Fonty

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....

Well, I've just seen this, went to the link, and got 2 tickets straight away. Woo Hoo!! And do you know, I have never been in the Clore before. Is this going to be a Ballet Forum gathering for those who are lucky enough to get Tuesday off at short notice i.e. "working from home"?

I did say I hadn't been for some time, Nina, and I was simply putting my own rather liberal interpretation of Beryl's post about the increased number of tables in the Floral Hall! I have been going to the ROH since I was a child, (we used to be taken on school trips to matinees when we were in primary school), and I have always found the atmosphere as you describe. So what the original article is going on about is a mystery to me.

Oh dear, Porthesia. How annoying for you. Ah, now the subject of job applications and interviews is an interesting one. I went for an interview for a senior post at A Very Grand Firm of Accountants. I was in my 30s at the time, and applying for a senior post. And among the questions they asked were what school I attended and what my father did for a living. The old class system alive and well at that firm, I think!

I haven't been to ROH for ages, a pity if the Floral Hall is geing gradually turned into a canteen. i used to love looking at the costumes, and not everyone wants to pay £18 for a tray of food. The food is pretty average going on boring, and I speak as someone who was treated to a "special" birthday meal in the Floral Hall balcony restaurant. The view was wonderful,it was Christmas, and the tree was up, and lovely to have your table during the intervals as well as beforehand. However, the food could best be described as up market school dinner.

Er? I wonder if someone could translate that in to plain English please? What on earth is undemocratic about the current foyer spaces? What is the opposite of a democratic foyer space? What about: A Dictatorship Foyer Space: Someone stands at the entrance, and bans anyone they feel doesn't match whatever criteria they have decided on for that particular evening. An exciting one, because possible you could get in without buying a ticket. A Communist Foyer Space: In theory it is open to everyone, but in reality only those in favour with the current Management are allowed in.

For the McCartney video, perhaps we should see how many people we can identify (without cheating and looking it up) From one viewing, apart from the ones you mentioned, I saw Jude Law, Jeremy Irons and I assume the red haired lady is Lily Cole. I have absolutely no idea who the blonde lady crawling across the piano is - no doubt she is someone extremely famous!

I haven't read back through all the pages on this thread, so this may already have come up. Why oh why do people take babies or very small children to art galleries or museums? What on earth can a child of pre school age get out of gazing at a picture of, say, a Turner seascape? Or the display cabinets at the British Museum? All you get are bored, wailing children who would rather be somewhere else, either screaming at the tops of their voices, or running about and causing havoc.

Yes, I think that sums it up perfectly, and was what my teacher was talking about. She disliked a very high leg in a penchee for the classics, and used to say, "just because you can, does not mean you should".

I had a moment of panic after I posted that, because she didn't actually give the number of degrees, merely demonstrated a midway point somewhere above 90 degrees, and I translated it into a number! I thought it was quite a big difference myself. So I did a bit of experimentation in front of the mirror. I think it depends on whether your body is upright or whether you are leaning forward into a penchee arabesque. Probably need someone like Anjuli to translate my babbling!

I have to say that I never saw Makarova live on stage, but I have seen plenty of clips of her, and I hate, hate, hate how slooooooooooowly she does everything! A trend that seems to have affected every dancer in this country ever since. If you see a clip of Pavlova doing the original Dying Swan, and then compare it with Makarova, the latter does it at half speed. Very beautiful, no doubt, but nothing at all like the original.

I've just had a look on Youtube, and found a clip of Ashton talking to Makarova about Pavlova. He said she was technically quite limited(although that may have been because her repertoire was also a bit limited). However, he said she had the most incredible speed, together with a natural grace which he said was lacking in current generations of dancers.