Fonty

I suspect the interviewer may have phrased the question in such a way as to suggest that the usual ballet going audience is made up of grannies and granddaughters. Something along the lines of "Are you not in danger of alienating the normal, grannie/granddaughter audience..." And I have a number of gay male friends, who would never go and see a classical ballet, but would consider booking a ticket for one of Matthew Bourne's productions.

I remember that when I saw Cojocaru as Clara in The Nutcracker, she reminded me of Bonnie Langford.

Arrrr shiver me timbers. I shall have to get out there and buckle my swash! I can do a mean hornpipe.

Any of them are wonderful if your daughter has never seen the ballet before. I agree with others that the Birmingham one is the best, but I am basing my knowledge on many years of viewing, and loads of different productions! If London is easier for you to , then the ENB will be terrific. The tickets will be cheaper than RB, and easier to get hold of. You really can't go wrong, whatever you choose. It is such a great Christmas ballet.

I've not seen Legris or Boal, but I would agree with you about Cope and the subject of personal radiance. Some people display it no matter what. In Cope's case, he clearly needed the right partner to bring it out. Guillem was a wonderful, charismatic performer, but she shone so brightly, that he appeared to be eclipsed. Bussell was a much more gentle stage presence, to me anyway, and it seemed to be matched by an equally gentle, slightly muted performance from Cope. Rojo is also a very powerful actress, who doesn't always gel with some of the partners she has been given. However, the performances with Cope just seemed to click, as far as I was concerned.

As usual I seem to be coming in late to a discussiont that has probably finished now. However, regarding Johnny Cope, he was the partner of choice for both Guillem and Bussell. He was tall, so that made him ideal for both those ladies. However, while his partnering skills were first class, I never found him to be that exciting as a stage presence. I always found him to be an incredibly good looking, but slightly wooden. Until, that is, he danced Mayerling with Rojo. It was absolutely electrifying, and suddenly you could see what a fine actor he could be with the right partner.

I have been following this discussion with interest, as I am unable to go to any of the performances this time around. I watched the video clip as well. I know we have had discussions about this before, but I know that they always used to have understudies who could be brought on at a few minutes notice at the RB. They just don't seem to do that any more, and I don't know why. I understand about last trains home, running times and so on. However, I remember when I first started going as a child, on a couple of occasions somebody being injured, and the understudy coming on wearing warm up clothing and completing the appropriate section, and then getting into costume at the first available opportunity. On a slightly different subject, in the link above, I watched the appropriate piece, but I couldn't help noticing that one of the other links Youtube threw up was a complete recording of the 1994 Sleeping Beauty from the RB, which I just had to dip into. Wonderful! And not completely off topic, as the Bolshoi are doing The Sleeping Beauty ......!

As a matter of interest, does the Bolshoi play the music for Act 2 at a funerial pace? The last time I saw Swan Lake by the RB, the music was so slow, Odette looked as if she had had her wings clipped.

I assume the school takes pupils of all ages, so they have to consider the image the school is projecting. A parent who is considering sending their teenager to this particular school may have second thoughts if they see what older pupils are getting up to. Yes, he was doing it in his spare time, and not on school premises (I hope) but not everyone is comfortable with the thought of pornography. I assume he was paying fees, and therefore the school has a perfect right to say "We don't want your money any more, please go." The issue is the sexual nature of the activity. If he had been found to be posing for a Life Drawing class to earn extra money, I suspect the school would have been more lenient. Nude photos are a different issue, although again it depends on the type of photo, and the perception of the viewer. A male posing for a Mapplethorpe style photo could claim he was modelling for a famous photographer who was a recognised artist in his chosen field. A woman posing for the centrefold of Playboy (if it still exists) with photos taken by a celebrated photographer could argue the same thing, but might have more trouble having that argument accepted. Nudity itself is not the problem, but there are cases where some people feel uncomfortable with it. I would raise an eyebrow if my husband bought a calendar showing naked ladies sprawled across the bonnet of a racing car for our office at home. Would I object? I don't think so, although I say this knowing that the chances of my husband doing such a thing are zero! However, I would think it inappropriate to display the same calendar on the notice board in a public workplace. On the other hand, most of us remember the calendar that the Royal Ballet produced about 3 or 4 years ago? Eagerly purchased, and proudly displayed by many of us who post on this forum! I could justify this because: 1) It was for charity. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. 2) There was nothing remotely sexual about it (at least not to me, anyway) 3) It showed that the Royal Opera House was nowhere near as stuffy and boring as it is perceived to be.

