Fonty

I put this originally on the Le Corsaire casting thread, but I think this is a more appropriate place. I can't delete my original post, maybe the mods can? I went to the O2 in person to buy a ticket from the box office, and they had a notice stuck to the window saying all tickets purchased at the box office were subject to a booking fee! I think it was £3.50, although I might be wrong. And there was also another £7 odd slapped on for "facilities use" or some such phrase. I was wondering what "facilities" they meant. Toilets perhaps? Seats? Air you breathe? So, that means that all tickets were actually £10 more than the advertised price.

Fonteyn22 originally posted something here which she's since copied to the "Room 101" thread http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/1969-room-101/page-14, which is more appropriate, so I've deleted her posting here.

Now that is definitely an age thing! Remind me, how many retirement tours have Status Quo had? Don't get me wrong, I like my rock music with the volume turned up, it would be wrong to listen to it any other way. But it does seem to be the case now that in many situations the sound is loud and distorted, or just inappropriately loud. Do I really need to be blasted out of my seat by an advert at the cinema telling me how wonderful a certain brand of drink is? And if I go to the ballet and find myself having to stick my fingers in my ears because I am finding the sound painful, then something is very wrong somewhere, IMO.

At work, they installed a covered walkway between our old building and a new one, which had glass sides. After about a week, they kept finding stunned birds on the ground. Apparently it is very common for birds to fly straight into glass structures, so now there are pictures of the outline of a bird of prey at regular intervals, to deter the smaller birds. I read somewhere that you should never install mirrors in your garden as birds fly straight at them thinking they are attacking another bird. We get the dreaded ring necked parakeets screeching and squawking on our seed feeder at dawn. So noisy, and they eat everything.

You don't think it might be :whispersquietly: an age thing? I am of the generation where I need peace and quiet in order to think. My nieces and nephews do their homework to the accompaniment of loud music, and say they cannot concentrate without it. What appears to be a wall of suffocating sound to me, is probably perfectly normal volume to them.

I hate it when the Christmas decorations go up in towns in October. And by the time I get to the third week in December, I really do not want to see any more wholesome familys sitting grinning as they open their presents. However, I have to say it does amuse me when stores start to decorate their windows, and start to put tinsel around very inappropriate things such as vacuum cleaners or tins of household paint. With the suggestion that a battery charger would make a nice stocking filler.

And there was me thinking it was that NHS dentists at the time were paid by the filling, and therefore by filling every tooth they made much more money. I would like to send to the hottest hell possible my childhood dentist. Because he knew our milk teeth would fall out eventually, he filled and filled and filled....the drill would be whirring before you had crossed the room and settled yourself down in the dentist's chair. If he wasn't doing it for the money, he must just have enjoyed inflicting pain.

Aileen, we have been to lots of triple bills at the ROH, plus ones from ENB and BRB, so it would be difficult to single out any particular ballet. However, he is like many other people I have introduced to ballet over the years. Every single one of them has said that they prefer ballets with a story to them, rather than just pure dance. They like to see the dancers acting as well as dancing.

Just thought that I would add to this topic by saying that I went with my other half to the free Royal Ballet class yesterday morning. My husband only started going to the ballet after he met me, and has seen all sorts of productions. I was worried that he might not find yesterday very exciting or interesting. However, he said it was fascinating, especially the way each dancer put their own individual interpretation on various exercises. He said afterwards, "That was much more interesting and entertaining than most of those modern triple bills you have taken me to". And I promise you I have no influence at all on his tastes!

Thanks, Bluebird. I didn't realise that was Lauren in the shorts, although I remember the person wearing the outfit. Too many good people to watch, that was the trouble!

Thanks for the list, Bluebird. I think you are right, I thought Yanowsky was there at the start, but I don't remember seeing her after they put the barre away. And I did recognise a few more people than I said originally. I spotted Laura Morera, but not until the end when they all turned round to face us, rather than the mirror. What was Lauren Cutherbertson wearing, I don't remember seeing her. I thought the tall blonde girl was Melissa Hamilton, but I could not find a picture of her to check. Why has ROH website stopped putting any photos with names? Choe was doing some wonderful turns , and Takada was leaping like a gazelle and managing to look very elegant while doing so. Who was the lady with the short curly hair, wearing some lively coloured bottoms standing over to the right as we faced them while they were doing their barre work? And who was the person who introduced the classe and gave us a brief update half way through?

Thoroughly enjoyed this today, what a treat. The only person I could positively identify was Edward Watson. Oh, and Eric Underwood, who had his name printed on his t-shirt. Very helpful of him! I shall wait for others to tell me who I was watching.

