Jan McNulty

Beryl - you've just sparked a memory! In the (traditional) production that PS did for ENB (or as it still was, LFB), Drosselmeyer was Tchaikovsky. There was a prologue of him sitting at a desk imagining the Nutcracker, which he was writing for his brother's children. Perhaps others may remember better but I believe there were psychological undertones mentioned. Christopher Bruce performed this role in the early days. On a trip to Russia in 1986, we were taken to Tchaikovsky's dacha at Klim. Most of the very beautiful house had been inhabited by Tchaikovsky's brother's family and the man himself had one room that seemed to be almost a bedsit.

Aileen - I subscribe to BRB in Birmingham (a 200-mile round trip) so I see all their mixed programmes, some of which sell better than others. I was pointing out that they no longer do mixed programmes at two of their core theatres (Sunderland and Lowry) although they still do them in London and Plymouth (as well as Brum). As a point of interest BRB are only doing one mixed programme in their home theatre in 2012/13. SW is getting one that has all ballets which will have been on show THIS season and the Autumn one. ENB do mixed programmes in London (and this year in Australia I believe) but nowhere else. Those of us who don't have the benefit of living in London have much more difficulty in seeing mixed programmes, involving considerably more expense than just the cost of a ticket and a local public transport fare. For example, each trip to the Lowry that I make currently costs me about £12 in fuel plus sometimes parking (it's an 80 mile round trip for me and is my local venue for BRB now). Many years ago (early 90s) I wrote to ENB complaining that they were bringing Coppelia to Liverpool for the 3rd time in 5 years. The response that I got was very polite and detailed but the bottom line was that Coppelia sold in Liverpool and not much else did! Re Wulff's point, Rambert still have a pool of works in their mixed programmes. They do, however, tour to very diverse places and tend not to do full matinees so I am reduced to the Lowry and occasionally Theatre Clwyd. NB also suffer from not having a permanent home theatre. They did experiment with subscription tickets for a couple of years but I believe they may have proved almost impossible to manage as the company had to negotiate discounts with 2 or 3 theatres. As far as I am aware, companies contract with the theatres on an individual or group (eg ATG) basis. Who may face a loss depends on how the contract has been negotiated. The Arts Council includes core theatres in its conditions for touring for each company. If the companies appear in any other theatres that is subject to their own negotiations and would not be covered by any element of ACE funding.

They are his own interpretations but as I have not seen them I do not know how traditional they look. I'd give them a go!

Aileen, I would say that mixed programmes in the provinces were here as a regular feature until at least the noughties even though they were not well attended. ENB dropped them in Liverpool some years ago but still brought them to Manchester until three or four years ago. BRB seem to have dropped mixed programmes from the North in the last couple of years. I don't know when the golden age withered away - I expect before I started watching ballet but perhaps ballet-watchers of even longer standing can comment. Re ENB pricing - I mentioned in one of the ENB threads that I had heard many years ago that the Coli is a VERY expensive venue to use so the company may have very little leaway. It would probably depend on their contract with the theatre. Members of the Friends of ENB could get good discounts at most venues that, in my case, easily covered the cost of membership. I do not know if that is still the case. NB Friends can still get discounts at some venues but not usually at weekends these days. It is always worth checking though. When I started going to Sunderland (one of my favourite BRB venues) BRB/theatre had experimented with selling all seats for £10 to combat poor houses. They succeeded! As the ticket prices have gone up gradually (now a top price of £24) the audiences have tailed off. Interestingly enough, Sunderland FC march onto the pitch to Dance of the Knights from R&J. The first time I saw R&J in Sunderland BRB had produced a CD single of the music which was being given away as a tie-in. One evening we were not in our usual seats in the stalls because the first few rows had been taken by Sunderland FC Supporters Club. I think some of those people still come. I still go to see Contemporary dance at my localish venues and have dipped my toes into Indian waters and hip hop and I've also seen companies that I wouldn't even try to classify (eg Earthfall whom I saw last week at the Lowry). Most people I know seem to like story ballets rather than abstract but I just like watching dance.

You see quite a few advertised in the main dance magazines such as Dancing Times and Dance Europe

As his company is so small now, he may have made some modifications to the trilogy. Alban Lendorf is definitely worth seeing (IMHO).

