jm365

I shall wear my Julian Alaphilippe t-shirt to the performance!

I had no problem with lights on in the auditorium from Row M in the amphi.

Maybe one of you knowledgeable historians can say whether the choreography for the earliest women casts such as those MargaretN7 saw is exactly the same as Ashton did for himself and Helpmann.  One of my problems with the yesterday's female sisters was that I didn't think the actual choreography worked for them.  

In some ways I agree with JohnS, but the loud and direct instruction seemed much more effective in shocking people into compliance.  I don't know, JohnS, if you heard the one in the amphi, or if there was another announcement lower down in the auditorium.  I shall be back in the amphi in mid April, so I shall be interested to see if it happens again rather than being a one-off.

an usher in the amphi this evening - at least I think it was an usher - said just before the orchestra started both at the start of the performance and after each interval - 'no phones please' or some such.  A really good idea - and it certainly seemed to work!

How interesting that as usual reactions on this forum differ so much!  I thought the sisters were Disastrous - far, far worse than any of the male casts I have seen over the years - from the matchless Helpmann/Ashton on.  Otherwise I quite enjoyed the performance.  Liked the sets, and most of the costumes.  

Yes - I actually like the Cinderella score better than R & J.

Yes, ninamargaret, I certainly do remember the trays - and the little ashtrays on the back of seats for the smokers.  Trays were a great treat when I went to the theatre with my mother.

Has April come early this year?

Oh that's a real shame!

I used to go by train from the south east for a matinee - avoiding having to stay overnight - and could combine it with lunch in the Hippodrome restaurant which was always good value - and you could return to your table in the interval for coffee etc.

Sadly that reel was re-used - videotape was very expensive in those days and nobody put in the request to keep the whole thing - we are lucky that the other two tapes survived.  Unless someone made an unofficial recording off air, there is very little likelihood of getting hold of a copy.

For the umpteenth time on this forum, I must speak up in support of the BBC.  It is not a lack of will that prevents the repeating of most of the early ballet programmes, it's a question of copyright.  The original contracts were for one transmission in most cases, many of the productions were co-productions with commercial companies that no longer exist.  To try to clear copyright would be extremely difficult - so many people are now dead and goodness knows what has happened to their rights.  

As I worked on quite a few of the programmes concerned, I must say I would be first in line to repeat them, if I thought it was possible.

I was very glad to see that Ashley Page is still choreographing such enjoyable works.  Does anyone know where he is based these days?  I still remember him as a dancer with RB.

I do so agree with Janet McNulty's choices for BRB.  I used to come up fairly regularly when Bintley was AD, but so far haven't been tempted by anything Acosta has programmed.

Does anyone know what would be the minimum age that would be permitted for a tour of the ROH?  Also, do you think a five-year-old would find it interesting?  He is very well behaved with sensible parents, so would not be disruptive!!

I loved his Giselle, which I saw in Ljubljana.

I can remember - from a very, very long time ago - a male dancer being presented with a wreath on stage.  An alternative to flowers, if those are felt to be embarrassing?  

After all the speculation - how long was the ballet in the end and did it have an interval?

The opening and closing scenes were pretty dark in the theatre too - far more so than I remember the last runs of Mayerling being.  From the mid-Amphi it was almost impossible to see what was happening at the grave, and the moments with the raising of the umbrellas were lost.

I remember Clement Crisp once said much the same about Swan Lake - for him it was the umpteenth time and if he was bored, he always tried to remember that for someone else it might be the first time.  So - another argument for putting on what to some of us are the 'same old, same old' just so that others can come to them fresh.

Instead of being plain white, which is what he wore, the Bournonville shoes have black sides so that the white central bit forms a point.  This has the effect as I said of emphasising the neat footwork.

 I loved the Flower Festival pas de deux - would that we saw it more often, as the RB used to do it - but a quibble - it would have been good if Frola could have worn the correct Bournonville shoes.  I really missed them as they emphasise the beautiful, fast footwork even more.

Thanks very much for this.  I didn't look at my e-mail, but being used to speedy despatch of tickets I was beginning to panic!

Has anybody had their tickets for this yet?  I booked ages ago and I know they said the tickets would be available much nearer the event - - but it's getting pretty close now!