LinMM

It says 12 - 20 when I read it!!

Well maybe because initially I wasn't expecting to go and then getting a last minute ticket etc I was in a very receptive mood ....I don't know .....but I really enjoyed the performance yesterday. Apart from what looked like a slip almost on her entrance (and one did think 'oh no....' ) I thought Akane Takada gave a faultless performance as Kitri. Her technique is just so solid in all areas and her jumps are to die for just so light and airy. Admittedly not such an outgoing and feisty interpretation as some (my personal favourite is Nunez in this role) but her delightful dancing made up for this I thought. I do agree with a previous comment that she looked slightly more at home in the classical sections.......in fact by the final pas de deux she looked positively radiant....perhaps having relaxed a bit by then? She just gelled with Muntagirov enough to make their "relationship" work but underneath it all you weren't quite sure this girl would have truly had the courage to run off with her beloved! What can I say about Muntagirov? Just fabulous dancing and great partnering and I loved his interpretation full of boyish zeal (not as cheeky as Acosta or fiery as Vasiliev .....both whose interpretation I love too) and an emerging gift for comedy......loved the last act scene where he pretends to stab himself etc. I believe this was his debut in the role .....though not sure if just for the RB .....or whether has done before in another company. Also am not sure how much he and Takada have danced together but if this is a new partnership then I think it could be a very good one in the making ......although I know he seems to partner others well too. If I were a young talented dancer I'd certainly want to dance with him anyway!! All the big pas de deux came off beautifully .....the one handed lifts spectacularly held .......I just think some are beginning to get used to these feats and so less impressed with it all but anyway I WAS impressed. It is a huge role for Kitri though she has so much dancing to do and Takada was beautiful in the vision scene.......outclassing the other two dancers there I thought. I won't comment much on Mercedes role here danced yesterday by Itziar Mendizabal as I believe she is only very recently back from injury. I normally love her and she can be the most dramatic of dancers but lacked a little fire yesterday. And there are some roles which seem to be made for certain personalities so must admit do love Morera in this role and her and Nunez together really make the Spanish feel to it all work so well....for me. I thought Valeri Hristov was wonderful in his role as the matador so stylish and SO Spanish ......great dancing! All the main "comedy" roles were perfect yesterday for me I think the dancing in the vision scene was fine .....not particularly magical but no mishaps. There are some difficult technical steps to pull off in the Amour role which Meaghan Grace Hinkis(it says in the programme ...I thought her name was Grace!) did well but maybe as she is supposed to represent the "spirit" of perfected womanhood(which D Q is always chasing after......never to find of course) a less taller dancer is suited to this role........this is not the equivalent of Myrthe in Giselle for me......But I don't really know perhaps it just depends on individual dancers and what they can project on the day. All in all though especially as I was standing (balcony standing .....never done this before but from D.32 excellent view(in fact D.31 32 and 33 are all very very good value at £8) I felt fully immersed in the performance ....didn't notice the time at all ....a very happy and satisfying afternoons ballet watching for me....in fact my only real gripe was the 12.30 start!!

Richard Ramsey teaches on the Chelsea Ballet summer course(adults) and gives a lovely class and good pointers for technique. I know his wife/partner is called Bethany but don't know if this Bethany is the same one! If it is she is a great teacher too and very humorous. I did her contemporary class on the Summer School (but I know she teaches ballet too) and absolutely lived it. This could be worth investigating definitely.

Just got back from London and saw the performance this afternoon. Will add some comments tomorrow but I really enjoyed it and some of the dancing was quite spectacular.

That really is annoying Taxi. These leotards are not cheap for what they are. This does happen a lot with clothing though. You just find a nice item and then the material or colour are subtly changed in some way. I found this with American Apparel. They used to have some nice thick cotton jumpers but this year although they look similar the cotton they are made of is definitely inferior.......ladders easily and doesn't keep it's shape. They are not cheap so won't be buying another!! You can only give it a try I suppose. Perhaps take the other leotard in with you to show them the size difference you never know!!

Well when I hear that piece of music I feel it has a lot of humour in it .....not a serious piece at all. It's got a sort of "bumbling" sound in it. It's just whether you find the character and dance piece humorous as well! I don't mind it for a bit of fun and nice for the kids dancing it I suppose......as it is a sort of Christmas Ballet!

Ive found it now......I didn't stay with the Fonteyn film clip long enough initially as thought it was going to be all still photographs! Yes that solo is delightful and very suitable for a young girl.

StephenK have PM'd you as thanks for very kind offer but cannot make that performance.

I can't find a solo female piece on YouTube for Birthday Offering! There's a nice pas de deux from it with Darcey Bussell and Thiago Soares. Is she going to adapt a solo from this pas de deux?

That Requiem solo is beautiful but deceptively simple I think. There is a lot of dramatic intensity required to put that across even though the choreography is not too tricky etc. The summer fairy variation is possibly more suitable for a very much younger person. However looks as if your DD has found what she wanted.....hope it goes well for her.

I had to miss that December 8th performance at the Cadogan Hall unfortunately but did go to their Summer one. Yes I feel London Russian should have the possibility of some good complete or adapted repertoire to offer their more adult dancers!! They could start in a small way (half day workshops) and see what the take up would be!