Great topic! Rowan - don't blush - a lot of my ballet-watching friends loathe Nutcracker and many others, like myself, do not regard it a favourite. I can and do enjoy the performances but if I had to choose one production to see it wouldn't be Nutcracker. I don't think it is correct, Aileen, to say that the audiences in this country have grown up with the idea that ballet means European folk stories and fairy tales told in the way of the Russian ballet tradition. A very dear friend of mine who had started her ballet-watching in the early 1950s used to bemoan the fact that we got far fewer mixed programmes now than we used to get in the olden days. She said that when the earlier incarnations of BRB came to Liverpool in the 1950s they used to bring THREE programmes - two mixed bills and maybe a full-length like Giselle that would have a shorter piece before it. I don't know when this situation changed. When I first started watching ballet in 1984, there would always be a mixed programme as well as a full length during the week from both BRB and ENB. For myself I tend to prefer mixed programmes. I had started by watching contemporary dance in the late 1970s and that was always mixed programmes so that is what I was used to. Additionally with a mixed programme you can nearly always find at least one thing to like (whereas you can be miserable all evening if you see a full-length you don't like) and you usually get to see more of the company. I don't know what the answer is.

Aileen, I find this post a bit too speculative for my personal taste. Who knows what is going on in anyone's head? In any event, some dancers may prefer not to go to RB, as has been mentioned in other forums and threads.

I was told many years ago that it is very expensive to be a visiting company at the Coliseum (I assume that means any company that is not ENO). I assume that has something to do with the pricing and I suppose selling off unsold seats cheaply reduces the loss, if not by very much. When I started travelling to London to watch ballet in the mid-1980s LFB used to do a 3 week summer season at the Coli followed by a couple of weeks at RFH. If I remember correctly, the RFH tickets tended to be less expensive. I can't comment about the current situation but in those days there were all sorts of special offers from the outset for members of the Friends.

Ihave just received the latest e-newsletter from the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. It includes a link that enables you to read RF Scott's final letter. It is incredibly moving and I thought people may be interested in reading it: http://inspire.wwt.org.uk/view-scotts-last-letter/?utm_source=WWT+email+marketing&utm_campaign=09cdd4e05b-Inspiring_Generations3_29_2012&utm_medium=email

Wonderful reminiscenses but is Fille such a problem???? (or only in Canada!)

Well I can think of two terrific dancers who came from Tring: Tyrone Singleton (BRB) and Carrie Johnson (currently touring with Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker and a real favourite when she was at BRB)!

I don't believe Simone and Jessica were related although they were both with BRB at the same time.

She was dancing with ENB. They had some wonderful guest artistes dancing Tatiana. It was an LFB (now ENB) performance of Onegin that converted me into a fan of classical ballet (on 26th May 1984!). It wasn't until some years later that I realised just whom I had seen - Marcia Haydee, who created the role! I also saw Natalia Makarova, Ekatarina Maximova and Eva Evdokimova guesting in the role. Notable in-house dancers that I saw were Jeanette Mulligan, Elizabetta Terrabust and Josephine Jewkes.

I'm not aware of ever having had those feelings but I do see dancers when I am listening to the music. I caused some colleagues much amusement some years ago. We were stuck side by side in a mega-jam on the M5 and I was listening to Still Life at the Penguin Cafe and without realising at the time was doing the arm actions! (I've never had a dance lesson in my life, have got 2 left feet and am very clumsy!). My Dad, when watching athletics, used to "participate" in the high jum, long jump and hurdles, much to our amusement!

Couple of things: In 1989 (or possibly 1990) Lynn Seymour made her comeback in a major role as Tatiana in Onegin. At the curtain call the stage was COVERED in presented bouquets and loads of people from the audience were showering the stage with flowers. I've never seen anything similar with ENB since. Identical twins are not unprecedented with ENB! The Gianetti twins (Stefano and Maurizio) danced with the Company in the mid-late 1980s. The first time I saw them was the mandolin dance in Ashton's R&J. I thought I was seeing things till I realised! In Germany, the Bubenicek twins (Jiri and Otto) are still dancing although now with different companies (Otto still with Hamburg and Jiri in Dresden). Looking at NYCB there seem to be a couple of sets of siblings. At BRB we had Michael and Kevin O'Hare and now have Rory and Iain Mackay and Jenna and Callie Roberts.

On the thread British born dancers and the global ballet market a number of comments are made about Company Style. I was just wondering what is "Company Style" and do we expect every company to have it or only certain companies? I think Company Style can only come out of continuity but even then it cannot be guaranteed. For example, apart from Ross Stretton. all the directors of the RB have a similar lineage. The same could be said of BRB but has that company's style changed with the introduction of more David Bintley works? With companies like ENB, SB and NB where there has been no continuity of the directorship line, their company style changes with director. Is this a bad thing? I think Paul N is right in mentioning a choreographer's style rather than a company style. What does anyone else think?

