MAB

BBC has video footage of rehearsals and some words from Acosta himself to whet your appetites. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24302544

Or perhaps Tsiskaridze gets reinstated after a clear case of unfair dismissal.

Not totally convinced that the RB has absolutely no one worthy of promotion. Alexander Campbell danced principal roles at BRB and would cope very well partnering Osipova in SB. He danced the role with BRB in London and was very good, why can't he dance that role ot ROH? Agree strongly with Capybara's point though.

No it isn't, go back and read the 'audience behaviour' thread.

It wasn't a complaint, it was an observation.

An example of mixed messages? You cannot comment on the state of the fat EXCEPT when one of them is spilling over onto your seat in the ROH amphi (see audience behaviour). I'm discovering double standards here.

Just looked at the picture on ENO web page. Interesting that only Matvienko maintains a really good line in the air.

I'm politically incorrect by nature and far too old to change, so a lard a**e is a lard a**e in my opinion and being fat can mean a short life. People should be shamed into losing weight. Outside of London (and it's pretty bad inside London) the size of many people is disgusting, I don't mean just overweight but morbidly obese. My oldest friend is dying as a result of diabetes and I have very strong views on the subject.

Keep watching the DVD's, it will alleviate the symptoms to some extent.

Who's had those doughnut-like things often dripping in honey that they serve you in Greece? They don't look conventional but take some beating. Anyone remember what they're called?

I am an old person, well beyond pensionable age, but I work full time with a three hour per day commute on top, I don't like swearing either but if someone came up to me in the supermarket at the weekend and suggested I shouldn't be shopping then, I would tell them to **** off.

Politically she was very naive, remember her fondness for Imelda Marcos? but she was no fantacist. Like many dancers she lived in a restricted bubble of existance that afforded limited contact with the world outside of ballet leaving little scope for political awareness. The same is true of most classical dancers today, but not strangely with contemporary dancers.

You assume wrongly, I've paid many times to see him dance, but I wouldn't be prepared to pay over the odds to see him and I suspect I may not be alone.

I. Vasiliev couldn't fill the house for his R&J performances, so how will he fill it for Corsair?

I would not pay extra to watch Ivan Vasiliev, however I probably would to see Elena Glurdjidze who so far has inexplicably not been cast in Corsair.

Going a little off topic, can I say how much I disliked the original article and in particular the rudeness towards Nikolai Tsiskaridze. In general I don't think this Bolshoi season was as successful as previous ones. It was clever to end on a high, but apart from Jewels, there was little excitement in the frankly dull productions of the classics. And no, a star certainly was not born with Olga Smirnova's London debut and I find it disquieting that the UK critic's were either blind to her obvious technical defects or chose to ignore them.

Always difficult to define the word 'star' in the context of a ballet company, Carlos Acosta is undoubtedly a star, so perhaps we should be asking who else in the RB could pack them in at the Coli for a week - with the Bolshoi dancing at the ROH at the same time. Cojocaru might have done it and probably Osipova could, but anone else? I don't think so.

Yes, the Royal Ballet has changed a great deal, but perhaps that has a lot more to do with Wayne McGregor, Kim Brandstrup et al, than the overseas dancers currently in the company. The English style has gone by the way but the basic repertoire remains and any dancer joining the company should be able to hit the ground running so to speak and be able to dance the staple works without a stylistic clash. Would you honestly want to see Ivan Vasiliev dance Symphonic Variations for example? When he attempted Ashton choreography in R&J, in the pas de trois next to Alban Lendorf he was clearly struggling with completely unfamiliar steps that Lendorf performed effortlessly. As someone who deeply regretted Mukhamedov's joining the RB, I can't agree that he fitted in. At around the same time Alexei Fadeyechev danced in Prince of the Pagodas with Nina Ananiashvili, a performance never bettered in that ballet before or since in my view. Had the versatile Fadeyechev joined the company I would have been delighted, but that was not to be. The Bolshoi is a huge company and there is not the need for the versatility I referred to there as they have specialist dancers for different types of rep, a luxury that in the main the RB doesn't have.

Whenever Ivan Vasiliev dancers in London there always seems to be a suggestion that he could dance with the RB. As he is stylistically poles apart from the Royal I don't understand some people's enthusiasm for this. If I could single out a dancer for Kevin O'Hare to wave a contract at, it would be Vladislav Lantratov. Remember him? He danced the matinee performance of Flames and he was damn good, he danced all the steps that I.Vasiliev danced but without the show off add-ons. He is so stylish and technically assured he would be an asset to any company and has the temperament to dance most of the standard rep. My only reservation about this dancer in Flames of Paris is that he has somewhat patrician features making him not wholly believable as an uncouth peasant, it is to his credit that he worked so hard to overcome this "disadvantage" and to deliver such a compelling performance.

In Russia character dancing encompasses genre and national dance; many dancers there actually specialize in this kind of rep, though there is a bit of an overlap with some of them. MacMillan rarely touched that kind of character dance.

Ratmansky is not a choreographer to be pigeon-holed, although he has tackled three Soviet blockbusters; his original work is mainly very subtle and inventive. You don't have to go to Moscow to see his work, the RB's Twenty four Preludes was created right here in London earlier this year and was full of nuance and poetry. He understands dancers and choreographs to their strengths which is why his works are now in demand worldwide.

The older version of Flames of Paris can still be seen in some old compilation videos and clearly there was a lot to admire, whatever the underlying propaganda message was. The original romantic pas de deux for Mirelle and Antoine, which Amelia says was first danced by Ulanova, is very beautiful and I hope Misha Messerer has left it in his new (more authentic) version. Some people will never take to a ballet like Flames because of the unusual blend of character and classical ballet, but for me that is what the Bolshoi does so well: it presents a vivid canvas of actual events with Ratmansky's interpretation of historical performance. There is a lot of melodrama, pathos and over-the-top virtuosity, but having been to all three performances, I can confirm the audience was wildly enthusiastic every time and although there were nay-sayers they were in the minority. A stunning end to the season in my view.

I remember Starr Danias very well from her days with LondonFestival Ballet (now ENB) she was something of a favourite of mine.

Personally I don't recommend watching from the wings as you have to stand well back to keep out of the audience's view and also to keep out of the way of dancers making rapid entrances/exits, this means your actual view of the stage is extremely limited. It can also be rather crowded with other dancers, teachers, dancers friends etc. also jostling for position. If you can't get a seat and it is something you are desperate to see it is better than nothing I suppose. It is interesting but could never be called exciting.

This is a mine field, but art acknowledged to be such at any point in that work of art's history remains art to be appreciated by it's own and future generations. I imagine artists as diverse as Praxiteles, Shakespeare and Petipa were all considered innovators in their time.