Human Seasons - ROH - 3 modern ballets

I enjoyed the whole evening. You know sometimes it just comes together in all sorts of ways - I was with a friend who was so happy to be there and is such good company, we had inexpensive stalls circle seats which were amazing value, the intervals were the perfect length to catch up...it was all super pleasant.

I liked all three pieces. The first ballet, Human Seasons, was very good - some fascinating holds/lifts, Sarah Lamb- lovely as always, and really beautiful dancers (like works of art, so perfect) - some of whom were new to me. But it was more technically impressive, while the other two packed an emotional punch. I understand that Nunez and Soares were wonderful in the pas de deux in 'After the Rain' for the opening. We saw Zenaida Yanowsky (who is retiring soon) and Reece Clarke and adored them. There was something about the control and slow pace and mutual dependency of the dancing - I caught myself holding my breath. Loved it - and it was my friend's favourite. My favourite was Flight Pattern, but my friend thought they should have changed the order and ended with 'After the Rain' because 'I like a happy ending.' So, a long-winded reply - but Human Seasons was enjoyable but the other two were something special. I would like to see both of them again. Right now.

Although the top seats are super expensive, there are usually cheap tickets either further back (amphitheatre level), seats with restricted views and standing tickets (at the second level iirc).

The price depends on the production, so modern ballets like this one or Woolf Works had the cheapest tickets at around £5, whereas the upcoming Mariinsky season starts at £10. I think it's also just a question of getting there early as, like anything, the cheap seats will sell very quickly for popular shows.

By the way, the royal opera house does a Friday Rush thing like the National Theatre, where a number of cheaper tickets are held back and sold on each Friday, so it's worth keeping an eye out for that also, for sold out shows.

There is a huge variation in prices. We were sat in Row B of the side stalls circle for £21. These are padded bench sheets, but decent leg room and good views, although you were looking at a bit of an angle, but we thought they were good value. There is another modern mixed ballet programme coming up in a couple of months and the exact same seats are £38 - go figure (we decided to pass on them.) The other thing if you think you might go frequently is to look into their Friends scheme. I really enjoy the Friends rehearsals where seats are usually around £5 - £19. Sometimes if I just want to take a chance on something that's what I go for.
But I can't handle anything farther back than L in the amphitheatre and haven't loved the slips, so sympathise, Abby. I tried to watch Falstaff from the slips at a Friends rehearsal and it was impossible. You weren't allowed to lean forward at all, so I could see about a quarter of the stage. At an early break, I decided to cut my losses and slip out. On the way out, the Front of House saw me leaving and asked if anything was wrong. I said I couldn't really see, so was going to have a sandwich. They were like 'no, no, you have to see it - it's great' and snuck me into the Grand Tier - it was fabulous! And they earned a lot of loyalty from me.

Yes, unfortunately most are during the week and early.  I was going to try to do a clever screenshot for you, but don't know how to upload that.
Of the current 9 or so on sale (which covers two booking periods Spring and Summer), two are early weekday evenings (5 pm and 6.30) and two are Saturday mornings (11 a.m.)  The rest are during the week Monday - Friday.  When I was working Monday - Friday, I found there was usually at least one rehearsal per booking season I could do, so probably about 4 across a year.

Really glad to see that the wonderful Flight Pattern is being revived next year (http://www.roh.org.uk/mixed-programmes/within-the-golden-hour-new-sidi-larbi-cherkaoui-flight-pattern).

Haven't seen a thread about this, but Royal Ballet have just started a new 3-part ballet called 'Light of Passage' which is Crystal Pite's expansion of her piece Flight Pattern from a few years back.

www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/light-of-passage-details

Light of Passage started yesterday, and was very good. Having loved Flight Pattern in 2017 and 2018, I was nervous that any additions might feel disconnected or an afterthought, but the 3 parts seemed to fit together really nicely for me. The first part is Flight Pattern and, as far as I can remember, pretty much unchanged, so as hypnotising and moving as it was when it premiered 5 years ago. Part 2 was similar, albeit at a slightly smaller scale, and with child (~10 years old) dancers involved. While I enjoyed this, and it had the same feel and rhythm as Flight Pattern, some bits felt a little uninspired/flat (repeated jogging on the spot which felt a bit silly, and some religious imagery that felt very well-worn for example) so it didn't quite click with me as much. Part 3 on the other hand was wonderful. This had two older dancers alongside the wider corps and seemed to be about life, memory and mortality. A beautiful and moving finale to the evening.

If FP didn't click with you, then this evening probably wouldn't do anything to change that. But if you enjoyed Flight Pattern I'd highly recommend seeing Light of Passage.