infra.

[dance-like-matty]

me: no arctic monkeys lyric will ever top “i wanna be your vacuum cleaner” ever. full stop.

arctic monkeys: ~ kiss me underneath the moon’s side boob ~

me: 

[dance-like-matty]

why they chose the one with cuthbertson and choe is beyond me, i wish they just did lamb/mcrae and naghdi as rose or nuñez/muntagirov and kaneko as rose

Nooooooooooo the Royal literally picked the absolute worst cast for the livestream of the Nutcracker. Whyyyy

[dance-like-matty]

I’ve seen a lot of the dance blogs that I follow post these and I wanted to chip in (more so for myself and my boredom)

Here are my predictions for who would ever be promoted to Principal in the Royal Ballet (mostly current First Soloists). If you have any disagreements, I would love to hear! I’m always down to finally have some friends to talk ballet with!

Not If, But When

William Bracewell (has performed almost all of the best male lead roles, was set to be in 2 cinemas this year both dancing along Principals and he kept up in Dances in a Gathering)

Reece Clarke (has been dancing a lot with Osipova lately which says a lot since she is very picky with partners, could be the perfect replacement for Bonelli from being that tall but muscular great partner type, it’s honestly a race to the finish to see who would great promoted first between him and Bracewell)

Fumi Kaneko (they have been promoting the hell out of her giving her role after role after role so quickly and somewhat out of the blue)

Anna Rose O’Sullivan (I think this speaks for itself, I think her and Sambe are a perfect pair and have a chemistry that is hard to come by and it works out perfectly that they get on so well and she was already on a track to be a principal so it will be amazing to watch them pair for the years to come -- I’d love to see her and Ball work together more though, for some reason I think they look good together)

Possibly

Cesar Corrales (I personally do not like him at all but Royal seems to really like him since they’ve thrown him principal role after principal role since he was hired and also seeming partnering him with Hayward -- not sure if this is Royal or Frankie herself since they’re dating though -- but to me, he doesn’t really fit the Royal Ballet male type

Mayara Magri (think she’s a beautiful dancer and has come up through the ranks at a nice pace, in the best way I think her living with Ball over Covid has given her great opportunities to show her strengths in new roles that she might not have had before so I think people are finally started to notice her -- not saying that the man she’s dating is the reason for her success but living with another dancer in general with the way they’re doing things at Royal is benefic as seen in Kaneko/Clarke and Corrales/Hayward since they can partner)

Calvin Richardson (has had a steady climb up the ranks so far but hasn’t done many classical lead roles, mostly in lesser known classical and contemporary ballets)

Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød (I think he’s great, still low on the ranks so hasn’t shown too many things yet but from what I’ve seen he seems very promising)

Joseph Sissens (beautiful, beautiful dancer, honestly can’t wait to see how he does since he is only a First Artist but I have a good feeling about him)

Who Can Say 

James Hay (I personally really like him but not in principal roles, he reminds me a lot of Acri where he is very successful in secondary roles with lots of energy like Mercutio and Benvolio but Royal has been pairing him up with O’Sullivan a lot and giving him some chances to shine so who knows)

Beatriz Stix-Brunell (I go back and forth on whether I personally enjoy her dancing but it’s mostly like Acri and Hay that I think she does well in roles that just take personality and not emotion because she definitely has a big personality, she’s also close with Wheeldon so that helps with the role factor -- talking about how she danced her first principal role in her first year as an artist)

Valentino Zucchetti (I’m seeing a pattern of the dancers that I put in this category because they’re all good dancers but for smaller principal roles rather than the male leads)

Nicol Edmonds (ranked this high because I just personally really like him but I think there’s just a lot of really strong men in the company that stand out more than him)

Megan Grace Hinkis (same as Edmonds I just really like her but I don’t think she stands out as much as other females in the company)

Romany Pajdak (weirdly recently promoted to soloist after not being promoted for 11 years but Royal has been giving her many opportunities lately, why? I have no idea)

Ain’t Gonna Happen 

Luca Acri (he hasn’t really performed any lead roles except for Franz and Royal seems to really like putting him in energetic secondary roles)

Claire Calvert (beautiful dancer with incredible technique but she’s been in the company since 2007 and hasn’t done many leads yet but like Acri, Royal seems to really like putting her in secondary principal roles like Lescaut’s Mistress and Lilac Fairy)

Yuhui Choe (been in the company since 2002 so if it were ever going to happen it would’ve happened by now, has done a couple of amazing principal roles but apparently never went anywhere with it, personally she’s not one of my favorites from personal taste so I may be biased)

Melissa Hamilton (joined the company in 2007, unlike other soloist/first soloists it seems like she’s only ever in London when she has a named role and when she isn’t listed as a principal role she is at other companies or doing galas around the world which is fair but also loyalty is an incredible factor since other first soloists will still perform in corps)

Tierney Heap (was promoted from first artist to soloist to first soloist all in one season and during that season the only lead role she performed was Carmen, personally not impressed with her, hasn’t done any lead roles since but i do know that she’s just coming off of an injury so that could be why)

Itziar Mendizabal (joined RB in 2010 after being a principal at Liepzig Ballet and I think that speaks for itself)

Olivia Cowley (has been in the company since 2002-ish and only dances corps and less dancier principal roles, I think Royal is pushing her to become a Character Artist which I personally would love to see happen)

[dance-like-matty]

This is WILDLY impressive 

[dance-like-matty]

Marianela Nuñez’s line Nela, for Chacott and FreedofLondon

[dance-like-matty]

fuck zodiacs I’ll judge people by their birthday playing card if ur a three of clubs I’m blocking you

[dance-like-matty]

watchmojo: That moment when you meet the Watchmojo lady 😱

[dance-like-matty]

If she doesn’t, RB is screwing her over big time lol

Also RE: Royal Casting

I’m more sure than ever O’Sullivan is getting promoting