Dance*is*life

Yes I am hoping I will be able to see a video of his dance on the YAGP site. All his ex class-mates are absolutely thrilled for him. He is of course still in touch with them. They become such good friends when they grow up together in ballet school, don't they? He was younger than them by quite a bit as the girls are now 13 to 15, so he was sort of their mascot! He came to us when he was 6 3/4 and we tried to put him in Primary! He was having none of that and ended up in Grade 3! He is incredibly musical and very versatile - he was brilliant in modern, jazz and flamenco as well as ballet and he has super feet too. Definitely one to watch!

I know it's not the Prix, but I just heard some great news about a former student of ours who moved to California with his family in July. The boy is just 12 and was with us for 5 years, the last three with me. Last year, when he was 11, he got 95% for his Grade 7, so rather special. Anyway, his new school entered him for the semi finals of the YAGP San Francisco (that's the comp featured in First Position) in the male junior division ages 12 to 14. Well - he won!!!!! We are all so thrilled! Next stop New York Finals in April!

I don't think it's wrong to dream or have high hopes. People were always calling me the second Margot Fonteyn and I would blithely reply that I was going to be better than her (yeah sure) !!! Of course I didn't become anything of the sort, but so what? That's life and I wouldn't really have changed anything I did or didn't do. People who are not part of this crazy dance world of ours don't understand it or us - that is a fact - so just don't let it bother you! Grandparents will always think their little darlings are the best and will take inordinate pride in all their successes however small. Parents are slightly more realistic, but probably only because they don't want their kids to get hurt or disappointed. I actually find the children nowadays are the most down to earth! They are so aware of their own shortcomings, but they still love to dance. I have students who spend hours at the studio each week and they don't even want to make a career of it! Whether or not your dancing children will succeed in their ambitions, they will have got so many life lessons out of their struggle, which will help them throughout their entire life. And besides - dancing is not just wonderful exercise it's also food for the soul!

Yes, what a fascinating story. It says that the mother moved to Moscow with the boys - does anyone know what happened to the father - did he move too? And if not I wonder what that did to their marriage - must have been very hard....... I shall go back and watch Julian's variations again now that I know something about his background - wonder if he has his sisters' feet?

I will tell you a related story about something that happened to me many years ago. I passed my 11+ exam high enough to get a scholarship to the school of my choice, but I elected to go to a privately run performing arts school, where they gave me a scholarship. The LCC, as the GLC was known then, put the 11+ scholarship on hold and when I was accepted to the RBS, they agreed to give it to me to pay for my studies there. However, they gave it to me under a different name - Advanced Academic Award, which was a scholarship normally given to outstanding students for university places. They held a party for all the award recipients and I was invited of course. I remember listening to all the other awardees telling their plans of going to the various universities and I felt really embarrassed and rather out of it. Someone asked me where I was going and I have to say that it took me quite a bit of courage to answer the Royal Ballet School. Surprise, surprise they all got very excited about my answer! One of them said to me - "You're so lucky to know what you want to do in life and to be able to train for it seriously. I'm going to uni, but I have no idea what I want to do with the degree - I just chose something that sort of interests me and hope that it will lead to something". I held my head up high after that and stopped apologising for choosing ballet rather than an academic career. I got a degree eventually through the RAD and never regret spending my life in such a beautiful art. And you know, people are always telling me how lucky I am to work in a field that I love, and I agree with them.........

That's very good that she's already doing two classes of Grade 1 a week - that's what our students take from Primary upwards. She is a little young, but if she's talented that's not a big deal, although she won't be able to take the exam until she's 7. Taking an extra class in Grade 2, now that she presumably knows Grade 1 quite well, will give her a push to take the Grade 2 exam sooner. I think you've done the right thing in letting her try it out - she can always drop it if she finds it too much. I don't think it's important at this age to take other dance genres - we prefer to get them strong in ballet first and then around grade 3 to add on extra classes, so I wouldn't worry about not being able to get her to the other lessons.

