MAB

I went last night and on the whole I enjoyed it though I hope it was just first night nerves with Queen Elizabeth. The action takes place in a village hall with a pageant of the kings & queens of England, when they get to Elizabeth I the opera begins and it is full of inventive ideas. The dance content (minimal) isn't worth going to watch specially. Toby Spence sang the role of the Earl of Essex, the queen's love interest, and it was nice to see him recovered from the very grave illness he has been suffering from; he sounded great too.

A friend booked the tickets as I usually avoid weekends; Sadlers Wells is so easy on a weekday, walk down Gower Street and catch a 19 or 38 in New Oxford Street, but getting there from home is a lot less easy. Had Lynette H not posted a warning I would have gone to Balham to change for the Northern Line. Of course my alternative route, East Croydon to St Pancras + 73 bus is all down to whether or not the Thameslink line is open this weekend.

Sim, if you read this thread back you will discover that some of the regular contributors to the forum commented on the remarkably unblemished appearance of Filin's face just a couple of weeks after the alleged incident. There was also comment on how surprising this looked compared to a young London girl who had suffered an acid attack around the same time. Filin's face looked a little swollen but otherwise okay, had I not been told what had happened I would have said he had just had a chemical peel which is a cosmetic procedure. Early reports about his eyes were very positive too, in fact the more I read about this case the more confusing it becomes. Under the circumstances I don't think there is anything unusual about Tsiskaridze's comments. He was merely voicing what many people were thinking, but he is a major casualty in all this because he has just lost his job. I wouldn't call him arrogant, though he is outspoken and opinionated and has discovered that being an Edward Snowden figure is a dangerous route to go down. The Bolshoi management had been trying to off load him for months and now they have succeeded. When I saw his name wasn't included in the list of dancers for next month's London tour, I knew what would happen next. In Britain he gets a bad press no matter how well he dances; only Clement Crisp (God bless him) has reviewed him fairly. Audiences love him though and there have been demos in his support outside the Bolshoi all this week and he may yet take a legal route to get his job back. I am well aware of the extent of Nikolai's popularity as I have followed his career since his early appearances at the RAH back in 1993 and on my trips abroad to see him (Paris, Moscow ,Monte Carlo, Barcelona, to name a few) I've met many of his travelling fans from all over Europe. We all know and love the real Nikolai Tsiskaridze, not the monster a biased press has created.

Thanks for the information, I'm thinking of going to St Pancras and picking up a 73.

Thanks for the warning, I'll have to re-plan my route

A cat stands for mayor in Mexico: "Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat." This is a gem and Morris the cat is a very handsome feline too http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/19/cat-stands-election-mexican-city

Having seen a glass box idea recently in Donna Del Lago, I'm hoping the director doesn't employ that idea again, though it's funny how they ape one anothers ideas. I go to the opera to listen these days, a half way decent production is becoming a rarity. When I started opera going the singers entered, stood centre stage and sang, a bit boring really, but the sets and costumes were often lavish and beautiful. Nowadays, the singers have to act their roles, giving the old operas a new dimension, but they are saddled with settings that play against the original concepts of the work, like the recent ghastly ROH Nabucco. I sometimes think operas would be more attractive and relevant if instead of using opera producers the intendents could simply pull someone at random off the street. They would probably do a better job.

Dowell had a recurring neck injury, anyone familiar with the partnering intricacies of Mayerling will understand why he never attempted the role.

Although I welcome the new lifts at Victoria tube station, all the re-vamps in the world won't improve the capacity. Every morning they close the station several times due to overcrowding; you can be held outside the entrance when they close the gates and held in the booking hall when they close the barriers. When you finally make it to the platfforms you often have to let a couple of trains go before you can board and when you do you are so packed you sometimes can't get off at your stop before the doors close (and don't get me started on the queue for the lifts at Goodge Street). I'm afraid I am pessimistic about the re vamp as the improvements to the bus station outside were a disgrace: whereas there used to be a roof right above the bus stands so that you could walk from bus to station under cover for most of the way, there is now only a inadequate cover above the stands and you get very wet now when it rains, especially when you're forced to queue.

