MAB

I was lucky enough to have seen him in roughly forty of his roles and a fair number of his productions and creations too. Sad he merits no official Royal Ballet recognition in this year that marks eighty years since his birth and twenty five since his death. He gave the company the third acts of La Bayadere and Raymonda (the Sadlers Wells company got a full length version) and I can only imagine the excitement that must have been felt in seeing those great works for the first time. In her excellent biography Diane Solway credits Nureyev with creating the famous ballet boom of the 1970's and points out that between his appearance on the scene in1961 and 1974 the US ballet audience grew from one million to ten million and the number of ballet companies from twenty four to three hundred and sixteen. For myself I miss the excitement and the glamour of those days, when tickets were so rare that even A-list celebrities stood, often in full evening dress, at the back of the stalls circle and curtain calls went on for half an hour or more. Night after night I'd sleep out on the pavement in Floral Street to get a standing or a rare return. I think we all knew how special what we were seeing was and how unlikely it would be to ever see anyone like that again. Those as they say really were the days.

Ballet isn't a sport, it is an art form, or at least it is supposed to be.

I think there was a certain amount of pique in parts of the revue, I got the impression he had come to see Hallberg and felt short-changed. This is the second time I've read Matthew Ball being described as 'pretty'. I'm uncomfortable with that term as I find it demeaning, not as overt as the suggestion he gets roles because he is handsome but the implication is there. With regard to changes in choreography, a jump or a spin can be integral, but steps can look very different on different dancers with different speed and elevation.

The word digressed was used in the Guardian article: "At the ENB’s annual press conference on Tuesday, Rojo, 43, digressed from speaking about the forthcoming season to address the concerns.At the ENB’s annual press conference on Tuesday, Rojo, 43, digressed from speaking about the forthcoming season to address the concerns." I'm afraid I don't believe there is a more important issue in the ballet world at the moment, at least not in this country. I consider the treatment of dancers and their continued welfare to be of the upmost importance.

For me life's heroes are those that battle adversity. Two of my mother's siblings died from motor neuron disease and I am amazed and delighted that Professor Hawking achieved his three score years and ten and a bit more. Apart from his scientific achievements he was a champion of the NHS and in that capacity rattled a few political cages in his time. A great man with a great legacy.

Brave as well, Russian audiences are notoriously conservative. Happy the production is going abroad though, it deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.

It looks as if we are moving forward with an actual name now, that of Jose Martin, note that he was named by three different sources. Presumably he agreed to being named which gives me hope that others will be emboldened to give testimony. Although most of us never doubted any of the accusations made, the whistle blowers' understandable anonymity did provide ammunition to those people seeking to deny the problem, though whether others come forward depends on whether gagging orders were imposed. I was surprised by the allegation that Ms Rojo was 'poached' by ENB. Her appointment was indeed unorthodox but much was written about that at the time and I am surprised that the Times journalists did not do their homework a bit better. With reference to the Guardian article it seems that Ms Rojo deflected possibly uncomfortable questions at the press conference by making a statement before she could be interrogated, but news hounds generally grab a story such as this by the teeth and don't let go. Clearly the ballet variety are a poor bunch.

I'm green with envy.

I thought ENB's Cinderella was that lovely version by Michael Corder. I'm confused.

Next year has to be one long celebration of the centenary of Margot Fonteyn'e birth, hasn't it?

Seeing as Bernstein's links to the world of ballet were minimal, I'd personally prefer to be celebrating Petipa.

Once again you choose to insult people that don't share your views as "ignorant". When you were so rude about the dancer Emmanuel Thibault, you were challenged to give details of exactly what you do in the dance world that makes you such an authority, but you never replied. Once again would you care to give that information so that we understand why your opinions should be considered so superior to the views of so many others.

The Danish girls dance silently, never figured out whether it's their shoes or technique. Shoes seem to get louder and louder year on year, I imagine in a few years time when they drown out the music completely someone will finally redesign them.

Up until his untimely death I always considered Sergei Vikharev a living treasure of the dance world. I was mightily disappointed that a western company never saw fit to utilize his unique talent in staging Petipa's work from notations as it would have been possible to bring long forgotten Petipa masterpieces back to glorious life. Of course he flourished under Vaziev but never found favour with his successor: a great pity. For the gala they should have given his wonderful Awakening of Flora, admittedly not by Petipa but far more fitting than Balanchine.

Am I right in assuming the third act of Sleeping Beauty is the Vikharev reconstruction again? If so the casting of Aurora is beyond belief seeing as those dancers that actually worked with Vikharev are mainly still dancing. Petipa would turn in his grave at the thought of Somova's six o' clock extensions destroying his choreography.

Two Russians with very strong links to Britain should also be considered, both have experience as directors and most importantly both are artistically conservative and unlikely to turn the company into a Brummie version of POB. For your consideration I give you Misha Messerer and Irek Mukhamedov. The former is still at the Mikhailovsky in St Petersburg but soon to leave and the latter is teaching here in the UK at present. I wonder if either or both would throw their hat in the ring.

I wouldn't call it a re-hash at all, for the very first time someone has finally put some meat on the bones as to why the Rojo/Hernandez affair has upset so many within the company: "Meanwhile the female dancer claimed it had been frowned upon for other members of staff to become romantically involved with one another. ‘Ironically, about a year before Tamara and Isaac got together, a woman dancer and ballet master were in a relationship,’ she said. ‘She was led to believe it was a conflict of interest and that either she had to leave or they had to marry. They both resigned and ended up marrying — and are still together to this day." The comparisons with the RSC and Glyndebourne are laughable, Antony Sher is one of the most famous actors of our time and has been connected with the company long before his husband become the director. At Glyndebourne De Niese, a singer in demand internationally, isn't featured enough there in my opinion and I'm mightily disappointed she won't be reprising her role in Giulio Cesare this season.

Also Young Apollo, a perfect vehicle for certain of the RB's younger male dancers. It would be wonderful to hear Benjamin Britten's music in the house again especially as the Royal Opera seems to have forgotten of his existence.

Seeing that he wasn't around when they were dancing, I don't think he has the right to pontificate about them.

Most contracts have opt out clauses.

I would love to see Iain Webb take over.

Perhaps now he doesn't have divided loyalties he could create something for the RB at ROH.

In my experience employees do not "invent" grievances, in fact they are most likely to suffer in silence - putting up or shutting up in fact. Over a period of time such employees usually make the decision to move on. Exactly what unprecedented numbers of ENB employees are doing.

I felt he looked more relaxed as I detected a certain tenseness at times on his debut, I imagine the hurried circumstances of his second crack at the role gave him no tine for nerves.

This is the Dance Magazine article that Mr Hampson refers to: http://www.dancemagazine.com/tamara-rojo-isaac-hernandez-2540834080.html