Jan McNulty

The rules are as clear as mud aren't they. Sky News issued a useful summary: https://news.sky.com/story/how-does-the-three-tier-covid-local-lockdown-system-work-12102497?fbclid=IwAR2FWWbLAigiV7tmS4nuY0CnXOhXGya-Mv_doqo49fUUrdFZDSMqcfCufMw

Thank you. That is an incredibly powerful and intensely moving film.

Where is the password provided Janite? I've looked at the RDB website but I don't read Danish.

Hello Balletbow and welcome to the Forum!

Hello ms___g and welcome to the Forum! I have moved you request to the more appropriate Doing Dance forum where people dance rather than the News forum where people tend to watch.

I didn't realise there was a time-lapse of an hour but having now realising that via this forum it really doesn't matter a jot. What matters to me is that at the time I felt involved and I want to remember it that way. I enjoyed feeling that I was watching with friends (even though we were miles apart) who were all watching at the same time. So to me it was a live performance. I don't think that realising it was a time-lapsed performance in any way changes how I felt at the time or now.

I don't have any dancing family members but vocational school must work for some because the companies are full of dancers who have graduated from vocational schools. I have, however, read this forum to realise that many roads lead to Rome and vocational lower schools may not be the best way forward for your child. Actually I have a friend who, before I knew him, had a career in musical theatre. He gained a place at White Lodge but was so homesick that after 3 weeks he went home. He went to a musical theatre school at 16.

Here's an older thread that may give you some ideas of where to start looking:

That is a pretty large area! I am currently of the feeling that many courses may be offered online. ENB has a page about intensives but just says that the pages will be updated when they come available. If you look through the forum you can see where previous intensives have been held and perhaps see if any are planned. If by winter you mean October half-term you've left it very late to be looking. If you mean over the Christmas holidays then there seem to be far fewer on offer but I think Ballet Boost have offered courses during that period before now. The usual times for intensives seem to be around Easter and over the summer.

What company is it?

I've just had a look at the website and there is the same message for spring and summer too. I've noticed quite a few of the websites I look at are not being updated regularly (presumably because of the C-19 pandemic) so it may be worth trying to contact them.

Hello Dancer13 and welcome to the Forum! Where in the country are you looking for a course?

Some of the memes on FB and twitter are hilarious but probably too political to be published here.

I believe it is quite an old ad but the timing of its resurrection is appalling in the extreme.

