Lindsay

What would be really powerful here would be for a 'successful' company dancer who has been through these schools and perhaps been subject to these very dubious methods of 'instruction' or witnessed other students being subject to the same to speak out about their experiences.  That way there could be no allegations of "sour grapes".  But that would take a lot of bravery because dancers are always in the hands of the 'ballet establishment' for casting and promotion.  Even when they retire many are looking for jobs as coaches or teachers.  That is the dynamic that maintains this awful status quo within the British ballet 'monolith'.  And it is not just about body image.  It is about a culture where all students except the chosen few are, for whatever reason, written off as 'failures' in their teens.  The damage that can cause is not easily removed.

1 minute ago, Neverdancedjustamum said:

I can’t speak for all grammar schools but speaking from personal experience of two grammar schools, the parents are regularly consulted with their children’s progress. Nothing is a surprise. Even in schools with 6-7 forms of 30 kids each, I never felt like my kids were overlooked. If any concerns pastoral or academic-related arise, parents are contacted immediately. One of my DCs fell slightly behind in a subject in Year 10. The school immediately organised additional support classes once a week for a term for a group of them and the majority of students who attended these classes ended up getting better GCSE results than they ever thought they could. The schools are very transparent and communication lines are very open. Ultimately, if children in these grammar schools feel upset for any reason during that day, they can come home to their families and be away from an upsetting situation. At age 11/12/13 I believe this is so crucial. Obviously this is only our personal experience of two grammar schools and I’m not on any way saying this is the same for all grammar schools. 
 

Why do parents send their kids to these schools? I can tell you the answer I’ve heard 100% of the time from numerous parents I’ve spoken to: because it is their kid’s dream.  In a way I admire these kids. I can’t imagine mine knowing what their dream career is until at least they go to Uni. Maybe not even then! I also admire the trust these parents place on their kids’ words. My kids have told me varying ambitions they’ve had since they were young. I questioned all of them. Sure enough, they changed their minds weeks or months later. Perhaps mine are just fickle. 

This is absolutely it.  The schools are linked to the companies who ARE the dream.  And for most they are also boarding school.  Also, at grammar schools you don't spend hours every day with your growing and changing body dressed in a leotard and tights in front of mirrors, teachers and all of your peers........

12 minutes ago, LukeJennings said:

t; present-day audiences don't fetishise extreme thinness in the way that they do. We really, really don't. What we value is the expression of the authentic self.

I couldn’t agree with this more as an audience member myself. But I have two concerns about whether this will actually drive change in classical companies.  The first is the “regular” audience for classical ballet, perhaps those who see only/mostly ballet and not other forms of dance.  There, both in theatres and online, one often overhears or reads direct or indirect criticism of dancers’ weight.  
 

The second is the online world which many young dancers (and potential future audiences) inhabit, on YouTube, instagram and even tumblr, which still widely fetishises the worst trends for thinness and extreme flexibility within Russian ballet or some of the more extreme US institutions - for example each class of Vaganova graduates is discussed as if they were heading for the NBA draft.  This immersion tends towards preserving and reinforcing a tradition that I agree with you should be consigned to history.

1 minute ago, Graceful said:

 

Is what is going on any different to normal state schools letting children with any form of learning issues down?

 

I think what is different about “elite” specialist schools like RBS or Elmhurst is that they can act (or claim to act) as gatekeepers to the very small world the students dream of entering.  A state school teacher can’t threaten you with being shut out from your chosen career and there is always another school

you can go to.  With selective ballet schools the schools hold the power.  Unless you have the financial resources to train privately/overseas you have few other routes in.  Which is why the schools must be made to exercise that power responsibly.

12 minutes ago, richieN said:

 

You strike to the heart of the matter - institutional deference to ex-ballet stars and those with letters after their name. 

Indeed, deference and complacency seem very prevalent at all levels of the top institutions.  Accompanied with a heavy dose of self-satisfaction from people whose powers of understanding often seem very limited…..
 

