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MAB

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Everything posted by MAB

  1. You're right Alison, there is actually a seven minute maximum rule, he broke it by six minutes.
  2. Hello Djaamila, thanks for sharing your thoughts and your dilemma, I think I can understand your friends reactions to seeing a dance discipline so different from hip hop. I know from talking to non dance colleagues about classical ballet that the tutu is a strong disincentive to even watching ballet. Professional ballet takes many forms and some of the most impressive ballets don't conform to girlie pinkness in appearance, I recommend going on line and take a look at as many examples of the art you can find. I caught the ballet bug at a similar age to you, though of course back then I was in full time employment at fifteen so never considered classes. Even if you decide ballet isn't something you would be comfortable doing, it might be something you will get a lot out of watching. Best wishes Mary B.
  3. Black is traditionally the colour of mourning, though originally it signified innocence (think of black-clad nuns), perhaps red would better signify her new attitude to life.
  4. Petipa, no. However a few have stated they don't care for Ashton at all and I remember some scathing comments when Two Pigeons was revived.
  5. I can't think of an exact synonym for gush, but the best way to deal with the more inane posts is simply to move onto the next.
  6. Front row Orchestra stalls is awful, you can't see the feet. I hope these seats are sold as restricted view, if they aren't it's a disgrace. On the other hand the view from the front row of the grand tier is perfection.
  7. Oscar already has a fan following in London since dancing in Fairy Doll with the Vaganova students at last year's Russian Icons. I happen to know his former teacher in St Pete's and he rated Oscar very highly indeed.
  8. I'm afraid I'm less than enthusiastic, primarily because I don't care much for those dancers currently in favour. Alexandrova and Kaptsova have both been demoted, of the female principals only Krysanova and Obraztsova are real ballerinas, though there are better dancers further down the rankings. Pointless to create a wish list of ballets, the Hochhausers choose what sells the best, there are no other considerations. Personally I'm disappointed we're not getting the Mariinsky next year.
  9. Amazing!! You were denigrating Matthew Golding and Salenko from day one.
  10. These events occurred decades ago and I don't think there's much point in raking over history, however Jennifer Penney rarely did interviews at all but when she did she was always brutally frank and was very atypical of dancers of her generation. The Ballet Association makes transcripts of interviews now but I don't know when they started that practice. Some people tell it like it is, but aren't always admired for doing so. I had a great deal of respect for Ms Penney's honesty.
  11. Although people disagreed with me when I mentioned this before, in a Ballet Association talk many years past. Ms Penney claimed the role was largely created on her after Sibley backed out in the early stages of creation only changing her mind much later when the final form of the ballet was apparent. Everyone will have a favourite Manon and both Seymour and especially Markarova seemed to live the role on stage, but I think Penney gave us more of the choreographer's intentions than anyone else.
  12. Agree about Stix-Brunell. for me she is the most under-appreciated, under-rated, under-used dancer in the company. My own feelings about Capybara's initial list is that while going along with most of it I don't agree with it entirely and rate very highly some seldom mentioned in reviews. I think what we appreciate has a lot to do with personal criteria and expectations.
  13. This very good amphi seat is still looking for a hone if anyone is interested.
  14. Out of interest, does anyone know how these timings compare to Bayreuth?
  15. Apart from Irina Kolesnikova, the Bolshoi's Anna Nikulina will also dance O/O. The two Siegfrieds will once again be Rodkin and Kim.
  16. MAB

    Arsene Wenger

    There was a wonderful tribute to him on Sky News yesterday, from of all people, Jeremy Corbyn, a closet Arsenal fan. He spoke very warmly about Arsene, mostly as a manager but also mentioned how he would find time in his busy schedule to talk to local children on the importance of learning languages. Football has changed radically in my lifetime from being pretty basic to big business with eye watering sums involved. Arsenal hasn't had the spending power of some other clubs and it will be interesting to see how the club fares under another manager. I don' think Wenger will mange another club, but I think it's more than possible he will take on a national team.
  17. If the US is anything like the UK, immigration policy can change on a whim. I used to have a job arranging student seminars and I remember a small change in documentation led to an eminent US academic being detained at Heathrow under suspicion of illegal entry. Actually the guy in question thought it was a hoot, however my boss who'd arranged his visa was mortified. It could well be something of that nature, though not granting a visa to an Italian does suggest human error.
  18. I'm going out on a limb over this, I considered this the poorest programme ENB has presented for many years and the empty seats around me would testify to a lack of enthusiasm from the public generally. I don't care very little for Forsythe, though the pieces shown were more balletic than a lot of his output and were at least not saddled with pretentious titles. For the rest, the revival of Fantastic Beings really puzzled me, shortening it made it less tedious but it seemed a lot of energy was spent for no real purpose. I enjoyed The Cage but that was it. The dancers were all terrific they danced flat out and deserved their applause, but frankly what I enjoyed most about the evening was going home.
  19. These claims are highly subjective, I read that as hyperbole.
  20. So one of the jury has her boyfriend among the nominees. Words don't fail me at all but they're not for here.
  21. A company doesn't announce it's joiners, especially such a high profile dancer as Maria Kotchetkova? That's a new one on me.
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