Jane S

When did a woman in the corps de ballet last dance the lead in a 3-act ballet at the RB, I wonder? The last one I remember was Dana Fouras as Juliet, but surely there must have been some since then that I've forgotten?

Details: here Four performances - August 30,31 September 1 Quite cheap too, by Mariinsky standards! Public booking opens March 24th

Within the Golden Hour and Beaux would be top of my must-see list, together with anything with Lorena Feijoo in it - any advice from people who've actually seen some of these?

Programme details ** Booking opens 10 a.m. on Thursday 15th March ** Programme A (Sept. 14,18 at 7:30pm; Sept 23 at 4:00pm) Divertimento No.15 Choreography: George Balanchine Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Divertimento No 15 in B-flat major Staged by Elyse Borne Costume Design: after Karinska Lighting Design: Mark Stanley Symphonic Dances Choreography: Edwaard Liang Music: Sergei Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances Op. 45 Costume Design: Mark Zappone Lighting Design: Jack Mehler Within the Golden Hour Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon© Music: Ezio Bosso Designs: Martin Pakledinaz Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls Programme B (Sept. 15, 21 at 7:30pm; Sept. 16 at 4:00pm) Ghosts Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon Music: C.F. Kip Winger Scenic Design: Laura Jellinek Costume Design: Mark Zappone Lighting Design Mary Louise Geiger RAkU Chorography: Yuri Possokhov Music: Shinji Eshima Scenic & Projection Design: Alexander V. Nichols Costume Design: Mark Zappone Lighting Design: Christopher Dennis Trio Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Scenic Design: Alexander V. Nichols Costume Design: Mark Zappone Lighting Design: Christopher Dennis Programme C (Sept. 19, 20, 22 at 7:30pm) Beaux Choreography: Mark Morris Music: Bohuslav Martinů Concerto for Harpsichord and Small Orchestra, Two pieces for harpsichord, lento Scenic and Costume Design: Isaac Mizrahi Lighting Design: Michael Chybowski Classical Symphony Chorography: Yuri Possokhov Music: Sergei Prokofiev Costume Design Sandra Woodall Lighting Design: David Finn Video Concept: Yuri Zhukov Guide to Strange Places Choreography: Ashley Page Music: John Adams Guide to Strange Places Scenic & Costume Design: Jon Morrell Lighting Design: David Finn Number Nine© Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon Music: Michael Torke Ash Costume Design: Holly Hynes Lighting Design: Mary Louise Geiger

Just out of interest, compare this, from another young man who shocked the Royal Ballet by leaving at a time he seemed to have been given everything:: 'I had had enough,' he said. 'I was frustrated all the time, sick of the discipline, burnt out. I think that maybe I never really wanted to dance; it was just my job. I suppose I was a bit of a prima donna... I wanted to see what life was like on the other side of the fence. I wanted to stay up late, drink as much wine as I liked, eat anything I fancied.' This was Jonathan Cope, in an interview for the Independent when he decided he'd like to be a dancer after all, after 2 years completely out of the ballet world. So maybe we'll see Polunin back one day, too.

Well, I find the opposite - it's much easier for me to have things broken down into smaller topics than having to look through everything to find what I want! Maybe more use of tags, as was suggested the other day, is a possible compromise?

John, are you planning to use subforums (as they do on BalletAlert?) Otherwise I think I would find a joint News/What's Happening forum (which so far as I'm concerned is more or less Everything Except Links) a bit too much, and perhaps it would be rather overwhelming for newcomers.

SFB will be at Sadler's Wells from September 14th to 23rd - repertoire to be announced later. It's been far too long!

...and I meant to say, for me neither McRae nor Gomes consoled me for the loss of what Polunin might have made of it. Of all the ridiculous number of debuts he was scheduled for over the rest of the season, Oberon was the one I most looked forward to seeing.

Absolutely agree, Alison - more than once I found myself thinking that if I didn't know what company I was watching I'd think they'd learnt it from a video and badly needed someone to help bring it all together. (Enigma looked much the same.) Fascinating to see Gomes as Oberon - about as different from McRae as it's possible to imagine. I really admired his authority and presence but thought he was a touch too human and nice.

Agree with Bluebird about Monotones - scandalously neglected. And Illuminations, and A Wedding Bouquet It's also far too long since we saw The Concert, and I'm really surprised the RB gave up on In the Night so quickly. Also I'd like to see Four Temeraments back on stage, and Ballet Imperial. I don't remember seeing MacMillan's The Invitation for a long time. Others: In the middle somewhat elevated Perhaps another go at Lilac Garden? (One of the things I'm really looking forward to is seeing O'Hare's ideas on casting, which I hope may give us fresh insights into some familiar works.) I'd like to see some of the earlier MacMillan pieces but only if they could be taken back to their original versions: Le Baiser de la Fee, Symphony... Helpmann's Hamlet, perhaps? (thinking of some potential Hamlets among the principals) Also, although I know the point of this discussion is to get away from Swan Lake, I wouldn't at all mind seeing the company doing Act 2 on its own occasionally; also the Shades scene from Bayadere in the Nureyev version. Almost all of these have the advantage of having lots of good roles so we'd get to see more of the dancers getting chances. (Incidentally I discovered whilst typing this that if someone else adds a post to the thread you're working on, this new system tells you and lets you see it, removing the problem of simultaneous postings - neat!)

