Pas de Quatre

I have no problem with nudity if it is entirely voluntary. The audience can then decide whether or not they wish to buy a ticket. However, can you picture the pressure on young dancers if they are uneasy about stripping off? I can imagine they would be anxious about future casting or career prospects if they refused.

No it isn't. In fact there is a film of it with NDT (possibly on Youtube) where from a long shot the dancers look splendid with their red bottom halves, but as the camera comes in closer you realise that even the slimmest dancers can't get rid of the jiggle factor and to my mind it looks silly. In the 1960/70s NDT produced a nude ballet and John Percival a major critic at the time damned it by saying men shouldn't dance nude unless they had control of every part of their anatomy.

Response to music is certainly marked, not just timing, but interpretation and dynamics too.

I have just copied and pasted this from the RAD as they were all Genée finalists - with regard to contracts with Scottish Ballet for the Hansel and Gretal production. "Pascal Johnson has been engaged by the company on a temporary contract, whilst Katie Rogers and Natasha Watson (Genée bronze medallist) are on student secondment from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Ballet West respectively."

If possible I would suggest getting the written syllabus - even on the DVD there are little mistakes and blending of the timing so it is not absolutely clear which count it is meant to be.

Delighted to hear your DS has made such a good recovery. With regard to the hip problem - I have a 15 year old girl pupil who has had a similar problem due to a late rapid growth spurt. She has been seen by her GP who referred her to a consultant but they couldn't find anything wrong structurally. She was given some exercises to help by a physio who fortunately had been a dancer, so knew the demands of ballet technique, and the general conclusion was the same as for your DS, just work through it and eventually it will ease.

To be honest I have found some of these ballets which are supposed to be "pushing the boundaries" end up being rather repetitive and boring. It reminds me of some of the more outrageous modern comedians - they haven't anything clever or original to say, so they just use shock tactics to get a response.

Brilliant news!

The Pasha in Corsaire does too.

There is a difference because Grades 1-3 are the new syllabus, Grades 4 & 5 are still the old one, the new one for those two will be released in January.

Firebird.

How sad. There is also an article in today's Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10447643/Ballerina-accuses-Bolshoi-of-demanding-cash-for-solos.html

As I said, I think it is not a salaried position so a visa is much easier to obtain for a student than a job. RBS Upper School students often perform with the company and there are no problems for those from overseas.

Yes, as veryskint says above, older dancers can win a years placement with a company at Prix de Lausanne. RB is one of the companies offering this. Younger dancers can win a year at the school. A few years ago a young man who won a place at RB from Prix de Lausanne was unable to take it up as he couldn't afford London living costs (this is not a salaried position as far as I know). He transferred the placement to a company in USA. ENB holds open auditions for its seasons "in the round" at the Albert Hall, where temporary contracts are given.

Ha - you spotted my double bluff! Alison I also agree with you there. The only way to listen to classical music is with WAV files. You can copy these onto electronic devices but they use a lot of memory.

Agreed - it is over amplification that is the problem.

Age thing? Are you kidding - I've got tickets booked for Status Quo in December!

I'm not sure that many dancers actually come straight from overseas schools direct to UK companies. Usually the route is via Senior school in UK (even if only for a year or two) or else as a professional, having already worked in a company abroad, then coming to a UK company.

Well it will be a great experience for Pascal and will look good on his CV!

I've had the same experience as Coates, with the wall of sound. Also bright lights shining directly at the audience are painful, literally, I end up shutting my eyes as it hurts too much!

Unfortunately I doubt it. Even if the govt has taken on board all the criticisms I think it would take a lot longer before anything changes. Equally I doubt if the dance schools/colleges will offer English & Maths GCSE. If these are obligatory then it is more likely that they will say that passing these exams will be necessary before a student can be accepted..

Great news - but do you know if it is short term or permanent, Pascal is not listed on Scottish ballet's website whereas Thomas is.

With their big productions in the round, ENB employs quite a few dancers on short term contracts. Scottish Ballet does the same for some of its productions - e.g. Nutcracker. That is why on Central's page of graduates, Thomas Edwards is listed as having a full year contract, to show the difference.

Yes, it was temporary - dd saw her in London over half term.

The main difficulty these days is actually getting invited to audition, very few auditions are open to all comers. Usually the dancer has to send photos and CV (sometimes a DVD too), so the better known the schooling, the more chance there is of being asked to attend the audition. Once there of course, it is what you show on the day that will get you the job!