ninamargaret

I belong to an on line forum connected with knitting and sewing crafts. It is very well run - I always think of it as the craft version of Ballet Forum! A member recently posted a question complaining that she had been told by she could no longer take her knitting to the theatre! She was horrified by this and couldn't see what was wrong with doing it. Other posters agreed,saying they had taken knitting to ballet performances, the RSC etc. I'm happy to say that the majority responding were totally against it. Hope this lady doesn't put in an appearance at any performances attended by members of Ballet Forum!

So sorry to see him go, especially as I can no longer see live performances. Just thankful that I saw him in quite a few roles, including Manon and Romeo, but particularly memorable was his Two Pigeons with Yuhui Choe. What a pity he seemed to have been so under used of late.

I've recently had problems watching via the streaming service. Tried to watch the new Nutcracker and the transmission, or whatever you'd call it, stopped 7 times during the first act. Easy to just press OK and carry on but not a good way to watch. Tried things I had watched before without difficulty, same happened. I've_contacted the Box Office,told them I'm using a Fire Stick and am slightly relieved to have been told that other people using the service by the same method have complained. They are looking into it, but no time scale or apology or offer to suspend subscription is given. Wonder if they're having technical difficulties?

There's also what is listed on Europadisc's website as the Stuttgart ballet documentary available from late October. Also listed on Amazon but shown as being unavailable. It has documentaries about Marcia Haydee and Friedemann Vogel, plus others.

Totally agree about those you have named. I'd also love to see Les Noces and Les Biches ( a bit academic as I can't attend performances now) and I could, like any elderly ballet goer list many other ballets that I think should be seen. I suppose the problem is that to mount revivals of these is expensive, and in harsh economic terms unlikely to be worth it. We all know how ballets that are unknown to the general public are difficult to sell and obviously the ROH is cautious about adding to its precarious financial state. Don't know what the answer is - just glad I'm not Kevin!

Still having problems. Have contacted ROH about this and get different answers according to whoever answers my email! I was told that they transmit in 4k , but your comment about this would seem to employ that this is not the answer. I also use Marquee and a couple of other apps and have no problems, and my Fire stick is not the 4k variety. It was suggested that the version I was using was out of date, but the Fire stick automatically downloads and I can see no reason to think that it would not have downloaded ROH updates.

I wish technical problems could be sorted out before future streams are issued. All the streaming up until Like Water were fine. I tried to watch Like Water and gave up because of buffering problems. I hadn't realised that this could possibly be improved by adjusting 'settings' as there had been no need to do it in the past. The Ashton triple had the same issues - thanks to this forum I made the alteration to settings and was able to watch it, although the quality was far inferior to earlier streams. I have good broadband speeds and have no problems with other streaming, so what's_the problem with ROH?

Loved watching him dance. Always looked as though he was thoroughly enjoying himself. And particularly notable in Pineapple Poll.

Have greatly enjoyed reading comments and seeing pictures of the Japan tour. By all accounts it appears to have been a huge success. Wouldn't it be wonderful if some sort of recognition by our arts loving government could be given, or even a small.mention in the press?

Thank you Jane. Being an avid reader of Dance and Dancers in my childhood I had at least heard of it! But I think Nutcrackers were more attractive to me at the time!

I know it dates me, but one of my earliest memories of seeing real life ballet is when I saw a triple bill containing an early Cranko ballet called Harlequin in April. Please don't ask me what it was about - I remember being very disappointed that there were no pretty costumes to admire! Pineapple Pool was, I think a bit later. In later years I came to love Onegin, Taming of the Shrew, and regret that Card Game and Brandenburgs 2/4 were not kept in the Royal Ballet repertoire. As others on the forum have said it was good to be able to see performances of RBME etc during lock down. Could love to see more from Stuttgart, and wish we had more in the Royal Ballet repertoire.

When I attended ballet a lot in the 70s/80a my seat of choice was front row stalls. Perfect view - no obstructions as long as you avoided the seats behind the conductor. For some performances centre stalls circle was equally good. After the major revamp, I found that if I sat in front row stalls I could only see dancers from the knees up, and if someone tall was in the back row stalls my stalls circle seat became restricted view. It seems to me that in an attempt to improve the rake in th stalls they raised the back of the stalls and lowered the front,thus improving some sight lines and making others worse. Wouldn't it be marvellous to have a purpose built theatre for ballet that gave everyone perfect sight lines? We can dream!

As is often the case with opera, there seem to be huge gaps in price ranges. I decided I might, at a pinch, be able to afford a side stalls circle at £113. But the next price in stalls circle is £193! Mobility issues mean that I am limited in where I can sit, so if, as I suspect, the £113 seats will have vanished by the time Friends booking opens I'll do without.

Not especially relevant to you, but she was married to the marvellous conductor Gennadi Rohzdestvensky for a while

They could, if course, use the original version which doesn't use pianos. It's just been released on a cd, and is far more percussive than the four piano version.