John Curry was very balletic in his style and I think it was tragic that he died so young (44) from Aids. He and Robin Cousins were always my favourites, because they were balletic and had beautiful lines and performed real choreography rather than a bunch of tricks strung together. It's actually interesting to see how many use ballet training to enhance their performance in gymnastics, skating and other fields. I'm sure the trick riders and trapeze artists in the circus must have also studied ballet!

I am curious as to what auditions she would be trying for? About the hours - my 6 year old grandson is football crazy. He has practise twice a week, kicks a ball around every spare chance he has, plus he also plays basketball and a couple of other after school activities. As long as your daughter's enjoying it and not too tired, I think that extra hours of dance would be fine, but personally I would prefer to have her take twice a week Grade 1 classes, so as to move up sooner, rather than one Grade 1 and one Grade 2 class.

I just wanted to add my congratulations to CeliB's son - fantastic news! I have a friend whose son went to train there and loved it. I also wanted to add to the comments about raked stages. Our local town theatre used to have a raked stage (I think they've got rif of it now in the recent remodelling) and I prepared one of my students in the Aurora 3rd act variation. There's a piece in that where the dancer steps back into arabesque as she moves backwards to the centre of the stage for the sissone sequence. Well my poor student had a terrible time of it, because those steps backwards were all going uphill!

What I find interesting is how the earlier Russian dancers who defected to the West altered their style of dancing once they received different training and at the same time the shape of their body also changed . I have a video showing Baryshnikov before he defected. He had very large thigh muscles and a Russian dancer who knew him then, explained to me that it was because the stages are so big in Russia that the males have to develop great strength to cover them and leap high enough. When you look at later videos you can see that his body and legs have fined out and his lines have become more elegant. Nureyev also altered his style when he defected - he was very wild and the British training gave him more control and neatness. On the other hand Nureyev had an influence on the way we were taught in the RBS. The style of the men became much stronger as they tried to emulate him. I remember that even we girls were suddenly told to take giant strides before the grand jete en tournant, rather than do the chasse coupe chasse, which we had always used previously. I think that today there is less of a contrast as even the Russian companies are performing western choreographers' works and adapting their performance accordingly. And the British companies have much more of an international membership with dancers from all over joining them.

Stereotyping is very difficult to get rid of, but as in all prejudices, education is the key. When my husband first brought me to meet his parents in 1972, he told them I was an actress! Partly true I suppose - dancers do act - but when I asked him why he didn't just say I was a dancer, he replied that they would have thought I was promiscuous. I am sure there are those who are promiscuous, and those who are empty headed (oh yes that was another misconception - dancers are not academic) and those who are gay - just as there are in every walk of life. The point is that dancing is not what made them the way they are. Most of the male ballet dancers I know personally are married with kids and yes, they manage to support a family on their salaries. Dancing requires quick brains, incredible co-ordinatiion, strong flexible physique, acting ability, musicality, dance quality etc etc. Found this rather interesting article your daughter might be able to use - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/arts/dance-ok-men-get-into-tights-and-line-up-at-the-barre.html and this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_stereotype_of_the_male_ballet_dancer Good luck to her!

We saw them dancing Romeo and Juliet on a trip to Budapest a couple of years ago and they were excellent!

Are you talking about demi-pointe or full pointe? There is a difference between doing pirouettes on pointe and on demi-pointe. I teach pirouettes on pointe with more of a releve action tham on demi-pointe. However, in either case, if you want to do more than one, you need to turn quicker, coordinating your head and arms with the push off action from the preparation. Landing is always a problem. You need to pull up and slightly slow down as you get to the end of the turn. Try closing with a very slight "spring" into 5th - it may help.

Are there any other RAD schools around your area? If the teachers are on good terms with each other, perhaps they would agree to do a joint exam readiness runthrough. We have done that here and it's very interesting. Sometimes we teachers discover that we've missed some details or made a mistake in the syllabus and also the students can observe each other and learn a lot from it. All teachers have their own style and it's a bit wierd to look at students from various schools and see how the same syllabus work can look quite different!

