Anna C

42 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said:

Out of interest, has the weighting of weekly Judges' scores against the Public Vote ever been explained? 

Good question, Ian.  They usually just say “The scores on the leaderboard are combined with votes” but I have no idea how that works in reality!

Nothing wrong with being grumpy! 😂 I make grumpy remarks at the tv (or on Twitter, if I feel strongly enough) every Saturday night - usually about overmarking! 

I suspect Dan has a hardcore group of fans who vote for him every week, which is the risk shows like Strictly take when decisions are made by public vote.  The Rhumba might be the finish of him, and he’s probably the weakest in terms of performance/characterisation now, although being part of the non-stage-school cohort (and being an “ordinary bloke”, for that’s exactly what he is!) that’s not surprising.  He has really improved since the start of the series, though, in some ways more than Rhys has, and I enjoyed his dance on Saturday much more than some of the others, so I think this week he did deserve to go through.

Rhys is tricky, isn’t he - a wonderful performer, enjoyable to watch from the waist up, but whether Nancy’s not teaching him enough basic technique, or whether he’s reached the limit of his technical capabilities, he’s sort of stopped making progress for me.  I felt the same about Sara.  I know Rhys is tall and long legged, but so is Dan, and Dan can at least control his legs and feet.  I just really want Nancy to calm the choreo down and concentrate on beautiful basic technique, otherwise I fear Rhys will be in the bottom two again. 🙁 

I don’t think we need to worry too much about Dan winning though, or getting through at the expense of AJ, John or Rose - well, I hope not, anyway! 😱

Assuming one *can* walk, without pain/mobility aids. 🙁 Let’s just hope the strike on 18th gets called off, otherwise I’ll have to reconsider the Nutcracker matinée. 

23 hours ago, LinMM said:

Anyway we pretty much know who is going to win it this year and perhaps deservedly so as Rose is also a good dancer but the bravest two are definitely John and Johannes so hope it’s between those two couples in the final show. 

Yes, imho it should be Rose, John and AJ in the final, with Rose winning - I think definitely deservedly so, rather than “perhaps”?  I’d love to see joint winners this year but doubt that would happen.

Any other year I would want John and Johannes to win but Rose is such a beautiful dancer and a joy to watch (lovely hands, in particular) even if you don’t take her hearing impairment into account.  I’m astounded at her musicality, and how she keeps in time when dancing solo is beyond me.  Amazing.  I never rated Giovanni before but working with Rose and adapting his teaching style seems to have brought out the best in him.  Really nice to see.

Bruno does my head in. 😩 Anton’s still inclined to make everything about him but he’s much more bearable than Bruno.  

My dream-team Judging Panel would be Darcey, Craig, Anton and either Motsi (if she stops wildly overmarking people) or one of the ex-Pro dancers like Karen Hardy. 

2 hours ago, AnneMarriott said:

Absolutely agree on both counts.  The judging this year seems to be all over the place and I really don't know what the Couple's Choice is supposed to be - when it was first introduced didn't the couples choose a dance style (quickstep, for example) and then do a freestyle adaptation, incorporating otherwise illegal moves, like a show dance?  Or does my memory fail me?  

I *think* (and I’ve only had one coffee) that’s the Show Dance in the final, Anne.  Couple’s Choice was introduced in 2018 and was a choice of “Contemporary”, Theatre dance or Street/Commercial.  I say “Contemporary” because unlike the Cunningham/Graham style of Contemporary my daughter trained in, on Strictly it seems to be a cross between Lyrical dance and GCSE Contemporary dance.  Much like ballet, contemporary isn’t something you can excel at or even dance convincingly with only a week’s training, and it invariably looks really quite naff on Strictly.

Poor Tom was a victim of this on Saturday and wasn’t aided by the choreography (“chuck every Contemporary move in, regardless”), am-dram costumes and trying too hard to show emotion.  Given how much Rhys upped his game in the dance-off, I’m not surprised he was saved by 3 out of 4 judges.   I have to say I found Dan more enjoyable to watch. 🤭

I’ve said before that I’d do away with Couple’s Choice, but then we would have been denied Oti and Bill Bailey’s fabulous dance to “Rapper’s delight” and even Rose and Giovanni’s joyous and moving dance last week.  What I do think they need to do is have a “Couple’s Choice” week in which everybody gets the thing done and they are all marked against each other. 

