Fonty

I did think about putting Mr Wordly Wise as one of my choices, but I did enjoy the second act, and would like to see it again some time on its own.

Or perhaps he could insist on a hat being part of the costume?

Takahashi isn't British, but she was a graduate of the ENB school

As I haven't seen any performances from this run yet I can't remember what Hilarion wears, but I wonder if it is similar to the old Russian costume. I've just been watching the clip of Ulanova in Giselle in the Reviews and Features for Tuesday (7 Greats on the Bolshoi Stage), and he wears a very fetching pair of rust shorts, with matching thigh high boots. How could a girl resist that!

As usual, Floss, you have explained it perfectly. Having said that, I don't think a lot of today's dancers do have a good line. I am particularly irritated by the tendency to crook the foot up and over when in a penche arabesque, rather then keeping it in alignment with the rest of the leg. It is so common now, it must be the way they are being taught to do it, but I do think it looks very ugly.

No, Portugal has the same time as the UK. Thanks everyone. I must say I am slightly shocked at the lack of accurate information being given to the local cinema. Not to mention the complete absence of any publicity whatsoever. I think there could be quite an appetite for ballet in Faro. They have a competition at the local theatre each year, and the place is packed with little girls in leotards with their hair up in buns. And someone told me that when one of the ballet companies visited a couple of years ago, (not sure which one), it was sold out weeks in advance.

That tickly cough sensation is just awful, isn't it? I have found the only thing is either a cough sweet which hopefully isn't wrapped in crackly paper, or little sips from my water bottle which gets rid of the dry throat.

Regarding the live cinema broadcast on the 6th April, could someone tell me what time it is likely to start? I know the performance is at 7.30pm, but I assume there will be some sort of pre performance chat? I will be watching in Portugal, and they have very limited information. It was actually shown in the listings as "a performance by the Bolshoi". I thought it was odd they would be showing that on the same day as one from Covent Garden, so I insisted that they check. It is the Royal Ballet, of course! But apart from that, the staff don't know anything.

Ashton described Fonteyn as "having the proportions of Venus." Today's "perfect look" that you describe is much thinner, which is apparent in all walks of life, not just dancing. Just compare the film actresses of today with the lush beauties of the past. Not to mention the current trend for stick thin, gangly models in magazines. I never saw Fonteyn perform live, only read about her, and I can't think of many clips of her on Youtube that show her at her best. A lot of this might be to do with the constraints of filming at the time. Some of it seems to be taking place on a rather cramped stage, and the camera positions are often from a strange angle, either slightly to the side, or looking up, rather than directly from the front, which is obviously how the audience would see her. Hence some of the leg positions look a little strange. There used to be a wonderful one of her doing the whole of the Rose Adagio, taken at a speed that today's dancers never, ever attempt, showing her perfect balance, and all done with a radiant smile that lights up the whole stage. No idea what happened to it; when I search now there are other clips but none of them as good as that one.

It does appear that carrier bags are less robust now. I seem to put holes in them very easily, whereas before I could keep them and reuse them for ages.

I did think the last time I saw the Russians that they looked tall, but I couldn't decided whether that was because they were so thin they just looked elongated. I would say 5' 8" is very tall indeed for a female ballet dancer. Apart from anything else, the taller the dancer, the bigger her feet must be, surely? So when she goes on pointe, that would make her well over 6 foot. I hope the British companies don't follow this tread. I definitely prefer the petite, speedy girls to the taller, leggier, but slower varieties!

Why? I cannot think of a single reason why it should be changed from letters to numbers. Unless it is supposed to reflect percentages i.e. if you get a grade 8 you got 80 something % in your exam? In which case, why not just give the exact number.

Who started this trend towards the bigger dancer? It does seem to me that the girls look taller, and I often think that when they are on point they seem to be taller than the average male partner. Assuming men aren't getting shorter, this must cause issues in pas de deux work. Does the music have to be slowed down to accommodate these problems? I am genuinely interested to know if this is the case. The average height for a woman in this country is now an inch taller than it was 40 years ago - that is, 5'4". (I know this, because at 5'2" I was very quick to point out to people who called me Shortie in my youth that I was only an inch below average height.) I am not sure what the figures are in other European countries, but I would not have thought they would be that different? So I would expect female dancers to reflect that, and be around that height, give or take an inch or two at the most in either direction. Are schools and companies specifically picking taller girls?

"The attitude of dancers and coaches affects what you see on stage. The dancers may not want to follow the coaches' view of how the ballet should be performed and where the emphasis should lie. Rojo clearly indicated in a film clip that was on the ROH website that she thought that as her technique was stronger than those of the dancers who had created the nineteenth century ballets she should apply her technique to her performances of them in order to make the roles her own. This of course can lead to a complete distortion of a ballet by placing the emphasis on the wrong part of a ballet for example, emphasising the first act Rose Adagio at the expense of the Grande pas de Deux in the last act. Add a sluggish tempo. and you have a very boring evening which because the ballerina is a well known dancer you will blame on the ballet and its creators,not the performer,.". I get fed up with modern dancers saying that their technique is stronger than those of earlier generations. Having watched the BBC film of the Fonteyn SB, I was struck by the speed, lightness, musical qualities, and sheer joy that the individual dancers seemed to bring to the stage. I didn't find any of it boring at all, the whole thing zipped along with a zest that I haven't seen for a long time in the UK. (I've not seen foreign productions.) While I agree with any dancer wanting to bring their own interpretation to the classics, by emphasising their own particular party piece, they set a precedent for future dancers to try and emulate, and hence the original qualites of the ballet are completely lost. At the moment, the trend seems to be "How slowly can I dance in order to show off my beautiful extensions?" - a topic that has been discussed so many times, I am surprised dancers themselves don't realise how boring it has become for the audience. Having said that, I wonder how future dancers will handle the contortions of, say, one of McGregor's ballets in order to show off the "advances" in their technique. (Edited to add I seem to have lost the Quote function, no idea what happened there.)

