Pas de Quatre

What you may have already noticed is that you see some of the same dancers at preliminary auditions for different schools. Those offered finals won't necessarily be exactly the same people for each school, but in general I would expect those 50 you are talking about Jazzpaws to have been offered finals at several schools.

Just a quick reminder, audition panels are not looking for perfection - it doesn't exist in ballet anyway. At this level they are still looking for potential, to see if a dancer has the attributes to benefit from that particular schoo'ls training, Of course a certain level of technique is needed, but it is more about what can be learnt in the future than what has already been learnt.

I can remember feeling very short-changed the first time that I saw Giselle at ROH without a one act ballet before it. I still don't understand the policy, Giselle is relatively short, so it is the perfect opportunity to present short pieces, either from the established repertory or new choreography!

Margot Fonteyn was indeed a wonderful dancer, I was just old enough to see her dance live, both with Nureyev and with others. Unfortunately I think she was exploited by all around her from a young age, if what Meredith Daneman wrote in her biography of Fonteyn, published in 2004 is true, and there is no reason to doubt her accuracy. (This is not a book for children, in some areas there is almost too much information.)

A memorable partnership at ENB a few years ago was Thomas Edur and Agnes Oakes.

DD and two other pupils attended for several years when it was at Dulwich, i.e. they liked it so much they went back year after year. I haven't had any pupils attend recently, but I imagine it will be just as good. As usual Andrew Ward has assembled a first class faculty. Definitely recommend it!

Dance Forward. It used to be a residential course, but they now do 3 days non-residential which can be booked individually . Have a look on their website, if I remember correctly two are ballet and the other is for different disciplines.

It's the ballon - that moment of suspension in the air!

I love Balanchine work, but not always as danced by UK companies. Some individual dancers are wonderful, but often not the whole cast. Haven't seen this production of Jewels so I can't make specific comments.

Yulpany, do you need a high profile or a low profile shoe? Another brand you might consider are Suffolk shoes.

Yes, that is what we often do, have someone act as a partner and then step away.

This is a pose from "Agon", one of Balanchine's masterpieces. In fact although the girl's foot in her hand in high attitude looks quite spectacular, it is relatively easy as the back knee is bent. You don't even have to be able to do the splits! Any vocationally minded student should be able to do this from mid-teens. If you want to see photos of the pose, go to Google Images and search Agon.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Do you want to discuss individual ballets on this thread or start new ones for each? I have just watched the Mariinsky Nutcracker which was gorgeous. Gergiev was conducting and the orchestra played incredibly well. There were interesting shots of him and the musicians during the Overture and the linking musical passages. The dancing of course was superb, as was the whole production. Masha (Clara) is a child and in a transformation at the beginning of the second act becomes "Masha the Princess", likewise her Nutcracker, a child in the first act becomes an adult Prince in the second act. My only reservation was the choreography for the Grand Pas de Deux, which also incorporated four cavaliers and felt a bit like the Rose Adagio at times. So many good things, but one section I shall remember is the Pas de Trois to the Mirlitons' music performed by three young students. The two girls were slender leggy adolescents and danced ravishingly, but the young man was really outstanding. It is difficult to say how old he was, possibly twelve or thirteen, and he wasn't as tall as the girls even before they stood on pointe. But he partnered with assurance and the audience burst into applause during his short solo moment.

No, this Peter and the Wolf is a "stop time" puppet story.

It is going to be fun trying to record/see all the different offerings on Christmas day - no one has mentioned Downton Abbey yet which starts before the end of DQ.

Really I didn't see anything untoward in this film The class part looked fairly standard and I thought the hornpipe a very good choice to show feeling for dance and presentation, particularly the finishing pose pretending to look through a telescope. The medical/physio assessment appeared to be taking place in private. When measuring the legs they were checking for any difference in length and the spine was then also checked for scoliosis as well as flexibility. The angle of both inward and outward rotation of the legs/hips was measured too. All of these tests are to ensure that the body is suitable for training. Even then injuries do occur, but they would be worse or more frequent if there were an underlying weakness.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/iain-hunter/running-technique-footstrike_b_2050161.html Just found this fascinating article with videos about foot strike when running. I would suggest that one of the main dangers to dancers is when turnout means they over pronate - see head on view of the runners, although hard heel strikes can also be a problem. I seem to remember reading somewhere that dancers naturally run with a forefoot strike.

I have generally observed that it is those pupils with supportive parents who have most chance of succeeding regardless of background. These parents have taught good basic values to their children which will serve them in all walks of life - respect, work ethic, self discipline etc. etc.

You might also try contacting Danish Dance Theatre. The Artistic Director is Tim Rushton (British). I saw him at a post show talk a couple of years ago and he seemed a very nice approachable person. He is making quite a name for himself as an international choreographer - his work Monolith is currently being danced by Rambert.

I haven't had them to my school yet, but I do know several teachers who have, and they have been very satisfied.

Yes I've noticed there does seem to be more ballet/contemporary dance in the press the last few weeks. Even when there isn't a story, there have been good photos on several days!

Interesting question, there don't seem to be many ballerinas who are left handed or at least left turners. However with male principals there do seem to be many who prefer turning to the left - more than one would expect as a proportion of left handedness in the general population.

Haven't seen a print copy of the Telegraph today, but the Times article which says much the same is nearly a whole page - huge headline, big photo and then the text. Incidentally in our household the word "passion" generally gives rise to a wry smile as it is such an overworked word. Contestants on t.v. dance/talent shows always seem to say "It's my passion" as though that entitles them to succeed!

Yes I saw the Times article too. How can they publish such sloppy journalism. Unless Acosta is jumping ship too and let it slip by mistake!