One of the moments when Olga is shown to be a bit wilful is in the opening scene of the first act, when she takes Tatiana's book away from her and teases her with it. She is also very excited about the new dress, whilst Tatiana barely looks at hers. The difference in their characters is really laid down quite clearly in that first scene.

It may not have been that they forgot the chair, but didn't manage to get it there in time. I don't suppose many people in the audience, except for all you observant, knowledgeable patrons, noticed! Worse sometimes than what doesn't get put on the stage is what is forgotten on stage! In one performance of Romeo and Juliet a sword got left behind on stage from one of the fight scenes. The bedroom scene was immediately afterwards and R & J spent the pas de deux avoiding the sword. It probably would have made sense if Romeo had picked it up and taken it off as if it were his, but he didn't, so it was left to me as the Nurse to do so when I came on after the bedroom pdd. I tried to make it part of the scene, but I am sure the audience weren't fooled for a second!

LinMM if wishes were horses! The only time I appeared on Covent Garden stage was as an RBS student and yes it was amazing! I have performed character roles in Onegin, but not in the UK. I was the nurse in the first act and the dotty old lady who hurts her foot in the ballroom scene. It was quite a thrill. The whole cast had to be approved by the Cranko Foundation, when they first came to teach it. Luckily. although both I and the former dancer who portrayed Madame Larina were deemed a bit short for the roles, they agreed in the end, but we both had to wear heeled shoes! The rehearsals were very interesting. Cranko apparently chose exactly where each couple was going to be in the dance and gave each pair numbers. Therefore, even when in theory it didn't really matter if a different couple moved to that position - for example when they had been standing at the side of the stage and had to run into place to start the next dance - it had to be the correct couple in the spot. It was all written down and everything had to be performed exactly as Cranko had decided. Someone mentioned the table being placed a bit far on one side, which meant that those with a slightly restricted view couldn't see what was going on, but if I remember rightly, that was all planned out too. The sets are really elaborate and complicated to put in place - the stage hands worked really hard to make the scene changes in time. There were huge pieces, that had to be trundled on and off stage, which needed masses of space at the side of the stage to store them. I had to wear a wig, which was made for me to their specifications, and took the dresser ages to pin on! All in all quite an experience!

http://fryreadsonegin.com/ Found this - it says the download of Stephen Fry reading the book is free for itunes and MP3 and it gives a list of all the best translations. I am so enjoying all your reviews - you are so knowledgeable in your analyses. Bravo! I can say from my own performing experience that it is perfectly possible to have the same cast give inferior and superior performances. It very often tends to be dependant on the main leads firing up the rest of the company. It is very difficult not to react strongly to a driven performance by the ballerina. Also, for some reason when a performance goes well, everything goes well. Of course part of it is pure professionalism and strong technique working on automatic, but all the dancers seem to sense when a performance is particularly inspired. At least that's how I have felt it.

Is the live streaming free or do you have to sign up for it?

Of course it's easier to cope with just girls, rather than with a single boy in a class of girls, but it's not his fault that he's the only one! And I would never shirk the challenge - I actually find it interesting to learn the male syllabus as well. The RAD is very good for working with boys. The interesting thing about boys in competitions is that however good the girls are an outstanding boy will always trump them! I have personal experience of that and once I was compensated and once not. When I was about 14 or 15, I entered a modern cup comp which was part of the All England. There was one boy and the rest were girls. The boy was Tony Kemp, who became quite a famous TV dancer and he won of course - he was fantastic! Still the panel of judges took the time to mention the girls and as runner-up they gave me a duplicate miniature cup to keep, which was very nice. The other time I competed against one male student was when I was at the RBS. There must have been 20 senior girls in it and we worked for about three months on our rep solo variations. Anyway, on the day there was a surprise addition who danced last - Wayne Sleep. As soon as he had danced we were all called back immediately on stage and he was awarded the prize. Now obviously no-one would quibble with being beaten by Wayne Sleep of entrechat douze Guiness World Records fame (among a million other things!) but the fact that they didn't take the time to think about the girls and perhaps give one or two an honourable mention really hurt. We had all worked so hard and it was just over in one minute. That's the sort of thing that in my opinion shouldn't happen.

