aileen

I'm not having a go at Yasmine. I appreciate that she is a very young artist who has been singled out because of her talent (and she's a Brit- hooray!) I only mentioned her because several other people had recently spoken of her in glowing terms.

The only thing that I didn't like last night was the extremely long second interval. It was supposed to be 30 minutes (already long) but it must have been nearer to 40. Was there a reason for this? I was on the point of giving up and going home. It made for a long evening. I may be mistaken about this, but there did seem to be a few empty seats at the start of Carbon Life.

I really enjoyed this programme last night: three very contrasting pieces of modern choreography. I didn't enjoy Polyphonia quite as much as everyone else did. I was a little disappointed by Yasmine N. I thought that her solo was a bit beyond her. I had mixed feelings about Sweet Violets. The concept was good but the piece felt rushed and there were too many scene changes. I don't know how well it would work as a 3 act ballet. There would need to be much more character development, and some lighter/more upbeat scenes otherwise it would just be too depressing to sit through 2+ hours of sordid sexual encounters and murders. Carbon Life was very exciting. The opening number was particularly striking. There was variety in the dancing: large groups, duets (and solos?). As others have said, the piece needs to be enjoyed as the sum of the music, the dancing and the lighting. I liked the music, particularly the first and last songs, and I didn't miss Boy George whose voice I don't particularly like.

I should have said before, that of course I wish Tamara well in her new position. As a supporter of ENB I really hope that it works out for her and the company. ENB has some very good dancers and I hope that Tamara will take the company to new heights during her tenure. There will inevitably be some changes among the dancers and staff resulting from Tamara's appointment and this is something that we will have to accept if in the long run they lead to sustained improvements to the company.

Like Paul, I'm doubtful whether combining the role of AD with dancing (with the same company) will work well. There are so many potential pitfalls with this. I suspect that Tamara Rojo would have preferred to have stayed with the RB for a few more years but the position at ENB came up earlier than expected and it was (in theory at least!) too good an opportunity to turn down. I hope that, at the earliest possible opportunity, she will carry out a review of how other parts of the company support the dancers, in particular the finance, PR and marketing departments who, IMO, have not proved to be very effective, as evidenced by the appalling ticket sales for the recent Coliseum programmes and the debacle over the announcement of the new AD. Sadly, ENB have squandered some really good PR by acting so indecisively and allowing the news to leak out rather than announcing with a great fanfare the appointment of a world-class ballerina as its dynamic and glamourous new AD.

Well, as I'm 99.9% certain who the new AD is I've already made up my mind about what I think of the appointment. It might, however, be interesting to hear what the new AD's vision and plans for ENB are but I wonder whether we, the lowly taxpayers and paying public, will be given this information. Probably not. Oh well, I'm off to see the rivals across town now.

MAB, if the new AD is who I think it is then I do have some concerns, although I do of course wish him/her well in his/her new position, which is a very challenging one. I imagine that all the dancers and staff are feeling apprehensive. Regardless of who the new AD is, there is generally a shake-up when someone new is appointed to a position like this. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few departures from ENB as the new AD's preferences and priorities become known.

The ENB Board was quick enough to recruit the new AD (Wayne E's departure was only announced on 20 February) and so it seems strange that the Board is so slow to let everyone know who the new AD is going to be. I'm sure that the new AD's current employer has known for weeks that s/he is going, for obvious reasons.

Lindsay, by allowing speculation to go on and on ENB are not managing opinion at all as people are forming their own opinions and will be less receptive to what ENB says when it finally breaks its silence. Timeliness is really important in this type of situation.

Lindsay, I agree with you that ENB's PR/press management is poor. Perhaps they need to make some changes in this area as well! It's an inauspicious start for the new AD whoever s/he is.

As I said before, the Board is not helping itself. Wayne Eagling's departure is on the face of it controversial and the best thing for the Board to do is stifle that controversy by announcing the new AD and talking about the future etc. etc.

Has my post about the new AD of ENB been taken down? The Board should just get on with it and make the announcement! The situation is becoming ridiculous. The identity of the new AD is being hinted at if not actually stated all over the web. I'm off to DT now.

Ann, once something has become common knowledge in some circles it is IMO pointless to delay making an official announcement once those most affected by the decision have been informed. It makes the Board look weak, or worse, and is not fair on the incumbent.

Janet, I too was shocked at the tone of some of the comments in response to the letter in the DT. There seems to be a lot of bitterness and division in and around ENB. That is why the Board needs to end the speculation now and act decisively by announcing the name of the new AD so that everyone can "move on".

Well, I think that the ENB Board should make a public announcement about the new AD today. It seems to be an open secret who it is in some quarters. What is the point of not going public as soon as the dancers and staff are told? All the secrecy and speculation does not help the Board. If the Board is confident about its decision to replace Wayne E and confident about its choice of his replacement then it should behave accordingly and make the announcement now.

Harpistic, can you post the name of the new AD when it becomes public?

I like the sound of this summer school but it might be too expensive for us this year (as a family we're supposed to be economising!). I think I'll speak to dd's teacher to see what she thinks.

John, can't you get all the tickets you want during the Friends booking period? Or does the ROH only release a certain number of tickets to Friends?

I wonder whether they already know who it is! They're all very quiet on Twitter.

I'm feeling worried now! Does anyone know when the name of the new AD is going to be announced? I really hope that whoever it is, s/he really understands the challenges of running a company like ENB.

Do you need a teacher's recommendation for this course? Are the standards the Cecchetti standards? My 11 year daughter is in a Standard 5 Cecchetti class. Would she be put with the older children? Also, how do the Cecchetti standards compare to the RAD graded exams?

I feel that these vocational schools should have their own halls of residence. They are taking students as young as 16 and the days at vocational school are long and often seem to involve evening classes. Most university students, who are of course at least 18 years old, live in halls at least for the first year. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate it is unlikely that any school is going to be able to invest in its own accommodation.

Capybara, there are some people in Twitterworld who seem to know who the new AD of ENB is!

The new triple bill at the ROH has really divided opinions, both critics' and tweeters'. This got me wondering how much weight people give to critics' reviews. It's really striking how differently critics can respond to the same performance. Sometimes you wonder if they have actually seen the same performance. On a related point, I have recently been disappointed by the quality of some of the reviews which I have read. Some have contained glaring factual inaccuracies, some have been very superficial and some seem to have been written by journalists who had no real knowledge of dance. What do other people think?

Will it not be the same as the new AD of ENB? I thought that Wayne Eagling was the director of ENBS as well as the AD of ENB.