Fonty

My most well-thumbed books are generally what are regarded as children's books. My Narnia books are the original ones I was given as a child. I was very lucky in that some were hard back, and the paperback ones, for some reason, have stood the test of time, considering they are all read once a year. As someone else mentioned on the other thread, I also read the C S Lewis Space Trilogy frequently as well. Other books I read repeatedly are those by Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and the Moon of Gomrath are classics which don't seem to be read or recommended much for children these days. I adore Gone with the Wind. And finally, I have a weakness for the Larkin series of books by H. E Bates. Always cheer me up when I am feeling a bit down. (Edited to add that Ballet Shoes is also well thumbed...of course. )

Yes, I also loved Cold Comfort Farm. And I read A Christmas Carol ever December, to get me in a Christmassy mood, so I am surprised others don't like it. I struggled to get through Moby Dick when I was a student. Never tried again, so not sure whether I would enjoy it now. I was made to read Lewis Carroll when I was a child, but although I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland, I hated Through the Looking Glass. Tried it as an adult....and I still hated it.

I've just read a review of the 50 shades trilogy which was so funny. Not sure if it sounds like my kind of thing - it was described as Barbara Cartland with lots of knobs (!) I am currently reading all the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin. I am trying to read them in order, and they are very entertaining. We recently did The Crimson Petal and the White for our book club book, and that was an excellent read. Huge book, but difficult to put down once I'd started.

In no particular order: Henry James - The Bostonians. Don't know what there is about James, but I find him a good cure for insomnia. Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov. I stuggle with quite a lot of the Russian stuff where they all seem to have 3 different variations of their name. I can never remember who is who. James Joyce - Ulysses. Please, just don't go there. I really think this is a book that people only read to impress everyone else with how clever they are. I found it the biggest yawn ever, which probably makes me a dimwit.

I'm sorry I missed this, but reading about it made me go on You Tube and see if there were any snippets of Pavlova herself. After a false start where I got videos of people showing you how to make strawberry pavlova, I found several clips of Pavlova doing various dances including The Dying Swan. Very moving, in spite of the rather jerky nature of the film

As someone who was not blessed with a huge amount of flexibility naturally, and had to work extremely hard at it, I would probably have found over splits impossible. I say "probably", because fortunately nobody ever forced me to try to achieve them. Have I misunderstood, or are people saying that everyone has to achieve this, or they are very unlikely to get a place at school or in a company?

Something else that has struck me recently, and that is how slow some of the music has become. I was watching a recording of The Sleeping Beauty, and the Rose Adagio seemed positively funereal. Likewise, the last time I saw Swan Lake, everyone commented that the tempo in the second act made it look as though Odette was struggling to get into the air. I am guessing that, because the legs are being lifted higher, the music has to be slower to allow the dancer adjust and to move on to the next position? Or is this not actually the case, and it is just the modern way of doing things?

Must have been a big ice cream, Alison.

Regarding Fonteyn, I seem to remember an article about her, and her view on high extensions. She was quite capable in her prime of lifting her leg far higher than she did, but she considered it ugly. I don't have a problem with flexible dancers, and I can understand why some of the more modern choreography might demand extremely high extensions, which look good in ballets with leotard type, all-in-one costumes. The problem I have is that now this "modern" style is applied inappropriately to the older, classical ballets e.g. Giselle. I can't remember who I saw at the RB the last time I went, but when she was doing the developpes to the side with the arms in 5th in the second act, she was taking her leg up to nearly 180 degrees, and her foot poked up through the middle of her hands - not an attractive look! It seems to me that now the legs have become the total focus, and the arms are no longer complementing the positions. And nothing will persuade me that these oversplits are attractive.

I had never even heard of this until reading this thread. I went off and had a look at the Dance Direct web pages, and the pictures are truly shocking. I've never seen anything so ugly in my life. Is this really what schools are encouraging now? I remember making a joke once to someone about six o'clock extensions would soon be seen to be too easy, and the dancers would strive to achieve five past six extensions. Somebody must have taken this seriously.

I saw this on Monday, and thought it was wonderful. I very much enjoyed Spitfire, but I also think my favourite was Town.

In order to pick things up from the floor, or the bottom shelf in the office, instead of bending over, I execute a full plie. Not only does this ensure that I keep a nice straight back, it also amuses everyone else in the office. Note: I discovered the hard way that it is best not to do this in extremely tight, non-stretch trousers!