I have taught several boys over the years and I have always had to give them special treatment, because otherwise I could not have taught them what they needed to learn as part of their specific male syllabi. Of course I gave the girls practise assignments whilst I taught the male version or alternative exercise, and I would invite the boys for private coaching to save class time, but inevitably the girls would have to work in small groups and the boy went solo. Boys do need different training from girls and there's not much you can do about it. They have a lot to put up with in order to dance, so yes they need extra help and encouragement to get them through the difficult times. As far as the exam marks are concerned, I have had a mixed experience. I did feel that one examiner gave some very good girls comparatively low marks compared to a talented boy, but another one gave them similarly high marks. In the past other examiners have actually seemed to be tougher on the boys. It just depends. I think the point is that when we get the odd boy, we do tend to nurture them. That does not mean that I don't expect them to work hard, behave, dress appropriately and invest as much time in their dancing as the girls I teach, just that boys that dance ballet are still pretty rare and I think they deserve a bit of extra investment.

Hmm - yes live music does have its disadvantages alongside its advantages. It never helps if a conductor insists on keeping to the tempi music score wise rather than choreography wise, if you get what I mean. Of course I expect dancers to listen to the music and keep in time with it, but if a conductor does not relate to what's happening on stage that can be disastrous. Similarly, a dispassionate rendering of the music must make for a less inspired and meaningful performance by the dancers. You would expect someone who conducts for the Royal Ballet to understand that the music should enhance the performance, rather than detract from it. How frustrating for you all to see that happen.

Just wanted to add a touch of backstage to LinMM's wonderful review. She mentioned the grand jete diagonals - we had white lines painted on the floor on both sides of the stage and everyone knew not to stand in the wings or at least to keep well away from those lines when the diagonals were starting. The dancers not only move at speed in the jetes across the stage, but they also have to literally run from the bottom to top wing in order to be in time for them - they actually made a breeze they ran so fast, the girls clinging on to the guy's hand, so they wouldn't slip in their pointe shoes. They come off stage, run in the wings, jete across, run in the wings and jete across. It's an incredibly exciting thing to see and has to be done with split second timing !

A totally wierd thing just happened - I wanted to mention that the first time I saw Onegin was with ENB and how marvellous Maximova was as Tatiana. I couldn't remember the year, so I googled it and came up with a link to a post that I had written here in May 2013! "I will also never forget a performance I saw of Ekaterina Maximova with ENB as Tatiana in Cranko's Onegin. It was in 1989 when she was 50 and she was totally believable as a young girl with a crush on a sophisticated gentleman" Incidentally, I have had the thrill of performing in Onegin both as the nurse in the first act (in the first photo above you can see her standing behind the bench) and a funny old lady in the second! Our scenery and costumes came from Berlin and were really light and pretty - someone I know, who also saw the last RB version, commented on how much darker and heavier their scenery,costumes and lighting were. We had a wonderful Russian guest artist as Tatiana for quite a few performances. Her acting was so incredible in the last act pas de deux, that the company would gather in the wings to watch. She always finished in real tears and had to take a moment to recover before the curtain went up again for the calls. I will never forget one particular performance which was a closed one for schoolchildren. The children were rather noisy during the first scene and even wolf whistled Lensky when he came out in his white tights, but as the ballet continued they became totally engrossed in the story. The tumultuous applause at the end told us that the ballet had really woven its magic on them.

Yes very well done! Merit is really good for Advanced 1. Especially under the circumstances!!