San Perregrino

First Circle Side Gallery oppsite you. I chatted to the security chap after. He was very pleasant. His briefing was no cameras. I suggested that this might not include curtain calls and that both he and I might better inform ourselves before tonight’s show.

I got told to put my phone away at the curtain call.

I totally agree with you on all points. It totally irks me when dancers stop the action and step out of character to smile and take prolonged bows mid story. It’s another form of distraction. Coming from a theatrical background it makes me start wondering how invested a dancer actually is in becoming a character and living his/her truth if they can turn it on and off so easily. But, theatre and ballet are different art forms and perhaps I expect too much.

Perhaps because they dance extracts at so many galas they are used to applause at the end of a sequence where in the context of the complete narrative it makes no sense at all? My observation is that Nunez and Muntagirov are the couple most likely to step out of character to take a prolonged bow mid-ballet be it Swan Lake or Don Quixote. However, these are complex technical and emotional sequences so on a practical level, for dancers of any age, let alone those more advanced in their careers, an opportunity to get one’s breath back is probably most welcome.

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett/cast-list/54729

Humming bus conductors, that takes me back

Sorted thanks

and, might I be so bold as to suggest that, once upon a time, the people who might now consider themselves to belong to the above categories might well have started out as ‘fanboys/girls, relatives and newbies' , their enthusiasm and curiosity for ballet subsequently engaging them so they added to their experience and knowledge over the course of time. IMHO an opinion is just an opinion. an interesting opinion is supported by rationale. the opinion of a fanboy/girl is equally as valid as that of someone who has spent a lifetime watching and studying something provided that the context is given.

I heard it on the BBC radio news yesterday.

if anyone has a spare or can't use their ticket, please DM me. thanks

To see Sarah Lamb dance anything is a memory to cherish. Her performance last night is another such cherished memory as will be her two upcoming performances. I urge anyone who wants to see her dance Odette/Odile to do so during this run. Much as we want dancers to go on forever, Time waits for no man or woman. Reece Clarke as Siegfried literally enveloped her with his love at points during the evening as their connection was both visible and emotional. Was it my imagination or had the courtiers withdrawn or receded more than usual from the stage in Act III in order to create the space needed for Reece to soar in his solo sequences?

Well, I saw London Tide at the NT last night. An ‘adaptation’ of Dicken’s ‘Our Mutual Friend’, this version has been given a woke ending along the same lines as ENB’s Raymonda. Much as Raymonda abandons a man she might love, instead leaving to ‘find herself and her destiny’, in London Tide, Lizzie Hexham doesn’t marry the man she thinks she might love but instead heads out to ‘find herself and her destiny’. Can we expect the same for Ballet Shoes or some gender swapping of the characters perhaps?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68856354.amp

The Judas Tree as I’m keen to watch things that I haven’t yet seen.

I had to faff around a lot with the calendar. I couldn’t find a simple list. @Bruce Wall can you help? Thanks