I know litter droppers have been flagged up here for entry into room 101, but after an experience I had at Victoria Station at the height of the rush hour yesterday, that beggars belief, I feel I have to share it. I was walking from the tube station towards Platform nine when a very large bag of rubbish was flung in front of me with some force to crash against the window of WHSmith. No doubt I had a look of horror on my face as I turned to look at the very scruffy, dirty looking man that had slung it there and he said very smugly 'that's what you do with it'. I replied angrily that it wasn't, you either find a bin or take it home with you. At this point he delivered a stream of filth and abuse at me ( funny how foreigners are always so fluent in foul language) and I responded by calling him a filthy foul mouthed pig. Of course there are never station staff or transport Police around when you need them so at this point I walked away as I didn't want to miss my train, but I was disappointed that no one else that saw what he did took the trouble to confront him. There, got that off my chest, still angry though.

Is that Carlos or Yonah Acosta? Actually if you read R & J there isn't actually a reference to a balcony.

Lots of restricted view seats at the sides, so make sure you have a full facing view, a bit small for ballet in my view but nevertheless quite famous as a dance house. Actual building rather beautiful especially if you like the Art Deco style. In Avenue Montaign (sp?) a really posh street with haute couture shops and the Plaza Athenee hotel where Fonteyn held her wedding reception. View of the Eiffel Tower from the corner is spectacular, but avoid the cafe on the corner - horribly over-priced. The cafe on the opposite corner that doesn't have a view of the tower is far more reasonable and has some dance related pictures on the walls.

This discussion is about the very abrupt departure of two greatly loved artists. To speculate as to what caused such a sudden farewell is only to be expected. Every ballet fan I know is asking what happened, no one is saying 'easy come easy go' about those two. People really CARE!

My guess is that this company is more expensive to tour because of its live orchestra. The new breed of impresarios are out to make a fast buck and will tour any old crud that makes them a profit; they have no regard for the quality of their product at all.

Although most of the Russian touring companies are rubbish, this is one of the exceptions. The majority of the dancers are Vaganova graduates and a number of soloists have gone on to distinguished careers elsewhere: for example Glurdjidze to ENB, Kolegova to the Kirov, Yapparova and Yakhnyuk to the Mikhailovsky. The company’s productions are well produced and designed (with the exception of SB which they aren’t taking to Paris anyway) but the R & J will be new to me and I will be interested to find out which production they will be dancing. Kolesnikova is in my view an utter gem and a throwback to the glories of the Kirov’s past, that the Kirov rejected her (likewise Glurdjidze) speaks volumes about the wrongheaded policies that prevail in that company today. She is a genuine prima, a superb technician and interpretative artist with Russian soul oozing from every pore, quite unique in fact. The company’s weak point is that they have never found a partner for Irina of equal quality and have often had to find guests to fill the gap, usually from the Kirov. I am very grateful to you for alerting me to this as I would love to see what she will make of Juliet and as she dances it over a weekend I won’t have problems getting time off work, so again, thank you so much for the ‘heads up’.

Glurdjidze as Raymonda. I have a very big smile on my face.

I sincerely hope that Ivan Vasiliev does not join the RB, though his circus tricks amuse many, I'd prefer a classicist to replace Kobborg. Could we poach another Dane I wonder, or perhaps arrange some sort of guest deal with someone at POB? Would settle for Matvienko or Sarafanov though.

Was that the one where the people of the planet lived by a book that had been left behind? If I remember rightly the crew replaced it with a bible before leaving. A classic. Scotty is now played by Simon Pegg, one of my favourite comic actors, amazing how the series has reinvented itself and still stays watchable.

I would have thought so too, but when young Star Trek fans ask me what my favourite episode was and I reply The Trouble with Tribbles, most seem not to have heard of it and I've only seen a repeat once since the first time around. Have to fess up to a secret fondness for Sci Fi; how I used to love the old BBC disused quarry, the backdrop for so many earlier series such as Blake's 7. Nostalgia on my part I suppose.

And in the UK one of the least repeated.

No, by the staff reprimanding people that do so. It works at the Coliseum so why not at Covent Garden?

Never mind the professionals, how about putting a stop to all those amateurs that blind you with flashes at the end of performances.

As the 15th June gets ever nearer, perhaps some of you would like to contribute to a flower throw. Simon, a regular no doubt known to many, is collecting money for the occasion. If anyone is willing to donate send me a private message and I will put you in touch with Simon. many thanks MB

Why can't I meet a man like that?

Beautiful photos Amelia. To think this is the girl the Bolshoi mangement considers 'fat'.