Jan McNulty

Thanks Restor. The Big Top idea is not new. BRB (then SWRB) used to do a summer tour in a big top. I only went twice - to Lancaster! Leeds City Council also used to put on a number of free festivals (pop, opera and ballet) in parks in the city and NB used to perform at those. I think a ballet festival is a fabulous idea ... Somewhere easy for people to get to for example Birmingham or Leeds, which already have a home company and a ballet audience. (Birmingham is currently being touted as a tourist destination on North West television but sadly the advert does not include BRB, unless I blinked and missed them). Like you, I hope other people will chip in with comments.

Interesting questions Restor. A step backwards, or taking valid ideas from the past and reusing them. I think that companies are taking valid ideas from the past and reusing them and I think it is a really good initiative. I personally don't think it is devaluing the art form at all. I also think it is a good way of taking ballet to an audience that might not otherwise see the art form and it might encourage some of that audience to attend a ballet performance. After all, there is more than one stage at Glasto so people need not have watched the ENB performance. I watched it on TV and I must say the audience seemed to enjoy the performance. A couple of years ago I attended an event in Leeds that was jointly hosted by Northern Ballet and Opera North. Both companies happened to be performing Madame Butterfly and the event had extracts from both works. Chatting at the end, people who were opera buffs who had never attended a ballet performance were going to give it a go and vice versa. I would have said that was a positive outcome. I should also point out that not all the theatres visited by the Companies on tour are subsidised by the Arts Council or anyone else. ENB. BRB and NB all perform in theatres operated by ATG for example. I think all the ballet companies in the UK undertake work outside the theatre environment, whether advertised or not. Northern Ballet have, for example, performed abroad during Leeds City Council trade delegations. I also think that the companies (or dancers from them) can be hired for private functions. This, of course, is in addition to all the outreach work the companies undertake. I love the idea of a ballet festival. There is already a wildly successful biennienal festival in Cuba and Copenhagen, of course, had the Bournonville bicentenial festival in 2005 when the whole city was ballet mad! Any initiative to take ballet to different audiences should be welcomed. I posed some questions to you on the ENB New Home thread, which I repeat here. I would love your answers: Restor, could I ask where you are based? I would be grateful if you could advise which of the foreign companies you are touting are worth seeing. For anyone who doesn't know, my name is Janet McNulty and I live in Liverpool and travel around the country to see ballet. My original username was JMcN but since my early days on the previous forum I have shown my full name. I have an avatar that is a picture of me and I do not feel the need to disguise my identity. I am not asking you to be that specific but I would be interested to know where you are based and perhaps where you see your ballet.

Do you have an issue with telling us where you are based Restor? I would also be grateful for your recommendations on the foreign visitors I should look out for.

Restor, Could you please answer my questions?

Very good point Taxi. When the company were at the Empire last year there were about 8 events listed on the leaflet, a couple for Friends but most open to members of the public.

Restor, could I ask where you are based? As someone who does not live within commutable distance to London to see all the dance there, I welcome the risks that are taken by the British companies in taking lesser known rep outside of London. I was thrilled to enjoy Le Corsaire in Milton Keynes (I have a friend who lives there) and Manchester and, I might add, the Nutcracker sold heavily in Liverpool last Autumn (and the Empire has one of the largest capacities in this country). I would be grateful if you could advise which of the foreign companies you are touting are worth seeing.

I've just seen on twitter that James Garner has passed away at the age of 86. I always loved his on-screen persona and never missed an episode of The Rockford Files. I loved the films he made with Doris Day, especially The Thrill of it All. It's a sad week for Hollywood with the passing of Elaine Stritch too. Here's the NY Times obituary.

Restor, your words are very harsh. I have seen several of the Companies you tout and would not do so again! Which of these Companies bring something other than the Tchaikowsky big 3, R&J and possibly Giselle? I have not always liked ENB's rep but I do know that the performance and production values are excellent. I think that performances at museums and festivals in this country is raising ENB's profile and that Tamara Rojo is taking the Company in an interesting, exciting, direction. Perhaps she will be able to build audiences outside London who will appreciate a more varied rep.

No, it is just going to make the children terrified whenever they go out I would have thought. I think that most animals can sense fear and tend to run up to the scared person, thereby exacerbating the problem.

Well I've HEARD it all now! Chunkydog and I were minding our own business on the grassy bit by the Iron Men when I heard a voice calling out - "Mind that dog, it's the type that will bite your face off". I quickly looked around because Chunky was badly attacked some years ago on her own front door step so I like to keep an eye on other dogs. No other dog was anywhere near us. A little boy of about 5 was meandering in our vague direction and it was his mother who was calling out. Well he ran back to her terrified and screaming and her husband picked up their other little one also terrified and screaming. I couldn't help myself. I had to ask her if she thought she was being sensible making her sons terrified of dogs. She replied she wanted them terrified of dogs so they wouldn't get mauled. I told her she was being silly and it would be far better to teach her children not to run up or try to stroke dogs at which point she became abusive. Needless to say Chunky carried on sniffing totally disinterested in anyone or anything around her, while these two silly people carried off 2 needlessly terrified and crying young children. As the grassy area and beach is a favourite dog walking spot, I bet her children will not be having a fun day out!

