GTL

I once heard a distinguished theatre critic of a leading upmarket national newspaper say (in a private conversation) that a newspaper critic had to be primarily a journalist and readable, which I took as writing specifically for the entertainment of his publication's target readership rather than experts or the most devoted enthusiasts. I would expect at a local level the view to be that of an informed observer rather than an expert in the field, but in my experience local newspapers normally strike an encouraging note for any form of local enterprise, if only for the sake of their circulation figures and advertising revenue. I'm looking forward to a reply from Anjuli_Bai on this.

I agree, though "Flames of Paris" is new to London, I think (or else I've missed it). Presumably it will have different leads from the Osipova/Vasiliev DVD .

I still remember the 2006 screening: I thought the participants very brave to allow its broadcast, especially after the PR disaster of the nineties BBC documentary “The House”. Ionha Loots's comments made a big impression on me and I was delighted that her promotion soon followed (Alison is right about its timing). I suspect Carlos Acosta's untypically downbeat manner and form was due to jet-lag but Marianela Nuñez came across, unsurprisingly, as thoroughly sensible. I don't think I'm alone in heaving a huge sigh of relief now whenever I see them manage that one-handed lift in “La Fille mal gardée”.

In very small print!

Today's BBC London local lunchtime news had a short report on training opportunities being offered to out-of-work professional ballet dancers by the Espinosa Centre at Berkhamsted. I didn't catch much of the detail but the clip showed a recently-graduated unemployed dancer from Watford being coached by Yat Sen Chang, formerly of English National Ballet. Most of the lunchtime reports are repeated in the evening bulletin so if you're interested, set your PVR to record BBC1 from 6.30 to 7 pm.

Does the Royal Ballet School do something similar? I remember reading years ago on the old BalletCo forum that some of the soloists were training as teachers: I can recall only two of the names, Jose Martin and Yohei Sasaki, both still dancing at that time.

Sorry, Adolphe Adam, no "s", so it's Adam's. I do try to do my Saxon genitives proper.

How much does it change as you age? In my first extensive experience of classical music, in my teens, it was Beethoven – any of it I came across. In my late teens and early twenties, Prokofiev's “Romeo & Juliet” score, despite not having seen the ballet on stage or screen at that point; amongst my friends, that was often the only classical piece in their collections. Since then, I never listen to it and usually avoid it on stage. Too many memories! Then Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin. Now, well into middle age, it's more a case of trying anything once, but Beethoven and Haydn predominate on my ipod. My favourites are more fixed, worryingly Victorian and definitely populist: Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, Gounod's “Faust”, Donizetti's “Lucia di Lammermoor”, Bizet's “Symphony in C” to cheer me up and Verdi or Fauré when my friends die. Then there's Milhaud, Poulenc's “Les Biches”, Gloria Estefan's “Mi Tierra” to celebrate summer, the Rolling Stones to purge any trace of a teenage admiration of Lennon and McCartney. Finally, I'll confess to some twenty or thirty years of devotion to Adams' music for “Giselle”, which for me lifts even mediocre performances into something more.

Seconded. It has been a great privilege to watch them coaching in the public classes and rehearsals that ENB have so generously and imaginatively offered to all-comers at various London venues in recent years.

Alison, I got this from Metro a few weeks ago, tore the ad out to keep then mislaid it until a few days ago - and now I've mislaid it again.

Thanks Dave. I'm completely oblivious to the charts so I'd never have identified it, but I liked it and now I can get hold of it.

If any of the above don't suit, there is a Metro offer valid until 27 July: £25 off best seats. e.g. stalls £55 for £30. you book on the usual Coli website www.eno.org and the discount is applied on the pay screen using code METROPS .

