Nina G.

Luke Jenning's response to an online reader commenting on his Guardian article: "British children go into the RB system prepared to give their all. It's what happens to them then that we should be looking at." He is so right.

Assemble mum, you are right in observing that the oversees student arrives knowing they are the best in their country and for that reason they got into the Upper School. The ones coming from the Lower School basically apologise for being there and for having made it into the Upper School.They just don't believe they are the best too (maybe they are never told they are?). You can see that in their performance at the end of the year, they are tentative too, but the oversees student will be flashy or at least have a confident "look at me, here I am" attitude. After reading Luke Jennings article it looks like the change has to come from White Lodge- to begin with. If a young ballet student is told time and time again they are no good, how will they ever grow confident enough to compete with the very confident oversees student and ultimately with the very confident American or Japanese professional dancer?

Post 118: How very very true this is!

So was The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet and... Indeed Janet, variety is the spice of life and there is something out there for everyone's taste I guess. If the money they make out of that "Alice" show is used to create gorgeous New Work by Liam Scarlett and showing interesting Triple Bills... so be it.

I have always said, since seeing it last year, this show is not for a company like the RB. I want to see Ballet at the ROH not a West-End/Broadway show. Just like you: I don't want to see it again! I really feel for the dancers and it saddened me to see only their legs used underneath a caterpillar or bodies covered up to puppeteer and to be sprayed pink to appear as a Flamingo for just a few minutes. Such a waste of their talent!

None of the Ballet critics (except M.Moynahan) likes "Alice". Neither do I but I do accept it fills the coffers of the ROH and brings children into the ROH. In that it succeeds. It's not a Ballet, it's a show and as a show it's entertaining and visually interesting. I can't imagine the dancers enjoying it as much as the audience does. There is little dancing in it for them except being sprayed pink to play Flamingo or walking under a caterpillar or being covered up in black to puppeteer a cat instead of dancing.

I remember seeing Yasmine Naghdi and Claudia Dean

and a good observation it is Primrose!

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/35312-physical-and-mental-abuse/ Interestingly Post 1 and 2 on this Forum talks about similar problems with companies in Sweden and Germany. They too are filled with foreigners except their own nationals. It's a global issue it seems.

DaveM said: "Really looking forward to seeing Beatriz Stix-Brunel's debut on Saturday. She brings joy to the stage and lights it up whenever she dances". Who wouldn't bring joy to the stage and light up whenever she dances Dave when - as a Corps dancer - one gets such an opportunity!!!! I think they all would have a very big smile on their face

Marianella Nunez started taking classes at the age of 3, aged 8 she was admitted to a full time ballet school and by the time she was14 she was in the Corps de Ballet. Thus, she already had 3 years of professional experience before she came to London for a finishing year at the RBS. From there on it was rapid ascend in the RB and within a few years she was a Principal.

This seems a rather hot topic of conversation everywhere. Me too I wonder why there are so few UK trained dancers reaching Principal level, if not at least First Soloist level. It seems the Japanese and the Americans are getting quick promotions, much much faster than our UK trained dancers. Looking into whom came all the way through White Lodge, the Upper School and joined the RB (there are very few): in 2009 Ruth Bailey joined the RB, Yasmine Naghdi joined the RB in 2010, and Francesca Hayward in 2011. In 2012 no White Lodger is joining the RB thus this makes just 3 female White Lodgers-Upper School trained dancers over a period of 5 years (no White Lodger taken on in 2008 if I remember well). Liam Scarlett, James Hay, Sergei Polunin spring to my mind as male White Lodgers having joined the RB (sorry if I forgot one). More dancers from Japan and USA are taken on. Why? Edited in response to Post 7: Ruth, Yasmine and Francesca were all born in Britain, so are the boys except Sergei.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-royal-opera-house-london-7577434.html and The Independent agrees too: great spectacle, thin ballet! Wheeldon has a long way to go before he'll get Alice right, if ever.

