Bruce

This is really very good - wonderful indeed!

Good - I think these are generic issues btw this was a private view - not moderation!

I'm not sure why you would limit this thread to just British students. It always seems to me we make a big deal of going to other places and yet hardly seem to notice that many students in advanced training here have done just that - are living far away from home in another country. I don't think its so unusual but much could be learned about the generic difficulties and benefits in being a student a long way from home. So I'd suggest throwing this open to all and changing the title form "British ballet students training abroad" to "Ballet students training abroad" perhaps.

Great to see the new forum floated off and I hope it's a wonderful success under its new community management. I'd like to thank all on the committee - Lee McLernon, Sim Dixon, Ian Macmillan, John Mallinson, Anna Merrick and Dave Morgan - for (a) no matter how busy, agreeing to be on the committee and shepherd things forward and ( for making it all come together and getting the all important long term governance in place. Nobody makes money out of this - it's all done on goodwill and because it's the right thing to do. I hope *all* users will help fund the site when details become available and also get involved in propelling BalletcoForum along - its not just a place for reading but also a place for writing, be it deep, fun or just the sheer excitement of seeing something new and wonderful. Thanks again all - this is your forum now. PS: And thanks for the thanks - you sweet things!

Some pictures, from DanceTabs: Sisters (Sarah Lamb as Alice, with Leanne Cope and Samantha Raine) Drink Me - and Alice does (Sarah Lamb) Flamingo used as a croquet mallet (Romany Pajdak) © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of: DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Dave Morgan's Royal Ballet’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Courtesy of DanceTabs /Flickr

If you go this way then ideally what should be pinned is a link to one post where the Rules are shown in About Us (or whatever). You only have to change in one place then.

Yes - seems eminently sensible.

There was one other thing I meant to mention. I was tending to think of those who see Dance not looking in Doing Dance but the converse is also generally true I think (note the generally - not always I know). I remember somebody once started a thread in Doing Dance about what magazines were best to read to see what is going on in ballet and dance. And in responding not one person mentioned the magazine aspects of Balletco. It was very salutary I can tell you and I was not a little upset. But its the closed way it is. Doing Dance, as it is now, fulfills an urgent networking need and long may it, but I don't think of it as connected into the rest of the forum/site and I'm not sure its wise to try and force any connections. One thing I do miss about Doing Dance is that it used to be full of questions from dancers and students about technique and much of that has now gone. If sub-forums were used I think Doing Dance could have 2: Doing Dance - about parents and schools Doing Dance - about technique and equipment

Ballet Black dance Christopher Hampson's 'Storyville': Lulu White (Sarah Kundi) © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Ballet Black dance Christopher Hampson's 'Storyville': Cira Robinson © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Dave Morgan's Ballet Black 'Storyville' photo set - 24 images Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Musing is good - leads to discussion! Not sure if you will ever 'unite' Doing Dance and other parts of the site - Doing Dance has become very much dominated around the mechanics and day to day grunt-work of how to get training and where etc and there are only so many times I can take discussions about when the letter from school x will likely emerge etc. NOT saying its not important of course but I don't see synergy. Kids in training also have their highs and lows, physically and emotionally and many live away from home etc and i think that's best done without a spotlight (my 2p anyway). The time to take a view on students I think is when they are coming up for graduation and about to enter a company (hopefully anyway). What dancers think and do we, as part of Balletco, covered much over the years with blogs by them. Now they tend to self host and user Twitter and Facebook etc. Social Media has mixed it all up. Personally I don't think you have to go to Stuttgart to show successful dancers - most companies are full of them and its for fans and others to write about dancers they think dance well wherever they may be and regardless of schooling and nationality. As I say the Forum Acceptable Use policy will change shortly and new moderators will move the community on. I'll try and shut up at that point!

The full release is here with pix: http://www.dancetabs...september-2012/ PS: and the news you don't want to know... Booking opens: 10AM 15 March 2012

Self promotion was frowned on (indeed against house rules) because we didn't want to become an advertising hoarding and see lots of people register in order to promote something they are connected with. We wanted a simple rule to stop this. I don't see much self promotion in doing dance because largely it is unknown posters posting about unknown offspring. It only really becomes meaningful promotion if real names emerge and by and large they have not. That's the past and current position but all will shortly change - when the new moderators are in place a new Forum Acceptable Use Policy will come into effect.

But I don't think there has been a general consensus to split either and Alison, who you quote in part, was not convinced either. The devil is in the detail on this - can I ask for your explicit suggestion on what forums should replace News and What's Happening - or join them even? ie the actual titles of the forum so people can see how it might play out?

