Dance*is*life

I have never forgotten the performance I saw of Onegin with LFB. It was at the London Coliseum in 1989 with Ekaterina Maximova. She was 50 then, but you would never have known it. By the way Janet, I googled Maximova and Onegin LFB and came up with a thread on Onegin from 2012 in which you and I had written long posts about our experiences with Onegin! - it was from Ballet Alert Invisionzone. Was that Ballet.co in a different form? I had a different name and you were JMcN! Isn't that wierd?????

I teach it as a strong rise too, because a releve stops you from turning immediately. You can probably do one turn from a releve, but you won't get the impetus you need for multiples, if you don't twist quickly on the supporting leg. The preparation is actually taken with slightly more weight on to the front leg, to ensure that when you rise up you go straight on to the supporting leg in the right place. You push off with the back foot and if your weight is too far back it won't work. In recent years I have also changed how I teach the head too. We used to always leave the head as long as possible and then whip it round, but now I prefer to leave the head only briefly before whipping it round to the front - I find that keeps the head straighter whilst they're spotting. The head is heavy, so if it's at an angle that can also throw the balance off. Teaching technique is a fluid thing - many aspects of it that were accepted as gospel even twenty years ago, have fallen by the wayside as new methods have taken over which profuce better results.

Has anyone ever tried steaming proper pointe shoes???? A student of mine is bitterly regretting buying really hard Grishko pointes as her feet are not very arched and she finds them very uncomfortable, but doesn't want to waste the money. I was very surprised that she bought Grishko, not what I would have suggested for her. She brought them in to check for size and they seemed fine - at that stage she thought they were comfortable. It was only when she tried working through the feet in them, that she realised they weren't.........

Amazing news CeliB - you must be so proud and very relieved that all's well that ends well!

Dust and heavy perfumes set me off sneezing (occasionally 20 + times in a row) and sometimes I start sneezing for no obvious reason at all. My late mother had it as well, so I suppose I inherited it. I've had it happen in the car and that is a nightmare - when you sneeze you automatically close your eyes - not a good thing to do when you're driving. So far it hasn't happened to me in the theatre, but I keep a packet of tissues in my handbag just in case..............

Interesting thought! Actually once the leg is in the 6 o' clock position, it's much easier to hold for long periods than say at 90 degrees, because you've pretty much gone against gravity.

Have you tried the tights without a hole? They might come up bigger. I suppose as a last resort you could wear footless ones with socks............

How awful for you both! I really do appreciate how difficult it can be sometimes, but my concert was Yitzhak Perlman playing the divine Bruch Violin Concerto as part of Zubin Mehta's 80th Birthday celebration concerts. I had been waiting for the concert in such high anticipation and I got so distracted by the coughing that I couldn't concentrate and enjoy it. And the tickets were expensive. A friend of mine was lucky enough to be invited to the rehearsal, where there was no audience - was I jealous!

I do sympathise with someone who needs to cough - I've almost cried with trying not to do so myself on occasion, but at a recent concert there was an epidemic of coughing whenever there was a particularly quiet section - why couldn't they try and hold it in and wait for the noisy bits or at least try and muffle it???? It was so frustrating - every time there was the most heart rending solo violin section, there was a total outbreak of what sounded like bronchitus. Stay home if you're so ill! Grrr.......

Our ballet classes are streamed according to ability and I often find that the youngest ones are the most talented. However, when they go to the Senior High School Dance Stream, they will be in a mixed ability group, according to age not level. I currently have a 14 year old in Advanced Foundatiion, if she were to go to the High School next year, she would be at Advanced 1 level, but be together with other of our students who are at Inter or AF level, and with girls from other schools, who might not have done much ballet. It's problematic........

Our exams usually start at 9am or 9.30am, so that we can finish in time to start teaching as usual. Our first classes are at 15.45. There are mandatory length breaks throughout the day for coffee and lunch and we set the day to make it both varied and interesting for the examiner. Having a day full of just one grade, for example, is really wearing on both pianist and examiner! We usually start with the youngest ones and rotate throughout the day with the different grades. The National Administrator makes the travel arrangements for the examiner, so that she can stay in one hotel for as long as possible and not have to travel longer distances than is necessary. Within the two or three days that we are allotted, we can in principal change groups round if there is a problem, such as if, as someone mentioned, there is suddenly an important school exam that they can't miss. The teacher knows who lives the furthest away from the school, so would presumably ensure that those girls don't start the day. We usually ask the girls to come 1 1/4 hours ahead of their exam, so that they have plenty of time for warming up and preparing themselves. The actual length of the exams is set by the Academy and must be adhered to.

It really doesn't sound as if she's in a nurturing environment and no - Intermediate is not a high enough level for year 12. I try and get everyone through Inter by 14, maximum 15 - ideally it should be 13, but that doesn't happen often. I think what is important, more than passing the actual Advanced level exams, is that she's working on a higher enough level in class to develop and strengthen her technique and widen her vocabularly. Non syllabus classes at an advanced level are very important. Could you take her to watch classes in a studio where there are more advanced classes for her age group, so that she can see how limited her level is? Perhaps a talk with someone influentual as someone suggested. It would be a real shame if misguided loyalty (however admirable it is) were to hold her back from achieving her goals. Another thought, if she knows which 6th form college she wants to attend, could you take her along for an interview to find out what they will expect of her?