I actually liked Tilly and Nikita’s dance this week; great choreography and good acting by Tilly.  I’d have given it a 9, but I don’t agree with Shirley that it was impossible to tell who the pro was.  

What did we think of Cynthia Erivo as a guest judge?  Lovely to see her using BSL when talking to Rose.  I thought she judged well; above all I wish the producers had asked her to nip onstage and sing “Defying gravity” properly on the results show.  😩 That’s my biggest gripe with Musicals week, that the Strictly singers invariably murder the songs which distracts from the dancing.  

Hi MaguiRP, welcome from me too.  No, being part of TPA is definitely not a requirement for getting into CBA, don’t worry!  TPA is great if you are not already getting good quality local training.  It sounds like your dd is already in a good local school, so CBA (and/or RBS/Central Pre-Seniors) will add to that.  My dd was at CBA and Central Associates but wasn’t at TPA.

You are correct, Tring Park Associates is somewhat confusingly named because CBA is the scheme that is equivalent to RBS Associates, Central Preps and Pre-Seniors etc.

When do you need to make the decision about TPA?

1 hour ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

With RBS it’s not just getting in, it’s staying in. Not many make it to the end for a variety of reasons.

Yes, this is a really good point.  The likelihood of making it through years 7-11 (age11-16) at White Lodge, graduating into RBS Upper School (age 16-19), staying for all three years (students are assessed out after 2 years, with others brought in for final year), graduating and getting a contract with a good ballet company - it’s a real rarity, especially for girls.

So much can happen along the way.  Even if the student is happy, injuries can and do happen.  Bodies can change shape.  Being the favourite and moving to a school where every student has been the best can be scary and intimidating.  The constant axe of assessments hanging over one’s head is an added pressure.  Sometimes, students who have been 100% focused on ballet can simply change their mind and want to do something else in their teenage years.  This is doable if the family hasn’t made huge sacrifices to fund schooling, like selling their house or moving halfway across the world, because that sacrifice, even if unspoken, can put huge pressure on the child to succeed in ballet and stay the course.  I don’t know if you’ve heard of Miko Fogarty but her story is interesting. 

I always say to people to take it all one term (semester) at a time, and try to enjoy the journey, rather than focus on the end goal.  If it’s meant to be, it won’t pass you by.  Absolutely audition for White Lodge, make the most of having a lovely day, enjoy London (and especially seeing Giselle; it sounds like you’re seeing the wonderful Sarah Lamb, trained in Boston), have a look at Young Dancer’s Academy, Elmhurst and Tring Park websites.  But Brexit has changed a lot of things in the UK so don’t bank on your EU Passports helping. 😔 It might also be well worth having a closer look at NYCB’s training programme too, as well as Boston Ballet? 

Wishing your Son and Husband full recoveries - you certainly won’t have an excess of sun over here! 

On 18/11/2021 at 08:31, Anna C said:

How old is your daughter?  And are you looking for full-time school, or weekend/evening classes?

Oh my bad, I missed the “my daughter is eleven”!  Sorry.

But yes, we still need to know if you’re looking for full time or part-time training.

How old is your daughter?  And are you looking for full-time school, or weekend/evening classes?

40 minutes ago, Sim said:

What a treat you have in store, Anna!  

I can imagine! Very exciting. ☺️

Kaneko and Bonelli would have been my 2nd choice after Naghdi and Ball, Lin, so that should be super.  I’m looking forward to “Month” too; I saw Lauren Cuthbertson’s Natalia Petrovna last time round, and she was sublime. 

7 hours ago, LinMM said:

Have booked one performance (Magri/Corrales matinee) but as all standing places were gone for all the Kaneko and Hayward performances I’m now stuck as can only afford now to go once more! So who to choose 🤔 
Probably by time have made up my mind I won’t be seeing either! 

