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  2. Sim
    Hi all. Here is an email from John's family. If anyone would like to attend the funeral next week they will be most welcome. Please note the links for donations to charity in John's memory. If you would like to donate, please ensure that you do so in John's name so that his memory is celebrated by the charities. Many thanks, Sim Dear friends, John’s funeral will be held on Tuesday 27th August at 1.00 in St Giles Church, Camberwell SE5 8RB. The service will be followed by some refreshments in the Church and we will have some of his photographs on display there, while close family will be going to the crematorium after the service. We ask that you don’t send flowers but if you would like to make a donation, please give it in John’s name to any of the following charities which he supported: Amnesty International Charity Ltd, RSPCA, Alzheimer’s Society, WWF. Love, Tatiana, Sophie and Thecla https://www.amnesty.org.uk/giving/donate/give-now https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/donate/online https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/make-donation https://support.wwf.org.uk/donate-to-wwf?pc=ATD001001&ds_rl=1263317&ds_rl=1263317
  3. coniger started following Woodside Dance Retreat 2019
  4. coniger
    First thing I wanted to say is that I am only writing this as the mother of a DC that attended the course. We went after reading what was said about the course here. - but it definitely deserves a review. My DC went for a week and the change after a week working with all the guest teachers and Nicola was amazing. My DC already had spent a year at vocational school but what they learnt in that one week was more than they had learnt in the previous year. Nicola picked out what issues that they had in the first morning and a different dancing child came back a week later. This course was a game changer for my child and they will quite happily say that it was the best intensive that they have ever been on and they have been on lots the last three summers. Coniger xx
  5. Sim
    Hi all. Here is an email from John's family. If anyone would like to attend the funeral next week they will be most welcome. Please note the links for donations to charity in John's memory. If you would like to donate, please ensure that you do so in John's name so that his memory is celebrated by the charities. Many thanks, Sim Dear friends, John’s funeral will be held on Tuesday 27th August at 1.00 in St Giles Church, Camberwell SE5 8RB. The service will be followed by some refreshments in the Church and we will have some of his photographs on display there, while close family will be going to the crematorium after the service. We ask that you don’t send flowers but if you would like to make a donation, please give it in John’s name to any of the following charities which he supported: Amnesty International Charity Ltd, RSPCA, Alzheimer’s Society, WWF. Love, Tatiana, Sophie and Thecla https://www.amnesty.org.uk/giving/donate/give-now https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/donate/online https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/make-donation https://support.wwf.org.uk/donate-to-wwf?pc=ATD001001&ds_rl=1263317&ds_rl=1263317
  6. amos73
    Definitely would recommend Princess Grace in Monaco also. DD spent two weeks boarding there this summer, exceptional training.
  7. Sim
    Yes I agree with this. I really enjoyed seeing the Bolshoi dance, as always, but this time there just wasn't the wow factor that I've had on previous occasions. I think that by and large, other companies have caught up technically over the past 10-20 years. When I was young, no other company could match the Bolshoi for sheer technique and exuberance: no-one could jump as high or turn so fast. Now, it's not that they aren't as good, they just aren't alone in being that good. I didn't much like their DonQ. Having just seen quite a few of the RB's Acosta version, I really do prefer it (and I was one of the few people who liked it a lot first time around!). I think it makes much more narrative sense, and I think the relationships between the characters are much better drawn out. I also like the fact the Dulcinea is present in the overture; we can immediately understand that the Don is off to find his dream woman, and in so doing adventures ensue. The sequence of events makes more sense to me. I hope that next time the Bolshoi comes to London (and may it be in the not-too-distant future) that they bring a more interesting rep. I would love love love to see Bright Stream again, and their Taming of the Shrew. I would be very interested to see Nureyev, even if it is as bad as some people say; at least it's something new and different!
