Naomi M

This article is in French but it does indicate how much a dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet earns. POB is known to be one of the best paid companies in the world. http://www.lesechos.fr/journal20130102/lec2_industrie_et_services/0202472281076-le-ballet-de-l-opera-de-paris-fait-salle-pleine-a-300-ans-524885.php Youngsters earn 2.655 euro a month and Etoiles earn 7000 euro or more.

It was 3000 yen for the transmission in Japan which was about twice the price of the cinema relays in UK. And for the time zone, the actual viewing was on the next day, 19:00 Japan time. We had a brief talk show by Miyako Yoshida at the cinema, and she was talking about her experience of the O/O role at Saddler's Wells and RB. All the extra behind the scenes had Japanese subtitles, and that documentary, especially the swan corps thing was very lovely. Although we experienced some sound and visual interruptions (as those who saw the live relay had seen), the overall quality was good and I enjoyed the performance so much. RB is going to tour next June to bring Swan Lake and Alice so it is nice was see this performance beforehand. I especially loved Gary Avis as Rothbart and Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera in Napoli, Yuhui Choe in the pas de trois. And for the missing casting, It was indeed Mendizabal in Spain and Kenta Kura was also in the Mazurka

I will be catching up with all three of the casts, this will be so excited! I think I can report.

Matthew Golding is a very good dancer, as already mentioned he is a good turner, has elegance and also great in partnering skills. He guested in Tokyo Ballet's La Bayadere (Natalia Makarova version) last year and was terrific. Also, he is quite tall so he can partner tall ballerinas too. He must be guesting for Solor.

That is the documentary I am mentioning.

For your information, there is an interview of Polunin on the latest issue of Shinshokan Dance Magazine which was taken during Alina Cojocaru Dream Project in Tokyo (February). In this interview, he says that he has been contacting (from himself) several ballet companies such as ABT and Russian companies, and there is an offer from a new Broadway musical with him on the main cast and also some choreography but he can't tell details yet. So it looks that he has not lost passion in dance, but he says he saw no progress in himself as long as he stayed at the Royal Ballet. He wanted to push himself in an unstable situation. He is set to dance a full Don Quixote with Tamara Rojo this summer at the prestigious World Ballet Festival in Tokyo. Has he danced a full DQ before?

There is another Paris Opera School documentary called "Les petit rats de l'opéra" and short clips are on YouTube. Also the DVD of this documentary is available in Japan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/パリ・オペラ座バレエ学校の妖精たち~エトワールを夢見て~-DVD-オリヴィエ・ピゲッティ/dp/B001A35TKM/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt