cavycapers

I hope so. I love all three, Brandon, Delia and Tyrone. I do wonder at the late casting announcements of the BRB, though. Does anyone know why they do this? It always leaves me booking very late, and if lots of people do this, it can't be very good for business. I do love all the BRB dancers, but like everyone, I cannot but help having my favourites (who are probably quite different from other people's). Dancers are not interchangeable.

Anybody seen any casting for the two tours? I know the BRB are normally late announcing casting, but surely they must know by now. Or am i just missing the links?

I thought that too, BBB, but then i wondered why the dance of the cygnets are not in black too. Hmmm....

Thank you, chaps.

Sorry MAB, don't understand the hemisphere ref?

I have seen various productions of Swan Lake by Russian companies that include some black swans in the corps in the final act, and have never understood why? I rather like the effect. Does anyone know why, though?

I am booking for myself and some friends for Swan Lake in the late summer, and as it will be for them a bucket list experience, we are going to pay for seats that I would never normally even consider! So what I would like some help with, please, is if money were no object, where would you sit for Swan Lake? Stalls? Stalls Circle? Donald Gordon, or higher? If one sits towards the front of the stalls, are there any seats from which feet (which I always think are rather important!) cannot be seen? I know the cheaper seats very well

My first (and last) Bourne experience. There may have been something in the second half that engendered some emotional connection, but, alas, I shall never know. I believe there were some visual jokes, as I could hear a few people tittering, but they certainly couldn't be read sitting up high in the circle. A rebiew I read mentions Vicky's small smile when the principal injures herself. I hope those in the stalls enjoyed such details. I don't think Bourne's choreography reads large enough, as one has come to expect with the major classical ballets. I could also see remarkably little variation in the choreography throughout the first half. The theatre was packed, in contrast to when the wonderful ENB and BRB perform in Bristol. In my more generous moments, I can see that visually it was a lovely evocation of the film. However, I shall now go and put on the DVD of the actual Red Shoes.....

https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/videos/10155151056552579/ Oh how lovely is this? Nela is the complete ballerina, nothing showy.

Interesting article on Radio 4 Front Row tonight about Rite of Spring

They were from the London Ballet Company, Jacqueline. I hadn't heard of them before, but their website says: 'The London Ballet Company brings the highest quality dance performances to intimate theatres, venues, and bespoke engagements'. I think the task was near impossinle, bearing in mind that they did not have the dancers in front of them for much of the time. I wonder why they didn't have two groups of dancers that could pose and rest in turn.

I asked the cashier in Asda why there were so many people very young children in the shop after midnight one night, when I was doing some late night shopping, and she said that it was because their benefits were paid online at midnight, and they had to come and get some food, and so had to bring the children. People really do live hand to mouth these days....

My lovely Ballet Teacher Louise Bracey who has been teaching Adult Ballet Classes for 10 years in Bristol, is running an Adult Ballet Retreat in Greece this Summer from Sept 27th-Oct 4th. It is set in a beautiful part of Kefalonia by the sea with 4 star accommodation with pool...and is affordable too! They will be General Classes for all levels. Although Louise is based in Bristol the Retreat is open to all..You just need to get a flight to Kefalonia. Louise was trained at The Royal Ballet School then danced with The Royal Ballet before joining English National Ballet where she danced many soloist roles. She is a great teacher and also good fun! Here is the link to the Retreat on her website. http://www.adultballetclasses.co.uk/retreats/ Email her if interested. louise@adultballetclasses.co.uk

The stars make me cry!

I saw Delia and Tyrone in Birmingham on Friday, and although I have seen this production of Cinderella many times, this is the first time it has moved me, rather than just entranced me. Tyrone looked as if he couldn't believe his luck at the prize he had won, he was so tender with his Cinderella. The huge one-handed overhead lifts were no problem for these two either, despite Delia's lovely height and long limbs.

This is the ROH's statement about bags?! 'We offer a limited free cloakroom service for small items and coats. However, following recently heightened security measures across London, we have been advised not to allow any large bags, rucksacks or backpacks into the building. Please be aware that if you bring such items into the building we may request that you seek alternative storage arrangements for them away from the Royal Opera House; this could result in you missing the start of the performance.' I had not seen this before, but am now furious. How very Londoncentric of them. I travel down many times a year, and therefore have to stay overnight, due to there being no way of getting home after a performance, and so have to check in an overnight bag. Unfortunately, the fact that they can sell out every performance means that they can continue to make clients feel as unwelcome as possible, with their priority booking policies, overpriced and poor quality catering (teabag in a cup of lukewarm water!) and their inadequate cloackroom facilites. Some things they can't help, such as the fact that I have to pay at least £70 to see more than half the stage, but they can do something about their customer services. Unfortunately they have us over a barrel.

I went to the Bolshoi in the early eighties, and you were MADE to take your coat off and leave it in the cloakroom (or you were shot ) Quite right too! I know there are exceptional circumstances sometimes, but I no more understand why people cannot survive without their coats, shopping, rucksacks, etc for 50 mins at a time, than I understand why people cannot go for that period without chugging water.

Recent guilty pleasure! War and Peace they ain't, and they have every ballet cliche going, but still strangely addictive. Shiny Broken Pieces and Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra (Author), Dhonielle Clayton (Author)

Always store your tutu skirt hanging upside down, to allow it to perk back up. Dont hang it from the gusset, though, as this will stretch the pants. If it is hooped, then it is probably flat enough, but as other posters say, maybe retacking the layers will lift them back up using the hoop as support. Sometimes you will see a dancer where a brand new tutu skirt is pointing upwards, almost inside out, and this will need taming until it's parallel,but otherwise, i don't think a tutu can be too flat. Don't oversteam! Otherwise you will have a droopy tutu! By the way, the Russians like their tutus very flat, ie, sticking out from the body, whereas the English prefer their tutus slightly more sloped down.

As Tamara Rojo was not originally scheduled to dance Giselle, I wasn't really thinking of who she was partnered with in those performances. For whatever reason she has been favouring dancing with guest artists rather than the ENB men, it does give the impression that they are not of her calibre. Plus,there has been a long tradition of an older ballerina bringing on the talent of a younger man, indeed there was a fine example of this at the ENB itself with the glorious Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov.

Am i right in thinking that Tamara Rojo tends to partner herself with guest artists, that has been my impression for a while anyway, which must be very disheartening for the male company dancers.

I sat behind a woman who had an expensive pale suede jacket draped over the back of her seat, and as I sat down, she turned round and asked me to be careful of it! Actually, she left it over the seat during the interval, so I dropped it on the ground, did a little happy dance on it and put it back. (Not really...only in my dreams ).

Excellent! That's the spirit!

Oh no, he was a little Russian mouse, left behind when the Bolshoi went back

Hang on, if it had clogs on, was it in Fille?