  8. alison
    Let's face it, also, the RB doesn't usually run Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty (and Nutcracker?) in the same season, I don't think, so perhaps it's just more obvious this time around. I don't think it's the case that other ballerinas haven't been cast in multiple classics, just that they may generally have been spaced out better and therefore less noticeable. As for the younger dancers, perhaps Kevin O'Hare's just pacing himself? Otherwise, possibly in a few years time, given that both ballets are likely to show up every couple of years, and probably get cinema showings too, people will be starting posts asking why Naghdi, say, is getting all the cinema broadcasts again! EDIT: Or even, dare I hope, could we have for Sleeping Beauty the luxury casting of some of the younger ballerinas as Prologue Fairies, Florine and so on? (None of those being roles which Cuthbertson dances)
  9. Today
  10. bridiem
    Yes, it is - but I don't think it should influence the decision as to the lead casts in cinema showings.
  11. capybara
    A 'box set' is surely a lovely way of honouring a long serving star performer.
  12. capybara
    Also, in Cardiff, Andrei Merkuriev made his debut as Romeo with the Mariinsky under Vaziev. Novikova danced Kitri and Anton Lukovkin (more recently of ENB) was Sancho Panza. The Millenium Centre was not full for any of the performances then. But this was in the early naughties and I think that they have been back there since with a more modern rep.? However, in 2001 (?) in Edinburgh, the Mariinsky's La Bayadere played to packed houses, if my memory serves me correctly. We had Lopatkina and Zakharova as Nikiya! Of course, 'back in the day', the fame of many Russian dancers preceded their live performances on video. Now there is so much more choice in the cinema, on DVD/BluRay, on TV, and online that we are better able to make our own comparisons.
  13. bridiem
    Yes, I assume it is. But either way there has been plenty of discussion about cinema casting on this forum. For what it's worth, my view is that the point of cinema screenings is to show the company - its dancers, its range, its artistry etc - to as wide a public as possible, and so the lead casting should be spread out as much as possible. Recording particular casts for posterity is an important but secondary aim (and I don't think that having a DVD box set of a particular dancer's performances should figure at all, much as some of us might like to possess such a thing).
  14. Ian Macmillan
    Links – Monday 19 August, 2019 Review – Bolshoi Ballet, Don Quixote, London: Debra Craine, The Times ** Review – Matthew Bourne/New Adventures, Romeo and Juliet, London: Sarah Crompton, The Observer Review – Garrett & Moulton Productions, Four Acts of Light and Wonder, San Francisco: Heather Desaulniers, DanceTabs Review – Joyce Theater Festival, Mixed Bill, incl Elite Syncopations, New York: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Review – Hong Kong Ballet, Peter Pan (Webre), Hong Kong: Kevin Kwong, SCMP Diary – Los Angeles Area, This Week: Matt Cooper, LA Times Feature – Can screens save dance? Jill Sykes, Sydney Morning Herald Review – English Youth Ballet, Swan Lake, Cardiff: Barbara Michaels, Reviews Hub Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe: Fringe Reviews: The List Review – Modeun Company, Goliath in the Water, David Mead, SeeingDance Review – Elsa Couvreur, The Sensemaker, David Mead, SeeingDance Review – Chiara Bersani, Seeking Unicorns, David Mead, SeeingDance ** Sorry, no Share link available yet
  15. yvonnep
    As far as I remember, Cuthbertson was’t cast in any big classic in cinema broadcast in the past 10 years except Beauty. Nutcracker hardly counts. Her Beauty with Pulunin was never commercially released. (Possibly because of Polunin’s departure from RB) so people who live in other countries can only rely on pirated videos to see her in the role of Aurora. IMO It is only wise to record her while she’s at her peak and sickness and injuries seem to not have occurred for a while, otherwise there might not be a chance to (as in the case of Morera). I cannot understand why this is a problem, as some other dancer was cast again and again in almost every major role in RB rep in cinema broadcasts and nobody seemed to have opened a thread to complain about it. Maybe it’s because this time they are all In the same season?
  16. Odyssey
    I note the casting has now disappeared. Does this mean there is likely to be a change?
