Jan McNulty

So not that much different from my original thought. Thanks for the clarification. Not that it has got much to do with dance school fraud but I know from personal experience that when some contractors were applying for contracts to implement systems for my employer (a government department) they did not have the staff to man them and only recruited when awarded the contract. I can see their point because they could not necessarily as a company afford that many staff if they did not have the work. It could mean that perhaps the best candidates were not available. I remember a system being built by contractors that included a process that was run nightly. On going live the process took 48 hours to run! The person writing the programme had never used Cobol and his training consisted of borrowing some of our listings! When he had disappeared through the door one of the permanent team optimised the programme and it ran in 5 minutes!! This sort of thing, sadly, goes on in all walks of life but seems particularly awful when children are involved.

Very droll. I have not been in the personal security industry but I am a Scouser! And BTW your sentence about Les Mis was less obnoxious than the odious comment you aimed at another member - the one I mentioned in the post I quoted.

The final sentence (sorry for typing incorrect word - should have read 'final' not 'finally') of the post I quoted.

I think it is quite common these days for establishments to accredit courses that are being held nowhere in their vicinity. To what extent do CRB checks go into someone's qualifications as opposed to their "character". I appreciate CRB has broadened since it was introduced but I thought it was mainly to cover the fact that the CRB applicant would not harm a vulnerable person. Could someone please explain the current CRB to me in laymen's terms?

And I think you owe SPD44 an apology for your finally, thoroughly obnoxious sentence.

It doesn't read that way to me. However, people are entitled to their opinions without those opinions being belittled. You are quite right that your original sentence was offensive but then why have you tried to belittle every point everyone else has made ... that is the way it reads to me. As Sim said in her post, a good perusal of the Forum would show many differing and often contentious opinions, including ones of other performances by the Bolshoi in this season. Why do we always have to look at something from an intellectual point of view to get enjoyment, enlightenment and a broadening of the mind from it? Apart from my sole visit to the Bolshoi on Thursday evening, last week, for me, was pretty shitty. I went to the cinema on Sunday afternoon and saw a film that was absolute hokum. I loved it and it did me the power of good. What is wrong with that. OK you may have watched the same film and pulled it apart critically (which is was by professional critics) but should that affect my enjoyment - of course not. It is just someone else's opinion.

Burn the Floor Fire in the Ballroom UK Premiere The Peacock Tuesday 18 October – Saturday 5 November Performances: Tue - Sat at 7.30pm, Sat at 2.30pm, Sunday at 2pm and 6.30pm Tickets: £15 - £42 Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com "An exhilarating ballroom extravaganza" BROADWAY WORLD Burn the Floor returns to London with the UK premiere of international smash-hit Fire in the Ballroom, coming to The Peacock 18 October – 5 November 2016. The production is a rebellious, high-energy ballroom dance spectacle with an infectious sense of fun, featuring 14 champion dancers breathing new life into classics such as the Viennese waltz, foxtrot, samba, tango and jive. Backed by a live band, singers cleverly re-interpret a diverse range of music from Santana to Led Zeppelin. This production of Fire in the Ballroom, crafted over the past two years by choreographer Peta Roby, based on original choreography by Jason Gilkison, pushes dance boundaries to new heights and “will have you leaping out of your seat to join in” (Heat Magazine). Gilkison and Roby are World, British and International Latin Dance Champions and have danced for over 35 years. Gilkison has previously worked on television series So You Think You Can Dance and is also Director of Choreography on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing. Since 1999, Burn the Floor has performed in over 150 cities across 29 countries and entertained audiences in theatres from London to New York, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and Cape Town. The show takes the wonderful social traditions of ballroom dancing to a whole new level, breaking new ground, and rules, as a contemporary melting pot of dance styles, energy and excitement. Free post-show ballroom classes: Tue 25 October and Tue 1 November Half-price tickets for Under 16s (max 2 children per 1 full-paying adult) No performance Wednesday 2 November NOTES TO EDITORS Burn the Floor Fire in the Ballroom Performances: Tuesday 18 October – Saturday 5 November Tickets: £15 - £42 Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com ABOUT SADLER’S WELLS Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance house, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the very best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding, the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. Since 2005 it has helped to bring over 90 new dance works to the stage and its award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour internationally. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies and an Associate Company and nurtures the next generation of talent through hosting the National Youth Dance Company, its Summer University programme, Wild Card initiative and its New Wave Associates. Located in Islington, north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since, with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 10% of its revenue from Arts Council England.

Dave is an accredited photographer who would have been invited to the rehearsal as a photoshoot opportunity.

I'm working on a Macbook and had no problems with the iTunes link. I also clicked on the Android link and had no problems with that either.

Huge congratulations Dormouse! I've moved your thread to the more relevant "Doing Dance" Forum.

http://www.istd.org/news/industry-news/dance-school-in-fraud-prosecution-by-trading-standards/

Not just DC Taxi. Over the years I have become so last minute in respect of packing none of my friends can believe I ever get away!

