aileen

ZxDaveM, just for clarification, Daria did dance last night? I ask this because she fell towards the end of the afternoon's performance and earlier had looked a little ill at ease (normally she always looks so happy when she is dancing with Vadim). Vadim gave a very assured performance in his debut as Apollo. He has tremendous stage presence as well as the terrific technique that everyone talks about. The three Muses also danced well in their debut performances. Nathan Young's gymnastic moves in Le Train Bleu were well performed but he didn't have quite the same bounce and swagger as Vadim had had; it was an exciting solo for him as he is still in the corps. Suite was as beautiful as ever. I'm so sorry that I'm not going to be seeing it again as I'm off to see the outlaws today. Who knows when we will see this ballet again in the UK. Vadim got huge applause for his Mazurka solo from a rather muted audience. There was a poor audience yesterday afternoon; it was possibly even worse than Thursday evening. The Balcony was closed and the Upper Circle was not even half full. I feel so disappointed for the company. In contrast, I'm sure that the ROH was full yesterday for the fourteenth or whatever it was performance of R@J.

Wow, JulieW, thanks so much for taking so much trouble to post all this information. It must have taken you ages! It's really useful to have all this information in one place. Thanks again. Could it be added to the "Anyone looking at vocational schools for 2012" topic?

There's an interesting article about POB posted under the "Links" heading today. In it the company's approach to hiring and promotion is explained. It's worth a read.

Janet, how does subscription to BRB work? Does it only cover performances in Birmingham? Perhaps ENB should introduce something like this. It's interesting that it was as long ago as the early nineties that ENB started to restrict what it brought to Liverpool (no reflection on Liverpool - it just happens to be the place we're talking about). I wonder if ENB should use Sadler's Wells more; it must be cheaper than the Coli. You can't sell as many tickets but if you are performing to a half-empty Coli even after huge discounting you can't be making very much money, and it must be so depressing for the dancers and staff who've worked so hard to put on a great performance. I wonder if the Coli is in a unique position in London and is therefore able to charge whatever it wants. We don't really know exactly how the finances work at these companies but apparently ticket sales for The Nutcracker (which ENB has performed every single year since it was founded) accounts for a really significant proportion of its income (maybe 15%). Wulff, it's really interesting to hear from you about your early ballet-going days.

Can anyone provide any information about ENBS, Rambert and Central? Are they all post-16 schools?

Returning to training abroad, what is the employment rate for graduates of the schools which we have been hearing about? Where do their graduates go and do any of them end up getting jobs in the UK?

I think that ENB are disadvantaged by not having a "home" like the RB, and, like other touring companies, they sell their tickets through several different box offices who of course have no particular allegiance to ENB. I'd be interested to know what the arrangements between ENB and the theatres are. Who bears the risks financially? Who sets the ticket prices? There has been wholesale slashing of ticket prices this week. Whilst this has been great for some people it has upset others (possibly loyal supporters of ENB) who had bought full-price tickets and who may hold back from buying tickets another time in the hope that cheaper tickets will become available later. How many additional tickets have ENB sold as a result of this wholesale slashing of ticket prices? Anyway, returning to the original topic, I think that ticket sales for all but the most popular ballets are generally very price sensitive (particularly in these difficult economic times) and that companies should charge lower prices for the less popular programmes including mixed programmes. ENB please take note! I also think that mixed programmes have to be very well marketed.

Mumofballetmaddaughter, your post is a real eye opener! What dance schools can you go to post-19?

Janet, BRB still seem to do a lot of mixed programmes and they still bring some of them to London. In the past few years I have seen at least three that I can immediately recall, two of which are among the best ballets that I have seen: Serenade and Symphonic Variations. I wonder if mixed programmes were never particularly well attended but this was just accepted until financial pressures forced the companies to reduce the number which they put on and replace them with three act story ballets, some of which still didn't sell well (eg Manon for ENB). I think that the RB are very brave scheduling so many mixed programmes for next season but their position in the market and their large supporter base enables them to take more risks than other companies. They have put a lot of effort into marketing the upcoming programme which they were probably a bit worried about selling; the live stream showing rehearsals of the programme received a lot of press coverage and was an inspired piece of marketing.

Janet, so when and why did things change? Was there a "golden age" of mixed bills, perhaps when Ashton was at the height of his powers? I'm afraid that with triple bills at CG at least, there is usually one ballet that I don't want to see. Next season there are several short ballets that I would like to see at CG but each one of them is scheduled with something that I have seen and don't want to see again and so I probably won't go and see that programme.

