balletfanatic

I think Francesca Hayward would be fantastic as Tatiana. She's danced Olga but not Tatiana if I remember rightly. Definitely Muntagirov as Onegin.

I wonder who will be cast as Alice. I think Lauren Cuthbertson, Francesca Hayward and Sarah Lamb have all danced the part but I might be missing others.

I know not a Principal or soloist but I noticed Nadia Mullova-Barley looked taller than average at last week's insight

I'm really jealous of anyone going. I'm sure it will be fantastic. Please report back!

That's really interesting and makes absolute sense..thank you

I was also at the performance last night and loved every minute. I think I forgot to breath in act 3, it was so tense, daring, dramatic, heart rending. It was so hard to believe it was their debut performances. I also wondered about the aerial twists. How do they train to do these? It reminded me of some of the lifts/throws you see in ice skating pairs but probably not a normal lift for ballet - or not something I remember seeing in other ballets anyway. It must take absolute trust to pull them off. I was also astonished at the lack of bouquets - I've never seen that before at the ROH. There may be flaws in the ballet but overall it's a work of genius - there is surely no living choreographer with the talent of MacMillan.

I haven't ever seen MG Hinkis but I think Gasparini is terrific and could definitely be a principal one day. Out of interest what kind of qualities do you think she's lacking?

I totally agree - I've seen photos of friends children in skimpy swim wear on social media this Summer which is just way too dangerous in my view. I'm not a fan of social media anyway though - I find holiday photos on FB a bit distasteful in general for example - why not just show your friends and family when you return if they're interested - why put photos on while you're away. So many people can't afford a day trip this year let alone an expensive holiday abroad and it's just showing off unnecessarily and/or self indulgent in my view

I can totally understand that. It's so nerve wracking taking an exam and just so much harder when the examiner has a stern and unfriendly demeanor. Really unnecessary in my view

I do think examiners should at least smile for all candidates though, put them at ease. It just felt at the time she had no awareness of how much courage it takes for adults to do an exam

It was a long time ago now so I'm over it but it took me a long time to put it behind me!

I almost wonder if some examiners don't like adult dancers? I took grade 8 as an adult. The examiner was very stern and unsmiling throughout and it made me feel very nervous. I was very disappointed with my result and the lack of feedback. Apparently she was totally different with the children, smiling and encouraging

Does anyone know if any of the students mentioned in the article did make it as professional dancers?

Hope Isabella gets to dance juliet soon. She'll be lovely

I've noticed a few mistakes on the bios eg a current soloist described as first artist. I hope they correct any errors