Fonty

How annoying for you, Fiz, and how distressing for the dog. People who leave their dogs alone aften swear blind their dog doesn't bark or howl. A friend of mine had to take a recording of her neighbour's pet whining and barking all day, because they refused to believe her. Very unusual to keep a dog outside if it is a family pet.

Really? Why is that? Ashton described Fonteyn as having "the proportions of Venus", so what has changed? She was petite, but she wasn't minute, I am sure she would have achieved the minimum height required. (Is it 5' 3"?) I think Nureyev was on the shortish side, but he seemed to manage to partner Fonteyn quite well, I believe? Isn''t Stephen McRae a similar height to Nureyev? On a slightly different, possibly controversial tack, there seems to be this idea that people from poor backgrounds have more drive and passion to succeed than those who come from wealthier families. Hence the notion that people born in less affluent countries have a better work ethic than those from, say, the UK. Certainly, there are many people in the public eye who have come from very disadvantaged backgrounds and made it to the top in their chosen profession. However, these people usually publicize their origins, in order to inspire the next generation, saying, "Look at me, I did it and you can too". The successful people born with a silver spoon in their mouths tend not to mention this, for obvious reasons. I would say that nobody would be successful in the world of ballet if they did not have that burning desire to do well, and to commit themselves to it from a very early age. And that passion is something they are born with, and has nothing to do with what sort of background you come from, surely?

Was it really? They must have kept that production for a long time, because it was years ago when I saw it. I can't remember the first act at all, although that doesn't surprise me. After about 30 years of Nutcracker watching, I would probably only remember it if the production did something spectacularly different - Clara vanishing in a puff of smoke after receiving the Nutcracker, never to be seen again, or the party guests turning into vampires.

Does anyone remember the ENB Nutcracker where the corps were dressed as Liquorice Allsorts in the second act? I must have enjoyed that version, it was a long time ago and the costumes still stick in my mind.

Shocking, really. But we are frequent ballet goers, with the knowledge that these are world class dancers. I am guessing that the average audience for the Nutcracker are people who go once a year. I think there is still this perception amongst that group that ENB is somehow a lesser company, simply because it is not the Royal. Plus there does seem to be an overdose of Nutcrackers at Christmas. I appreciate it is appropriate for the season, but I can't be the only frequent ballet goer who would prefer to see something else.

Because it is not the Opera House, darling, and only second rate companies perform ballet elsewhere!

Do you think it might have been deliberate? I know there are quite a few practical jokes played during the Nutcracker (or there used to be, anyway!)

Wow! I don't think I saw it. I think I might have to track down a copy.

Isn't that a criticism that is often given to the British? That we are all "stiff upper lip" and don't show our emotions? It really annoys me when certain nations come out with that phrase (naming no names, of course). I think many people make the mistake that if you are not shouting out your feelings to the entire population of the world, you have none. For many, many people the things they feel the most strongly about are the things they want to remain private. And personally, I prefer it that way.

Alison, I have a flat that is the middle one of three in a conversion. We have just had the leases rewritten (for some complicated reason that I won't go into). However, although it has not been a problem, I thought now would be a good time to include a phrase along the lines of "floor coverings such as carpet or something that provides equal prevention of noise to those below" and asked the solicitor to put it into legal jargon. You would not believe the irritation it seemed to cause the owners of the other flats. The flat above got quite offended, and thought I was accusing them of being noisy (I wasn't, and they aren't). The owner of the flat below is actually paying for the legal work, and thought I was being nit picky and costing her extra money. That was until I had to have some work done on my central heating pipes, which meant I had to have the carpet taken up. She realised just how intimate she and I would be if I took up the carpet permanently. Then she sided with me, and insisted on the inclusion. I have yet to see the final phrase - I do hope it is legally binding and perfectly obvious to any future buyers. .

I definitely read it recently, but I can't remember where. I never buy a newspaper, so it was either a small snippet in one of the freebies, or it was in one of the magazines in my local library. Although having said that, I am now starting to wonder if it was actually Rojo who was being interviewed, and talked about Acosta partnering her next year.

Well, Acosta is promoting the ENB production of R & J in the round at the Royal Albert Hall next year quite a lot at the moment. He highlighted this on his appearance on Saturday Kitchen. I've not read the Times article, but maybe that is how they latched on to that! And isn't every Principal dancer referred to as the Fonteyn or Nureyev of the day in the general media? And

And On the Town also includes the wonderful Ann Miller tap dancing too!

