LinMM

Thankyou Dance is life for the book info Did you ever dance in Onegin? After your info on the split jetes I assumed you may have....was this at the ROH? How wonderful to have danced on that stage in whatever capacity!!

Where the RBS is concerned don't forget even those who have been through the White Lodge school right through to 16 fail to get into the RBS Upper School at that age. So it does seem things open up at that stage so others may get into RBS upper school who have or have not been to vocational school ......though probably harder for those only doing a couple of hours a week by 16!!

So glad to see people seem to enjoy the performance yesterday after some disappointments on Wednesday. I'm glad some enjoyed Golding too as he seems much maligned here as a whole but I still think he is a fine dancer......so to see that his acting is improving is great to hear....just wish I could have been there as I can't imagine any evening with Osipova being too bland!! I had begun to feel that I'm just too easy to please after some decided to get tickets for Wednesday after reading some favourable reviews on here of last Saturday It's probably that I don't actually go to RB all THAT much......my next outing isn't until April 9th!! So I tend not to to see multiple casts in the same ballet etc .....which is probably one reason why I usually enjoy the performances so much. The Royal really have to be on a very "off" night for me not to appreciate their dancing ......and this does happen just very occasionally.... even for me!! In an earlier post on Onegin I had said in one part that the girls when arriving to persuade Lensky to change his mind that this was no place for them etc but this was written as from Lensky's point of view.....HE didn't want them there in that moment!! Of course it's the most natural thing in the world to go and try to dissuade a duel from taking place!! I haven't read the book but am very tempted to now. I definitely saw Olga as not being mature enough when shown attention by another obviously quite sophisticated man to not take the flirting too seriously. She felt her power and took it out on poor Lensky! But for me it was definitely Onegin enjoying it all too and leading her astray a bit because he could!! It would be interesting to go back to the source and see what Pushkin does have to say about them all. Can anyone recommend a good translation of this text?

I went last year for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it inspite of getting lost in the Park for a while lol!!

Feel for your DD Is there any way you could get to the White Lodge summer fair? That way at least you get to see some of the school .....where they study and relax and the dance studios etc as on that day you can go on a tour round the school which is in fact very interesting. There are dancing displays as well ......this all may make up for her disappointment I don't know.

Just a thought......what kind of workshop....is it general...or Art...or Drama/Dance based?

Have you been asked to do this because the class is going to see this ballet? Will get back to this later but concentrate on the dramatic bits if they are mostly non dancers. The duel for supremacy between the Prince and Von Rothbart should be great for the boys!! Also the Hunting scenes etc.

Yes I agree when someone is passionate about something it is very disappointing not to,be able to take part.

Well not the Amphi 's fault I think! I was in the Amphi on Saturday admittedly in row C fairly central .....not right at the back etc but I think with these things it is down to a number of things including ones own frame of mind at the time as well as the dancers and orchestra and so on. I must admit I do like Beatriz Stix Brunell very much so might have been interesting to see her pairing with Muntagirov. I saw it on Saturday as Onegin really enticing and flattering Olga away on his own whim rather than she was really taking the initiative with him as such. She suddenly felt flattered at the slightly older mans attention so to speak! It's a pity that the Wednesday performance doesn't seem to have fired off quite so well ......as others seem to be saying this too. It really was good on Saturday. I only tend to write reviews if I really enjoy a performance though.

Sorry DD didn't get a place. Have you considered Yorkshire Ballet summer School I'm sure she would love that!

I saw the evening performance of this on Saturday. I haven't seen Onegin for some years so was looking forward to it especially as although Ive seen them separately on many occasions Ive never seen Nunez dance with Soares before .......and I wasn't disappointed!! Muntagirov was Lensky and Akada was Olga. I thought Akada did well here as the slightly feistier and flirtier sister while Nunez kept Tatiana almost self contained......the girl with her head always in a book ...her naïveté and restraint making Onegin when he came along seem even more disreputable and manipulative as a character if that is possible!! The corps were all excellent in the ballroom scene making those sets of split jetes across the stage from each diagonal very exciting. Muntagirov had just about the right level of impetuousness to make the duel seem a feasible outcome between himself and Onegin.....and his solo before the duel was very impressive and he managed to convince me that he was truly sorry and much regretting he had got himself into this situation......however as soon as the sisters came along with their empassioned pleas to try to dissuade him from his course of action his "poor me I am doomed" quickly reverted to his hot headed youthfulness and he gave them short shrift for being there.....no place for women here.....no- one to come between a man and his pride(well boys will be boys) This whole scene was brilliantly danced absolutely riveting ......you even felt for Onegin and Soares somehow did manage to make this character almost sympathetic .......was it his fault that he hadn't found true love yet? Where this ballet really came into its own on Saturday eve though was in the last act. When You see Onegin turn up again after Tatiana' s marriage I felt like shouting "get thee hence man" ......a bad penny if ever there was! But from the point Tatiana finishes reading Onegins letter we felt her disturbance .....first showing on her extra clinging to her husband .....wonderfully played by Hirano ......what a fine actor he is becoming.....here getting just the exact degree of tenderness... showing is love for Tatiana.....and his strength of a man devoted to the duty of his work......a man sure of what he wants in Life......the exact opposite of Onegin almost. We felt Tatiana s love and honour for her husband but when Onegin finally shows up she is truly torn between what might have been ......and still there is that "something" ....and her duty. It takes all her will to resist Onegin. A truly memorable performance and tour de force between these two dancers. All my real sympathy was for Tatiana of course but a remarkable performance from Soares to make me feel even an ounce of sympathy for the man! Nevertheless the moment Tatiana tears up that letter I had a strong feeling of "yes" ....true karma for Onegin! but this was held back even then by Tatiana's pain. I felt so relieved when Onegin inevitably left but that meant the end of the ballet and I didn't want it to end! Such a wonderful evening. And for those who unfortunately had to leave before the curtain calls ....to catch trains etc....there was more to miss! On one of the calls Nunez and Soares(having recovered a little from looking completely wrung out) joined together in quite a passionate kiss much to the approval of those still clapping. Great stuff!! I don't know if this cast is dancing again but I recommend to try and see them if you can if they are.

