Legseleven

3 hours ago, Sim said:

This is a very good point.  Why would Odette immediately be passionate and warm to this guy who has just come along, when the last guy who just came along turned her into a captive bird?  I would also be very wary and take my time to loosen up and open my heart to him.  

This is why I am much more affected by Naghdi’s acting than by many others. She becomes the character portrayed and has clearly take the very understandable view that her Odette will be wary and that she perhaps has a foreboding that things will not end well. To stay true to her view of how Odette will react may therefore seem chilly to people who prefer a different interpretation of the role, but it is just as valid - and in my view more so - than other portrayals.

Blown away by the cinema relay performance, especially Naghdi. I was thinking as I left that her technical ability, as with that of Nunez, allows me to relax and watch her performance without feeling anxious that a technical slip may derail things a little. I never ‘catch her acting’, as I can feel with other performers, actors as well as dancers - she becomes the characters she portrays for me. I prefer that lack of ‘showiness’ - her Act 4 tonight was goosebumps-inducing. And her musicality is on another level. 
 

Wishing all the little dancers who applied for Y7 places the very best of luck. I have seen some MDS awards at Tring confirmed on social media but no other news. 

Perhaps those who left had enjoyed the matinee so much that seeing different dancers simply didn’t ‘do’ it for them in the same way? Of course I am sure from reading the reviews that Campbell and Hayward were amazing, but it seems that so too were Hirano and Lamb - and their performance may have touched those who left in the evening in a way that Campbell and Hayward didn’t, for whatever reason. 

Sometimes it seems that RB dancers who excel in the roles they have been given are ‘taken for granted’ and not given the chance to take on eg MacMillan roles as early as perhaps others may do. And it has sometimes appeared that excelling in the MacMillan roles is a passport to promotion even without being given classical roles (although I appreciate that that isn’t the case for Melissa Hamilton). 

Not sure whether she had danced Giselle by then. 

Francesca Hayward became a principal without dancing the big tutu classics as far as I remember. 

I’m also surprised at Kaneko’s height. I had thought she, Magri and Naghdi were similar heights although I too thought that Kaneko and Naghdi have particularly long legs which makes them dance ‘taller’ than Magri. That makes Magri look not much taller than Hayward. 

Thank you Birdy. I’m delighted that height is no longer an absolute barrier to women dancing professionally. 

How tall is Milda Luckute? 

I can’t help I’m afraid, but my goodness you don’t have to apologise for your English! I hope one of the very knowledgeable people on here can help identify the ballet, which sounds delightful. 

I agree, best to make an appointment - if your DD currently wears a particular type/maker and size of Freeds, perhaps let them know so that they can possibly get some potential pairs in stock for your visit. We made an appointment when DD got GMs from there, including giving confirmation as to the type of pointe shoe she was wearing otherwise, size, foot type etc - they made sure that they had several potential pairs in stock ready for our visit. 

Planet Dance at Batley has a wide range of pointe shoes (and indeed of all things dance) in stock. DD’s friend wore Freeds bought from there. 

It does seem (and this is of course only my opinion, which may be quite wrong) that some dancers who excel in the big classical roles are considered less likely to do so in the MacMillan repertory and for their chance to take on roles other than the big classics to be delayed as a result. And there is no doubt that the Royal Ballet previously publicised the career of one of the younger principals much more than those of their contemporaries. This affects all of the principals in terms of who Joe Public has read about and may consider the only dancer to go to see. 

Is this the statement used by IDTA? 

Back at you, Anna and everyone else celebrating Christmas 🎄 x

The Rhapsody coaching was lovely. Tianie-Finn Grainger has something special in terms of watchability and magnetism, I thought. 

On 27/09/2023 at 12:24, academicdancer said:

Are you referring to teen girls teaching "baby ballet" at their dance school? Or teaching at the franchised Baby Ballet? The first former is not uncommon, although usually there should be a teacher running the class with teens assisting, for health and safety/DBS purposes.

Teenage girls taking classes at the franchised Baby Ballet. I was rather taken aback as despite any sort of ‘baby ballet’ being effectively music and movement, I assume that to be a franchisee there is some requirement that you are qualified and will employ qualified teachers? 
 

I am perhaps too trusting that most people will do the right thing - but employing totally unqualified teenagers to take a class offered as part of a franchise (the teenagers are about grade 4 or 5 ballet level) does not seem appropriate to me. 

I see a lot of adverts for this (I assume) franchise and some that are clearly similar. I am aware that teenage friends of DD have been allowed to take classes on their own, despite being neither registered teachers nor advanced dancers. Surely there is a requirement that a registered ballet teacher takes these classes?

DD never wanted to pursue a vocational school path, but if she had done then the Hammond’s arrangement of boarding houses separate from the school (not sure if that is still the case) would have appealed much more than a ‘all on one site’ approach. Certainly a friend’s DD who attended the Hammond enjoyed that aspect, with a separation of boarding ie ‘home’ life and school life. (And she decided not to pursue a vocational route at age 16+, despite good offers, and instead went on to study dentistry, which shows how good the academic education at the Hammond is.) 

I’m so sorry to read this, dancefaye. If it were me the lie you were presumably told re delaying your child’s pre-arranged coaching and more so the ridiculous comment about the exam results being ‘psychological’ (which doesn’t make any sense) would have been the last straw and I would be moving my child to another dance school. The teacher is blatantly favouring one child over all the others.

Do any of your child’s friends, possibly in the national junior production, dance elsewhere? Her coaches there may have suggestions of a new dance school that may suit her. It would be such a shame for a talented child to lose her passion because of this teacher’s unfair actions. (And I know that life isn’t fair and that teachers often have favourites - but this seems to be ludicrously blatant and especially when it affects such young children.)

DD always wore Capezio - they keep their colour very well and didn’t ladder, unlike most other males she briefly tried. 

I realise it’s not in the north east, but Planet Dance in Batley, West Yorkshire is great - large range of shoes, great fitters. 

I agree with everything already said. We found that car journeys were the best times for chats about possibly uncomfortable issues as I couldn’t look at DD because I was concentrating on driving. That seemed to free her to express things she may not have expressed if we were chatting face to face as usual. 

There are some fabulous photos on Yasmine Naghdi’s Instagram page of her partnered with William Bracewell in the Roberto Bolle and Friends performances. It looks like an absolutely fabulous partnership - it would be lovely for these two to dance together ‘back home’ too (although I know it does seem that both are in demand as partners to various dancers despite the established Naghdi/Ball and Kaneko/Bracewell partnerships).