12 October 2020 English National Ballet returns to the stage English National Ballet returns to the stage with performances of Nutcracker Delights at the London Coliseum this Christmas and, as previously announced, Reunion: An Evening with English National Ballet at Sadler’s Wells in November. During the festive period, English National Ballet will present Nutcracker Delights at the London Coliseum (03 December 2020 – 03 January 2021). This special version of the Christmas classic sees the Company perform a selection of the ballet’s most popular moments and iconic scenes accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s famous score played live by musicians from English National Ballet Philharmonic. Tamara Rojo CBE, English National Ballet’s Artistic Director said: “English National Ballet has performed a version of The Nutcracker every year since we were founded in 1950 and I’m so pleased that, despite the challenges faced, we have been able to find a way for the tradition to live on, in this, our 70th Anniversary year. It’s more important than ever that we are able to bring audiences some festive joy this Christmas.” Reunion: An Evening with English National Ballet sees the Company present five world premieres at Sadler’s Wells, London, from 19-21 November 2020. Originally commissioned as creations for camera as part of English National Ballet’s upcoming digital season and now also adapted for the stage, the new works have been choreographed by some of the most exciting dance makers working today: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant, Yuri Possokhov, Arielle Smith, and Stina Quagebeur. Tamara Rojo continued: “After what will be nearly 9 months without performing in theatres, I am thrilled that English National Ballet is going to be back on stage with a live audience this winter. It’s been wonderful to see our studios back in action for the creation of these five exciting new works and we can’t wait to share them with our audiences.” Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Laid in Earth is a “torn apart” quartet. It is set to Purcell’s famous aria from Dido and Aeneas – sung live by mezzo soprano Flora McIntosh, as well as new electronic music by Olga Wojciechowska. Russell Maliphant creates ever shifting choreography and uses light as an integral partner in the creative process. He collaborates on this project with video artist Panagiotis Tomaras and with commissioned sound design by Dana Fouras. A former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, world-renowned choreographer Yuri Possokhov works with a UK company for the first time. His piece for four dancers, Senseless Kindness, is based on Vasily Grossman’s great novel, Life and Fate, about a Russian family caught in the Second World War and is set to Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No1. In Take Five Blues, ENB’s Associate Choreographer, Stina Quagebeur, responds to two of her favourite pieces of music, Bach’s Vivace and Paul Desmond’s jazz standard, Take Five. Arielle Smith’s Jolly Folly is fast-paced, surprising, and energetic and is driven by the Klazz Brothers’ latin-infused covers of Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Mozart. The music for Laid in Earth, Take Five Blues and Senseless Kindness is performed live by musicians of English National Ballet Philharmonic. English National Ballet’s previously scheduled performances for Autumn/Winter 2020-2021 have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nutcracker Delights replaces cancelled performances of Nutcracker at the London Coliseum. The world premieres of Creature by Akram Khan and Raymonda by Tamara Rojo after Marius Petipa have been postponed to 2021. Those who had purchased tickets for these performances are being contacted directly by the relevant box office. All rehearsals and performances are in strict compliance with the UK Government COVID-19 guidance. -ENDS- Notes to Editors English National Ballet is an Associate Company of Sadler’s Wells. English National Ballet is a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England. Listings: Performance details are subject to change, please see www.ballet.org.uk for the latest information. Reunion: An Evening with English National Ballet Sadler’s Wells, London Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 November 2020 www.ballet.org.uk/reunion General on-sale: Thursday 15 October 2020 This performance runs for approximately 80 minutes with no interval. Nutcracker Delights London Coliseum Thursday 03 December 2020 – Sunday 03 January 2021 www.ballet.org.uk/nutcracker-delights General on-sale: Wednesday 28 October 2020 This performance runs for approximately 75 minutes with no interval. About English National Ballet English National Ballet has a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by the great English Dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, it has been at the forefront of ballet’s growth and evolution ever since. English National Ballet brings world class ballet to the widest possible audience through performances across the UK and on eminent international stages including The Bolshoi Theatre and Palais Garnier; its distinguished orchestra, English National Ballet Philharmonic; and being a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s. Under the artistic directorship of Tamara Rojo CBE, English National Ballet has introduced ground-breaking new works to the Company’s repertoire whilst continuing to honour the tradition of great classical ballet, gaining acclaim for artistic excellence and creativity. 2019 saw English National Ballet enter a new chapter in its history with a move into a purpose-built state-of-the-art home in East London which brings a renewed commitment to, and freedom for, creativity, ambition, and connection to more people, near and far, than ever before. www.ballet.org.uk About Arts Council England Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

The two companies I follow (Northern Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet) have very diverse groups of dancers and that is what I particularly like about them.

On Thursday, I published a link to a newly issued BluRay - a documentary about Rudolf Nureyev called I Am a Dancer, which was originally shown in 1972: http://thedigitalbits.com/item/i-am-a-dancer-film-movement-2020-bd

The only other people I could see on a quick perusal: CBE: Richard William Gleave - ballroom dancer for services to dance BEM: Kathleen Anne Forsythe - for services to the Northamptonshire Festival of Dance Congratulations to them both.

Lovely news today. Congratulations to Dame Siobhan Davies. Here's the full list. The first part of the list is for honours awarded to people for their work during the C-19 pandemic. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925349/Queen_s_Birthday_Honours_List_2020.pdf

I'm a dance-watcher and I don't have any family or friends who are dancers. As an outsider looking in it seems that people see the Royal Ballet School and the Royal Ballet as the holy grail ... but is that the right choice for your child? As far as I am aware all the well known vocational schools provide an education for your children that sets them up in so many ways for their adult lives and that some schools seem a better fit than others for the needs of particular children. As a moderator I read the vast majority of the posts made on the forum and I can remember many people in years gone by saying that they had been to look at/audition for this school or that but that ultimately it didn't feel right for their child. It is obvious that there are far more graduating students than there are places available in companies and people need to be realistic about that. The nearest I have personally come to knowing a dancer is the daughter of an ex-colleague who went at 11 to study specifically for a career in ballet. She realised pretty soon that ballet was not what she wanted to do as a career and she went to a musical theatre college and subsequently had a successful and enjoyable career in entertainment on the cruise ships.