And sometimes even the seeming gutterpress can carry out valid investigative journalism, hard though that is to believe. The NOTW used to be renowned for its investigations into corruption as well as its page 3, celebrity gossip and sleaze.

Thanks Bluebird. In addition BRB usually does 7 seasons a year in Birmingham - 2 in Spring, Summer and Autumn plus the winter season, in total around 8 weeks so performing up to 20 weeks a year. NB usually have 2 seasons at Leeds Grand and one at WYP and now one at Quarry Hill. As with BRB, the seasons can cover more than one week so, say 5 weeks, making 20 in total. ENB do 9 0r 10 weeks a year in London so in total up to 18 weeks a year? ENB is the one I am least sure of. I have not included the ballets for children that ENB and NB have been doing.

BRB tour to Sunderland, Plymouth, The Lowry and London twice a year. They also do 2 weeks of midscale so that is 10 weeks per year plus occasionally Edinburgh (as next year) or Cardiff. I make that 11-12 weeks a year. This year the Company did a full week in Nottingham but reading the ACE report that is likely to go back to being a midscale venue. NB tour to Sheffield and Norwich twice a year plus Hull, Bradford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Woking, Canterbury, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Belfast, Nottingham and Manchester (off the top of my head) - so usually 15 weeks a year. Some years they do additional dates too. ENB tour to Southampton, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Milton Keynes - occasionally twice a year to some venues so say 6-8 weeks. Please anyone correct me if I have left anything out.

Their graduates who have just graduated are probably now occupied elsewhere and perhaps the group moving into the final year are not considered ready to meet the requirement. I think most of the companies may offer short term contracts to cover for illness/injury/maternity leave but I would guess the growing social media is highlighting things we the audience may have been oblivious too. Isabella Gasparini was on a short term contract at RB and is now a full company member. Sarah Kundi was on a short term contract at ENB and is now a full company member.

I've just tweeted her!

The Lowry describes BRB and Rambert (amongst others) as partner companies. In reality have no idea what that entails in practical and financial terms but the Companies do appear there on a very regular basis. Perhaps we are lucky up North with theatres not owned by a big group - in Liverpool we have the Unity, Playhouse, Everyman and Royal Court. In Manchester there is the Royal Exchange, Contact and Library, in Salford The Lowry, Leeds Grand, Sheffield Crucible and Lyceum, Bradford Alhambra to name but a few. Going back to my post #45, I have just thought that stage size must be a real consideration for a large scale company. Northern Ballet are more used to touring to venues with smaller stages than most and some of their productions look cramped. If ENB were to move out of London and have a "home" theatre in their new location then that must surely be a consideration. Whatever the outcome, I hope ENB emerge stronger than ever. Although I see less of the Company than I used to they are the Company I first started following and I think the direction Ms Rojo is taking them in is making me as excited as I was about them in the mid 1980s.

Press release for Adriana Lecouvreur Opera Holland Park with dancers from English National Ballet An artistic collaboration from the heart of London Opera Holland Park will be collaborating with English National Ballet on 'The Judgement of Paris' ballet within the opera Adriana Lecouvreur, which opens on Thursday 24 July as part of the 2014 Investec Opera Holland Park Season. Cilea’s music for the ballet is delicate and plaintive, its episodes always beautiful, ecstatic and showing Cilea to be a glorious orchestrator. The ballet has a dramatic purpose for the whole plot and the interlude during which ENB will create the ballet is one of the many extraordinary musical highlights of this opera. This is not the first time Opera Holland Park and English National Ballet have worked together. In 2012 we collaborated on the successful project Dance Holland Park along with some professional development training for choreographers work. The Artistic Director of English National Ballet, Tamara Rojo talks about continuing the relationship between OHP and ENB: “We’re thrilled to be working with Opera Holland Park for the ballet 'The Judgement of Paris' within the opera Adriana Lecouvreur as part of their 2014 season. Collaborating on this opera is the next step in building the relationship between our two companies, which has been developing since we created the unique project Dance Holland Park in 2012. It is a wonderful opportunity for English National Ballet to work with such an ambitious and accessible opera company on an ongoing basis, and we’re delighted to be able to grow our relationship with them even further this year.” Echoing Tamara Rojo, James Clutton, Producer at Opera Holland Park, further enforces the importance and benefits of developing the relationship: “As close geographic neighbours, we have been continuing to build our working relationship over the last few years and working with dancers, singers and musicians on joint projects (including professional development workshops) has been beneficial to both companies as well as the young artists themselves. Under the inspirational Tamara Rojo, ENB are flourishing and everyone at Opera Holland Park is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with some of their principal dancers and a choreographer within this production.” English National Ballet soloist and emerging choreographer James Streeter, fresh from his and the company's enormous success at Glastonbury, will choreograph the ballet 'The Judgment of Paris' segment and will feature dancers of English National Ballet. We are extremely grateful to The Headley Trust and other anonymous donors for their generosity, making this collaboration possible. ENB dancers Desiree Ballantyne - Athena Sarah Kundi - Aphrodite Adela Ramirez - Hera Jade Hale-Christophi - Paris Joshua McSherry-Grey - Mercury

