capybara

This leads one to pose the question as to whether ballet 'news' and dancers have a place in 'celebrity' coverage. While part of me shudders at the thought, another part (that which longs for ballet to feel more accessible and 'cool' to more people) wonders whether this might be one way for the art form to enter the public consciousness. By the way, that Swan Lake kiss lasted just as long with other casts and at least one other couple looked as though it was no hardship!

So sorry everyone. As Aileen says, Nancy is dancing on Thursday and Saturday evenings. There have been so many manoeverings in the casting that I got confused. [And btw it appears that Zdenek is not now dancing in SOAW.]

Did you know, newballetfan, that Nancy is cast as The Ballerina in Petrushka in ENB's forthcoming Tribute to Nureyev? She is scheduled to dance on Friday and Saturday evenings (26th and 27th July). I believe that she will also have a solo slot in Raymonda. [Apologies for going slightly off-thread!]

It is good when a star leads one to discover a company (and its productions) which one probably would not have booked for otherwise.

It is interesting that people have the impression that ENB is short of good men. There are, of course, three Lead Principals (Dima Gruzdyev, Zdenek Konvalina and Vadim Muntagirov) but, as importantly, even with Esteban Berlanga's unfortunate departure, there is a host of up and coming young men (including Ken Saruhashi, James Forbat, Yonah Acosta and Junor Souza). The latter group may not yet be ready to partner Alina but they are certainly among the 'ones to watch'.

Zdenek has recovered and is ready and waiting to dance again. He would make a lovely partner for Alina but other ENB ballerinas (notably Erina Takahashi) also seem to like dancing with him.

Does anyone remember the time (at least 25 years ago!) when Jonny Cope and Rachel Whitbread posed in what seemed to be the nude for either a magazine or an advertisement? There was a bit of fuss at the time, I recall, and rumour had it that both had been 'spoken to' by the RB management.

The casting for Le Corsaire has yet to be announced but the Press Release says that Alina will dance the opening night in Milton Keynes (17th October). It will be interesting to see who Alina dances with, especially as Vadim will now have at least three potential partners. Should we be expecting announcements about one or more male joiners one wonders......!!??!!

Did anyone see Tempus in the flesh? It didn't seem to translate well to television but that may have been because of some unsympathetic camera angles.

This is great news and one hopes that, when it reaches the press, Laurretta will be given credit in her own right, not as "the new ****** *******".

Some ENB Friends have had a communication to say that the cast for the Coronation festival show is as follows: Daria Klimentova, Vadim Muntagirov, Nancy Osbaldeston, Esteban Berlanga, Bridgett Zehr, Guilherme Menezes; Ksenia Ovsyanick, Zhanet Atymtayev, Barry Drummond, Fernanda Oliviera. So we have an Englishwoman and a Scotsman there. Great!

It's interesting, isn't it, that no-one on this forum spotted an advertisement for this post.

The last time I looked at the ENB website, the casting for Petrushka had changed (again!) with Shev Dynott replacing Junor Souza as the Moor on the Thursday and Saturday evenings. Poor Junor seems to have out through injury for most of this season.

I was going to put a 'like this' alongside Tony's post above; but I don't like the fact that Yuhui has not been cast for Giselle. Her quality of movement would have made her perfect in the role. Imagine her in ActII! Regarding Sleeping Beauty, I don't think that we should get our hopes too high. Remember, it is Monica Mason's production and she has seemed prone to overlook Yuhui in the past.

Matthew is due to sign his RB contract when he has fully recovered from a recent op.

Unfortunately, the TBCs for Don Quixote and R & J have still not been converted into named dancers in place of Alina.

A little bird has suggested that there may now be a couple of UK dancers appearing in ENB's contribution to the Gala performance! We shall see when the show airs on BBC1 on Saturday.

It feels is appropriate for Andy's stellar achievemnt to be celebrated here since there are similarities between tennis and dance in terms of movement and balance as well as hard work and dedication. Some time ago, Alastair Macaulay wrote an interesting piece about Roger Federer which likened his particular athleticism to that of a dancer. Maybe it is somewhere in the archives of ballet.co?

The show is being broadcast this coming Saturday (13th July) at 7.00pm to 8.20pm on BBC1.

Let's here it for Andy! An amazing achievement.

Apologies - I omitted to mention that the review was about L'Apres Midi d'une Faun.

I realise that I have made a complimentary comment about last night's ENB MasterClass on Petrushka on another thread which ought to be repeated here. Tamara Rojo introduced Isabelle Fokine, who is staging the work, and set Petrushka in the context of wanting to give a birthday present to Nureyev. Ms Fokine then coached Anton Lukovkin and Fabian Reimar (who danced Petrushka's main scene together twice!). Their differing interpretations encouraged a number of those present to think in terms of booking additional performances. [Dimitry Gruzdyev is also dancing the role.] Later, Jane Pritchard provided some background to the ballet and interviewed Ms Fokine as only a connoisseur can. Questions from the audience elicited, for example, more about the music, the Benois designs and the art of coaching. Anyone who needs further encouragement to book for the Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev programme (25th to 27th July at the Coliseum) should note two recent reviews of ENB dancers which have been posted on the Links section of this Forum. Today's Telegraph review of Boston Ballet's first programme refers to the performance of their lead dancer "not quite matching the narcotised perfection of English National Ballet's Anton Lukovkin on the same stage last year". And the review of ABT's Sleeping Beauty in the New York Post yesterday said: "Vadim Muntagirov is that rare thing: a true Prince with strong technique and beautiful lines. Most important of all was the natural ease of his dancing.......His lucky ballerina was Hee Seo......Muntagirov made her look her best - their final duet was like a luxury limo ride, elegant and spacious.........When they made a final pose with their outstretched arms softly rounded, it looked as if the whole universe could fit inside."

The added problem for the Boston Ballet this week is that many regular ballet-goers are preoccupied with the Ballet School Shows (and Wimbledon Tennis). For the same reasons, I suspect, the excellent MasterClass on Petrushka mounted by ENB last night was less well-attended than is usually the case for such events.

Write to the Chief Executive but don't hold out too many hopes.

While there is, of course, a debate to be had, it must surely start from a point of deciding on the elements of dance which are needed/desirable across the country and only then develop the organisational model for grant support. This is the second article by Rupert Christiansen which advocates protecting both the Royal Ballet (which he has admitted elsewhere is his 'home team') and the Birmingham Royal and proposes changes for ENB and NB without a fully thought through basis for his argument. If change has to come at the hands of the Arts Council - and we should not forget the other sources of funding which (fortunately) render the whole scene more complex - it has to be via a properly researched, collaborative and phased process.