LinMM

I was going to say give me a ring and come round for a shower/bath!! But glad it's sorted now. I saw on the local news that something had happened in the Hailsham area and was affecting thousands of people!!

Not that I can think of!! Unless it's a reference to their ballet type Pilates classes which are quite strenuous!

Wow Swanprincess how wonderful .....a great company ....and in New York!! Hope you have a fab time can't wait to here how it goes!! Lots and lots of luck!!

Which class are you attending at London Russian? David? Ive had some bad luck this year first an Achilles injury which I recovered from finally by February then had about six weeks starting to build up classes again when I injured my knee! This has meant the last six weeks have been back to just LAB class each week. However now my knee is nearly better am again from this week starting to build up classes again I'll be doing two from this week and three by beginning of June hopefully but am hoping to get to some London Russian classes once I'm able to do pirouettes on both sides and can jump normally (for me) etc. I had just planned to do a class there when I injured my knee in March. So a funny year really where have felt a bit frustrated as not really been able to take as much part as wanted to and have been fed up having to semi mark in LAB rehearsals for a large part of the year. Anyway fingers crossed am hoping to do Chelsea Ballet Summer School in August and perhaps some of the LAB shorts!

I think you may have to "bite the bullet" as they say and say to your teacher the real reason why you have stopped having Private Lessons That way there is no misunderstanding and everyone knows where they stand. You never know but if you do tell her about your financial problem she may be able to do some sort of deal with you and I'm sure she would be sympathetic. It's always best to be clear and up front in Life I have found as that is the most honest way. If you have made it completely clear to this teacher why you suddenly stopped and she is still behaving differently towards you when she does know your situation then of course she is being unprofessional and indeed unkind. If she is a good teacher of ballet generally speaking then you may have to put up with it or find another teacher who respects you. But I feel there may be a genuine misunderstanding here which only you can put right!

Just like to say how much I enjoyed the live performance on Saturday. The atmosphere in the theatre was so warm and wonderful a definite rosy glow in the air and I'm sure the dancers must have felt this support there for them. It was in fact a bit of a marathon for the audience as well as the dancers as we had no break until the very end while the judges were making their decision and it was tribute to the fantastic dancing on display that evening that I only just noticed towards the end that we had been sitting there for nearly three hours(I was in my seat just after six!) All of the dancers gave their all .....this was very apparent ...and quite moving at various points. I really loved the hip hop live but then there were two really great exponents of this dance form in Harry Barnes and Kieren Lai. My favourite duet for me was definitely the Indian classical dancers ....very beautiful ....a tear in the eye after that....but all the pieces that were especially choreographed for the dancers were my favourite solos and just couldn't choose between them and would now like to watch again!! When it came to decision time I honestly didn't know who would win because they had all had fabulous moments during the evening but if I had had to pick three at that point it would have been Harry Barnes(hip hop) Connor Scott( contemporary)(such a versatile dancer) and Vidya Patel(Indian classical) but only by a whisper only though!! I'm not sure what happened when they were announcing the winner it looked as if they had forgotten to tell poor Carlos who the winner was .......but as it was being televised it may have been something else he was asking......but anyway Connor was a truly worthy winner. Just something I'd like to say about the classical. I agree with Harwel that In the end I think the pas de deux from Don Q......which was really well danced and showed Archie to be a lovely partner....was rather unsuitable to this highly charged competition as it didn't really show off Archie enough......especially to people who don't know much about ballet and the skills of partnering etc. If they require a duet there must be some other duets either with a male or female partner which would have shown off his dancing more for this full on Dance evening!! So I thought ....maybe wrongly...that he was let down by this choice for this occasion. It seems from comments from people who watched on tv that the judges didn't go into why they made their choice!! They usually do with Young Musician of Year don't they? There seemed to be a lot of talking going on for the tv which the audience weren't privy to(we could see it but not hear it) so a bit disappointing if they didn't discuss their decision much. It must have been very difficult to judge anyway but it's true when you are watching live the different styles don't really matter as you can still see dance quality and musicality and star quality coming through!! Still nice to know what they thought........I haven't watched the programme back yet as have had a rather busy and to,be honest dramatic two days ....hence this late report ......but certainly the best thing Ive spent my money on for quite a while!!

And the more private funding of the NHS won't mean it's necessarily better. A daughter of a friend of mine who is studying French and so is spending this year in France was ill there recently. The hospital there sent her home three times ........even though it was obvious she was having a very severe immune reaction of some sort (and is at risk as she already has a colostomy bag). Only when the family she was with INSISTED they keep her there and mum dashed out there did they keep her in and test her etc etc so the situation was saved. Mum said the hygiene in the hospital was nowhere near as good as in UK at present and in the end was charged ten thousand Euros for her stay in the hospital!

Sometimes the local MP can be the decider. I heard someone on the radio saying that in the end he voted for the Tory MP because he could never get hold of the Labour one in his constituency! Which is fair enough really.

Do you know who choreographed this piece Sim? It's sort of in the same vein as the Prix de Lausanne "Greek" piece and I loved it.