The conductor was Jonathan Lo, who became Music Director at Northern Ballet last year. I first saw him as a guest conductor with BRB and have also seen him conduct RB. He conducted two performances of Fille on one day for BRB 2 years ago and what impressed me most was that the 2 casts were very different and he was able to adapt for both of them without ever compromising the music. If you ever hear him giving a talk he is incredibly passionate and erudite about music. Here's his biography: https://northernballet.com/biography/jonathan-lo Just going back to the performance, it was lovely watching it last night and knowing that friends were watching at the same time. Obviously it's not as good as sitting together in a theatre but it's one step closer.

What can I say. It was such an emotional evening to actually watch live ballet, albeit on my laptop, and hear a LIVE audience really loving it. I was quite overcome. I thought the format of the evening worked really well as an introduction back to live ballet and it was worth every penny of the £16 for a full 3 hour performance. I loved the whole evening from the overture (looking back to the first performance of the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden) to the joyous, glorious, wonderful and outstanding ending performance of Elite Syncopations (quite amazing for me to describe Elite like that as it is not a favourite of mine). There was a great mix of the familiar and the not so familiar and the evening just worked beautifully. We were treated to fabulous, heartfelt, emotional performances throughout. But what on earth were some of the presenters wearing? The opening Hofesh Shechter snippet from Untouchable really set me up for the evening with its drama and full stage of dancers. My personal highlights of the evening were the utterly sublime performance of the reconciliation duet from The Dream danced by Laura Morera and Alex Campbell and the Fanny Elsler pdd from Fille as so joyously danced by Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Marcelino Sambé. I was absolutely carried away by the audience clapping along! It was so great to hear a live audience enjoying themselves so much. Anyway and to sum up, in case you hadn't realised, I LOVED THE WHOLE evening. A heartfelt thanks from me to the Royal Ballet.

Links - Saturday 10 October, 2020 Live/Streamed Review - Royal Ballet, Back on Stage, London: Debra Craine, The Times Feature - Yasmine Naghdi, Royal Ballet: Zoe Paskett, Standard Feature - Natalia Osipova, Royal Ballet: Oksana Khadarina, Dance Magazine Feature - Francesca Hayward, Royal Ballet: Alyson Lowe, Vogue Feature - Francesca Hayward & Cesar Corrales, Royal Ballet: Jennifer Ruby, Mail News Feature - Royal Ballet returns to the stage: BBC Cinema P/review - Bolshoi Ballet, Romeo & Juliet: Aliya Al-Hassan, Broadway World Streaming Review - Jordan James Bridge/Danial de Andrade/Gay Clarke & Dancers, Locked down, Locked in, But living: Sara Veale, Fjord Review Live/Streaming Preview - An Evening with English National Ballet, London: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper Exhibition Review - Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer: David Mead, Seeing Dance Live Preview - Alexander Whitley Company, Overflow, London: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper Feature - Ian Casady, Houston Ballet, moves from dancer to ballet master: Olivia Flores Alvarez, Houstonia Video Feature - Tiler Peck, NYCB, to appear with Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra: Yahoo News via KERO Feature - Daniel Owoseni Ajala, founder of Leap of Dance Academy in Lagos: Courtney Celeste Spears, Dance Magazine

I've just come across this on FB: https://www.facebook.com/olivia.pickford.33

Links - Friday 09 October, 2020 Streaming Review - Royal Ballet, Dances at a Gathering: Michelle Potter, ... on dancing Feature - Francesca Hayward, Royal Ballet: Annabel Davidson, Vanity Fair News - Sadler’s Wells announces socially distanced season for Autumn 2020: News Desk, Broadway World Live Review - Ballet Preljocaj, Swan Lake, Clermont-Ferrand: Roslyn Sulcas, NY Times Streaming Review - Jordan James Bridge/Danial de Andrade/Gay Clarke & Dancers, Locked down, Locked in, But living: Siobhan Murphy, DanceTabs Feature - Maina Gielgud on staging Giselle at one of Portugal’s top ballet schools: Toba Singer, Pointe Magazine Streaming News - Tiler Peck curates A New Stage: News Desk, Broadway World Video Feature - Meet Lauren Post of American Ballet Theatre: Broadway World Feature - On Black Death and Fundraising: Sydnie L Mosley, Brooklyn Rail Live Review - House of Sand, Dance, Dance, Have Feeling, Wellington: Melissa Bee, NZ Theatreview Interview - Shamel Pitts & Itai Zwecker: Jonah Goldman Kay, Brooklyn Rail Blu-Ray Review - Rudolf Nureyev - I am a dancer: Dennis Seuling, The Digital Bits