I sent a 16 and a half year old boy student to train at Elmhurst. His English was adequate and he was quite mature, but he still found it very difficult. We had many a pep talk on three way skype (me, his Mum and the boy) to keep him going. I know that children do go away to school at early ages, but honestly is it really necessary? RBS is the hardest school to get in to in the UK, I suspect, and she got to Finals. POB have accepted her to their SS. You have a very talented daughter there. I would let her exhaust all the other good vocational schools in the UK, before sending her abroad.

I think it would depend with whom she took private lessons. I think you should talk to your teacher and really try and understand what she feels about it. I am not a great believer in private lessons unless it's to work one on one on a variation or a specific technical problem. You might have a real clash of opinions and unless there's complete co-operation between teachers, it might not give her any benefit. Would it not be better to use the money for a spring or summer course for her? Having said all that someone like Nicola above sounds an ideal person to give her privates, but still I do think you need to get your own teacher's approval first.

I always thought that the Pas de Trois was actually danced by peasants dressed up in their best clothes!!!!! I supposed I got it mixed up with the Peasant pas de deux! I have that feeling that as far as costume is concerned it's sort of anything goes! I am sure she could use her Giselle costume perhaps with a bit of dressing up, as someone suggested.. Look on youtube as Pas de Q suggested and you'll see a huge variety of costumes. It's usuallydone with sleeves (usually long ones) but I don't think it matters particularly. As long as the costume is appropriate, she should be judged on her dancing, not on the expense of her costume!

The way I look at it is that whatever I did led to something else, so even when things didn't work out how I planned - something else came up instead......

We had test classes every term at the RBS when I was a student and I don't think we had numbers. All the teachers and judges knew who everyone was. Perhaps that's the same there. Anyway, they're all so perfect in those Vaganova films on Youtube, that I don't quite know how you could tell the difference between them!

1) I have to agree with those who reacted to the Enigma inclusion. The original cast was divine and as far as I am concerned I don't want to see it again without Beriosova 2) I switched on the TV the other day and on Mezzo the classical arts channel (Music,ballet,opera) there was a ballet by Preljocaj. I stared rather disbelievingly at a stage full of half naked ladies and switched off. Sue me I'm a prude! I don't understand the need to bare it all I'm afraid! 3) I also have to agree about the penchant for slower and slower tempi! I saw a Russian ballet company (St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre) in a production of Swan Lake and horror of horrors I fell asleep in the 2nd act! Real heresy for me! It was just soooooo slooooowwwww and the ballerina that performance (not their star) couldn't really fill it out properly and the Prince was a block of wood. I was sitting near enough to see the acting and it still didn't move me except to yawn. 4) I hate any ballets choreographed to cats miaowing and doors squeaking.........

Does anyone know anything about The Taming of the Shrew? I am not familiar with Maillot's choreography. I will be in London then so could go to the Flames of Paris matinee or the Shrew evening performance. Any opinions? I probably won't manage to get tickets anyway, but would like to try. Is there any other ballet on in the summer? There doesn't seem to be anything on in May when I'm over too. Bother!

That is so wierd! I have it on video and have searched for it on DVD. I even found posts on various sites lamenting the fact that it was never released on DVD! I don't like buying on E Bay , but thank you I will look again on Amazon etc.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It could well have been them just being dramatic, but I'll be forearmed if they bring it up again!

I have never forgotten one oh so embarrassing occasion when we were on holiday in Bath with our three sons. I had really wanted to see Stepping Out in the West End, but it was July 1987 and the run had just finished. Stepping Out is a wonderful play about an amateur tap group and the various people who join it. There was also an excellent film version made with Liza Minelli, which for some unknown reason was never released on DVD. Anyway, we drove down to Bath and discovered that amazingly it had moved there! Our youngest was only six, but we decided to take the risk. All went well - I seem to remember stuffing him with sweets - and then came the great melt-down scene, when the extremely repressed lady, abused by her husband, finally explodes and swears loudly. It was a truly emotional scene and after it there was absolute silence in the auditorium, until my son's little voice piped up loudly - " She said F... !!!!!!! Of course everyone around us succumbed to laughter inspite of themselves and I felt so awful for the poor actress, who must have heard him!

Oh wow - if it comes to London - I'm booking the next flight over!

They call it imitation leather I think! They wear trainers for school (there's no required school shoe here) and probably synthetic boots for the few rainy days. That's a good point about the leather being a by-product of the food industry - I didn't ask if they were vegetarian or vegan. I usually insist on leather shoes, rather than canvas, but I suppose if they continue to make a fuss, I will have to allow them to wear canvas. I just found it surprising, as nobody has ever queried wearing leather shoes before!

Look if she's at a good school then I wouldn't worry. In a reputable school, which you say her school is, the first year of pointe is normally spent doing a few exercises at the barre mainly on two feet and maybe one or two steps in the centre also on two feet, so nothing will happen to her I assure you! If the RAD has decided that pointe can be included from 11 years old in Intermediate Foundation, then that means that a panel of highly qualified, experienced teachers have decided that it is okay to do a limited amount of pointe work at this age. I would be worried if her school started students in pointe work at 9 and immediately gave them advanced work to do. That doesn't seem the case at all. Pointework is all about core strength - not just feet and ankles - I would trust that her teachers know if she is ready or not. 11 - 13 is the normal age to start, depending when they began serious training and if they're getting enough lessons so that they are strong enough.