Dave's wonderful photos on Flickr give the essence of Dame Monica's appearance on stage and there is now a video on the ROH news page of her speech. To fill in some of the blanks for those who couldn't attend, here are my recollections - a bit hazy because I tend to wallow in the emotions of events like this. There was a note on the cast sheet asking the audience to remain seated after “Actaeon” and a film screen duly descended onto the bare stage. David Attenborough appeared, said that Dame Monica had named his TV wildlife programmes as one of her “Desert Island Discs” choices, then to the sound of South African jazz (experts, please correct or expand), he told of her migration to London and subsequent career, incorporating photos, tributes from colleagues and (my favourite) a grainy black-and-white clip of her dancing a Shades variation from “La Bayadère”, the one with the cabrioles (again, experts please correct if necessary). Dame Monica remained in her seat for most of this, visibly amused and moved by it, leaving during the last minute to join the company and staff now assembled on stage. The rest you can see in Dave's photos and the ROH clips. It ended for most of us just after 11 pm and we left the ROH to the uplifting sound of South African jazz playing over the loudspeakers.

I’m very tempted by the 25 October talk but doubt I’ll be free to attend. I’ll leave Darcey to her many fans – but if it had been Belinda Hatley….

Thank you very much, Irmgard. I haven't got the V&A magazine with me right now but I gather she's going to talk about items in the performance collection with particular reference to photographs of costumes and shoes she wore as a dancer.

Those of you who are V&A Members, i.e. “Friends” of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, who haven’t yet read the latest issue of the V&A Magazine (no 28, summer 2012), may like to know that there are talks by Darcey Bussell on the evening of Friday 21 September and by Mandy Komlosy on the afternoon of Thursday 25 October. They are bookable in the usual way via the V&A Membership office. Mandy Komlosy is described as a former professional dancer with the Royal Ballet but her name doesn’t ring any bells for me – can any of you enlighten me please?

I'm looking at June/July performances on the ROH booking site and find it much easier to get the seating views up using Safari rather than Opera (my favourite browser) or Firefox.

Sometimes I use binoculars to see details of the costumes and scenery: so far no one has complained, thank goodness. I have on several occasions seen a very senior staff member of the Royal Ballet use them from her seat in row B of the Grand Tier. Admittedly, most of us don't have the same the same need to see the dancers in so much detail but I guess that in terms of etiquette it's perfectly acceptable to do so within reason.

I missed the opening bit, you're right, it's not the ROH.

You have to click the "Dance" tab at the top of "The Space" homepage, then play "The Reunion". It was filmed sometime between 1993 and 2003 and the venue appeared to me to be the pre-1999 ROH (unless my memory is playing tricks on me,,,). "Artist film-maker, Jayne Parker’s collaboration with choreographer Ian Spink of Second Stride fame is an elegiac and deceptively simple film, shot in an empty theatre. Featuring Lynn Seymour, one of the greatest and most expressive ballerinas of the 60s and 70s, the film reunites her with Donald Macleary her ballet partner of 30 years earlier. Their careers went in separate directions and the narrative echoes the formative moment of their meeting and the subsequent long absence."

Lynn Seymour fans, get there fast! There are some great views of the auditorium of the old ROH as well, I'd forgotten how much red paintwork there was. Thank you John.

The Chief Exec ad appeared in the Sunday Times Appointments section of 29 April, accompanied by a photo of Ksenia Ovsyanick as the Firebird: Chief Executive English National Ballet London Competitive Package English National Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies committed to taking classical ballet of the highest quality to the widest geographical audience. The Company performs to an average of 200,000 people annually in the UK and overseas, and reaches hundreds of thousands more through its learning and outreach activities, broadcast, news, digital media and partnerships. With the recent appointment of Tamara Rojo as ENB's next Artistic Director, the Board is now seeking a Chief Executive to work alongside her to lead the Company through an exciting period of development. The Chief Executive will be responsible for ensuring the Company's financial security and long-term sustainability, shaping its strategic direction and providing strong leadership in an ever changing and challenging environment. The successful candidate will have an outstanding track record of achievement in leadership and management, ideally in the arts or cultural sector, with excellent communication and negotiation skills and strong commercial and financial acumen. For an information pack, please contact Heather Nevill, Director, AEM International Ltd, Arts Entertainment and Media Executive Search, on info@aeminternational.co.uk or 01728 660026. Closing date for applications: Friday, 1st June 2012