No I'm not doing any LAB intensives this year as for me it's too many days on the trot still. Apart from the half day workshops of Franziska and I may try just a one day one by City Academy later in the year that's it for me. I will be doing Chelsea Ballet Summer School but that suits me really well as on this one you can take as many classes as you want each day so I'll do just the one ballet class each day(there's no contemporary this year unfortunately) and probably the Pilates too as it starts later this year!

I'd be pretty sure they aren't laughing "at" the girls too. I'm sure they are much too professional for that. Probably as I think another poster suggested they are just trying to lighten the atmosphere and smiling and laughing among themselves to help the students feel more relaxed. Perhaps slightly older students would automatically sense this but maybe some of the younger ones could misinterpret this.

I'm glad to hear its still going then! Sorry this won't be currently helpful but after giving up,ballet at 15 later on when I was living in Liverpool for three years I restarted my ballet at this school and can thank them for really reviving my passion again!! But this was a very long time ago now so obviously different people running the school etc but am glad it's survived all these years. At the time I was there I don't think it particularly specialised in ballet if my memory serves me correctly but was more general but as a 20 something at the time was grateful I could do ballet with them even if with some slightly younger students.

Thanks for that Alison as I am going up today but via Victoria!! After reading all the blurb about London Bridge recently Ive decided to avoid it and the train company like the plague for most of this year! Even though it is sometimes convenient for me to use this line through to Kings Cross!

I really think Aileen that it does depend on what she wants to do down the line. It may be better she concentrates on getting good grades in the subjects that are going to serve her later.....even if she is good academically ...... than doing dance for fun.....if it's not really her thing. What may seem like fun now may not be as pressure increases to wards the exam time. Why does she not just continue with the dance she likes and is used to and does now anyway ......ballet .....and get further in this.

Just to finally say very good luck to all who have attended auditions and lets hope there are some nice and hopefully unexpected surprises to come in the next few weeks......when do you get to hear anyway? And for those who are not successful right now ....I think it would be great to bear Harwels post (183) in mind!!

Wish I could have been there too.

Well that's what I did think the auditions were about myself taxi but after reading about some people's experiences here.....like girls not even being able to be seen properly ....no rotation of lines etc ....I just began to wonder.....

I'm just picking up on the fact that some people who are attending the auditions seemed to be somewhat puzzled by things like: Which audition they are put into in the first place The timing of auditions The number system in auditions What sort of body type they want What sort of dance skills (or lack of) they want None of which as far as I can see is worth being that secretive about......if indeed they are being secretive. As a parent I would only be concerned if the audition is authentic or not.........that is they are truly looking at the students attending with the view that anyone of them turning up MIGHT or COULD be offered a place......even though of course we know only a few will actually be available. Otherwise if they are not taking some of the applicants that seriously it seems to me that it's better to audition less pupils and be more up front about the whole process so people don't truly waste their time. I supposes I cannot really see the point of attending an audition if you really believe you haven't ANY chance at all in succeeding.

Whereabouts are you based ......you can PM if you don't want to publicly reveal etc Thanks Linda x

Why cannot the RBS be more transparent then about what they are doing in these auditions? It really shouldn't be such a problem for them to share this in the 21 st Century!!

Yes definitely I would go for it you really do take in much more in a one to one.

I'm having my first one to one again for a year next month. When I was younger I don't think I ever had a one to one ......though there was a time when the teacher I had then was coaching just three of us for an exam. As an adult I only really considered it for the first time about 18months ago and I think it was largely meeting the right teacher in the right sort of situation. I felt at the time that if I was going to consider joining an amateur company again then I could do with improving my technique somewhat! And then along came a teacher who was prepared to take someone like myself seriously!! One to ones are too expensive to have that often but I thought they could be useful just occasionally for improving or looking at aspects of the technique that were bothering me or I felt were particularly weak (I say particularly because most of my technique is on the weak side!) but it is nice to say to a teacher who you trust look can we look at "a" "b" "c" and "z" today! And obviously during feedback she might think that actually looking at "y" is what is needed even more!! But during an hours one to one you do work very hard and it can feel more like a two hour session in terms of effort.....so extremely worthwhile in fact.

I agree that there is probably a preferred physique but I do think that if they saw a child who did not have the absolute perfect body but did have that something extra and very special that goes beyond technique that they would give that child a chance. Students with perfect bodies don't always have that something extra .........though of course there are a very few who have it all. I still think when you look at the Royal Ballet as a company ......Which is after all where most of the prospective students would like to be dancing eventually if dreams came true .....the dancers do have varying body types in fact. If it was purely physique they were looking for initially then why not just ask for photos from different angles so as to stop wasting people's time and money!! Auditions are not a good experience for a child in my view if they do not have at least SOME chance of being considered. If I thought I was completely wasting my child's time I must say I wouldn't let them take part. However I do happen to think that it is fairer than some may imagine.