Ann Williams

Have just heard this reported on BBC Radio 4 news, so it's already in the UK media. The report says he was getting out of his car last night when he was attacked and that doctors are fighting to save his sight. What a disgrace.

Anjuli, I do love the mental picture your posting brings up - little birds falling off the washing line and stagggering around looking happy! I do hope you had the good sense to leave them a large water-dish filled with soluble alka-selzer for the morning after.....

I'd like to add my thanks too for an enjoyable and beautifully organised 'do' - all congratulations to Minder and Grey Rabbit for their hard work and thoughtful arrangements. Just wish I could pass on all the gossip, but I've been warned....

Thanks for this, Aileen. This link should open the article: http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/december-2012january-2013/surviving-nutcracker

I too saw it in the cinema last night and agree with everything both Ribbons and Dave make (apart from one point Dave makes, see below). As to the experience overall, I couldn't help wondering how often we would attend live performances if we could depend on a regular supply of these cinema relays, given the high cost of theatre tickets and the dodgy sightlines and less than comfortable seats they buy. I agree about Cervera's performance as the Nutcracker - he was perfect, a joy to watch. In fact, I enjoyed the whole performance so much that I found all the dancing wonderful - no doubt there were faults here and there, but I didn't care. My point of departure from Dave’s comments concerns Clara’s role: The only fault I can find in Wright's otherwise stunning version is the annoying (to me, anyway) presence of Clara throughout the entire Kingdom of the Sweets scene; she just looks so out of place in her nightie amongst the exotically costumed character dancers and her presence seems distracting and unnecessary, rather like the Jester in those old Soviet-era Russian ballets. It does the dancer herself no favours (and Meaghan Hinkis is a very promising dancer). On a more positive footnote: Ryoichi Hirano’s calm and authoratitve presence as one of the three men in the Arabian dance really stood out – principal roles surely can’t be far away. Congratulations all round, I think!

My menu choices are: First course: Wild mushroom & leek etc on toast Main: Lamb shank Pud Mango sorbet Happy either to send a cheque for the deposit or hand over on the day (which I think we did last year?). As usual, grateful thanks to you for doing this!

Ian, I was contemplating Deborah Bull myself, but - quite aside from the fact that Tony Hall would be a massive act to follow - she simply does not yet have the breadth of experience to handle an enterprise like the ROH (though I wouldn't put it past her to apply for the job...).

'...>as a virulently non-religious person, having Pie Jesu as a persistent ear-worm is somewhat troubling!<...' The Good Lord is trying to tell you something, Dave! And yes, I did manage to find a seat - a particularly good one! I just asked nicely and tried to look even older than I am (I must have been looking particularly wretched last night...).

I was there last night too and I thought the 'Hermanas' cast were superb. Interestingly, because I got my ticket at the last minute through this forum and because someone swiped my cast sheet before I had time to study it, I couldn't quite tell who was dancing what, and it wasn't until the interval that I discoverd that Alina had danced the tortured elder sister. To say the very least of it, I was blown away by her performance; she has the most expressive body of anybody on any stage anywhere, and she seems to have the fearlessness to lay her soul bare for all the world to see. An extraordinary artist. Mendiziabel was touching too as the jealous sister who came to realise too late how she had hurt her sister, and Tom Whitehead as the grubbily macho man of the piece managed to extract some sly wit from the role. Finally, it was good to see Genesia Rosato on stage again, and seemingly just as beautiful as ever.

Thank you for that, John. Must say, Carlos looked in excellent form (despite his advancing years!) and I was pleased to hear the hugely appreciative audience reaction, given that it wasn't a specialist ballet audience. Anyway, a pox on Sky Arts - I'm still not going to take the Murdoch Shilling!

A self-explanatory posting from my local (Chiswick) website, which I thought might be of interest to some balletcoforum-ers: http://appasp.chiswickw4.com/server/app/forum/ShowMessage.asp?ID=849385 If anyone is thinking of attending the viewing on Sat. 24th November, please let me know as I'll be there too!

Count me in too - it's great to know that are retaining this link with the good old days of Ballet.Co!

