Pas de Quatre

Best wishes for a speedy recovery - injuries are a dancer's occupational hazard - so I hope he doesn't get too frustrated while it is healing.

Legat method teaching generally comes under Russian Style. You could google some of the Russian ballet associations/societies. Ironically, the Legat school is now staffed mainly by teachers who are RAD examiners although I would think their normal classes would be non syllabus. Edited for typo.

Great admirer of Jayne Regan here aswell!

Good luck to all, exciting times ahead! And parents be thankful we live in an electronic world and it is easy to make contact, I am constantly grateful. It is a family joke that DH was at boarding school in the days when parents got a short letter once a week if you were lucky, generally saying "Please send more money." That last bit doesn't change though!

Do have a look through all the different sections, it's not just the home page!

http://tippytappytoesdanceschool.weebly.com/index.html I wonder if any of you are familiar with this establishment. It appears to be based in USA but I am sure there are outposts in UK too.

Thanks - I think I may have met one or two along the way!

The same happens for Opera, big stars lead to higher seat prices at ROH.

So sorry Fiz, hope our community here will help you through.

I agree that even the most accomplished Principal dancer is not necessarily a star. There are only a few worldwide in each generation.

I think RB ought to take a risk with some of its own dancers. You only become a Principal by dancing Principal roles, and not once, but regularly! In the early days of the company, Ninette de Valois groomed Margot Fonteyn who was still very young simply because Alicia Markova had left. Some dancers will rise to the opportunity, others may not, but it is worth trying.

Sorry to hear that. However, not really surprised as I know they have stopped using RAD for their younger after school classes.

I remember it too! A few years ago I choreographed a pas de deux to "Do not forsake me oh my Darling" which he also sings.

Do you mean they aren't continuing in the academic year beginning in September, or just that they stopped for the holidays?

The version I know is "out the door" for en dehors, which is a movement outwards, and "in again" for en dedans, inwards. Although I do believe there is another version for en dedans. Anyone know it?

I have my programmes too - in fact I have tried to keep the programmes of all the ballets I have seen.

My old teacher used to recount the tale of the little girl who went home and announced to her mother that they had been learning "padded bras". (Ports de bras).

I saw Dance Bites too and thought it was embarrassingly awful. It would have done nothing to encourage new audiences or satisfy existing ones! Edited for grammar.

I'd like to see them get out of London occasionally (or even frequently). Does anyone remember the old "Ballet For All" small touring group with lecture demonstrations/perfomances? Perhaps some of the "Insight" events that happen in the Linbury could be taken out to small studio theatres in the regions as well.

You make a very good point there Taximom. Earlier this year the computer system of a major group of banks went down (twice) and many people couldn't access their accounts. As adults DH and I have always made sure that we have joint accounts with different banks who are not part of the same group - that way you can get to funds. It can be very frustrating anyway when you log on to do some internet banking and find the site is down for maintenance.

I suppose an estate agent knows his market - but if I were viewing houses, seeing a piano would immediately give a good impression, i.e. that these are nice, cultured people who have probably looked after their property well!

Why not contact all the Vocational/larger dance schools - someone may be interested. Presumably if you are only just putting your house up for sale there is no urgency about this yet.

I thought it well worth watching, but wish they had panned around the studio a bit. During the barre only the same few dancers could be seen, but when centre started, several dancers came from the barre that was along the wall where the camera was located. Like many company classes, wearing pointe shoes for the girls was optional, only one dancer was wearing pointe shoes on the barre that could be seen, but several of those who appeared for the centre were wearing them too. Also, the barre section ended with a pointe relevé exercise. It may be that some dancers took off their pointe shoes for centre, or disappeared for a rehearsal. The numbers did seem to dwindle during centre. Still it was lovely to see such talented dancers at work!

http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/augustseptember-2013/whats-missing-pre-professional-training Just found this which might be relevant to the discussions on this thread. Look forward to seeing your comments next week LinMM.

Ha ha, and if you have ever owned a boat with an outboard engine that starts with a pull-cord, you just know it ain't going to work!