Would love to meet up if possible Lartiste!! We may find we already have!!

I think the matinee on the 30th begins at 12.30 unless it's changed since last week?! I'm hoping to go up to see if can get a ticket as it's Muntagirov dancing(with Akada) as last week when checked was sold out already.

Well I think the score is accessible enough but just not that memorable! The best bit I think is the opening of Act two I did find that quite powerful.

Thanks Bruce Wall! Sanity saved!

Yes the Tring Park School transport van was parked near the Coliseum when I did that workshop and then on to see the ballet just before Christmas. In the clip Janet have I gone mad or was that Macauley Culkin(Home Alone boy) sitting watching the Gingerbread scene on stage? I recognise the music ......Festival Ballet as were then known have definitely used this in one of their productions in the past. Not sure if it was for this Gingerbread character but I assume so because children came out from her skirt like in the clip. Whether she was Mother Hubbard or Mother Gingerbread am not sure!!

http://www.holisticballet.com/Holistic_Ballet/13.html Here is the link for February workshop.....just hope it works!

Thanks for the list of those 18plus classes run by RAD in Birmingham. I couldn't see a workshop advertised though. In January last year did a lovely RAD workshop on Cinderella at RAD headquarters in London and again like the ENB were very good value for money. I might even be prepared to travel up to Birmingham for a workshop and hopefully combine with a visit to a BRB performance!! Lartiste......you might also want to look at the workshops run by Franziska Rosenzweig. This year they will be held at the Place. If you go to her website and go into the holistic ballet section(I will try to post a link) then you will see the workshops there. These are really well taught and I love doing the hour of Pilates first so that by the time you come to the barre you are really ready for it physically. After the barre she usually then focuses on different sections or even just certain steps from a normal ballet class and then puts them in an enchainement . A couple of the workshops focus on repertoire usually later in the summer. Ive just booked her first one in 2015 which is on sat Feb 14th. I missed all last years ones due to injury so am really looking forward to doing these again. Good luck with your 2015 resolutions I hope you achieve at least some of them!! Also I wish London Russian would start running Adult workshops!! I'm hoping to be back in my first class for a year with them from February.

I'm sure Just Ballet does 8 layer ones too around that price. At LAB they are also those 8 layer ones too ....am not sure where they get them made though....and still haven't ordered mine for July!

I have finally finished watching Winters tale. Saw it all back to front as caught the second Act only on Christmas Day and then watched the final,and then the first Act!! This cast except for Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb were more or less the same as when I saw earlier this year. I think the tv made the whole thing much darker and didn't really capture that wonderful tree in the second Act it just didn't look as good as when I saw for real .......when the audience broke out into simultaneous applause when the curtain rose on this......mind you could have been partly relief from the comparative darkness of the first Act. I loved McRae and Lamb in this truly delightful dancing but all the main principals were wonderful in their roles. I liked it better second time around but am not a great lover of this score although parts do seem to be growing on me. As a rule though I feel ......as with the score of Alice .....that there are few highs and lows so to speak it....sort of ambles along......and afterwards I honestly couldn't hum any part of it!! I do like the ballet as a whole though and would definitely go .....for real....again!

Thanks John Mallinson (posting at same time) I did think it was too good to be true but then there's that bit of me which still believes in Father Christmas(or wants to)

Well having searched high and low on YouTube for someone doing a version of Nutcracker with the "fishdives" have discovered got my ballets muddled up!! These are at the end of the Act three Sleeping beauty pas de deux ....not from Nutcracker at all!! I think the ballerinas jump onto partners shoulder landing perfectly poised only to then immediately have her nose lowered to within an inch of the floor .....as above......is pretty flipping good as well!!

In your very first clip Bruce Wall towards the end of the pas de deux the ballerina is sort of gently pulled along on pointe across the stage. Have never seen this before.... and I couldn't see any floor trickery going on .......amazing!

Are you a dance teacher Pictures? I know what it's like to see a child who is keen and want to give dance lessons for free if they cannot afford it but sometimes one has to pull away and perhaps just offer advice to the mum if her little girl keeps nagging for lessons in the future .......on what financial help she might be able to receive. But as you don't know mum that well perhaps it's wise to just leave it. But a trip to the ballet is a very good idea when there's a company next in your area. There are quite a few children's/youth performances around so wouldn't have to be a big professional company necessarily. It was a lovely and generous thought though

A lot may depend on the nature of the relationship you .....or another of your family members .....wasn't sure from your post .....have with this girls mother. How many lessons a week were you planning on buying her? For example if it was just one a week may be mum might be able to afford to keep this going but if it's several a week then that could be more difficult. If this girl is really keen she may be soon driving her mum mad to have lessons! But then again many children are very sensitive to the money issues in a household and she may feel she can't ask for this......especially if she has brothers and sisters etc. It's a really difficult one this. If you agreed with mum and the little girl that this was a treat and she may not necessarily be able to carry on afterwards ....it could be okay especially if on trying the classes out she may not be that keen to carry on anyway.....but if she were to develop a real passion for it then it could be cruel to her. Could you find out if the mum could in future afford at least one lesson a week?