Morera! Giselle! Whoopeee!!

What do you expect from someone called David Lister? The man is obviously a bit of a smeg head. (wonder how often he hears that joke....)

Interesting thread. I have always been puzzled by the lack work given to Morera. She was wonderful in Manon, when she was given the opportunity. I am a little out of touch, having been out of the country, but I don't think she has been given very many performances in that role, even after she had rave reviews. If she isn't seen by the company as being suitable for Swan Lake or Giselle, she should have been given her share of the lead roles in all the MacMillan ballets. Maybe I am biased, but I would have thought her a much more suitable choice for those than some of the other Principals who have been cast in those.

I could, perhaps, understand an audience booing if they have paid a grossly inflated price to see a particular person, and they don't turn up. For example, if I pay to see The Rolling Stones, and then I get the winners of Pop Idol instead, I would certainly show my annoyance. The Pop Idol winners might be very good, but I wouldn't expect to pay the same price to see them, and in those circumstances I would be expressing my displeasure that I have been overcharged! But in the case of Marquez, she is the same rank as Cojocaru, and an established and experienced performer with the Royal Ballet, so what point is the audience trying to make? Would they have preferred the performance to have been cancelled? Or that nobody should replace the injured dancer, and the spotlight follow an empty place around the stage where she would have been dancing?

Those are very detailed instructions for attending the ballet! Looking at point 3, it has been a long time since I studied Italian, but shouldn't there be "brave" in there as well? Given that La Bayadere is on at the moment, we wouldn't want to audience to shout "bravi" by mistake after the Kingdom of the Shades, would we?

Laura Morera springs to mind regarding Juliet. She was so good as Manon, which I think she has only had the opportunity to dance once or twice(?).

I think it is dreadfully bad manners to boo any performance, unless it is obvious that the performers could not give a hoot about what they are doing, and are simply going through the motions. The only time I can think of when this happened was when I went to see a friend of mine who was dancing in the Black and White Minstrel show about 15 years ago (?). The songs were pre-recorded, for some reason, and some of the singers were making no attempt to even look as though they were miming. Two were clearly having a private conversation and laughing during the songs. I'm afraid on this occasion I joined the rest of the audience, and gave them the boos they richly deserved. The British do tend to boo the baddies, as mentioned above, and I hope foreign visitors are warned about this pantomime tradition in advance, because it could be a bit of a shock for the performer otherwise! I felt a bit apprehensive when I went to see the Mikhailovsky and this happened, as the dancer concerned didn't appear to be milking the applause in the way we have come to expect. He didn't look too upset either, so I assume it was alright. But apart from the two examples I have given, it is just not acceptable. To boo a dancer who misses a step, or fails to complete 32 fouettes or whatever, is shocking behaviour, and I would scowl at anyone around me who behaved like that. I've never experienced it under those circumstances. On the very rare occasion there has been an obvious mistake, the audience has given sympathetic applause.

Just a couple of quick points on Laurencia, which I went to see on Wednesday evening. I found it a bit of a curate's egg. I had no problems with the story, the music was lively, the orchestra played with great zest, and the costumes were attractive. There was some fabulous dancing. However, I've never seen Osipova and Vasiliev before, and although they performed their party tricks brilliantly, that was all it appeared to be. I was in the cheap seats right up in the roof, and none of the intensity and drama mentioned by others came across. Instead, when not setting out to dazzle, I found Vasiliev slightly lacking in stage personality, and I also found his enormous thighs and huge bottom a bit off putting, especially in white tights. Osipova looked wonderful, but although I could see she was technically brilliant, I really wish I could have seen her in something classical like Giselle. The last scene, where the peasants storm the castle and kill the Grand Commander was one of the silliest I have seen. The still shots projected onto the backdrop while they changed the scenery looked amateurish, and having set up the stage to show the interior, It would have helped if the choreography had at least attemepted to show some serious fighting. Instead, the baddy and the two rather inept soldiers who seem to be his entire staff did a bit of feeble parrying with their weapons before being easily overcome by the mob. Finally, after launching straight into some joyous celebration dancing, (presumably taking care not to slip in the blood of the still twitching corpse) there is a rousing call to the masses to take up the revolution and overthrow the oppressors. I half expected the orchestra to launch into a version of The Red Flag. Overall, I would say I enjoyed the evening, but i never want to see it again!