I hate to be a pedant here Aileen but The Grand Theatre is in Leeds. Manchester has the Palace (which was mooted as Royal Opera House North) and the Opera House, which are both part of ATG. Although both these theatres have large auditoria the stages are not that big. Bristol has a renowned theatre company in Bristol Old Vic, which is based at Theatre Royal. I think the Bristol Hippodrome Theatre, where ENB currently appears, may be part of ATG but the Theatre Royal that hosts ballet currently is in Plymouth. For any Company starting out in a new location there are going to be challenges in attracting and keeping a new audience and if ENB were to move lock, stock and barrel I expect the Company would require substantial help from ACE. The idea of a "partner home" may be more practical. Bristol could, indeed, be a good choice.

Absolutely Alison. Many years ago I wrote to ENB and complained that Liverpool was getting Coppelia for the 3rd time in 5 years! I got a lovely letter back that explained that Coppelia sold in Liverpool and nothing else in the Company rep did!

When I first started watching ballet in 1984 BRB (as Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet) already had its own separate identity within the governorship of the Royal Ballet Companies so I don't believe that point has been valid for the last 30-odd years. There is, at the moment, virtually no overlap of the touring venues for BRB, NB and ENB. NB toured to Southampton this year for the first time ever (currently ENB venue) and is also due there next Spring. BRB started appearing in Nottingham last year with midscale and then performed Fille there this year. Nottingham is currently an NB venue. Both NB and ENB have performed in Milton Keynes for some years. Obviously all 3 companies perform in London! When I first started watching ballet, both ENB (as LFB) and BRB (as SWRB) performed in Liverpool and for 3 heady years in the early 1990s NB came too! BRB had not been to Liverpool (or Manchester) since the Lowry opened in 2000. Bradford also used to be quite a hub with all 3 companies appearing there. I think the Arts Council was quite influential in dictating touring venues at one time (ostensibly so that more people had a chance to see ballet without having to travel to far) and that those divisions of venue are still largely extant. In my early ballet-watching days, I mostly saw ballet in London. In fact in BRB's first Nutcracker season in Birmingham I was sat next to a gentleman I had often seen but never spoken to at Sadler's Wells. He said to me "I see you have come up from London for the day too" when I told him that, in actual fact, I had had travelled down from Liverpool. I think one of the issues outside London is that the smaller Russian companies who continually perform Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty have got a toe hold. I still think that any company that has a Russian conotation has kudos no matter what the quality and people would go to see one of those rather than a homegrown company. I don't think anyone has found the answer to growing the ballet audience in recent years. I don't believe ballet is an elitist art form, we just need to persuade the bulk of the population that it is far more satisfying to watch than football! And I also believe that there is still a place for ENB and hopefully Tamara Rojo is carving that place ever more strongly.

BRB have to make their plans known to tie in with the brochures for the Hippodrome subscription tickets, which cover the whole year. In recent years tour dates have slipped out depending on "on sale" dates. It can be quite handy to keep an eye on the website! Again Northern Ballet's dates tend to have slipped out over the last couple of years. At the moment we know the Autumn season, the new R&J and 2 Wuthering Heights dates for Spring. I check the website at least once a week! I know this is O/T but Northern Ballet is always publishing featurettes, so the website isn't static.

Not forgetting that Sarah Kundi started her career at Northern Ballet and is still missed by her fans there.

Well really Aileen I do not think that is very fair. Both BRB and NB had swingeing cuts applied 3 years ago and the increase in allocation they have received this year actually only puts them back to where they were. If you read the section of the report that relates to BRB I think you will find that more is required of them than just an additional week's touring. How much does it cost ENB to perform for a week at the Coliseum which is allegedly one of the most expensive venues to hire in London? I remember in the Schaufuss days that in his final year the company performed at the Dominion rather than the Coliseum. Sadly, despite the wonderful programme on offer, the season did not do well. If it had, presumably the Dominion would have become the regular home rather than the Coli.

Legseleven, I love your idea but unfortunately most Scousers are a bunch of philistines when it comes to ballet and I suspect Manchester is much the same! The Telegraph article is very thoughtful.

I agree with Dave that it is lovely to see Sarah Kundi joining the company and I know Terpsichore will be thrilled to bits too!