li tai po

If I remember correctly from the premiere and the scene with the gaoler's wife, which was cut after the first season, the gaoler took the bracelet from his wife and gave it to Manon, which caused a jealous outburst - David Drew and Georgina Parkinson.

You've all said it for me. I am feeling a bit of an emotional wreck too, Balletfanp. I particularly relished the pas de trois, like Mild Concern, where Fumi seemed to be vacillating between revulsion, curiosity and succumbing to flattery and luxury. What an actress! I did not see the 10 on the balloon. How lovely of someone to mark Vadim's 10th anniversary with the Royal Ballet last Monday. With regard to Act One, Bridiem, I did not find that Vadim was not fully engaged. I felt he played it downbeat deliberately, a shy adolescent student hiding in the crowd until he was knocked off his feet by a beautiful vision - and then almost stalking her from a safe distance, until he had time alone with her to try to present a case for himself. But what an amazing performance of the opening solo - no-one can deliver that challenging solo with such legato fluidity and stunning line. It is so difficult, but he makes it appear simple and beautiful.

I went to an Insight Evening at least 15 years ago, in which Sibley and Dowell jointly taught Thais to Sarah Lamb and (I think) Thiago Soares. Sarah had only just joined the company and was still a soloist. I think she was very pleased to be working with two luminaries of the past. Sibley and Dowell kept up a banter throughout the session. As Sibley tried to position the arms of Sarah Lamb correctly, she asked Dowell if he could remember the precise shape. "Don't ask me," said Dowell, "I was in the middle of my variation and I certainly did not have time to see where you put your arms".

Thank you Blossom for your beautiful review. Dancing apart, the evening was a love letter to Ukraine and to the homeland. We began with the National Anthem, Ivan Putrov gave a brief, but impassioned address about home and what it meant to Ukrainians and the evening ended with the pas de trois from Gloria. A bold and highly unlikely ending to a Gala, but so appropriate and very moving. This was Putrov's customary artistic vision trumping just an evening of fireworks, although there was much passion, lyricism and fireworks during the evening. I counted 26 dancers on stage, including Putrov himself, who chose to dance this time, as well as putting on the show. He assembled 8 Ukrainian dancers from 7 companies across Europe. It was a thoughtful touch to present pas de deux from both Ashton's and Gorsky's version of Fille. I too left the theatre on a high.

Buddy, you could combine a trip to London on 17 March, with a quick hop over to Amsterdam, where Olga is creating the lead in Wayne Macgregor's new ballet, Antigone. There are 9 performances between 9 and 24 March, although the opening night is already sold out. There are performances on 15 and 20 March. https://www.operaballet.nl/en/dutch-national-opera-ballet/2023-2024/jocastas-line

It is ten years since the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company was set up, only the third after ABT and Hamburg. The model clearly succeeds in supporting the recruitment, development and high standards of young dancers - and is proliferating across the globe. The first conference of Junior Companies will be held in London in June. Yesterday was the first night of a programme focussed on the future. After opening with Balanchine's Valse Fantaisie, the Junior Company presented three world premieres by Kirsten Wicklund, Joseph Toonga and Wubkje Kuindersma and Toccata, which Krzystof Pastor created last year for principals of the Polish National Ballet. The Junior Company alumni from the last ten years have been invited to this afternoon's performance. The main company is now comprised 60% from the Junior Company, including several principals. In his speech from the stage, Ernst Meisner told us that students entering the Prix de Lausanne are required to state in advance their preference for a ballet school. It sounds a bit like UCAS. When he went recruiting in Lausanne before the Junior Company had been set up, he had received just 2 enquiries. This year the Junior Company received hundreds of expressions of interest from Prix de Lausanne applicants. Here is an interview with Ernst Meisner, in which he talks about the challenges of leading a Junior Company and some of the achievements of the dancers. https://www.operaballet.nl/en/online-programme/ten

I am at a loss to understand the negative comments appearing on this thread. Should we not be applauding efforts to support the National Ballet of Ukraine as it goes through challenging circumstances? Other initiatives, particularly in the Netherlands, have sought to give a boost to Ukrainian dancers and raise their morale. No-one has the monopoly on raising funds for Ukrainian causes. This is not a competition to raise the biggest amount. Earlier fundraising triumphs do not preclude subsequent attempts. I welcome the opportunity to attend this Gala and in my very small way to support the cause of spreading the glories of Ashton further afield. I am sad that ballet professionals, whatever side of the fence they sit, are seeking to sully the noble art of ballet with petty squabbles and rivalries. This may be the atmosphere backstage, but I am pleased to sit out front, to admire the artistry and generosity of the dancers and to enjoy the show itself. If you are unhappy, please desist - do not dampen the spirits of dancers across Ukraine and do not spoil it for the rest of us,.

Rob S - I enjoy your curtain call photos every night. It gives a tiny hint of casts which I did not see. Why do you not post photos of curtain calls at ENB?