Dreadful stories.

Ca tamara n

I'm hopeless at cryptic crosswords!

Albeit with the first cast, Sim has beautifully summed up my feelings about seeing the performance last night. I thought it was clever and witty, it didn't concentrate on the misogyny but made it more a contest of wills. I thought there was a "taming" on both sides. My feelings of how the production worked did not entirely accord with the programme notes but that's what it's all about! I thought all 4 main leads were splendid - there was some brilliant acting not only from them but the second tier of characters too. I loved the Tea for Two ending. I want to see this production again!!! That was my one and only visit to the Bolshoi this time and I am so glad we saw this production rather than the other more familiar works in the rep.

Thanks Legseleven for the clarification.

CAT = Centre for Advanced Training. A number of organisations have these schemes - I googled and got a long list! https://www.google.co.uk/#q=Centre+for+Advanced+Training+Dance I think Northern Ballet (Leeds) CAT Scheme is the only one that is solely ballet but please correct me if my information is out of date.

I've just picked this up via Facebook: http://danceworks.net/teachers/sander-blommaert/

I can't answer your question through experience but there are a number of dancers who are currently in or have been in contemporary companies who had a classical ballet training: Josh Barwick is currently at Rambert and trained at Elmhurst before dancing with Northern Ballet. Eryk Brahmania, (RBS) ex Rambert previously danced with Hong Kong Ballet before joining Rambert. Ben Mitchell (RBS) danced with Northern Ballet before moving to Deborah Colker in Brazil, Phoenix and now Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal.

It was public a few days ago because I found it by typing in his name and instagram in google and the post came up. Other people on the Forum had also seen the posting and the news was included on this thread here: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/12921-royal-ballet-school-summer-performances-2016/page-2#entry179809 I suppose this is a timely lesson to everyone that what goes on the internet stays on the internet and you should not post news on social media unless you want the world to know about it!

Hello Sparklymommy and welcome to the Forum! Here is a thread from a year ago on a similar subject: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/10232-progress-in-balletenough-training/

The overall production would probably be improved by the introduction of some bicycles and more British sounding names!