  17. yvonnep
    In the Khan version, she was pregnant from the beginning. Their first meeting in the ballet was she trying to tell him about it but not being able to. Khan explained it when the company performed that scene in NYC.
  18. IPS Temp Admin IPS Temp Admin joined the community
  19. Scheherezade
    I think that very few, if anyone, posting on this forum would view Vasiliev as the ultimate ballet dancer, far from it, but performance is as much a matter of horses for courses as the exigencies of technique and Don Q, to be honest, is not that dissimilar to a circus act - the flimsiest story line padded out with a series of party tricks and packed to the brim with exhilaration, rollicking fun and an extraordinary feel-good factor. Or, to put it another way, it is hardly best known for its subtlety. Vasiliev? Just the job!
  20. Yesterday
  21. assoluta
    I wouldn't be so sure that "the Russian companies pale by comparison with the home team". Reading the above, gives an impression that ballet for some of us is a circus act where one-handed lifts and 'scissor jumps' are a determining factor. For some Ivan Vasiliev may be an ultimate ballet dancer, for me, and a lot of others, he is unbearable to watch on the ballet stage. One more thing, practically all of our principals and soloists nowadays dance in the pointe shoes that are a travesty of what the pointe shoes were and should be, while in those "Russian companies that pale by comparison", we still can appreciate, at least among some dancers, feet not disfigured by those terrible shoes that should have never been allowed in ballet, because they not only look ugly but they are also, to say it bluntly, a form of cheating comparable to doping in sports. Then, there is a serious issue with shoulders and hands whose form as displayed by our dancers is oftentimes simply painful to watch. Is the erosion of standards so great that no competent Royal Ballet coach can instruct our principals and soloists in what is right, and what is an absolute no-no? Just a few questions to ponder...
  22. HelenLoveAppleJuice
    Agree with you. As I said in the other thread, I think that Anna Tikhomiromova's case is largely due to her baby in mid-2017. Maternity leave always delays a promotion and in ballet it is even more crucial... I hope that she will get to the leading level soon. She danced the street dancer on the opening night. I attended both Thursday&Friday performance because it was Vasiliev scheduled for Thusday and Lantratov for Friday. I compared the 2 casts. The Thursday supporting cast is more "star-shinning" with more senior level soloists than Friday's. Although I am happy with many fresh faces on Friday, certainly Thursday performance has a stronger supporting cast and executed a bit better. It made Margarita Shrayner looked worse than she actually was... There was a press table reserved on the ground floor on Thursday and I guess that Bolshoi really bet a lot on that performance. The result? 3 stars in Telegraph... Well I actually think that it worth 4 stars for the brilliant corp and supporting soloists on Thursday night. Ruslan Skvortsov's Espada was very good. I don't think that it is fair to compare Ryoichi Hirano's Espada with Skvortsov's because Boishoi's has much less stage time. But I think that Skvortsov is a bit more/equally impressed to me (or at least no less).
  23. LinMM
    I think it is the emergency situation which is highlighted here. Tiffany's situation was an emergency .....and they did not immediately give her the proper treatment for the condition because of her insurance situation......or that is how I understood the appeal on Facebook. In the same emergency in Uk the correct treatment would have been given.......though any appropriate charges would be made and sorted out later. That is the main difference. Personally I always take out very good travel insurance and luckily have only had to use it once for medical costs for a minor injury. But in a more serious situation which required prolonged stay in hospital am not sure whether the Insurance would have covered it.
  24. MJW
    I'd agree regarding YouTube - interestingly the RoH uploaded the cinema broadcast of the Marriage of Figaro on YouTube for a time-limited period. Perhaps they could do the same with the Royal Ballet's broadcasts?
  25. Scheherezade
    We are in a truly enviable position, jmhopton, when the Russian companies pale by comparison with the home team and genuinely privileged to have seen those unforgettable, unsurpassable performances from the past.