The Junior Company, set up with Ernst Meisner as Artistic Co-ordinator, is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. He is a graduate of the Royal Ballet School and spent more than 10 years in the Royal Ballet. https://www.operaballet.nl/en/dutch-national-ballet/2023-2024/ten

I have just seen my first Nutcracker of the season. Dear, oh dear - little girls playing with their dollies, only boys allowed drums and trumpets, not a child with a pronoun in sight. Time to ban this production alongside Bayadere and Fille.

On Monday, I was fortunate enough to catch the Raymonda performance with Anna Tsygankova and Giorgi Potskhishvili, who blew me away. What a powerful dancer and an overpowering personality he is - an untidy finisher, but my goodness he dominates the stage with his enormous leap. Apparently his parents run a folk dance group in Georgia and he has been dancing with them since childhood, which is where he developed his wow factor stage presence. His younger brother, Nikoloz, is a student at the Dutch National Ballet Academy. He was due to watch from the wings, but with several dancers down with covid, he was thrust into a costume and put on stage as a page. Giorgi's immediate promotion to principal is richly deserved; this amazing dancer must be seen soon in London.

Just back from an exhilarating visit to Stuttgart, to see two further performances of Stuttgart Ballet's tribute to Cranko on the 50th anniversary of his death - Initials RBME and MacMillan's Requiem. The audience sat respectfully throughout Requiem without a hint of applause until they erupted at the end. I hope our audiences will be equally self-controlled in March. The Stuttgart company are on sparkling form and the soloists came close to the original 1970s casts. Elisa Badenes and Friedemann Vogel were electrifying in the third movement pas de deux. I also went to the first two performances of this programme in July and it was thrilling to see Birgit Keil, Marcia Haydee and Egon Madsen come on stage at the end of the performance, although sadly Richard Cragun is no longer with us. So imagine my pleasure, on arriving back from the airport, having switched on Stuttgart Ballet's contribution to World Ballet Day, to find a complete stage rehearsal of Initials RBME filmed a few days ago. Tamas Detrich, the director, calls it a masterpiece of neo-classical choreography - and my companion said at the end of the first performance, "Now that is what I call choreography". Don't miss the company, either. They are in such good form. https://www.google.com/search?q=world+ballet+day+stuttgart+ballet&oq=world+ballet+day+stuttgart+ballet&aqs=chrome..69i57.5317j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:2b3d3c07,vid:gDSo0lP9Bxo,st:0

A friend of mine went to see Alvin Ailey at Sadler's Wells. She entered the auditorium behind two girls, who were carrying a pizza box. The usher told them they could not bring it in. "We are not going to eat it", they said. "Too right", she replied. "You can leave it here and collect it after the performance". At Rigoletto this week, my wife and her friend went to the ladies in the interval on the right hand side of the amphitheatre as the five minute bell was ringing. They were very upset to find a "40-year old, stylish" man urinating in one of the toilets, with the cubicle door open. We were wondering if they were one of the new 57 genders. I raised it with the house manager, but she thought he was probably in a panic with the interval ending and used the ladies in an emergency.

Another exhilarating and inspiring evening from Marianela and Vadim, who bring attack, sharpness, elevation, poise, balance and elegance to the choreography by Petipa and others, qualities which are required to bring a Russian ballet to life. The explosive atmosphere in the auditorium was invigorating - it reminded me of the Fonteyn days. The beggars should be sent back to Amiens and Manon - they are derivative and distracting. Their final line-up is close to plagiarism and the collapse of the boy underneath is over the top. Petipa's humour is much more subtle. I love the moment in the Act I minuet, when Basilio and Kitri's friends struggle to follow Gamache and Don Q, because the steps of this dance of the nobility are unfamiliar to them. Oh sorry - this part of the minuet is cut out, so we can watch Don Q stomping around in another daydream. I was very struck by Caspar Lench at the RBS summer performance and was delighted to spot him in the seguidillas.

Lindsay says that Theme and Variations was not the most 'full-out' performance. You are telling me! I am sure Rosalyn Whitten or Maina Gielgud would have drilled out a much more secure performance from the entire cast. I remember a stunning performance by BRB at the Royal Opera House with Miyako Yoshida and Kevin O'Hare. He was sitting tonight in the middle of the front row of the First Circle. I wonder what he thought of the performance? Maybe the second (?) cast of Katja Khaniukova and Gabriele Frola will make a better fist of it. but - I found Four Last Songs breathtaking and exhilarating. Sweeping choreography with echoes of MacMillan's Song of the Earth - sculptural groups, sequences of exhausting lifts and a lot of running round the stage - trademarks, I believe, of David Dawson. Gavin Sutherland, another hero of the evening, generated a most exciting orchestral sound, rich and romantic. Madeline Pierard's voice swept over the orchestra. But why oh why was she miked? Her voice would have penetrated to the back row of the Metropolitan Opera House. She certainly did not need a mike in the small confines of Sadler's Wells. I will be going back to see Four Last Songs again.