Jan McNulty

I went to the cinema broadcast tonight - Ms Choe and Mr Campbell being the initial reason for my attendance! I thought the performance was exceptional full stop. Mariana Nunez sunny and trusting nature made her betrayal all the harder to take. I could fully understand why she lost her mind and I have to say her mad scene was incredibly moving. I also loved Vadim Muntagirov's characterisation. I think it works for a romantic young noble to notice and fall for a young peasant girl, even though he is engaged to Bathilde. He obviously doesn't realise he is doing any harm until she falls apart and then it hits home. I thought his body language and facial expressions were exquisite. In Act 2, he really was heartbroken. It goes without saying that their dancing was sublime. Bennet Gartside was utterly believable and utterly wonderful as Hilarion - he was totally subsumed into the role. Gary Avis and Christina Arestis were every inch the aristocrats - bored by and superior to the peasants they had found themselves amongst. Again their facial expressions told a 1000 words. Of course, I loved the pas de six - brilliant dancing by all. I was thrilled to see Francesca Hayward and Yasmine Naghdi too - I hadn't gone beyond the first 2 names! The ladies of the corps in Act 2 were exemplary. I enjoyed Itziar Mendizabal as Myrthe, in fact I thought she was really scary. Is it standard practise for ROH attenders to applaud the first entrance of Albrecht and Giselle or is it because the audience knew the performance was being live streamed? I found the applause in Act 2 quite off-putting (I don't know if I would have felt like this if I had been in the theatre). It always seems inappropriate to me in Act 2 of Giselle anyway, given the subject matter. To sum up, I thought it was a wonderful performance and I am very glad I made the effort to go to the cinema to see it.

Ecstatically I would have thought!

Much faster than earlier on today here too!

Sorry you've been poorly Nicola. How sad you missed the performances, I know how much you were looking forward to them.

Wow - Gemma Nixon and Thomasin Gülgeç!! Wonder if I'll be able to get a ticket?

A view from Nottingham: http://www.impactnottingham.com/2016/04/romeo-and-juliet-theatre-royal/

Nice feature from Charlotte Observer about Hope Muir's appointment: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/article70072067.html

Thanks for posting the link. The press release hasn't come in to our inbox yet. Just on a quick perusal, I won't be dashing down to London much in the Autumn but the mixed programmes all have something of interest for me next year. Hopefully this time I WILL see After the Rain!!

Thanks for your informative post Pirouette. Without doing a huge amount of internet searching, it is hard to say where Britons are dancing. The new RDB website is absolutely awful but I know there are at least 2 Britons in the company - Kizzy Matiakis and Gregory Dean. Alex Jones was a principal in Stuttgart and is now a principal in Zurich.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peony_Pavilion

Hello Mae989, I've added the tag "private lessons" to your post. We have had a few threads recently that using the tag will take you to. There may be some relevant information in those threads but, if not, I am sure that other members will be able to make some suggestions.

I read a post that Emma Kauldhar had put on FB, as a result of which I looked at the ONB website. Goodness only knows what is going on but Johan Kobborg is now shown as being an "Artist of the Company" - i.e. he is being listed as a member of the corps!!! http://www.operanb.ro/en/onb/artisti/ansamblu I do hope that this dreadful mischance is sorted out for Mr Kobborg.

SCOTTISH BALLET ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR HOPE MUIR APPOINTED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF CHARLOTTE BALLET Scottish Ballet announces that our Assistant Artistic Director Hope Muir has been appointed Artistic Director of Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina and will take up the position in July 2017. Hope first joined Scottish Ballet as Ballet Mistress in November 2009 and was later promoted to the role of Rehearsal Director before becoming Assistant Artistic Director in 2015, leading the Artistic Team and working alongside our CEO/Artistic Director, Christopher Hampson. “Hope has been of great support to my Artistic Directorship and a major contributor to the Company. Although I am sad to see her go, I am thrilled that she will be heading up Charlotte Ballet. We wish her every success in her new position.” Scottish Ballet CEO/Artistic Director Christopher Hampson “The past seven years at Scottish Ballet have been invaluable and I have learnt so much from the different roles that I have had throughout my time here. I am thrilled and honoured to be invited to be the new Artistic Director of Charlotte Ballet at such an exciting time in the company’s development and I am looking forward to this new challenge. I want to thank everyone at Scottish Ballet for their support as I embark on this new chapter of my career.” Scottish Ballet Assistant Artistic Director Hope Muir EDITORS’ NOTES: Hope Muir biography Born in Toronto, Muir has worked for the past 27 years throughout Europe, Canada and the United States in both classical and contemporary dance companies. Her uniquely diverse career has seen her create and perform roles for some of the world’s most prolific choreographers including Christopher Bruce CBE, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Robert Cohan, Javier De Frutos and Mats Ek. Muir was a founding member of Peter Schaufuss’ London Festival Ballet School before joining the company, now English National Ballet. Muir then joined Rambert Dance Company, where she danced under the direction of Christopher Bruce CBE for over ten years before moving to Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where she completed her performance career in 2006. Since her retirement from the stage, Muir has been invited to work with some of the most prestigious companies worldwide, including The National Ballet of Canada, Rambert Dance Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Ballet BC, as a sought after guest teacher, stager and rehearsal director. She has been remounting work internationally for a number of choreographers including Christopher Bruce CBE, Javier De Frutos, Helen Pickett, as well as assisting and staging Emergence for Crystal Pite, and most recently served as rehearsal assistant to Hofesh Shechter for his creation Untouchable at the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden in 2015. Muir joined the Scottish Ballet in 2009 under the artistic direction of choreographer Ashley Page. In 2012, Muir was named Rehearsal Director and then promoted to Assistant Artistic Director in 2015, working closely with the present Artistic Director and CEO Christopher Hampson.

No, categorically not. I have never heard him, in public talks or interviews, describe his productions as ballets.

And what a lovely, and ongoing, memorial to your family member Indigo.

Thanks Capybara. Just back in for a few minutes and you've beaten me to it! Unfortunately I can't get to see this programme but it sounds fab.

And a BBC News item: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35967037#?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Dancing Times has a news item on line. Nothing more than reporting what has been stated on FB and Twitter and what he has achieved with the company: http://dancing-times.co.uk/news/item/1912-kobborg_removed

The POB website has biographies of all the dancers. On quick perusal I have found 2 dancers who did not train at the POB school - one from Korea and I think the other may be from New Zealand. Feel free to do more research yourselves: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/artists/ballet/ballet-company

Not very detailed, but the official announcement on the website: http://new-adventures.net/the-red-shoes/news/matthew-bourne-announces-new-show Tour dates: http://new-adventures.net/the-red-shoes/tour-dates

Months ago - it's been on sale for 4 or 5 months already. According to BRB's recently emailed news, Birmingham subscriptions will be out soon so we will know if it is a single week or part of the Spring tour.

The press announcement was live streamed and seems, at the moment at least, to be available for replay: https://www.periscope.tv/New_Adventures/1YqKDrddZbvJV

I've just picked up, via Graham Watts twitter feed, that Sir Matthew has made the official announcement this morning that his next production will be The Red Shoes. It will be opening in Plymouth before a gala opening night for the season at Sadler's Wells. I'll put up the link when it appears on the Company website (unless anyone else sees it first).

I've just seen the unbelievable news on Facebook that Johan Kobborg is no longer with ONB. Initially I thought it was a late April Fool but sadly I fear not: https://www.facebook.com/johan.kobborg.1

Gosh Moomin that sounds interesting! Had a message from my friend's daughter last night. We are going to The Savoy!