Oh dear, reading these last few posts has taken me right back to my teenage years, and the sheer embarrassment this subject caused to those of us who developed earlier than others. This was in the days when the juniors had to wear white leotards that were ever so slightly transparent. We all wore pants underneath, but you can imagine what it was like for those of us who had to wear a bra as well. We came in for the most dreadful teasing, not only from the boys but the other girls as well. Not happy days. Nowadays, I swear by the Minimal Bounce bra, as it looks just like a crop top. Not sure how it would fit under a leotard, though.

Congralations on getting published. That is quite an achievement. And I forgot to add that cryptic crosswords are one of my favourites, as well. I am only a beginner in the latter - I do not know how Inspector Morse does the Times Crossword in under 10 minutes. Takes me that long to get one answer!

Jugging? Is that where you juggle old jugs?

Reading, especially detective stories. I do like gardening, but I am not very good at it, and everything I plant in my windowboxes promptly dies. I am very keen on long distance walking, and it is my ambition when I eventually get enough time to walk every long distance footpath in the UK (!) And travelling....anywhere.

Just picking up on this thread again. Mr Fonteyn and I seem to remember a documentary about one of the foreign schools (was it one of the Russian ones?) where they stated that they could not fully judge a child's physique until they had gone through puberty and had reached the age of 16. At this stage, it would be obvious whether a child would be too tall/short, and what their proportions and final build would be likely to be. Does anyone else remember this or know anything about it? Try as we might, we cannot find anything about it. It does seem to be a sensible solution if the school can afford to do this, as adult growth does tend to come in strange spurts!

As a general thing, I have always found it very odd that ballet schools such as White Lodge and Elmshurst accept girls after auditions, and then get rid of them after one or two years. Going back a few years, I know of two children who passed their 1st year, aged 11, with flying colours and reports of real promise, only to be told 6 months later that they were going to have to leave. Trying to give an explanation to a bewildered child was difficult for the parents, especially when the school didn't really give a proper answer beyond "don't think she'll make it." Physical problems would have been understood (although it is hard to think what problem could crop up in a single term), but that wasn't the case for either child. Fortunately, both of them went on with private teachers, and auditioned successfully at 16. But it still begs the question, "Why?"

Fiz, I am really glad you enjoyed it. I went back to ballet after a break of 20 years, having done a multitude of other sports and exercise classes, and I was amazed what hard work it was physically. However, mentally it was wonderful. As someone else in the class said, you can't do ballet and think about something else. It is so good for clearing the mind and coming out physically tired but mentally refreshed.

Not Monica Mason, is it?

I am not able to get to see any of the current performances of this triple bill. I am curious as to how Carbon Life would be performed in the future. Can the songs be sung by anyone, given that Boy George and the others are not likely to be able to commit to future performances? And do you think part of the attraction for younger audiences are the singers themselves? Or does that just add to the overall feel of the ballet, and it doesn't matter who is doing the vocals?

There are some critics I read with great relish, not because I agree with everything they say, but because they say it in such an interesting way. Clement Crisp definitely falls into this category. Otherwise I don't pay much attention to critics at all, as far as ballet is concerned. Apart from anything else, they usually only see the first night, which is probably going to have a few teething problems, no matter how many times the company has performed the work in the past. I get far more useful information out of the personal reviews on forums such as this, where individual performances can be discussed and compared.

In my opinion, Laura Morera isn't given enough to do. Would love to see her as Juliet, for starters.

I mentioned the internet, Alison, with regard to Youtube, which I think could be a very useful tool for promoting upcoming programmes for new people who might be thinking of giving ballet a go. I agree with the points made about ballets with strong narrative schemes. Every person I have introduced to the ballet has said that they prefer something with "a bit of a story".

What an interesting topic. I like triple bills, the shorter ballets tend to get straight to the point. There is no need for vast amounts of people standing around, setting the scene but doing very little dancing. On a more practical level, I think it is risky to put on a triple bill with 2 new works in it. Give the prices for the seats, I would never book tickets for anything unless I had a rough idea of what the ballets were about. Happy to risk one novelty, not two. And if the bill does contain entirely new work (s), at least have some sort of advance publicity. Given the success of the Royal Ballet Open Day, is there any reason why companies could not show short snippets of the reheasals for upcoming shows on Youtube, for example, to create interest? I would happily buy a ticket for the Sweet Violets programme, because I have a good idea about the music, type of dance, potential costumes etc. Would I have bought a ticket for one of the first batch of performances otherwise? Probably not. Also, The Polyphonia programme is billed as one of "Contemporary brilliance". Personally, I think it does help if at least one of the ballets contains classical constumes and music, to appeal to the more conventional ballet going audience.