Jane - so relieved you found this information - I was beginning to think I had dreamt seeing the RB doing Hermanas in London! Aileen, be warned - if you've never seen it, it's almost deliberately OTT and whatever you do, you musn't laugh (I nearly did). I think MacMillan was having a bit of fun with the strutting male in the household of quivering, sex-starved women, but I loved it anyway for the dramatic tension of the piece and the clarity of the story-telling. It's perhaps telling that I can't remember a single detail of the choreography, but nevertheless I'm really looking forward to this revival.

Another supermarket grouch: Finding a promisingly short checkout queue, only for the checkout person to bellow at you that the checkout is now closed, when a simple and clear 'checkout closed' sign on the conveyor belt would have saved him/her the trouble and you the irritation. I guess the supermarkets have to cut corners somehow...

How do you pronounce 'Nehemiah' anyway? It's difficult - do you pronounce the 'h' or what - does anyone know?

The tweets from round the world which we saw on the screen in the live cinema broadcast were very positive, as were most of the postings here, Aileen, so I wouldn't worry too much about what 'the French and Russians thought of it'! Re. your comments on Act I, most of the newspaper critics seem to agree with you, but all I can say is that I was so swept up in the action and spectacle in the cinema that I didn't notice the faults and just enjoyed the whole thing, perhaps because of the special (some would say ‘privileged’) clarity of the screened version. The cinema experience may also have diminished the faults of the Act I set which you mention, so all in all I'd say that when - and if - they bring out the DVD version it would be well worth your while at least renting it. Your comments on Osipova's performance sound so knowledgeable that I'm sure no-one would dare disagree with you, but in fact nearly all the critics disliked it too, so those of us who saw Zenaida in the role - whether on screen or in the theatre - may consider themselves lucky.

Would be interested to know what everyone had to pay for their tickets. My ticket at the Richmond (London) Curzon cost £17, which I think is the most I've had to pay for a screened live performance. However, some might consider it a reasonable price for such a unique experience - what do others think?

Oops! my comments were intended to come under Patsomerset's, not Ian's (and Ian, I'm so sorry for your disastrous experience).

Agree with the above, though I'm no fan of SL I loved every bit of this cinema showing, even the (justly) criticised overstuffed first act. Somehow, the intimate inverviews of the principals and the corps dancers talking about the ballet and their roles in it were quite moving, and made me see this old warhorse with new eyes. The unrivalled filmed view helped, with both close-ups and full stage views at exactly the right times, plus the opportunity to appreciate the detail of the stunning costumes. The dancing seemed to me to be superb all round - Zen wouldn't have been my choice as the Swan Queen, but she actually brought me to tears, and Kish was the most devoted parrtner imaginable. I loved all the character dances, particularly the dazzling pairing of Laura Morera and Ric Cervera in the Neapolitan dance - they were like champagne! So, well done all round, RB and ROH - keep 'em coming! PS: stayed in my seat during both intervals just to look at the wonderful tweets coming in from all over the world - Brazil, Portugal etc. - must have been like a shot in the arm for the dancers themselves once they got offstage.

I too am concerned about Takada's continuing absence - she has shown such obvious star potential that it's disappointing not to see her name anywhere on future programmes. Can enlighten us as to how serious her injury is?

'...>Chen see myech<...' Thank you, toursenlair, and to John for his information on the vital 'ch' sound. Incidentally, I don't think I would recognise this dancer and so went looking for the brief biogs and photos (of RB dancers) that used to be available online but now can't find them. Can anyone point them out?

And one (apparantly genuine) found in the kitchen of a cricket pavilion: "LADIES: Please rinse teapots thoroughly and stand upside down on the draining board".

Taxi4Ballet , just curious - how can you mispronounce 'research'? I know all about 'nuclear' (George Dubbleya Bush could never get his tongue rouund that one, could he?). Anne Marriot, I couldn't agree more about the person in the supermarket queue who packs their shopping bag in leisurely fashion (sometimes removing and repacking items to their satisfaction), then takes ages rootling around for their purse/wallet when handed their bill. I have to stop myself from snapping something quite rude at them. Also, people in bank or post office queues who don't move ahead with the queue and leave long gaps in front of them cause me distress. I'm sure I'll think of more.

I also caught Network Theatre's ' Cherry Orchard', and thought it an admirable production of the revered old theatrical classic. Both the production itself and the playng were uniformly excellent and our Bill was outstanding as the confused but loyal old servant Firs - well done that man!

Many thanks for this heads-up, Trog - good to know that Deborah is still involved in the world of dancing.