  26. HelenLoveAppleJuice
    Raymonda act 3 will be cast Osipova/Muntagirov for screening. It is not a full ballet but truly very classic. I suggest it may be a time to try some new channels like broadcast some ballets though paid Youtube Live channel rather than cinema. Renting cinemas are expensive. And we may broadcast more and make our dancer more exposed. Russian audience often film the performance (I don't support that) and upload online. It certainly brings a lot for their dancers...
  27. jmhopton
    Lovely pics DonQfan and fully agree with everything you said about the Osipova/Vasiliev performances being really special and benchmarks for the role. The first time they danced it together over here was at the Coliseum in (I think) 2007. They then did future shows in 2010 or 11 at the ROH of both Don Q and Flames of Paris and brought the house down every time. Amazing performances that I consider myself very privileged to have seen and will treasure as a standard of excellence for ever. That said, they might have contributed to my finding this year's Bolshoi performances on the whole lacking in the excitement of previous visits. I've always been a huge fan of the Russian Companies. Indeed it was seeing the Kirov (as they were then) in 1990 in Manchester and then the following week in Birmingham that directly led to my current love of ballet. For me the Kirov ruled supreme during the 1990s courtesy of the regular Hochauser visits and stars of the calibre of Konstantin Zaklinsky, Alytynai Asylnuratova, Faroukh Ruzimatov and Igor Zelensky. Through them I was introduced to ballets I'd barely heard of such as La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Fountain of Bakhchisarai and many of the Diaghilev ballets courtesy of their Ballet Russes seasons. Later in 1999 the Bolshoi gave their first season for a while and we saw a bolder, more masculine style of dance and dancers such as Nina Ananiashvilli, Sergei Filin and Svetlana Lunkina and ballets such as Spartacus, Bright Stream, Pharoah's daughter and Flames of Paris. As the Mariinsky rather seemed to wane the Bolshoi got stronger under the amazing directorship of Ratmansky and his newly choreographed ballets and amazing stars such as Osipova and Vasiliev. However, I've found the last couple or so visits by the 'Big Two' Russian Companies have failed to excite me they way they used to do. Whether this is because of my increasing attachment to the UK Ballet Companies, especially the Royal Ballet and because I have come to appreciate a more subtle style of dance, coupled with more complex, psychological plots and need for acting abilities not just technique - I don't know. By comparison with the Royal Ballet in particular (as unfortunately I haven't seen nearly as much of BRB, ENB and Northern Ballet as I would have liked) the Russian Companies' rep. seems very narrow and lacking in emotional depth (or at least that's what we get to see) When I think of all the fine performances I've seen by the Royal Ballet over the last year; Winter Dreams, Month in the Country, Romeo and Juliet, Mayerling, the Medusa triple, Two Pigeons, etc., Spartacus and Swan Lake seem very narrow by comparison. I know you can't judge a Company's rep by what we see here, and obviously they only bring ballets they think will sell well as the season is such a huge capital outlay, but they do usually bring 5 different programmes for the 3 weeks; 4 with half a week each and Swan Lake which has 2 half weeks. This time we only really got 2 and a half ballets with Bright Stream (their most interesting offering) only getting 2 performances. My husband and I did enjoy seeing both performances of Bright Stream again as we haven't seen it for a while though the original cast of Filin and Alexandrova as the Ballerina and Ballet dancer are hard to beat as was Gennady Yanin's incomparable accordion player. However I'm afraid neither of us were really impressed by either of the Don Qs we saw on Friday and Saturday evening. Perhaps we were thinking back to Osipova/Vasiliev; also the last RB Don Q we saw only a few months ago was Osipova/Muntagirov which was almost equally special. So the bar was set high for the Bolshoi and for us they just didn't measure up to it. At the first interval on Friday Terry looked at me and said 'I'm underwelmed'. On the Saturday he said 'I'm even more underwelmed'. This more or less summed up what I'd thought too and being underwelmed didn't come cheap as it cost us hundreds of pounds for tickets, rail fares and hotel accommodation. I was particularly disappointed in Krysanova as I