And schools (perhaps especially those isolated in the middle of parks…) often seem to lag companies in their adaptations to modern reality and values.  The 1990s opera house documentary showed Anthony Dowell having to explain to a shocked White Lodge teacher that it was ok to cast an Asian student as Clara (when that was a children’s role)

I also think it is very ill-advised of these schools (both of which have let cameras in on many occasions when they could be sure a flattering picture would emerge) not to engage with Panorama beyond a few very defensive statements.  Much more confidence would be engendered in the parents of future applicants if they went on camera to say that they were undertaking a root-and-branch overhaul, (including compulsory training for all teachers no matter how prestigious their own dancing career) on how to best combine the provision of elite classical training with an overriding principle that student physical and mental health must always be prioritised.  
 

It is clear that the schools are thinking only of reputation management and trying to limit liability for potential lawsuits.  That is exactly the same knee jerk reaction we saw from the specialist music schools when multiple stories of abuse at several of those institutions came out a decade ago - my family was personally involved in that mess and it took years to unravel but the schools were subsequently roundly criticised in a national inquiry and had to settle many lawsuits from former students.  The arrogance and complacency of governors and leaders of those schools giving testimony to the inquiry was shocking and sadly I am seeing real echoes of that attitude in these responses from ballet schools. 

12 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Never be put off by what others may think of certain dancers always go and see who you want to in any particular ballet. It’s better to be a bit disappointed but own your own choice  as it were. 
Personally I loved McRae as Oberon for example and would imagine as the Prince in this particular ballet he would be fine. And he and Sarah Lamb do dance really well together. 

Absolutely.  Although it was my comment originally, everyone of course has different preferences.  I also loved McRae as Oberon and really enjoyed his performance in Rubies a few years ago.  I just think that this particular princely role, without many 'character' moments to build upon (not even the yearning solos that come in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty) requires calm and clean technical precision (rather than the cheeky-chappy, big personality roles where I think McRae shines).  The Act 2 solo is deceptively difficult and of the casts I've seen so far only Muntagirov really made it look tidy, musical and easy.  Even Matthew Ball, who must be at the peak of his technique, looked to be 'muscling' his way through some of the jumps.  

16 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

I saw it, @Sim  I will write a full post when I get a moment, but have been out all day and won't be home until late.  However, if I had to to sum up Lamb's performance in one word it would be:

Fabulous.  

 

I also thought Lamb danced beautifully and was a very touching Cinderella, particularly in the kitchen scenes.  Bennet Garside was also I thought a decent elder sister - witty without being quite so OTT as the first night cast. I find it hard to write about this cast with much enthusiasm though because (sadly) I thought McRae miscast as the prince and it was extremely distracting..

4 hours ago, LinMM said:

I forgot to mention the jester he was amazing his dancing was so light!! Brilliant stuff!! 

Yes. I have (greedily) seen three jesters now and Joon was not quite the tidiest but he was by far the funniest.  Much appreciated!

2 minutes ago, EVWS said:

 

On Monday night (and at the General), Marianela did exactly as above - went down all the stairs on pointe (aided by Vadim), with a long train attached to her shoulders, then bourrées to the front as in a dream with Vadim walking next to her 

The stairs in this production also come in two small sets, with a wide flat step in the middle to bourree across.  It think it would be virtually impossible for a ballerina in a tutu looking out to the audience to navigate them en pointe without a partner to (presumably) press her hand to indicate that she has reached the top of the second set of steps.

1 minute ago, LinMM said:

Judging only from the photos I’ve seen both here and on Facebook the fairy costumes are not quite so gross as the Prima ones which had both colour and design issues! These are just tutus but whether you like the colours or not will be a matter of personal taste. They don’t look too bad to me as representative of the seasons though the pink is a bit bright I suppose. I guess Pink was chosen for summer as symbol of pink roses and other summer flowers? Blue is often chosen to represent a cold colour therefore winter although some blues are warm as well… the blue in the costume piccies is not particularly icy! 

I think (at least for me) it is not the tutus worn by the fairies in Acts 2 and 3 but the dresses they wore to dance their variations in Act 1 which were the "issue".  But they were not as bad as the Prima designs!