I am surprised that so many people on here seem to have seen ballet being danced in the nude! I am extremely thankful that I have managed to miss that out.

I also thought Enigma Variations was very disappointing the last time I saw it. A classic case of all the dancers performing the steps very, very carefully, but with very little attempt to make each character a real individual, as reflected in both the music and the choreography. Why is it that both the Nutcracker and the SB seems to be overlong? The music is glorious, but I do find all those individual pieces in the Kingdom of the Sweets and the dances at Aurora's wedding seem to drag on a bit. Another one for the list: Mr Wordly Wise.

This House Will Burn - the curtain coming down half way through and then going up again was very unkind to the audience, who were fervently hoping it was over. Les Sylphides as it was danced the last time RB staged it Song of the Earth - I find it pretentious and dull. Just about everything by McGregor, but especially Infra (I think my ear drums have not recovered from that onslaught of static or feedback or whatever it was that kept appearing)

Booing? I have never, ever heard anyone boo at the ballet. In fact, I don't think I have ever heard a theatre audience in the UK boo anything or anybody. The Brits reserve that emotion for football, don't they?

Well, as the vicar wasn't there when she died, it would only be officially recorded as suicide if someone else told tales. I think I was assuming that official crosses were restricted to "proper" burial grounds, and that those in unconsecrated ground were not allowed religious symbols because of the very fact that they were outcasts. But I am not well up on religious things!

If this is the case, then there are some things in his production that don't quite make sense. When I first started seeing Giselle many years ago, I seem to remember that Giselle's physical frailty was emphasised much more. I am pretty certain she was supposed to have a weak heart, or something like that, so this was why her mother was anxious to stop her from dancing and exerting herself too much. It has been a long time since I have seen it, but doesn't some of the mime indicate this? Otherwise, what was her objection? And it also explained why Giselle appeared quite child like in some of the scenes, This was a girl who had been very protected and sheltered by her mother for very practical reasons. If this element is removed, or downplayed too much, then there is always a danger that Giselle might come across as slightly mentally retarded! And would make Albrecht look like a very seedy individual indeed. When the sword was produced, as a sign of his nobility, and Giselle realised how he had betrayed her trust, I am pretty certain that many dancers portrayed her as literally dying of a broken heart. I think there was a certain amount of leeway; some dancers chose to die as a result of moving around with the sword, but it did always seem to look as though it was an accident by someone who was totally unaware of their surroundings. (Would that be called suicide, in the strictest sense, by the way? Surely that indicates an intent to kill oneself, and a mad person doesn't have a clue what they are doing. ) It really was a question of personal preference on the part of the dancer. I remember discussing it in dance classes, and my practical mind always used to think, "Surely frail peasant girls with weak hearts would probably have died long before they reached puberty?" So I was always pleased when I saw a Giselle opt for the alternative. Later on, I noticed that the death-by-sword was performed by just about everyone, but I didn't realise it had become compulsory. Regarding the idea that Giselle has to be a suicide, and therefore have to be buried in unconsecrated ground, that surely is fairly recent as well? I am assuming the thought behind this is that the Wilis can't do their thing otherwise? But if that is the case, why did earlier productions (and current productions elsewhere) have enormous crosses with Giselle's name on it? Quite apart from the fact that cemeteries seem to be the favourite haunts (if you will pardon the pun) of ghosts and ghoulies, who seem to have no trouble roaming about there quite freely, how does Giselle actually save Albrecht now? Again, I haven't seen this production for some time, but I am pretty sure that in the old days, it was the power arising from the cross that actually protected him against the Wilis, and Giselle's love for him that allowed him to get close to her grave and benefit from its protection.. Hence the fact that it was made so prominent in the staging. Sorry, I've rambled on a bit here! But it does seem to me that modern views do jar slightly with some of the elements of the ballet.

Yes, the search for Nureyev pictures on Google did throw up some eye popping results. In amongst the ones without the glittery hairnet(s) there are some showing him wearing a very unflattering blonde wig. On his head, that is.

Talking of Acosta, I cannot remember him wearing any wigs, at least not in the performances I saw.

Strewth! I had to look at some photos, but his hair really does deserve a curtain call all on its own.

Further to my previous post, I wondered exactly how you would get there using public transport. Apparently you can get a National Express coach from London Victoria coach station to Amesbury, which takes about two and a half hours. A return ticket from London costs about £35. Then it is about a 2 mile walk to Stonehenge, or you can get a taxi. It is quite a long way to go just to look at the stones, though. If it was me, I would either go on an organised day trip that combines it with something else, or stay in Salisbury and sort out something from there.

Lisa, I have wonderful memories of Stonehenge from holidays when I was a child. The A303 was the road we used to take to the west country, and I can still remember the excitement when the stones appeared on the horizon in the middle of nowhere. In those days you could just park the car, get out, wander up to the stones and have a good look round, and then go on. Happy days. Even now, although you have to pay to go inside, you can still get a good view from the road for free (or you could about 4 years ago, anyway). However, the plan by English Heritage is to divert the road so that no-one can see it for nothing. BOO! The whole joy of Stonehenge is the fact that it is so isolated, and you come upon it almost by accident. The idea of going through a tunnel, or whatever, is abhorrent to me. Anyway, on a more practical level, if you don't drive, then I think you will probably have to go on a guided tour. I am not sure, but I believe there are tours from London. If not, then the nearest town is Salisbury. I don't know if there is a B&B close by, but if so I think it would still be difficult to get to without your own transport.