MAB

From what I have read the waking up period for someone in an induced coma is very lengthy, but I believe his life is no longer in danger.

The natterers behind me were not discussing ballet. The musical interlude Cortege was very much part of the programme, the compser died in the first world war. Here is a brief biography and a picture of the original blood-stained score of the music that I was forced to struggle to hear uninterrupted last night. http://www.warcomposers.co.uk/coles.html

Alison, the evening finished at 10.30. Will post some thoughts tomorrow.

No interest here I'm afraid, however if anyone wants to dicuss Formula 1.............

terpsichore, I think you will find that the Australian Ballet have a version of Spartacus in their rep. Very different to the Bolshoi's but very well done with the emphasis being on the gladiators rather than the Romans - a bit homo-erotic in my view, but a very effective production. Try and get a DVD of it and you'll see what I mean.

Hear, hear.

I saw Markarova dance many times and know exactly what you mean, whether she started the trend generally I don't know as shortly after her defection Russian tours to Britain dried up. However I think she was responsible for manipulation of the music in the west. It is a vile practice and it comes as a shock now when you hear the music played in the original form as it is inevitably far faster than we hear today.

But the FT's critic does have an engaging prose style, something none of the others have. I don't see the point of these very mundane, poorly written crits and a number of them have an agenda. One woman I never read because I know exactly what she will write in advance, so much the pet of one particular company she is. What happened to the aim of subjectivity?

Don't forget Prince Igor at the Coliseum very shortly, I'd be surprised if the Polovtsian dances aren't included .

The four pages of celebrity gossip could go or at least be reduced to two, it's supposed to be a news paper after all.

Windsor? Saxe Coburg Gotha I believe.

Anjuli, do you get a programme called 'Who do you think you are?' in your neck of the woods? Celebrities of course, but many of their stories are really intriguing as they are researched by teams of experts. Brooke Shields was descended from kings, Popes and saints and could trace back through an Italian ancestor to almost the dawn of recorded time. Sarah Jessica Parker found she was descended from a Salem witch and Barbara Windsor found her family was connected to the painter John Constable. I have an interesting ancestress myself, an Irish lady accused of murder when a villager recognised her cloak as she presumably fled the scene of the crime. To escape justice she went off to America, but hated it there and said she would rather be hanged in Ireland than live another day in America (conditions for immigrants in those days were frightful). On her return the crime had been solved, her lodger had disguised himself in her cloak that night to commit the murder and later confessed. You could make a film out of that!

I was really keen to see this but a string of events meant that this week I’d be unlikely to be able to go, however that changed with the news of the Osipova injury, so I (politely) left our tickets at the ROH box office and legged it to the Coliseum instead. As a Britten fan I’d been intrigued by his only ballet for a long time and was delighted when MacMillan decided to resuscitate it, though I was never totally happy about aspects of the story line. As nothing survived of the original Cranko except for a couple of pictures of Beriosova that proved it was indeed a ‘tutu ballet’ it would seem that David Bintley obviously views it the same way as it was very classical in some places. The actual score is differently ordered and some of the music is cut I think, but the set pieces such as suitors’ dances, salamander’s entrance and final fight remain untouched. The story line is different to MacMillan’s in that Epine is step-mother rather than sister to the Princess Belle Sakura and the Salamander Prince is Belle’s enchanted brother believed to be dead. The first act though is remarkably similar to MacMillan’s with Epine anxious to get Belle off her hands to the richest suitor. The gifts these guys bring are all ecologically or morally unsound: Prince of the South brings ivory, Prince of the East brings opium, Prince of the North has an oil well and Prince of the West is Uncle Sam himself with presents of firearms. They repel the young princess who prefers to escape with the Salamander and his strange entourage to accepting one of the men she despises. Act two is choreographically the strongest act with Bintley at his most inventive as the Princess journeys through air, fire, water, and earth before learning the truth about her brother’s fate. For me my favourite was the sea sequence with Empress Epine transformed into a squid-lady and accompanied by shivering hairy sea-urchins. The act ends with a flashback of the children playing happily together before the brother’s transformation by wicked Epine, and the talented children dancing these roles made it genuinely touching. The final act is back to their father’s court where Epine has made the suitor’s regular fixtures whilst the emperor is stricken in both body and mind. Armed with the truth about her brother’s supposed death, Belle Sakura is prepared to fight for her father but thanks to her love and loyalty her brother is restored to human form to the delight of the emperor whose health returns as he joins his children in seeing off Epine and the suitors. All ends happily with the court and people celebrating a brighter future to what is for me the finest musical episode in the ballet. Jenny Roberts danced the leading role and had the hard task of being radiantly good, unlike Samara Downs as Epine with the easier job of portraying a bad girl. Both succeeded magnificently and I particularly admired Ms Robert’s transformation of gentle innocence to ferocious warrior in defence of her family, but the entire cast danced admirably and I’m looking to see if it’s possible to catch the company elsewhere on the current tour. Comparisons with MacMillan are inevitable but there’s room for both versions, the biggest difference is that the Bintley production is one you could take the kids to whereas the MacMillan, much as I admire it, is clearly a ballet for adults.

One detail I forgot to mention is that a lot of Irish people adopt a confirmation name that they then put on legal documents such as a marriage certificates. My mother was simply Mary on her birth certificate but by the time I was born she was Mary Bridget.

I put in my number & password and it won't accept them. Yes, it's new (couple of months) and is an HP Pavillion.

Problem is in the title, can you help please? Mary B.

Quays, have you asked members of your extended family if they have information? Cousin Fiona in Wexford is our family historian and she's come up with amazing stuff, but that lack of records in Ireland hampers every search and there are so many annoying gaps. You never know about things such as old photos unless you ask around. The biggest conundrum for us is that the family name, Lyons, was the Anglicized version of two particular names that were conveniently changed because they were considered unpronounceable outside the Irish community, one name was from Cork and the other from Galway; we think we were from the latter family as we hail from County Mayo, so closer to Galway, but of course that might not be the case. Anyway, good luck, I know only too well how frustrating these searches in Ireland can be.

Not sure if anyone has thought about the cost to business, all those slot machines will have to be changed to accommodate it, will supermarket trollys be out of commission during the changeover?

I would love to see Two Pigeons in London again, I've enjoyed the performances I've seen in Birmingham but it would be nice to see some of the present RB dancers in the roles too. On a double bill with Symphonic Variatons perhaps. How about reviving Massine's Mamzelle Angot for Osipova? She would be perfect in the title role with Steven Macrae as the Barber and Sarah Lamb as the aristocrat. I'd like a Sylvia revival too and some earlier MacMillan such as Images of Love and the cheerful (admit it, that's rare), Four Seasons. Another vote here for a new Swan Lake.

In Russian there are no rules concerning the stress in surnames, indeed it isn't unkown for a name with the same spelling to have the stress on different syllables according to the family tradition e.g. IVANov or IvaNOV. In Russia it is PAVlova.

Like Peach Melba?

There is a Russian feature in today's Telegraph with an article on Ballet. It claims the Bolshoi will dance Golden Age at the Barbican on 30th March. Not according to the Barbican's web site though; the cinema is showing the Bolshoi in Marco Spada and Gergiev is conducting a concert that night, but that's it. Have I missed something or is this just an example of terrible reportage?

Just crazy about the cat singing Marvin Gaye to the budgie; I think this could become my favourite TV ad of all time. http://www.freeview.co.uk/catandbudgie

How about removing the lifts and installing escalators.

I think it was Keith Money who made that comment, in one of his many books about Fonteyn and the partnership.