Jump to content

tabitha

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    241

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by tabitha

  1. tabitha
    Finally an advert featuring a ballerina who actually is a proper ballerina! Such a great advert from Boots and all credit to them for ensuring that they got a top class dancer for this ad, rather than as is often the case, someone in a tutu who can just about stand on pointe. http://youtu.be/XyDp3OOPMiM
  2. tabitha
    A lot of discussion about leg length and ideal body shape in the thread about body shape; http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/11245-how-much-is-it-about-the-body/
  3. tabitha
    Every ballet company will have its own preferences which are linked to the AD's preferences, and ADs can change quite frequently in some cases. However, there does seem to be a growing trend in Europe towards taller, thinner dancers with very long legs, which I believe is following the general trend which exists in Russia and America. However, the U.K. companies seem behind the trend on this and quite a few of the dancers hired at the Royal Ballet in recent years seem to have relatively longer bodies and shorter legs again.
  4. tabitha
    Some of O'Hare's recent casting decisions have been incomprehensible and not just at principal level.
  5. tabitha
    It's understandable that many have expressed dismay at the fact that this is playing out in public, but we have to remember that we are not in the UK, where we are used to dealing with things in a fairly civilised and rational manner in private. This is country where there is still a strong legacy to the past communist regime and a 'ministry of truth' approach to events. I would think that a public campaign is the only negotiating leverage left for JK. In fact he says on one of his posts that he would not be doing this if he were not in Romania. Even then, I am not sure how effective it is in Romania as they are a county which has internet censorship in place, similar to Russia, and which is contrary to EU regulation.
  6. tabitha
    Is it just me or does it feel like a fairly lukewarm response to this - with the exception of Janet, of course. I watched the recording recently and to be honest, the choreography was just OK and the standard of dancing didn't really leave me impressed.
  7. tabitha
    Loads of news articles but all in Romanian. Found this link in English; http://slippedisc.com/2016/04/romanian-hardliners-reduce-cojocaru-to-tears/#comments
  8. tabitha
    If you haven't seen the film, you must! It was only on TV just the other day and I ended up watching it again. It's a story within a story about the star of a ballet company who gets the Red Shoes ballet choreographed on her. The ballerina (Vicky Page) is played by Moira Shearer who was a dancer at Sadlers Wells. The owner/director of the company (Boris Lermontov) tells her she has to sacrifice everything for ballet. Robert Helpman was also a main role and choreographer and many dancers in the film came from RB. Of course the film was inspired by the original fairy tale from Hans Christian Andersen. The film was made in 1948 and is still wonderful. I'm sure MB will do it justice, I hope so!
  9. tabitha
    I don't understand how it can be British dancers as it is pretty much impossible for British ballet dancers to get a Visa to work in the USA, even when offered a contract and with the support of a ballet company behind you!
  10. tabitha
    Doesn't he class all his productions as "ballet" albeit contemporary ballet?
  11. tabitha
    Although the publicity shots I have just seen feature MB and Ashley Shaw with a pair of red pointe shoes!
  12. tabitha
    Sounds great but I'm not sure how it will work as a MB production, given that the film is so much about classical ballet and the main role is about dancing in a pair of red pointe shoes. I could see it more as a musical theatre production with properly trained classical ballet dancers, more along the lines of American in Paris. I'm sure it will be a theatrical extravaganza though and well worth getting tickets for.
  13. tabitha
    Interestingly, Natalia Osioova was classed as a soubrette dancer at the Bolshoi (short and stocky relative to the usual tall willowy Russian dancers? - with a huge jump) but this doesn't appear to be the case at RB where she is performing a variety of principal roles.
  14. tabitha
    Very good! May have got more views in the 'doing dance' section?
  15. tabitha
    I wish this were true that those with the highest work ethic and best attitude were most rewarded but in my experience, sometimes the ones with "all the gifts" don't have to work as hard as it all comes so naturally. I have seen quite a few gifted students get away with murder e,g. not turning up to class, behaving badly etc, and still walk into a contract. I have also seen the most deserving of students who work so hard and have overcome many obstacles, fail to get a contract and it is heartbreaking. The biggest lesson learned through ballet school selection and onwards is that life isn't fair.
  16. tabitha