That is extremely antisocial. I remember when we lived in a flat, the guy upstairs had no carpet down, and we could hear everything. And I mean everything. He had a small dog, and it sounded like the Hound of the Baskervilles pounding about. We wrote him a polite note, and he did put carpet down which solved the problem. However, the poor guy actually received a complaint about noise from the people above him. They complained to the council that he played his music too loud, but when the council checked with us, we said quite truthfully that we couldn't hear it. Turned out the people above had removed all floor coverings and had polished up the original floor boards. He said he felt he was actually living with them. And the extraordinary thing was, the council upheld their complaint and told him not to play his music.

Seven Brides was a cracking dance sequence.

Absolutely! I 've only seen Red Shoes (about 50 times) and Billy Elliot, although I do have Black Swan recorded and intend to watch it at some point. Not having seen them, i can't say how much ballet is actually in included. However, can I extend the list with films that contain ballet sequences? 1. What's Opera Doc? Bugs Bunny does a lovely pas de deux with Elmer. 2. Flashdance - well, the heroine does want to get into ballet school, doesn't she? 3. Fame - some fabulous dancing, and there is some ballet in there.

Sipping a glass of decent red wine in a pub in front of a real log fire, while gossiping with a friend you haven't seen for ages.

Perhaps that is because they are allowed to go in for these competitions? I would be interested to know why certain schools ban it altogether. Maybe it is because they feel that the competition takes place to enter the school in the first place, and if you are already a student there is no need. Also, how were students from schools such as RB picked in the past? Are they the ones deemed by the teachers to be the best of the best? The future company members? It could be extremely demoralising for other students in that scenario. You might feel it is not worth bothering to continue.

Yes, I have been on the receiving end of some bullying from estate agents in the past. One member of the branch agreed to sell our old flat for a certain percentage. When the documents came, the charges were double what had been verbally agreed. I rang up, and was subjected to a barrage of "assertive" talk by the senior partner of the firm, trying to force me to accept. I refused, and got the original price, but I was upset by it. I'm afraid estate agents have just been replaced by a new breed - Solicitors. Conveyancing solicitors, to be precise. I have had several quotes, and there is a huge difference between them. Considering it is the sale of a freehold property with no mortgage and no chain, the work involved should be minimal. Having got several quotes, I have now discovered I am obliged to use the solicitors handling my mother's estate. And guess what? They charge twice as much as everyone else. They did NOT point that out to me when I was deciding whether to appoint them as executors or not. And unlike the others, they do not do a No Sale No Fee job. Oh no, if the buyer pulls out they charge a fee "commensurate with the work done on the client's behalf". Hah! And why is the cost based as a percentage of the cost of the property? Is there any more work involved in selling a freehold property for £650k than one for £450? I think not.

I am currently trying to sell my mother's house. After 3 weeks on the market, and masses of viewings, the feedback was that it needed too much work and was overpriced. In spite of the fact that I questioned very closely the value put on it, and asked whether I should do some work first. A week ago my brother accepted an offer 40k below the asking price....and we haven't had a peep out of the buyers since. No solicitor details exchanged, no queries, nothing. And I have to keep ringing up our agents for information - they should be calling me, not the other way round.

I hate Baileys :yuck: but love the advert. And it just confirms what I have always suspected, that Soares and Orlando Bloom are very closely related.

Oh Fiz, I do sympathise. I am having to deal with that particular breed at the moment. I have never found an estate agent I like (yet).

Is that really the main aim? I thought it was a competition where dancers from various countries pitted themselves against each other, and that they won money to be spent on the next term's school fees. Obviously, if someone from a relatively minor school won, I would have thought they would be offered a place at one of the top schools, but I thought that was one of the side effects, not the main point of the competition. Darcey Bussell came third in one of the Prix competitions, didn't she? And she was already at the RBS, so it wasn't for the offer of a place.

Home made cake. Any home made cake, but I am particularly fond of home made Christmas cake. Which is quite a good thing really, given the time of year.

I HATE self service checkouts. Our local Tesco has replaced masses of checkouts with these, and I object strongly. They are ok, I suppose, if you only have a small basket, but they are much slower if people have huge trolleys. It is just a cost cutting exercise for the supermarkets. They will be expecting us to stack the shelves next.