http://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/company/history/reid-anderson/

"Alice" will never do it for me, it didn't last year and still doesn't this time around . It's all about props and stage effects. I think it must be such a frustrating ballet to perform for the RB dancers. There is not enough dancing in there for them but walking under cover as a "Caterpillar", acting as "Card Couples", being covered up in black and puppeteering a "Cat" (they are dancers not puppeteers!). Thank goodness for the Flower Waltz and the Card Dance. Their talent is grossly underused. IMO it would make a great West-End show but it's not a Ballet for the RB dancers. I can't wait until they move on to the Triple Bill when I'll get to see real dancing. I fully agree with The Artsdesk (J.Flanders)' review.

Sergei never had to put up a fight to get there, compared to his RBS and RB colleagues. It was all handed out on a plate. He never experienced disappointment of not being cast, or being a cover, or being overlooked...It was all easily up for grabs for Sergei. He danced... but probably never felt a real urge to dance. Talent alone clearly doesn't cut it. Professional dancers thrive on the routine of daily class, rehearsals and performance. I understand he didn't. He said it himself: there was nothing left to wish for. So many dancers "survive" depressing years in the Corps de Ballet in the hope that one day they'll get out of the Corps and get a promotion. Sergei jumped the ranks and at 19 achieved what most dancers have to work for for many years. Now that he is out there in the real world I hope he will experience, and understand, that things do not come easy in life.

Pas de Quatre 72: For many years RB principals have complained that they don't get enough opportunities to perform. Is the company perhaps top heavy with too many principals? The Company is bottom heavy too. Maybe the Company is just too big? One can only imagine how frustrating it must be for most of the (UK trained) Artists and First Artists having to wait for years before being given any mentionable opportunity (except the foreign dancers)...

Got my ticket! Who will be dancing? What else is on the programme?

I feel very strongly about UK trained kids (after all, doesn't the taxpayer fund part of their training) getting every opportunity, and for their talent to be nurtured right through when they are in the RBCompany. How many RBS trained Soloists and Principals are there in RB? Very few To poster 72: It is already a Premier League, with foreign imported talent filling the higher ranks. That's hardly news.

Re. Ms. Du Boison: I recently read somewhere that The Royal Ballet ballerina Yasmine Naghdi, and winner of "The Young British Dancer of the Year 2009" took after school classes in Notting Hill with Ms Du Boison (before Yasmine was invited to join the Royal Ballet School). This was before YDA existed.

In my opinion the depressing situation, as mentioned by Annamk, is due to the fact that there is not enough nurturing of our homegrown talent. BRB is great at that! The British Style of the RB is long lost and "import" seems to be the buzz word. It saddens me to see some talented homegrown dancers in the ranks below First Soloist, being totally overlooked. It must be so frustrating for them. I should have added Valentino Zucchetti to my list of deserving dancers.

I'd love to see: Leanne Cope as Juliet Yasmine Naghdi as Nikiya Iona Loots as Alice Tristan Dyer as Albrecht

I agree with annamak and zxDaveM!

Valentino Zucchetti has indeed the knack of bringing the best out his dancers, just as he did last year when he choreographed a piece on Sergei Polunin and Yasmine Naghdi. I wouldn't really say Stix-Brunell was the only highlight in Zuchetti's piece, so was Naghdi, a truly wonderful lyrical dancer and a joy to watch whenever we have seen her on the stage. Male dancers Campbell, Dyer, Emerton and Trzensimiech were also a delight to watch, as was the Trzensimiech-Naghdi pdd

My two favourite pieces were by Valentino Zuchetti, a beautiful neo-Classical piece danced by a superb cast (Naghdi,Calvert, Dean,Cambell, Dyer, David T., Brunel) and Tamara Rojo's (Bracher and Martin). The five pieces before the interval unfortunatly left me cold. Very surprised the ArtsDesk didn't mention Tamara's piece!