Natalia Osipova Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Russell Maliphant / Arthur Pita Tuesday 27 September - Saturday 1 October 2016 Performances: Tues - Sat at 7.30pm Tickets: £12 - £60 Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com “Osipova’s power glinted through… A rare achievement indeed for a ballet star, but it looked so right.” Sunday Express on Silent Echo Following the summer World Premiere, multi-award-winning ballerina Natalia Osipova returns to Sadler’s Wells with the triple bill of work created for her by renowned contemporary choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant and Arthur Pita from 27 September - 1 October 2016. Prior to its London dates, the production visits the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh as part of the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival from 12 - 14 August 2016. From 10 - 12 November the production visits New York City Centre, marking its US Premiere. Once again, Osipova will be joined on stage by former Royal Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin. Natalia Osipova is a Principal with The Royal Ballet. She joined the company in 2013 after her guest appearance in Swan Lake, and has performed lead roles in Giselle, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, La Fille mal gardée and DGV: Danse à grande vitesse. She has created roles in Wayne McGregor’s Tetractys and Woolf Works, and Alastair Marriott’s Connectome. She started her formal ballet training at the age of eight, before joining the Bolshoi Ballet at the age of 18. She has also danced with American Ballet Theatre and Mikhailovsky Ballet. The first of three works performed by Osipova is Qutb, choreographed by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and Artistic Director of Royal Ballet of Flanders Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Qutb, a trio for Osipova and two male dancers, Jason Kittleberger (Cedar Lake Contemporary Dance Company) and James O’Hara (recently seen in Bolero at Paris Opera Ballet with Marina Abramovitch and long term collaborator with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui). Qutb, an exploration of unknown and dangerous territory, with the three performers, each coming from different dance or movement languages, connect and communicate with one another. The work features Cherkaoui’s trademark alchemy of movement vocabularies, musical genres and cultures with lighting designed by recent Knight of Illumination winner Fabiana Piccoli and a soundscape designed by Felix Buxton from Basement Jaxx. The work also features costume designs by Kimie Nakano, a frequent collaborator with Akram Khan Company. Cherkaoui has created more than 20 works including zero degrees, Babel, Sutraand m¡longa and is acknowledged as one of Europe’s most exciting choreographers. He continues to work with a variety of theatres, opera houses and ballet companies from around the world including Dutch National Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, GöteborgsOperan Danskompani, Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon in Tokyo and Stuttgart Ballet. Cherkaoui received international acclaim for his choreography in Joe Wright’s feature film Anna Karenina (2012). His work Fractus, with his company Eastman will receive its UK premiere at Sadler’s Wells this Autumn. The second work in the programme is Russell Maliphant’s Silent Echo, a new duet for Osipova and Sergei Polunin. The piece features lighting by Maliphant’s long-time collaborator and Knight of Illumination award-winner Michael Hulls. Hulls, a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, also received an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2014. The new work features a soundtrack from UK composer and sound artist Scanner. Maliphant is one of the longest-standing Associate Artists of Sadler’s Wells. He trained at the Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet Company before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. As a dancer he worked with companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre, Michael Clark Company, Laurie Booth and Rosemary Butcher. He also studied anatomy, physiology and bio-mechanics. He became certified as a practitioner of the Rolfing Method of Structural Integration in 1994, which has subsequently informed both his teaching and choreographic work. Throughout his career Maliphant has set works on renowned companies and artists including: Sylvie Guillem, Robert Lepage, The Ballet Boyz, Lyon Opera Ballet, Ricochet Dance Company, CobosMika, The Batsheva Ensemble, and Ballet de Lorraine. He has been the recipient of several awards including two Olivier Awards, a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Choreography (Modern) and a South Bank Show Award. The final part of the evening sees a second duet for Osipova and Polunin from Royal Opera House regular Arthur Pita. In Run Mary Run, Pita crafts a dark, comedic story for the pair, highlighting Osipova’s natural gift for acting. The work features a soundtrack from The Shangri-La’s, The Crystals and David Lynch, mixed by Pita’s long-time collaborator Frank Moon. Pita and Osipova previously worked together on Facada which was seen at the London Coliseum in 2014 as part of Solo for Two and featured Osipova dancing with Ivan Vasiliev. Pita has also choreographed movement for plays, operas and musicals, including Women Beware Women at the National Theatre, Becky Shaw at the Almeida and La Bohème and Show Boat at the Royal Albert Hall. His production of The Little Match Girl received rave reviews at its premiere in 2014, and returned to Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio for the 2015 Christmas season. Earlier in 2016, Pita premiered new work Cristaux, part of a triple bill for Ballet Black at the Barbican. In March 2017 Arthur Pita will premiere new work for San Francisco Ballet. A Sadler's Wells Production Notes to Editors Listings information: Natalia Osipova Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Russell Maliphant / Arthur Pita Sadler’s Wells, London Tuesday 27 September - Saturday 1 October 2016 Performances: Tues - Sat at 7.30pm Tickets: £12 - £60 Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com Additional tour dates: Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Friday 12 - Sunday 14 August 2016 Performances: Fri - Sun at 7.30pm Ticket Office: 0131 473 2000 or www.eif.org.uk New York City Centre Thursday 10 - Friday 12 November 2016 Performances: Thur - Sat at 8pm Ticket Office: 001 212 581 1212 or www.nycitycentre.org ABOUT NATALIA OSIPOVA Russian dancer Natalia Osipova is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. She joined the Company as a Principal in autumn 2013, after appearing as a Guest Artist the previous season as Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) with Carlos Acosta. Her roles with the Company include Giselle, Kitri (Don Quixote), Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Lise (La Fille mal gardée), Titania (The Dream), Juliet, Tatiana (Onegin), Manon, Natalia Petrovna (A Month in the Country) and roles in Serenade, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse and Tchaikovsky Pas de deux. She has created roles in Wayne McGregor’s Tetractys and Woolf Worksand Alastair Marriott’s Connectome. Osipova was born in Moscow and began dancing at the age of five. Aged eight she joined the Mikhail Lavrovsky Ballet School. From 1995 to 2004 she trained at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography and on graduating entered the corps of the Bolshoi Ballet, where she was promoted to Principal in 2010. Her repertory there included Kitri (Don Quixote), Giselle, Nikiya and Gamzatti (La Bayadère), La Sylphide, Esmerelda, Princess Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty) and Swanilda (Coppélia). In 2011 she left the Bolshoi to join the Mikhailovsky Ballet as a Principal. Osipova has appeared as a guest artist with companies around the world. In March 2012 she became a Principal of American Ballet Theatre, where she created the title role in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Firebird. Her awards include Golden Masks for her performances in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room (2008) and La Sylphide (2009), Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards (Best Female Dancer, 2007 and 2010) and a Benois de la Danse Award (Best Female Dancer, 2008). ABOUT SADLER’S WELLS Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance house, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding, the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. Since 2005, it has helped to bring over 100 new dance works to the stage and its award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour internationally. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies, an Associate Company and two International Associate Companies. It also nurtures the next generation of talent through its New Wave Associates and Summer University programmes, its Wild Card initiative and hosting of the National Youth Dance Company. Located in Islington, north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since, with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 10% of its revenue from Arts Council England.

What an amazing experience Frank. Thanks for telling us about it. I can't wait for more of your bird tales. The most amusing thing I have seen on the lake near where I live was a flotilla of cormorants swimming around the edge of the lake - about 15 of them. Occasionally a couple would go under to see if there was anything down there but always came back up in their own place in the flotilla. I saw the flotilla several times at the start of this year.