Agree with most of the views here and I really enjoyed Cinderella.  It has been so long coming back that I had forgotten just how amazing the choreography is - the footwork in the female solos, the beautifully 'radical' (especially after seeing Beauty recently) corps work for the Stars, the fiendishly difficult Prince's variation in Act 2 (I will be very interested to see whether later casts can succeed in making it look as elegant as Vadim did).  Just seeing a lot of Ashton that I am not very familiar with was pleasure enough in itself.

The stepsisters were not too annoying - although I didn't find their antics as hilarious as many in the audience seemed to.  Luca Acri in particular managed to mine some pathos and was not too 'broad' in his approach to the humour.

And I generally liked the designs, which seemed relatively complementary and unobtrusive.  Not quite so sure about the Season Fairies costumes and hairstyles and as someone else mentioned above, they reminded me a little of those unfortunate outfits in the recent Zucchetti piece for the four women (although I think Magri faired considerably better this time as the winter fairy costume was the most flattering).

But all of that is nitpicking.  The main thing for me is always the quality of the music and choreography and their execution.  And on those terms this is a really welcome re-addition to the repertoire.

What lovely news - thanks Janet.  Especially exciting as I’m taking my niece to her first Swan Lake tomorrow afternoon and see that Max is dancing.  My first time at this production and very interested to see it

I agree with you on the Tanowitz Tebasile - by far the most surprising and interesting of the new works for me.  I thought Prima did not stand up well against the Wheeldon (and the costumes were somewhat less than flattering….)

Very pleasantly surprised by Reece Clarke in Diamonds.  I knew he was a good partner but he made the fast solo sections look easy too.  And Marianela is at her superb best in that piece!

edit: also edited to add that Vadim Muntagirov’s arabesque should be backlit more often - talk about purity of line…

It was a post-10pm finish last night.  I suppose it will depend on whether they have speech/ENO Chorus every night.  

As others have said, a very moving evening.  And fascinating to see a Ratmansky version of the ballet - including what I think (I'm sure the experts here will know better!) is the "fugue" reintroduced into Act 2.

The principals were clean and charming, the technical standard of dancing otherwise was understandably a bit uneven (given that this is a group of dancers from different schools and companies) but Ratmansky (or somebody) has very cleverly staged a version to show the group to their best possible advantage.  A really laudable endeavour! 

I've been a couple of times (although for opera not ballet) and would echo Janet's advice on the top level being a good view.  For the first show I saw we were in a box on the middle level but in the rear seats, and because they are loose seats your view is completely at the mercy of whether the people at the front of the box are tall/have big hair/fidgety/lean over/move around.  Much 'safer' in terms of view to be in the rows at the top level, although a bit further away from the stage.

12 minutes ago, Fiona said:

Surely Wheeldon has more "Dancing" in his productions than McGregor?

what do you think “Dancing” is Fiona?

A useful test for me is whether choreography if seen on its own, without sets or costumes, would be in any way interesting or distinctive or convey any ideas or meaning.  That is true for at least some of the choreography from every Petipa, Balanchine, Ashton, Macmillan, Robbins, Ratmansky or McGregor ballet I have seen.

For this, I might guess that it was Wheeldon because of the combination of pointe shoes and flexed feet but I would otherwise find it very difficult to distinguish from any generic west end choreography.  Lots of high legs accompanied by yearning arm-reaching.  And a bit of floor work to make it look modern.  

Take away the setting and I don’t know what would be interesting about LWFC - imagine even the last PDD (probably the most developed section) without the lighting and props and compare it with say the Manon or Chroma pdds.  They have a shape, structure and originality that would hold the interest.  I’m not sure that this would…

3 hours ago, alison said:

But it happens a lot, "on behalf" of numerous groups of people.  Did it start, I wonder, with the now-notorious "Winterval" which certain councils created because it was thought that "Christmas" would be offensive to people of other faiths (whereas, as I understand it, most of them were happy to incorporate Christmas in their lives to at least some extent)?

