balletfanatic

3 hours ago, MildConcern said:

If I can see Onegin and Giselle in the new season, I shall be completely satisfied.

 

Dream casting - Muntagirov Onegin debut alongside Bracewell as Lensky. Can’t decide the Tatiana and Olga - maybe Kaneko (debut) and O’Sullivan respectively. Unlikely, but one can dream!

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 

7 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Anyone getting excited about Fumi's debut tonight? 😃

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

8 minutes ago, Roberta said:

 

See Deborah MacMillan describing how obsessed with ice skating Kenneth MacMillan was at the time, hence many moves and slides which he based on skating technique. 

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.

3 hours ago, MAX said:

I think Isabelle Gasparini and M.G Hinkis are good and efficient first soloists but don't have the qualities we can expect from a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet.

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?

2 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

I agree with this - people should at least put emojis on children’s faces, as I think some are starting to do, to protect their identity in some way at least.

 

I do think parents are shockingly naive, especially when you consider the types of people online, and the harm that they can cause, and how content can be duplicated and posted anywhere - I won’t go on, but I’m sure it’s self explanatory. It should be in closed family and friend groups only.

 

 I foresee a lot of court cases in this vein occurring with increasing frequency in the next 10 years!

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

5 hours ago, Pixiewoo said:

Many moons ago, as an adult, I did a tap exam ... the examiner beamed as we walked in, said we were amazing for even doing an exam, tapped away under the table with us, and made it as much fun as it could be. We all enjoyed it, so did the next exam the following year. We didn't get the same examiner... but one who looked bored stiff, totally uninterested and just barked at us. None of us did very well in that exam, and lost any interest in doing another one!

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 

Just now, balletfanatic said:

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 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 

1 hour ago, Colman said:

Some do, some don’t, I think. And they all have examiner faces which they wear differently for different exams and people. Best not to worry about it. 

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

9 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Can you do this? I had no idea! Tbh, the examiner I had seemed to be spending way too much time looking at his screen as he used the then (were talking about 5 years ago) just introduced iPad system. I actually think he has pretty much ‘judged’ us adults alongside 12 year olds taking RAD intermediate (oh was tragicomedy to look at me alongside teeny perfectly proportioned pre-pubescents!!) as we walked into the room & felt scores didn’t not really reflect our dance ability or exercise execution at all. Yes, still gutted after 5 years!!! Need to get a life…. But would’ve really liked to see any justification behind scores (though in truth I suspect ipad marking was just a box marking system with no personal notes input. I think the good old days of deciphering hand written notes on pieces of paper was much more useful & represented better value for money & kind of proved they the examiner was actually watching & engaging & judging dancers!! iPads - ugh 

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 

23 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Agree with all that @Pointytoes  and @taxi4ballet say.  Look at interviews with many young dancers from other countries and yes, hothoused, often home schooled, to fit the ballet classes in, trained like racehorses for competition.  It's not the 'nice gels doing ballet' mindset of the Veronica at The Wells books!  It's not 'one class a day, Morris & folk dancing and a syllabus class Saturdays' students in other countries are getting I'm sure.

 

White Lodge is the tip of the apex too,  look at all the work going on around the country to find young talent with various RBS schemes!  Yes dance is a worthwhile activity in itself, and an informed audience is always a bonus, but for that there are local ballet schools. Giving hope and feeding dreams which will never be realised for most by the current training at White Lodge is eating up so many childhoods, and wider family life must suffer too.

 

Luke Jennings again, this time in 2012. He's well worth a few minutes as with the 2008 piece I linked above.

 

The parents of Sam Lee, from Dagenham, knew next to nothing about ballet when Sam was introduced to dance by the Royal Ballet's Primary Steps scheme, which sends accredited teachers into schools. Now Sam's at White Lodge. "You see dancers like Carlos Acosta and it's inspiring. The training's hard, but I tell myself don't give up. Carry on!" Sam's attitude suggests that he may have the right stuff to make it. But he's going to need every ounce of that determination.

 

Did Sam make it?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/mar/25/will-they-make-royal-ballet

 

Over the years, however, the odds against home-grown British students fulfilling this ambition have steadily lengthened. Statistically, only around a quarter of those first-year White Lodge students are likely even to graduate from the Upper School, let alone be considered for a place in the company. The Royal Ballet and its schools comprise the nation's flagship classical dance establishment, so why are the odds so comprehensively stacked against British children? Jane Hackett, a former director of the English National Ballet School and the Central School of Ballet, now co-director of creative learning for Sadler's Wells Theatre, is concerned by the figures. "It's inexplicable, when you look at the amount of money invested in British ballet, that such a very small percentage of British dancers are graduating and progressing through companies."

 

 

It's become such big buslness now, has ballet, all the extras and what used to be called summer schools which are now given much fancier names and are far more competitive than they were. Not much of it is free.

 

So much handwringing over so many years and yet, here we are.

 

 

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

48 minutes ago, Naomi M said:

And a lovely photo of Isabella Gasparini and Joseph Sissens after their R & J balcony pas de deux I wish I had seen this!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CublQw3IVGl/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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

8 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Eleven promotions from Artist to First Artist seems a lot. If my maths is correct (which it probably isn't!), there will be 23 First Artists compared to 16 Artists next season. Having more First Artists than Artists seems unusual. Is it? Among the eleven promotions, I'm particularly pleased to see Liam Boswell (although now the website biographies are restored, I see his fails to list him having danced Hans-Peter, which considering it's his largest role to date seems rather a significant omission).