Northern Ballet's Kenneth Tindall as Onegin. He is such a wonderful actor, I think he would be awesome in this role.

Love the picture Anjuli! Congratulations on sorting it.

Welcome Allegro. Thanks for posting your thoughts on the performance. I hope that, now you have dipped you toe into the posting water, you will continue to do so.

I couldn't get a picture to load at all. I used the Gravatar software (free to use) to link a photo in the end but it still took me two or three goes. Good luck!

I believe everyone should tut about anonymous letters. On the old ballet.co my tag was my initials but my signature was my full name. My full name is now shown on postings for full accountability. I haven't seen the Ballet Russes programmes because I had booked for BRB before I realised they were on and it is not a cheap undertaking to travel to London with the possible requirement for overnight stays. Sadly ENB no longer tour their mixed programmes to the provinces.

NORTHERN BALLET - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - SHEFFIELD Northern Ballet are currently touring their new production of Beauty and the Beast. Having seen two of the opening performances, I was very glad to see another performance later in the tour. The stage in Sheffield is really small so I was very glad that the trees that blocked my view in the forest scene in Leeds were not in use. Additionally I was sat further back in the stalls than usual and so was able to further admire the beautiful lighting that enhances the production so much. My enjoyment from December was consolidated. This really is a super production. Ashley Dixon was the Beast with Martha Leebolt as his Beauty and Kenneth Tindall as the arrogant Prince. All three have grown into and enhanced their roles. I don't know if it was my imagination but after Beauty has been at the Castle and seen some of the Beasts redeeming feature as their love grows, I felt that the way the Beast moved became "more human" as this section of the ballet progressed - I mean that he gradually had a more upright rather than simian stance. He reverted to Beast movements when he was distressed that Beauty has gone back to her family. Again, I found the opening of the second Act, where Beast is imagining himself as he would be if he became human again and sees himself dancing with Beauty, very moving. I still love the wit of the bailiffs scene and the humour of the silly goblins. The Prince/Beast manservant role is, for me, absolutely pivotal to the action. He tries to (unsuccessfully) advise the Prince and looks after the Beast and then Beauty. Hiro Takahashi brings his wonderful stage presence to this role and its very stylised movements. It was a great afternoon. Beauty and the Beast is touring to most NB venues this year so I hope you all get an opportunity to see it. PS - I know I have already mentioned it but the lighting for this production really is spectacularly gorgeous and truly enhances the performance. The front row in Hull is quite a way from the stage and I must say the lighting looks even better from further away. The lighting designer, Tim Mitchell, is, IMHO, a genius! (edited to add the PS)

I made a day of it last Wednesday and saw At Swim Two Boys in the evening (after Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker in the afternoon). This work is about the growing relationship of two boys at the time of the Easter Uprising of 1916 and the trench warfare of WW1. The boys enjoy swimming and the set has a lot of water. The back of the set looks like the outside of a corrugated container and has water trickling down constantly. The water lands in a shallow pool that comprises the performance area. The dancers get very wet. The performance lasts minutes over an hour and it is a very intense and moving hour. You see the boys being by turns playful, physical and lyrical as they are, perhaps, falling in love. The commisioned score has slow moving lyrical sections as the boys are being reflective and faster, more aggressive sections as they play vigourously in the water. Occasionally film of WW1 is projected onto the back of the stage. As the evening reaches its climax, events take a tragic turn that I was not expecting at all. This is an intense, moving and thought-provoking production.

Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker was at the Lowry last week and my friend and I went to the matinee on Wednesday. It may not be a "conventional" ballet I love this production of Nutcracker. The opening scene in the children's home is hard hitting and moving. I adore the "snowflakes" skaters with its Patineurs overtones. I think it has become my favourite in any production of Nutcracker. I love all the divertissements! The performance was terrific throughout. I can't mention any dancers except one by name as I am not familiar enough with the Company to recognise them from their baby pictures in the programme (I personally find these very irritating if you want to try and identify dancers). I can, however, say what a pleasure it was to see Carrie Johnson back on a British stage. She was terrific as one of the Cupids. There was a Lowry fund-raising event after the performance that included a Q&A session with Matthew Bourne, hosted by Donald Hutera. Matthew came over as very committed, charming and approachable. I don't think I had fully comprehended before that he had had no formal dance training before he started at Laban at the age of 22. He really is a remarkable man who knows how to put on an excellent show.