penelopesimpson

He was dreadful and why they insisted on interviewing competitors who were so out of breath they couldn't speak was a great mystery. I am afraid I am not a fan of Ore Oduba as far as ballet is concerned and I find the whole Strictly thing with Darcey as a judge and Ore winning and Anita Rani as a finalist, totally weird. Having said that, thought Rani was excellent last night and she looked fantastic. As for the winner, yes I thought she was stunning but I didn't want to watch her. Her movement was fantastic but it was all too masculine and lacked any appeal for me.

An interesting observation about male pas-de-deux. I took a friend who had never attended a ballet before to Woolf Works. She adored it but the standout moment for her was the male pas-de-deux and I hadn't even mentioned how moving I find it.

Thank-you, Floss, for such excellent information. Would you say that there are standout partnering skills in all the RB's male Principals? As an amateur, they all seem excellent at the job to me but would appreciate any further insight.

I was interested in Darcey Bussell's comment on Young Dancer tonight that male dancers at the peak of their powers were not necessarily strong in partnering skills. Can anyone expand on this?

Knew it would be her

Whose bright idea was it to interview breathless dancers?

I'm not blown away by any of this. The sole female is strong but I find her masculinity a turnoff. Equally the ballet guy comes over as feminine and his movements lack flow. I can't judge the South Asian. Anybody else watching?

There are better street dancers around than this guy

Well, there's a surprise - Darcey Bussell, again. Are the BBC aware that 'other dancers are available?'

Ooh, tell me more.

Hmm. Tweaking and significant seem somewhat incompatible in describing a ballet that really doesn't work on any level. It wasn't definite enough to be described as bad in the manner of Carlos Acosta's Carmen, just a rather small and irritating blur which allowed my mind to wander contemplating the cost of a failed outing.

If it's of any help, Jacqueline, I saw Strapless first time around and won't be returning for seconds. I found it all over the place with next to nothing for the blokes, including Ed Watson, to do, and even Osipova wasn't enough to sustain interest. I think it should be quietly written off and forgotten about.

I am probably being dense/having a senior moment, BUT I cannot fathom how driving purchasers to use ticket agencies benefits ROH.. can anyone take pity on the elderly and explain?

Do you just return the tickets to ROH?

That is incredible.

Which raises further questions: why does ROH need to use ticket agencies when most of their performances are sellouts? Most people, ballet forum nerds excepted, do not have the time or the inclination to spend their days continually logging n to the ROH website. There is surely a bond of trust between the public and the Bix Office which will be broken if we can no longer believe what they say. Either a production is sold out, pending returns, or it isn't. clarification please, ROH box office.

Could you explain, please, how they 'make more of a profit?'

I'd like to think you were right, but I doubt it. Whether ROH sells its tickets straightaway or holds back to a later date, theprice to ROH remains the same. The only people being 'robbed' are thosepTrons who believe e ROH when they say Sold Out and then go elsewhere at an inflated price. I am annoyed for my friend who has now paid over the odds for tickets becaus she believed RO H when they said they were sold out. i may be missing something here, but it almost seems like the Box Office is colluding with the ticket agencies (probably unwittingly) to drive prices up. I am going to investigate this one. ieved ar

Wish I understood what gives with ROH box office. First the two Polunun performances are like gold dust so friend snaps up some from ticket agency at horrid price. Now, apparently. About 50 people who had tickets for the 5th have all decided to wash their hair. sigh

The booking does seem odd. I went through torture to get Mayerling tickets and then, like a rabbit out of a hat, a raft of them appeared. I was lucky enough to have Dream tickets for 5 and 10, having had a hunch that the TBC would turn out to be the elusive Mr. Polunin, but a similar thing is going on in opera. Traviata on the date I wanted was sold out from day one and then about two days ago, something like 40 tickets appeared. Interestingly, they always seem to be the same - a block in the centre of the Stalls, a pair in the front row of Stalls Circle and another smaller block left hand side of Grand Tier. Maybe these are held back for sponsors or something - any ideas?

I have also been wondering about ticket sales because unless there are an enormous amount of last-minute bookings, Jewels is probably cayying empty seats. Was it wise, I wonder, to programme so many performances? When I first saw Jewels some years back it left me cold. Then I saw it again a few years on and began to like it. This time around I am enthralled and have made two visits. My point is that for the average ballet goer it's a difficult one to get into. Most people will not recognise different cast members nor be able to comment on Naghdi's arms or Muntagirov's technique. They will be looking for drama and narrative and something they can understand rather than a bravura display of ballet at its best. i'm not blown away by next year's programming where we seem to have endless runs of the banker ballets and oddly short ones of others. Personally the Judas Tree is pretty grim and combined with Somg of the Earth, I won't be reaching for my credit card, ditto Obsidian Tear. I enjoy Hofesh Shecter but wish we could have some of his more adventurous stuff. All that said, however, I respect Kevin O'Hare's decisions and hope he retains his freedom. But I think he pushed his luck with such a lengthy run for Jewels.

I am wondering if they have a lot of empty seats in Jewels which does not appear to be selling well.

Yes, it was Edward Watson and they were fantastic together.

I also enjoy Winters Tale and am happy to see it again. The Judas Tree - once was enough, and Song of the Earth has been done to death

Loved the programme and only wish I had seen it before I saw Akamai Khan's Giselle as I might have better understood it. Tamara is a fabulous presenter and I hope the BBC use her more rather than automatically giving dance programmes to Darcey. I would also like to see more of Deborah Bull.