But oddly, about half an hour ago I got straight in - no wating room - though every other time I've tried today I've been several hundred down in the queue

I thought it might be interesting to summarise the results of the main categories in the ballet.co (almost) annual surveys over the years. Nice to see dancers moving from 'promising' to 'best' etc. BEST MALE DANCER 1997 Igor Zelensky 1998 Irek Mukhamedov 1999 Carlos Acosta 2000 Johan Kobborg 2001/2 Johan Kobborg 2003/4 Carlos Acosta 2005 Thomas Lund 2006 Carlos Acosta 2007 Carlos Acosta 2008 Edward Watson 2009 Edward Watson 2010 Ivan Vasiliev BEST FEMALE DANCER 1997 Altinai Asylmuratova/Miyako Yoshida 1998 Viviana Durante 1999 Nina Ananiashvili 2000 Darcey Bussell/Sylvie Guillem/Tamara Rojo 2001/2 Alina Cojocaru 2003/4 Zenaida Yanowsky 2005 Zenaida Yanowsky 2006 Marianela Nunez 2007 Elena Glurjidze 2008 Elena Glurjidze 2009 Tamara Rojo 2010 Natalia Osipova BEST PARTNERSHIP 1997 Durante/Mukhamedov 1998 Durante/Mukhamedov 1999 Durante/Mukhamedov 2000 Guillem/Cope 2001/2 Cojocaru/Kobborg 2003/4 Cojocaru/Kobborg 2005 Cojocaru/Kobborg 2006 Cojocaru/Kobborg 2007 Oaks/Edur 2008 Oaks/Edur 2009 Oaks/Edur and Benjamin/Watson 2010 Osipova/Vasiliev MOST PROMISING DANCER (M) 1997 - 1998 Edward Watson 1999 Yohei Sasaki 2000 Ivan Putrov 2001/2 Ivan Putrov 2003/4 Thiago Soares 2005 Steven McRae 2006 Steven McRae 2007 Steven McRae 2008 Sergei Polunin 2009 Sergei Polunin 2010 Sergei Polunin MOST PROMISING DANCER (F) 1997 - 1998 Mara Galeazzi 1999 Zenaida Yanowsky 2000 Alina Cojocaru 2001/2 Marianela Nunez 2003/4 Lauren Cuthbertson 2005 Sarah Lamb 2006 Lauren Cuthbertson 2007 Yohui Choe 2008 Yohui Choe 2009 Melissa Hamilton 2010 Akane Takada BEST PRODUCTION 1997 Giselle (Mariinsky) 1998 Manon (RB) 1999 Don Quixote (Bolshoi) 2000 Jewels (Mariinsky) 2001/2 Onegin (RB) 2003/4 Mayerling (RB) 2005 Manon (RB) 2006 Bright Stream (Bolshoi) 2007 Jewels(RB) 2008 Manon (ENB) 2009 Mayerling (RB) 2010 Don Quixote (Bolshoi) BEST NEW PRODUCTION 1997 Edward II (BRB) 1998 Babel Index 1999 Sandpaper Ballet (SFB) 2000 Sleeping Beauty (Mariinsky) 2001/2 Tryst (RB) 2003/4 Pharoahs's Daughter (Bolshoi) 2005 La Sylphide (RB) 2006 Chroma and DGV (RB) 2007 The Snow Queen (ENB) 2008 Infra (RB) 2009 Limen (RB) 2010 Invitus/Invitam (RB)

...and for Louise Levene too: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/9038573/Sergei-Polunin-the-ballet-cheek-of-it.html

There's a later article in the Guardian now with lots of quotes from Tamara Rojo, very strongly admiring and supportive of Polunin: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jan/25/royal-ballet-shocked-sergei-polunin?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 I have found his performances amongst the most rewarding I've seen at the Royal Ballet in many years and for me at least if he doesn't come back he will be a very great loss.

...with immediate effect. But no details of where he's going....

The Royal Opera in Copenhagen also had to cut both headcount and productions, and as a result the director, Keith Warner, has today resigned after less than one year in the job.

Janet, thank you for posting this - I had been hoping you would write something about your trip. You seem to have enjoyed it rather more than some of the French observers! Interesting that you saw Thomas Lund as one of the suitors - the first time he's done it, I think. It must be hard for the company to look so cheerful when they have the threat of job losses hanging over them - the decisions will be announced next week. Let's hope there will be fewer than some rumours have suggested...