What did you decide, Lin? I got tickets for Naghdi and Ball, although Stalls Circle side-ish rather than Donald Gordon, which would have been my first choice for Swan Lake.  I haven’t seen these two in Swan Lake though, so very happy.

28 minutes ago, emmarose said:

 

Oh thanks for this, it's something to think about as it's one I've double upped on the cast, so I may end up not using them. I have back and neck pain, so I'll have to think about it.

Sorry you missed a key moment and you're still left with the mystery of it! 

Don’t be; I only went for Marguerite & Armand and Elite Syncopations! 😂 
 

Don’t forget I was two seats further round to the side, so you may not get neckache in 90 - I’m sure I’ve sat in A87 without neckache. ☺️

5 minutes ago, emmarose said:

Does anyone have a seat view or experience sitting in SC A-90?

Seat view no, experience, yes albeit in A92 - I missed what was going on in the right hand corner of the stage, which was unfortunate in Obsidian Tear (where something major happened on that part of the stage and to this day, I don’t know what it was). Marguerite and Armand was fine from there, as was Elite Syncopations.  

I did get neckache from permanently turning my head to the right, but I have neck problems anyway so hopefully you don’t! 

10 minutes ago, alison said:

Of course, the Snowflakes make "lovely patterns" too, but perhaps not long enough to justify the choice of seat   Personally, I don't think the amphi's too bad for Nutcracker, but then I guess it depends on your expectations and your budget.

 

I've added a "seating" tag to this thread: click on it and see if it brings up a recent thread in which someone posted the view from row N, to give you some idea of what the view will be like.  There was also some information in that thread about some cardboard opera glasses the ROH sells, I think.

Yes, good point about the Snowflakes! 🤭 Sorry.  I’ve just thought of another option; if Dani’s budget is £10-£20 per ticket and the back of the Amphi is too far back, then they are streaming Nutcracker to cinemas on 9th (?) December, where you will get close-ups and a much better view, albeit from your local cinema rather than the ROH itself.  (Then you could apply for a Welcome Performance of Swan Lake 😉).

Hi Dani, welcome to the forum.  No, they won’t put the ballet on screens.  You would be very high up and probably need binoculars, especially to see faces.  Personally, I wouldn’t want to be that high up for Nutcracker; it would be a better viewpoint for Swan Lake/Giselle/any ballet where the Corps makes lovely patterns onstage.  That’s just my opinion though; there are people who love the Amphi.

Are there no Stalls Circle Standing places available?  If not, would you be eligible for a Welcome Performance at the ROH, which offers hugely discounted seats?

A ballet teacher once told my daughter that once correct technique is ingrained, is muscle memory, so that you don’t have to keep thinking “pull up/turn out/relax the shoulders/support the elbows, point, long neck” etc ad infinitum, then your mind will be free to express yourself and act.  When you say that you end up just smiling and your technique goes out the window, I think you may be trying to think of too many things at once.  

For barre work and syllabus exercises, there’s really no need to have any sort of facial expression, even in exams.  You are concentrating on technique, steps, and the music, and that’s what you are marked on.  Only in the variations might you need an appropriate facial expression such as a small smile, but this can be thought about once the steps and technique are absolutely solid, and you’re moving onto thinking about whole-body expressiveness and musicality, i.e. “dancing” the exercise with your whole body, right down to the tips of your fingers.

Remember, when you watch videos of professional ballet dancers performing, this is their career; they’ve usually been dancing from a very young age, had acting and mime classes at school, and their technique is absolutely solid, giving them time to think about telling the story. 

Why do you feel you *need* to show how much you love ballet?  Is this for auditions for amateur adult dance companies/performances?  Because the whole point of learning ballet as an adult is surely for enjoyment/a hobby/personal satisfaction - if you’re overthinking it to the extent that you’re worried about it, it doesn’t sound terribly enjoyable.  I wonder if you relax a bit, and enjoy learning, your face will relax too and form its own expression?