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

My sons are very sporty - we have encouraged them to move clubs/teams several times when they weren't sure they wanted to. Sometimes it's good to have a change - it helps their confidence knowing they can make new friends, adapt to new training methods etc and they learn something new from new coaches/teachers.  After a while they can get stuck in a rut at one club and I'm sure from my experience as a child it's the same in the dance world. So from what you're saying I would take the plunge and explore other options.  ps we were made to feel bad for moving clubs by certain other parents - not by the coaches who were very understanding. At the end of the day you have to put your child first - you haven't signed up to one dance school for life!

Has the tour finished now?  I'm just wondering if promotions will be announced shortly

Talking about the glories of past choreographers, are any creative industries as amazing as in the past? Is there a modern Tchaikovsky or Mozart? Does any modern artist rival Da Vinci or Van Gogh etc? Does anyone alive now write classics on a par with Dickens? 

Not to deny there isn't a huge amount of talent nowadays but can they equal these former geniuses?  

1 hour ago, Peanut68 said:

Oo I remember them… striped green & white spearmint chews from 70’s childhood? 

Those were my absolute favourites! 

1 hour ago, dancefanatic said:

 

I remember learning a dance that involved being a little girl at the fair mimic'ing all the acts she saw so one was pretending to be the fat lady so had to blow your cheeks out and dance really large and heavy.  Very non PC these days.  Might have been for RAD Gr4?

 

** Edit to say this was early 1980's

I remember grade 4 pretending to be a fat lady too but I don't remember it being to do with a fair. I think we had to wear character shoes for it 

13 hours ago, Legseleven said:

RAD in the 70s - good stuff. Grade 1 birdcage dance, grade 2 Breton dance, grade 3 tarantella, grade 4 I have a blank, senior grade that lovely variation  I can still remember the music for the Breton dance, tarantella and variation and I can remember all of the variation plus some of those 2 dances. Fabulous. 
And I have the old syllabus book somewhere - was astounded to see that we did turns from 5th from about grade 3? 

Grade 4 was some kind of character dance I think 

On 12/05/2023 at 18:54, LinMM said:

I can still remember the music of the old Grade 1 Swedish dance back in the 50’s!! And the Grade 2 Sailors Hornpipe ( easier to remember for obvious reasons) and the Grade 3 Tarantella music!! 

How about the grade 1 birdcage dance!!

4 hours ago, LinMM said:

Oh my goodness failing an adult dancer on just ONE mark does seem particularly harsh 🙄

I hope some satisfaction at least comes out of the enquiry. 
Otherwise onwards and upwards! 
 

I was also really disappointed that I just got a list of numbers  

As a child I received a short report for ballet exams which made it easier to understand what I'd done well and where I needed to improve. A list of numbers can seem very arbitrary without any justification from the examiner 

26 minutes ago, Workhard_Dreambig said:

Thank you all. 
 

I won’t be re taking it unfortunately. There isn’t the opportunity to keep practising and there isn’t a viable exam session. I know I should have passed it and the variation shouldn’t have been a fail. I’ve re watched it and although it’s not perfect and there’s definitely bits I could do better I hit all the steps and directions. My lines are ok for the most part, I have control and I never fall off pointe, I’m quite secure. To have been deemed ‘limited ability to achieve the component assessed’ doesn’t feel quite right. As I say it wasn’t great but certainly adequate which would have been a 4 and a pass. 
 

I just need to chalk it up to a very disappointing result and keep telling myself that I was good enough to pass and 1 mark more and I’ve have been feeling very different this weekend. 
 

I went to ballet last night and I no longer feel good enough to be in the advanced classes but I know that’s not true as the marks in the rest of the exam say that I am. 
 

I’m going to continue with the IDTA adv 1 syllabus and start RAD adv 2 with the girls I took the exam with. I was never intending to take these exams so it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things but I’m sad that I can never say I achieved it. All because of 1 undeserved score in a bunch of good marks. When some can get 4s all the way through and pass with a mark of 40 and I can fail with a score in the 50s feels very unfair, but that’s the way it is. 
 

@RHowarth I did variation 2, I wouldn’t have liked to have even attempt variation 1 😁

 

@LinMM there isn’t the opportunity to do grade 7/8 or the reps unfortunately. 

I'm so sorry to hear this. I was very disappointed with my grade 8 exam grade , 1 point off merit. I took that exam in my 40s. It took me a long time to get over and I felt my marks were unfair compared to other students I saw on utube etc who got distinction. It sometimes feels that some examiners are harsher on adults and don't take into account how brave you have to be to do an exam as an adult  

Onwards and upwards 

4 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Schools are no longer required legally to hold a collective Act of Worship …and doubt they would just ignore a legal requirement like that. 
Only schools of a designated Faith are required now to provide this. 
Of course via the National Curriculum schools do provide knowledge of other Faiths and cultural practices etc. in the classroom but school assemblies are no longer generally required to provide any religious input. 

It is still a legal requirement. RE lessons are a totally different matter and I don't think anyone objects to that. Anyway I have strong views on this topic but I'm not saying any more as I certainly don't want to offend anyone