The Royal Ballet announced yesterday that Jonathan Cope is to retire as a principal dancer of the company. He will do a couple of performances in Firebird in the new year but has withdrawn from his other roles. He will continue to work in the company as a repetiteur.

The full press release is on the Royal Ballet site.

Me, being purely selfish:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!



In my opinion, Cope is the best partner the Royal has, not to mention one of the tallest. But, in recent years we've also seen him grow more as an artist and an interpreter, as well as being successful in coaching ballets such as Romeo and Juliet and Ondine.

I'm saddened. Cope is a true danseur noble and has one of the most artistic, strong, and vulnerable arabesques I've ever seen. That's what makes his opening solo in Manon so sublime, so perfect - his simple, clean dancing coupled with shy but yearning glances at the young Manon pave the way for the rest of the story to unfold. His Prince Rudolph in Mayerling is remarkable, to say the least. While his partnering skills and the freedom with which his partners danced with him are memorable, he has shown himself to be so much more than a partner. (Indeed, as much more than a partner to Guillem and Bussell as well. My more immediate concern is for Tamara Rojo!)

While saddened, I am glad to hear that he is continuing at the Royal as a repetiteur, giving so many a chance to learn from his vast amount of knowledge and experience.

I think I will go and make several cups of tea now.

This is huge news for Royal Ballet. Cope has had such a strong presence for years......
I'm happy to hear that he will still be around to set ballets, coach and pass on his knowledge and experience.

He will be very much missed.....

ami1436's long "No" echos my sentiments. Not only will I never see him dance again but I never got to see him and Rojo in "Mayerling", a major loss. I wish him well, and thank him for the hours of siblime dancing pleasure he gave all of us.

Giannina

Oh dear. Noooo from me, too.

When will this unhappy spate of retirements end? Too many in a row! We need a break.

How about a ban on retirements for a period of a year?

While I'm sorry to hear of his retirement, I'm glad I'll be able to look back on my memory of him partnering Bussell in Cinderella at the Met when the Royal came to NYC in 1997, I believe.

Best wishes to Cope on his future endeavors.

I am so sad to hear this news as I really enjoyed watching Jonathan Cope perform. For me he seemed like the perfect partner and a very noble dancer. I do wish that I had seen him dance with Tamara Rojo in Mayerling before he retired. However, I'm very glad that he is to remain working at the Royal as he has so much to offer.

I must say that I few days ago I was on Sylvie's website looking at her performance schedule and noticed she was not dancing with Cope at all this Fall. It made me think that he had probably suffered a major injury or decided to retire. I was glad to read the official press release and see what was going.

The Royal Ballet has just announced that Jonathan Cope has broken his leg in a traffic accident and will be unable to make his scheduled farewell appearances in Firebird next month.

Oh, that's awful! I wish him a speedy recovery.

Giannina

Jonathan Cope was one of my teachers when I attended the Royal Ballet School’s Covent Garden Summer School. My class had him regularly. He was a wonderful teacher and a wonderful person. He immediately learned the name of each student in the class. He also took the time to sign autographs for each of us and posed for the endless photos that we requested of him. I am saddened that not only has he decided to retire, but that through this accident his retirement is coming sooner than expected. I wish him a speedy and full recovery, and I am hopeful that he will continue to share his enormous gifts with future generations of dancers as a teacher.

What a lovely tribute, Whitney, and how lucky for you and your classmates to have had such a good teacher/nice guy!

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A speedy recovery for Jonathon Cope. I think I read somewhere that he was planning on coaching for the RB after his retirement.

Jonathan Cope is/was one of the greatest male principal dancers the Royal Ballet has ever had. I got to see him perform many times and was always charmed by his elegance and outstanding stage presence. He was also a wonderful partner and I will always remember the Manon pas-de-deux he used to dance with Sylvie Guillem... It's a good thing he will still be around in Covent Garden to help younger dancers benefit from his experience. Hopefully we'll see him perform character roles every now then!