    As I said, the UK is behind the curve, possibly because the two Directors in those companies have been in post for many years; although BRB have historically had a reputation for taking smaller dancers, they have recently taken on some much taller dancers.Virtually all the dancers taken on at RB in the last couple of years have been over 5'5". In Europe, the trend may be more apparent as there is a much higher turnover of Director, with many having worked in Russia or the States.
  17. tabitha
    The trend over the last few years has definitely moved in favour of taller dancers and reports from European audition rounds for the major companies are that many specify a minimum height of 5'5" with those chosen being around 5'6-5'8" with very slim physiques and hyperextended legs. This seems to follow trends in both Russia and America. So there are many shorter dancers already in companies but of course they were selected several years ago and there will always be the exceptions. Also the UK does seem to be slightly behind the curve on this but I still see a slow but noticeable trend.
  18. tabitha
    Ballerinas are getting taller, legs are getting longer, extensions are getting higher. All this equates to music getting slower and ballets such as Sleeping Beauty reduced to nothing more than making a series of beautiful shapes held for as long as possible. Reminds me of a series of Instagram photos. RB seems happy to let go of its heritage and follow the Russian trend, albeit gradually. However, it is certainly not alone and similar style changes can be seen all over Europe. As a ballet fan, I am becoming less and less enamoured with this gradual homogenising.of ballet style and I have pretty much stopped going to any ballet theses days as I see little that I enjoy in the way of dancing - it's all about athleticism, tricks and visual effects.
  19. tabitha
    As Nina said and I agree - anything by Liam Scarlett Also anything by Wayne McGregor Bella Figura - gratuitous nudity masquerading as art. Oh and anything with comedy 'bad' ballet e.g. the ugly sisters in Cinderella. I don't pay to watch ballet done badly and I don't find it funny.
  20. tabitha
    I didn't say that, I think another potter dud, but yes it is always the case that between year 9 and year 11, some students may decide that vocational ballet is not for them but they stay to do their GCSEs. It's not more than 2 to 3 usually at the very most.
  21. tabitha
    Didn't you already ask this in your post #209? There were quite a few replies. However, just to add that there is a lot of natural ability and facility required in ballet that just can't be trained and when you have an international pool to choose from at 16, there will be other students with more natural ability AND the same level of training.
  22. tabitha
    Balledancer22 it's because chilldren change a lot, even between year 9 to year 11, but they are guaranteed two years if they pass year 9 assessments because of GCSEs. Also the pool of applicants for Upper School becomes much more international and there is a much wider pool to choose from, so a large proportion come from overseas. Kiwimum, the type of audition you describe is an absolute lottery and from what I hear these European auditions are all like that. Well over a hundred invited and half of them don't even get seen and it's more about your 'look' than your dancing. I share your cynicism and agree that dance training places at top schools across Europe are way way in excess of the number of jobs available.
  23. tabitha
    Thanks Sadielou, it is sad as you say, but that sounds like a fairly typical year to me. Some years have been better and some worse but overall, getting a place at WL is by no means a guarantee of anything. It's even more heartbreaking for the ones that do make it to Upper School and then fail to make it through to the third / graduate year, or if they do make it through to the end, not to find employment.
  24. tabitha
    So the maximum numbers at WL used to be 12 girls and 12 boys in years 7&8 and then 14 of each in years 9-11. Sometimes they flexed these numbers between years or girls/boys but the overall maximum stayed the same and was based on the number of MDS places available I.e. every place was MDS funded (unlike Elm, Tring, Hammond). If there is now capacity for 15 boys and girls in each year, that's an overall increase of 18 places across yrs 7-11. Wonder how these will be funded or will WL now be going down the same route as Tring etc where there are a number of places only available if you can afford full fees (around £33,000)?
  25. tabitha
    Yes it's fine to go if you're undecided, but if you know you definitely want WL, what possible benefit is there in continuing to go to other auditions? And it does affect offers as they may make an offer to a child who has already decided that they are going to WL which means that somebody else gets pushed onto the waiting list. Someone who may have got waiting list may get pushed off to nothing. All these things may work through in the end but can affect a child in the mean time.
×
×
  • Create New...