Unfortunately, I get up too early for that to make any difference at all, it is pitch black when I go to work. Talking of light, I hate people who keep the blinds shut in the office ALL DAY. It is like working in an underground bunker. I can understand making the adjustment in the afternoon, when the sun comes round and shines on our screens, but please do not have a go at me for opening them in the morning!!!!! Otherwise, we might just as well take out all the windows and save on window cleaning.

Thanks Janet, I think I might move!!!! I recently took advantage of a 50p return train ticket to Birmingham and (whispers quietly) really enjoyed it. Loved the new library, it looked just like a Christmas present all wrapped up. Although having said that, does Birmingham really count as Up North? Or is it not far enough away from London? And now, apologies in advance to anyone who is not a Southerner, but I do hate it when people judge me by my accent. Yes, I was born in Surrey. No, I did NOT go to public school, or any other fee paying school, and my parents were not wealthy.

Talking of lighting, I commented once on the old ballet.co.uk website about a ballet I saw at the ROH about 5 years ago (?). The lighting was very peculiar - from where I was sitting, it highlighted the lower half of the dancers' bodies, but their faces were in shadow. I remember saying at the time that I would occasionally have liked to identify who was performing. Could it have been one of McGregor's? All I can remember is that the girls were in white leotards, which I realise is not much to go on!

Well, that is an interesting question. When I think of modern productions, my perception is that the costumes are much more restrained than the lavish ones for the older productions, almost as if they are an after thought. The sets, on the other hand, can be quite baffling, and often seem to have nothing to do with whatever it is the ballet is about. Odd lights flash, bits of set representing something you cannot identify shift, or disappear, dancers play with props that are clearly meant to be significant, but you have no idea what they are...the list goes on and on. I have no problems with a pared down set and costumes, providing the music interests me. One of my favourite ballets of all time has very simple outfits and set, and that is Symphonic Variations. For me, it is whether the sets and costumes complement the music and dancing. I don't mind whether the dancers are in leotards or tutus, providing it looks as though some effort has been made to make them look visually attractive, and not as if they have just walked in from the studio wearing whatever they grabbed first thing that morning. My pet hate is men in shorts with bare legs. Ditto girls in leotards with no tights. If I want an anatomy lesson, I will open a medical book.

I always find it so difficult to adjust when they change the clocks. I am waking up now at 5.30am, and yawning my head off at 9.30pm. And I do hate being plunged suddenly into winter with such short afternoons. I know the argument is so that school children do not have to go to school in the dark in the mornings, but as so many are driven to school these days I simply cannot fathom out the argument at all. And as for it being easier for farmers, I really cannot see why. Since when do farm animals know how to tell the time?

Ah, I see! I was up quite high at Sadlers Wells, in the cheap seats, so I didn't notice.

Red heels??

Why on earth anyone would want to drink anything while watching live theatre is a complete mystery to me. I want to concentrate on what is happening on the stage, and then save my drink for the interval while discussing the action. I assume the theatres have started allowing it in order to get more people to order drinks at the bar in the first place?

I hope Anjuli's need to put on weight is answered. But if you are still struggling, may I recommend the chocolate doughnuts that I used to eat every morning when I lived in Italy. I managed to put on nearly a stone in 3 months! As far as boxed sets are concerned, there is one I forgot, and which I love - Poldark with Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees. One of those episodes cheers me up every time.

Boxed sets? I have put in a request for Christmas for Mad Men Season 6. I couldn't see the latest series, it wasn't on the Beeb. There is also the 3 series of The Killing, and 24. And I love The Forsythe Sage (the original black and white one with Eric Porter and Nyree Dawn Porter) and Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth. Ahhhhhhhh.

I sent this link to several people who enjoy the ballet, and they turned their noses up. Said you would have to be a fanatic to watch dancers doing their exercises. I was amazed, I've always found it fascinating to watch top dancers doing the basics.

I would say the audition process is possibly as fair as it is possible to be regarding promotion. Someone who perhaps has not had an opportunity to show what they can do would be able to give it their best shot. And also, it could be useful to measure yourself against your peers, and if you are not lucky, see where you need to improve. The downside, of course, is if favouritism means that you are just wasting your time, but that would be the same if it was based on your stage performances - if you are not a favourite, you won't get the parts on stage in the first place. Talking of ENB, I remember years ago watching Swan Lake in the round at the Royal Albert Hall. I spotted Tamara Rojo dancing in some of the group character dances in Act III. She was a Principal dancer with them, so why she was there that night I don't know.

Er - someone want to tell me where Oop North you can get a house for that money? I am tired of my one bedroomed flat....