 The actual "Winterval" story was never about Christmas being offensive - it was a marketing strategy devised by Birmingham City Council for lots of winter activities from Children in Need to a Frankfurt Christmas Fair to lighting up Aston Hall during a city rejuvenation project in 1997.  It was subsequently recycled and distorted many times by the Murdoch press and the Mail and has morphed into a "PC gone mad" urban myth about immigrants objecting to Christmas and Councils appeasing them.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/08/winterval-modern-myth-christmas

And for those who dislike the Guardian, here is the Mail apologising for repeating this untrue myth:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/article-2058830/Clarifications-corrections.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

I made a mistake by picking up a last minute ticket for this evening’s show.  I did not enjoy either Alice or Winter’s Tale so wasn’t planning to see this but found myself with an unexpected spare evening and decided to give it a go.  I really wish that Wheeldon would go back to good music and abstract ballet for grown-ups.  I could watch Polyphonia ten times in a row and not be bored.  But today I had to force myself to stay until the end in case it got interesting (spoiler - it didn’t).

Pretty sets and costumes, beige music, bland choreography (what there was of it), way too much vague emoting but absolutely no imagination.  So literal and earthbound.  Which is quite a feat when your material is a magic realist novel.  To be relying so heavily on the make up and lighting teams for impact (they did sterling work by the way) is not where a top ballet company should find itself…..

23 minutes ago, Wanja said:

This is the best summary of this "problem" I have ever read. 

Thank you, Sim

Except that saying "my friend" and "two people I met at the ballet" were fine with it, therefore it's ok, is not really a summary is it? 

I don't disagree that some critics are at risk of throwing-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater.  There obviously needs to be a nuanced discussion that moves over time (i.e. I don't think many people, other than the Bolshoi, still think blackface is acceptable, whereas depictions of oriental slavemasters with whips (looking at you ENB Nutcracker!) may divide opinion more evenly.  But saying there is no need for a discussion at all and it's all just PC silliness ignores the genuine offence that stereotypes cause to many many people.  Ballet in the West is already in enough trouble as an art form struggling for audiences who perceive it as archaic.  Doubling down on the right to retain tropes that would have been considered dated by many people in the 1960s will not help.   

24 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

 

Sohphie_B do you have any links please to references about Petipa being influenced by the skewed colonialist lens?

I think recent discussions around Petipa and other 19th and early 20th century 'creatives' seeing the East through a colonial and imagined "Orientalist" lens derive largely from Edward Said's very influential book, Orientalism .  For example, a quick  google throws up This Article which discusses the European vs 'Oriental' ideals depicted in ballet and draws heavily upon Said.  I don't have access to JStor from this computer but, if anyone does, I'm sure that searching Said/Orientalism/Ballet would produce more journal articles along the same lines.  Petipa was living in a world where such tropes were a constant reference point across all of the art forms.

My personal view is that there are very respectable arguments that Said overstated/oversimplified his case and/or that some of his 'followers', (particularly those overly-indebted to post-modern theory) have taken his arguments to illogical conclusions, but for those looking for the basis of such arguments, his book is the starting place.

Wow this is really taking me back - I briefly moonlighted as an usher in the early 90s and remember Iestyn and other characters mentioned very well.  I think that 'the lady in black' was not the only self-upgrader - as I recall the house often seemed emptier in those days than it does now and the moment the lights went down, there was a genteel scurrying from the amphi to claim any empty seats.  Which our unspoken duty as ushers was to ignore...

Also Cafe Des - where the bar staff knew to have the pints poured and ready for the brass section bang on time for the interval in Nutcracker....

The Petipa Society has some very interesting video extracts on their site of the La Scala performance of the Ratmansky version on their site:

https://petipasociety.com/swan-lake-ratmansky-reconstruction/

And I agree Floss.  I wish there were more 'palatable' speakers and writers than Macaulay producing longer/more reflective materials on ballet.  He is so fond of stating his own broad opinion as if it represents an undeniable truth that I find him unreadable/watchable these days.  A controversialist for the sake of it and not nearly as well-informed as he would like one to think. If anyone has suggestions for other essayists/lecturers I would be grateful - I always find Doug Fullington very interesting but haven't really come across many other writers on ballet (as opposed to modern dance)

Thanks so much Lizbie1 - that works! in same browser where it still isn't showing if I go into the site 'cold'.  Really appreciate your help