I assume you’ve checked your spam/junk folders?  If so, I would either leave a voicemail, or send an email, in case someone’s checking them from home.

11 minutes ago, FionaE said:

Separately … I watched a performance in Sevastopol where the audience applauded every lift and jump and turn. The audience got negative comments for it from Moscow/StP ballet regulars!  

Sounds like the BBC Strictly come dancing audience, FionaE! 😩

Given the scarcity/absence of ushers in the Stalls at my last two visits, you might be lucky and be able to slip in unnoticed, Dawnstar.  It’s horrible worrying that you’re going to be late - good luck!

4 hours ago, SissonneDoublee said:

An in-year transfer into a state school can happen almost overnight. In the first instance, it will be to a school where there is space, but this could potentially be an interim school until a space becomes available in your chosen school. When the place is offered, you do then need to take it up quite quickly, or it will then be passed to whoever is next in the waiting list.
Waiting lists run in order if who best meets the criteria, so they are not first come, first served. If you are the most eligible person for a space in a school, you will be offered the next space, regardless of when you joined the waiting list.

Ah, thanks, SD, that’s interesting and good to know.  Fortunately, when dd left full-time training, she was able to rejoin her old Academic school with no application process, because she was going into 6th form.  I had imagined that a mid-year transfer into Year 7 at a new school would be more complicated and take longer.

8 hours ago, Pups_mum said:

It's a tough situation for one so young, but your DS needs to think about where he does want to be, not just where he doesn't want to be, and as a PP mentioned, unfortunately coming hime and slotting back into the old routine may not be possible. So I think deferring the decision til you have some more options on the table would be good if possible. Being told that leaving is a real option and having some sense of control over the situation may alter how your DS feels and bring some clarity to the situation. 

Such good advice, and I said almost exactly this to my dd, who has struggled terribly with coping with returning to uni after being away for 18 months (COVID + “year” abroad).  We had tears most days for the first few weeks and talked about the upsides but also the downsides of coming home and going back next year.  She said afterwards that just knowing it was an option was enough, because having the choice meant having control.  But it was definitely helpful for her to consider the downsides of coming home, because it helped her make the decision to stay; the longer-term downsides outweighing the short term relief of “escaping” back home.

I think if your ds can talk it through with a Counsellor, weighing up the pros and cons of leaving, getting some clarity and knowing what his options are - while you talk to the school and also find out about school places so you have all the info - will help to get things straight in all your minds about the best next step. 

On 01/11/2021 at 22:52, glissade said:

Yes! I love this.

Is there a danger that this will be lost, do you think? (If future generations of dancers - and audiences - are more concerned with leg height than line?)

I think we’re ok in the UK while the “old school” generation of dancers coached by people like Sir Peter Wright are themselves coaching younger dancers - I was struck by the recent RB rehearsals for Giselle, where Monica Mason and Olga Evreinoff were coaching Julia Roscoe, Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball.  There was a lot of emphasis on keeping arabesques low, in the proper Romantic style.  Likewise in a Sleeping Beauty rehearsal, the focus was on keeping the arm very classical and following the arm down while lifting the leg into a penché BUT not all the way into a “6 o’clock” arabesque.  I am sure that this will be passed on when Naghdi’s generation is coaching the next, down the line. 

Just wondering if the school has a qualified Counsellor?  An impartial person for your DS to talk to might help clarify whether this is post-half term blues that will pass in the run up to Christmas, whether it’s this particular school that’s a wrong fit, or whether full-time training is not for him, either now or in future.  I’m assuming that if he came home before the end of term, he wouldn’t be able to walk straight into academic school, so if there’s no bullying or similar issues, logistically it may be better to see the term through if he can.  Leaving and then being stuck at home with no academic classes might turn out to be worse than staying for the next few weeks.

1 hour ago, FionaE said:

And another younger dancer … with Thomas Mock as Hilarion.   His characterisation and story telling was so clear .. even when hiding/spying at back of stage.

Yes, I omitted Tomas Mock from my mini-review, which I should not have done.  I like his Paris very much in R&J and he is an excellent Hilarion.