balletfanatic

My late grandmother was Austrian.. she had a book of cautionary tales for children called strewdel Peter. Not sure of the spelling. It was beautifully written but stories were about children who didn't want to eat and starved to death or played with matches and burned to death. It gave me nightmares for years particularly the illustrations

I stopped attending lessons with a teacher who allowed anyone who wanted to dance the whole lesson in pointe shoes right from the barre work..it was clear to me that some shouldn't have been on pointe at all and certainly not without warming up properly

It's censorship if they don't allow a particular ballet to be performed any more ie bayadere

This makes me so mad this kind of censorship. We are adults, if we might be offended by a ballet we can choose not to go. Don't stop other people going. It's like 1984 come true

I love reading this forum. I learn so much and it's fascinating hearing about all the different casts. If I lived nearer London and earnt more I'd see every cast! I should have written Hamilton instead of Melissa, anyway it's good to see her in a lead role.

I went to the matinee yesterday and loved it. A very emotional performance. Melissa danced beautifully and I thought Hirano's portrayal of Rudolph was excellent. He looked absolutely shattered by the 3rd act. I love the final pas de deux, especially that lift where Mary jumps and is swung around almost horizontal to the ground..must take so much strength and trust

I haven't got tickets to see this ballet but have watched lots of extracts online. The thing I've realised I don't enjoy about most modern ballets is there are too many complex lifts one after the other which look clunky or difficult rather than beautiful and effortless like in older ballets. That really put me off getting tickets for this ballet. Sounds like I made the right call

Michelle no one is discouraging adult beginners from starting ballet, quite the reverse. We are just saying it's detrimental to them and other dancers if they go into a class that is way too difficult for them. That is not elitist, that's a matter of common sense and health and safety.

Just to confirm my class is billed as "intermediate" - for those who have done grade 8 or above. That's why I can't understand beginners wanting to join in and it does slow the class down which I think is unfair as there are adult beginner classes nearby (it's just outside London)

I do an adult intermediate class and all the regulars in my class have been doing ballet for years. From time to time we get a complete beginner joining. I always find it really frustrating when that happens as it slows the class down and they find it a real struggle to keep up - how can you do an intermediate type class without knowing the basic positions and steps! Every beginner who has joined has left within a term, possibly put off doing ballet for ever which is such a shame when there are lots of beginner classes around which they may love.

I went back to ballet after quite a big gap. I had lessons from age 3 up till 18 then stopped until I was about 30 when I met a friend who was keen to start lessons again and I went to lessons in London to begin with then was lucky enough to find a great lesson locally. I've been going again for the last 10 years with a gap to have my children. I found it really hard to begin with but then everything came back to me and I've learnt a lot more steps that I never did previously as I was always doing syllabus classes as a child/teenager. I always loved ballet but if it's possible I love my lessons even more now that there is no pressure to learn for specific exams.