Wow the ballet final has been fantastic.....all dancers future stars truly phenomenal for their age. I certainly felt safe in all their hands but Archie Sullivan won my heart. I even clapped and cheered his second solo quite automatically which I could watch again and again! But I also loved Jenny Hackwell I thought she was a delightful performer and worthy of the second wild card as well as Connor(who I'm very glad got one of the places) It's nice to see so many male dancers in this final but I thought another female place was deserved as they were all pretty much evenly talented especially from the Indian classical and ballet sections. Anyway should be very interesting to see live tomorrow and what that brings across looking forward to it now .....would be great to see a little of the other dancers perhaps while the judges are deliberating but let's see As I'm a bit ballet biassed I say Archie to win but either of the contemporary would be fine as well. Interesting to see if the live performances change my mind!

I agree Alison. I was even shocked when I picked up the Standard in London on Wednesday and the whole paper was directly urging Londoners to vote Conservative in quite a blatant way. I know most newspapers are biassed but I'm sure Ive never seen the Standard quite so blatant.

I was shocked by the Lewes result(though I'm not in that constituency) the MP there seems to have been forever and was thought locally to be quite good......also by the direction in which it swung!!

Sad day for me I'm afraid and I fear for the Arts in the long run now .....just hope I'm proved wrong.

Ive just voted for Robin but wrens are another lovely little bird with a great sound. We've tried to entice wrens with all manner of different nest boxes but sadly no take up but they do come and feed in the garden. Last year we had a robin nest but not this year but we do get starlings great tits and blue tits every year because they seem the only birds keen on boxes. The baby starlings have started to poke their heads out of the box so guess they'll be fledging this week sometime which is early for them.

In the end it comes down to Robin or blackbird for me probably robin as you can tame them up more than a blackbird ......one in the garden comes down right next to you if moving pits around etc!.....but couldn't do without either of their songs!!

I think I can feel a new Lisa trying to get out here!! I remember once I persevered with trying to grow my hair long for a couple of years but I seem to have that sort of hair which doesn't like much more than shoulder length before it splits and goes straggly. I was a bit disappointed to have to have it cut but it looked so much better shorter I had to admit!

Yes perhaps you're right there Alison I reckon the Bloomsbury Theatre could be very good though. Would BTUK have been allowed to put their own advertisement poster up at Sadlers Wells at their own expense etc? Just seeing a big poster would have got some interested even if they weren't on the general advertising for Sadlers but I agree with Anna C it all does seem a bit short sighted on their part.

Yes how about a different theatre. LAB is performing at the Bloomsbury Theatre in Gordon Street ......walkable from both Euston and Kings Cross stations. It's a reasonably sized stage and the people there seem very nice. There's also a good theatre at Wimbledon which might work for them.....and what about Richmond? Such a shame they had to be cancelled. When I looked on the Lilian Bayliss site they weren't mentioned there either. Do you think that BTUK needs to promote itself a bit more too though?

When one of my friends first babies was born mum and dad had trouble agreeing on a names! In the end they came down to Helen (his choice) or Helena (her choice) if a girl and Jonathon(his choice) and Oberon(her choice!) if a boy......I did try to dissuade the Oberon choice I must say......as thought could cause trouble at school etc! Anyway when the baby ....a girl...was born hubby went and registered the baby as Helen at the town hall and my friend was so furious this had been done without her that when they came to the christening she insisted that it was Helena .......I wasn't at the christening so don't know whether they had an argument in front of the vicar......so any way she was christened Helena! I'm still not sure what's on her birth certificate but she was always known as Helena. I don't think they had the same problem with the two others but they're still together anyway after 45 years!!

This is new then .....sending pupils off en masse to see places they may have no intention of applying to at all!! Unless it's your local Uni? can't quite get my head around this!

Well it's so long ago now for me .....but I do remember all the university applying happening early in the Autumn term of second year sixth. But I think I read up about all the places I fancied applying to from stuff in the School Library(I was always skiving off there as I wasn't very well known in my sixth form school!) so perhaps some summer holiday reading?!! I wouldn't bank on the school being able to help necessarily with Dance applications in particular though ......Unless they have a dedicated and designated Dance teacher on the staff there! I think it would be a good idea to apply for at least a couple of Uni dance course places though. There's the two you have suggested plus check out if the Guildford Uni degree course is still on offer......though Roehampton would be hard to beat. There's also the Trinity Laban in London .......I'm pretty sure there's is a degree course as well .....though probably not a traditional University.

I think this is good if used judiciously! That is not following ones DC every move but maybe on important journeys you are both involved in ...or she is making a journey she is worried about or not sure of etc etc .....then could be used I think. It's trying to be reasonable so one is not seen to be sort of spying on them!!

A great idea to treat yourself to a hotel room. It saves the panic of having to get home etc and can be very relaxing! It may do wonders for your self confidence as well.

Well done to your DD for making the finals! Where are the finals held?

Which week is the second week?