I am wondering if Bussell's comments were based on a comparison between her own salary as a permanent member of the company, and that of Guillem who was a Guest Principal. I have no specific knowledge of these things, but would Guillem have been able to negotiate a higher rate of pay because she was not on a fixed pay scale? Only a suggestion, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that the two ladies did not always hit it off, and the idea that someone is being paid more for doing the same job might be one of the reasons for that.

Alison, I was typing quite quickly when I made the comment about the respective repertoirs of BRB and RB, and should have been a bit more specific. Of course they both perform the big block busters such as R & J, but I was thinking more of the shorter works by both Ashton and MacMillan. Symphonic Variations is one of my favourites, but I am struggling to remember the last time I saw it at Covent Garden. I think it was with Cojocaru when she was still in the Corps. I was away for a few years, so they have performed it many times since then, of course. Likewise The Two Pigeons. When was the last time it was on at Covent Garden? I've never seen it done there at all. I appreciate that both companies do Daphnis and Chloe, Scenes de Ballet and so on, but it is my perception, (and of course I may be wrong) that BRB perform the shorter Ashton ballets more regularly then RB. And consequently perform them much better IMO. .

Can't say there is anything there that grabs my interest to the extent that I am already putting dates in my diary. I think we have been asking for RB to do the Two Pigeons for a long time, haven't we? Is there some rule that RB and BRB cannot perform the same ballets ever? I agree with Joan above, that triple bills with something like Symphonic Variations to balance out the "modern" pieces with angular choreography and scratchy musical scores would be more to my liking. I appreciate they are doing The Dream and Gloria, both wonderful ballets, but the latter I have seen so many times I feel I could dance it myself! And I was disappointed the last time I saw The Dream. I can't remember who was dancing, but I felt they were doing it as if it had been choreographed by MacMillan, not Ashton. And the RB never used to do the Nutcracker, because everyone else was doing it. Is there really nothing else that would attract the once a year, Christmas treat audience?

I have just received an email telling me about this. I was looking through the DVD collections, and there are some gems on there. I came across this, which looked very interesting. http://www.roh.org.uk/products/margot-fonteyn-michael-somes-tchaikovsky-ballet-masterpieces

Looking at the review regarding the headdresses for the jewels, I overhead in the interval after the first act: "Mummy, why do the dancers in the black and white tutus have light bulbs on top of their heads?"

Hi everyone, just thought I would drop in to say that the first think I knew about the BRB coming to London was when I read this thread on Monday. I don't remember seeing anything about it - no posters, no adverts in The Metro, nothing. I don't travel by tube much any more, about once a week on average, but even then nothing caught my eye. Anyway, I went last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I treated myself to top price seats in the stalls, courtesy of some left over theatre vouchers from Christmas. Wonderful view, and although not completely full, there were plenty of people there. It is a very gentle ballet, with some great costumes and lovely dancing. A real treat for families, and would make a terrific Christmas ballet, making a change from The Nutcracker. There were plenty of children in the audience, some no more than tiny tots, but they were all beautifully behaved, and enthralled by what they were watching. There was only one thing that slightly confused me, and that was the jewels section. Yes, I could work out that the dancers in green were Emeralds, and the ones in red were Rubies. But the sapphires confused me a little bit - they appeared to be wearing white dresses with green wigs, and the lead dancer had what looked like an oyster shell on her head! Maybe it was the lighting....?

Hi Everyone, Thank you so much to the people who sent me a message regarding the spare lunch place today. Unfortunately, I only got back from the Christmas break yesterday evening, and so didn't see it. Somebody else was checking my email for work issues, but didn't read any emails of a personal nature. i hope you all have a great time. Fonteyn.

And just to add to this - normally there is an email sent out to those who have attended in the past?