thought she would really 'nail' Kitri. But her first entry and solo, which for me really sets the tone for the evening seemed rather half-hearted and lacklustre. The jumps weren't really high, the back bends (where she arches her back in full jump) weren't that accentuated; it just seemed lacking in sparkle and panache though it did get better as she went on and her fouettes were excellent. Motta Soares was OK and seemed pleasant personality wise but I didn't think his performance currently had the the 'wow factor' necessary for Don Q. In his solo he did attempt the Vasiliev move where he jumps, turns and sort of hangs in the air but they didn't have Vasiliev's height and polish. However, it may come. On Saturday night Rodkin couldn't even manage the one-handed lifts (he had to use two) and I don't know if he forgot his handkerchief for the 'death scene' but it wasn't in evidence. The death scene itself seemed rather rushed and didn't get the laughs it usually does. He did attempt the Vasiliev 'scissor jumps' in his solo though not as successfully as Vasiliev. Also the introduced dance in the tavern scene (itself not nearly as good as Acosta's) with the 3 men and a lady seemed completely out of place and from another ballet (which it was as it was very similar to the one Ratmansky did for Flames of Paris). However, the Don Q one wasn't nearly as well choreographed. In fact the only time either evening I got the 'wow factor' and my heart started racing and I got really excited was when Anna Tikhomiromova danced the first variation. As this lasted all of two minutes it's a bit of a reflection on how I viewed the rest of the ballet! As DonQfan said 'why wasn't she given the chance to dance Kitri?' Why hasn't she been promoted in the Company? She is still only a First Soloist which is below their Leading Soloist. Presumably this is where she was when the Bolshoi came in 2016. She doesn't seem to be getting the recognition and parts she deserves. In fact she seemed to have smaller parts this time than in 2016 though as I didn't see any Spartacus' or Swan Lakes that is only a guess on my part. I missed her street dancer in Don Q which seemed to be the only sizeable part she had in either Bright Stream or Don Q. So apart from quite enjoying Bright Stream this visit didn't do much for us personally though obviously it's only our opinion. I know many others felt differently. I do feel the big Russian Companies might be trading a bit on their name and 'brand' though perhaps it's just my tastes have changed over time. Anyway, spent hugely on the Royal Ballet's new season and am really looking forward to seeing great performances and debuts which hopefully will not disappoint.
  28. HelenLoveAppleJuice
    Actually UK treats short term visitors same. You need to pay before getting treatment unless it is emergency. (But maybe it is always free for UK citizens even if they are not resident. Compare to US it is calculated by your residency not citizenship. I guess the reason may be US grant citizenship to everyone borns there. ) For non-EEA visitors to UK, they are required to get travel insurance when applying for Visa (Since US visitor does not need a tourist visa so they may not be aware about it). "If you needed NHS hospital treatment, you'd be charged at 150% of the standard NHS rate, unless an exemption category applied to either you or the treatment. Health insurance would cover this charge." Unlike you may bargain with US hospital for a cheaper rate if you pay cash (same treatment may cost much more though insurance), here in UK you are charged 150%. But consider UK price is relatively cheaper than normal US hospital, it is not too bad. And same like US, you may pay weekly/monthly if you don't have so much cash in floating if you are proven to be "trustable" or get some family to co-sign the bill. GP here is very busy in London. So when my parents come and want to have a test, we just go to private. It is okay for just one single visit. There are many different kinds of insurances in US. The one I used to have when I lived there has some foreign country supporting. They may reimburse some medical cost if I travel to a foreign country. But some cheaper plans, maybe not have such coverage but you pay much less per month.
  29. Amelia
    When Mariinsky was at the Lowry, Vaziev let one corps de ballet member made her debut in the role of Odette-Odile - her name was Victoria Tereshkina. In Cardiff, as I remember Obraztsova appeared as Juliet in the Lavrovsky's version.
  30. Darlex
    Me too.
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