For much of the general public (and we need more of it to go to the ballet) ballet is expensive, elitist and old-fashioned. They can have no idea of the variety in ballet. There are those that never go to the ballet (a large proportion of the population) and those who will only go to a very limited range of ballets (invariably Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Cinderalla and perhaps Sleeping Beauty). Only a tiny number of people go and see anything else. Should companies work harder with those that go and see some ballet or should they focus on the people that never go at all? I've wondered how much of an overlap there is between other forms of dance and ballet. Personally, I don't go to see other forms of dance. Does anyone else? I'll be interested to see whether ENB's Flawless collaboration yields results. Has Wayne McGregor brought new people into the ROH? I know that everyone hates surveys but I do think that surveys of at least those people who have bought tickets might reveal what would make them go to the ballet again or more often. I've been wondering if ENB at least should be more imaginative about its pricing. Perhaps they could give discounts according to the number of performances booked for (as Sadler's Wells do) or have some kind of Loyalty Scheme. I certainly think that they should have lower prices for the less popular programmes.

A very good topic, Alison. Related to this, I've been wondering whether companies have statistics on the pattern of ballet going in this country (I'm not putting this very well). For example, of those people who went to the RB in 2011 what proportion went once, twice etc? What proportion went to see the same production more than once? I am always quite surprised how little interest the parents and children at my daughter's (local) ballet school show in live ballet. It's almost as if there's a disconnect between doing and watching ballet. I know that live ballet can be very expensive but it doesn't have to be. It's worrying for the future if even this group is not going to watch live ballet. Specifically on Alison's point, I think that in the UK we have grown up with the idea that ballet means European folk stories and fairy tales told in the way of the Russian ballet tradition. If you asked a non-balletgoer to name a ballet s/he would almost certainly name Swan Lake. Many people would not know that Romeo and Juliet is a ballet. With the exception of the RB, I think that many companies struggle to attract audiences to any full-length ballets other than Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and perhaps Sleeping Beauty. ENB found it very difficult to sell Manon, particularly outside London. I've noticed that most of the full-length ballets that are being created today are very much designed to appeal to families eg Alice, Beauty, Aladdin. If it's hard to sell full-length ballets it's even harder to sell mixed bills. I can't tell you how depressing it is to see how poorly attended ENB's excellent programme at the Coli was last night even after ticket prices were slashed. I am at a loss to know how the situation could be improved. The RB seem to be in a unique position in that all its programmes including the mixed bills sell very well.

Very well done to her, Tulip.

Nina G., so are apprentice contracts the norm, even in the UK? When a corps dancer is listed in a programme or on a company's website is s/he often on a temporary contract? How long will a dancer normally wait until his/her contract becomes a permanent one?

Beautiful photographs, Dave.

Can anyone give an overview of Northern Ballet School and the school attached to Northern Ballet? I understand that there are two different institutions which, confusingly, have similar names. I'm just wanting to give a complete picture to anyone visiting this topic.

Sobering figures, assemble mum. Students cannot assume that they will get a job in the UK. As you say, they must audition abroad, and face the very realistic prospect of having to work abroad for the entirety of their professional careers.

Regarding Vadim, ENB's gain is the RB's loss (they didn't offer him a contract). I wouldn't be surprised if the RB offered him a contract in the next year or two. It would be sweet revenge if Vadim went in at a senior level, overtaking his classmates who were taken on by the RB. I'm saying this! Nothing that I've seen or read about him suggests that he would even have such a thought! He obviously has a great deal of personal loyalty to Daria (and rightly so) and his partnership with her may be the one thing that keeps him at ENB now that Wayne (to whom I'm sure he also has a lot of loyalty) is going. I wonder what Vadim would be doing now if he had gone straight into the RB on graduating.

Rowan, can you tell us about some?

So, at best, there are 312 jobs in British ballet. Now we need to know how many students graduate each year in the UK and how many graduate jobs there are here.

Li tai po, yes, is there a metaphor in Jeux?!

I saw Programme 2 last night. Suite en Blanc was worth the price of the ticket alone. It's an exquisite ballet and is now one of my very favourites. When the curtain went up on the opening tableau the audience applauded. It's just the loveliest ballet and there was some very fine dancing (and a few tentative steps from some of the ladies but to be fair there's nowhere to hide in this ballet). Apollo was very well danced and I was impressed by Konvalina whom I had not seen before. He's a great addition to ENB; he's somewhat similar to Vadim and this will prevent Vadim from getting overburdened and stop him from getting cocky (not that there's any evidence of this happening so far)! Jeux and Le Train Bleu were great fun and well danced. Vadim had just the right amour of swagger in his solo. Boy can he command that huge stage! In short, this well thought out programme shows the best of ENB and Suite is unmissable. There were eight principals performing last night but, in accordance with ENB's philosophy of giving opportunities to young dancers, there were also some corps dancers on show as well. Congratulations to ENB!

A new topic on the subject of vocational schools has been started under smallbythesea's heading "anyone applying to vocational schools for 2013?"

Smallbythesea, there has been a proposal on this site to start a new topic on the subject of vocational schools so this could be it! Perhaps someone would get the ball rolling by listing the schools and giving an overview eg age range; numbers taken; nature of dance programme(s) offered etc.

Primrose, I think that a lot of people don't actually know "what goes on behind the scenes as it were". Why would you if you had not had personal experience of a particular school?