I understand why you might keep the essential watching dance part of the board to the two forums and I understand why the names might be amended to be more helpful to people. What I don't understand is why there seems to be a rebalancing to put catch all points in News rather than What's Happening. My 2p but I've always thought of News as just that - items of news and not a place that generaly sparks lot of discussion - for the most part that happens in one place. Not saying a rebalancing is wrong just interested in the why?

Well thank goodness it was better! But I know I'm in something of a minority re Watson's Romeo.

LAST CALL Are you happy with the forum names and how things are arranged? Do you constantly get annoyed that there is no AhsN4!hhsD" Forum? Or that News is below What's Happening? There is a new thread up in the Discuss this Forum area proposing some ideas and looking for feedback... get to it folks: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/354-structure-of-balletcoforum/

We saw the Melissa Hamilton Juliet debut yesterday afternoon. It's a great shame that the performance wasn't with Pennefather as planned because I think the partnership with Edward Watson is no match made in heaven and he has his own challenges as Romeo. Watson has many fans, me included in a lot of roles, but he seems a most ragged dancer as Romeo and the emotional tug he can generate does not compensate. I just looked up what I said about a performance with Lauren Cuthbertson 6 years ago: "Watson I thought had the best of the acting and was fresh, innocent and smitten, but he clearly struggled with some of the lifts (it brought back memories of Cooper and Bussell in a wretched Swan Lake full of quivering legs and arms every time she was lifted) and that just can't be." And so it seemed at yesterdays matinee also - or in the first 2 acts, I'm afraid we left at that point. The person next to us bailed out after the first act - when it all looked very under-rehearsed. Against this backdrop Melissa Hamilton did most well and fully justified being given the role. I look forward to seeing her dance it again in more relaxed circumstances - not with Watson I think. Sorry folks!

This is mainly but not exclusivly a Royal Ballet thing but its a real problem: RB release details in Booking Periods - clusters of different shows. These normally go in News and as cast changes happen they go as comments on the News item. When the show is running there are more cast changes and sometimes they get mentioned on the original News thread - logical and keeps it all together etc (and what I have always preferred, so you know what is where) - and sometimes in What's Happening - where people are looking at that time. You are suggesting that the casting for a specific run is teased out from other casting and used to start a thread in What's Happening - presumabably when the first performance of the run happens. This seems to be work for somebody. But whatever way you go currently people find (RB) casting in both News and What's Happening and it is a confusing pain. I certainly think its nice to have casting in the thread with the subsequent discussion, just not sure how it happens and visitors know what is to be found where.

People should read the small print re using third party sites to host images that are displayed elsewhere. I think, but people should check, that Photobucket allows images to be posted elsewhere without needing to name them or have a public link back to them. I don't believe that Flickr allows the same at all. You can do it - but do as they ask if you go this way.

Are you happy with the forum names and how things are arranged? Do you constantly get annoyed that there is no AhsN4!hhsD" Forum? Or that News is below What's Happening? There is a new thread up in the Discuss this Forum area proposing some ideas and looking for feedback... get to it folks: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/354-structure-of-balletcoforum/Structure of BalletcoForum - Change?

I think sub-forums seem to go against the combining of forums! I look (but don't use, so an important distinction) at other dance forums which heavily split on geography or whatever and I think my goodness do I really have to look in all these places to see whats going on? I know if you are a regular AND switched on tech wise, you can arrange things so that you are only shown the latest posts. But most don't use the facilities available and lots of forums just look complicated.

I just Tweeted this... @ENBallet's Wayne Eagling iv by Valerie Lawson. Eagling gives thoughts on Craig Hassall & visa versa: Don't get on! http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/dance-company-thrown-by-loss-of-leader/story-e6frg8n6-1226277568702 An interesting read, though at the end of the day the company is still left without an MD and an AD - not good.

Some companies posted because Balletco hosted an official forum for/with them. It made sense until Facebook and Twitter came along and then all company efforts generally were invested into those 'open' platforms. Rather then see little used forums we decided to handle those companies as any other. The generic position has been that companies and individuals cannot put up promotional postings because of the Forum Acceptable Use policy. The policy is being reworked by the Committee and is likely to be freer with regard to promotion. But that is for the committee to tell folks about. As a community you don't have to rely on others to come along and promote news - there is room for more Janet's and Alison's to put news up for the benefit of all. Although I am dropping away I think I'd say that if you enjoy reading others thoughts and news then you might ask what you might do in return for the benefit of the wider community. Or perhaps 2 or 3 of you might loosely band together to cover one company in depth.

I miss the mix too. And although there is good support here (and now) it has been noticeable over the last couple of years that there was less discussion (other then Doing Dance and posts in Ticket Trade) and I think most of the ones 'lost' are the shorter contributions. You can't get away from the fact that Facebook and Twitter are there and many who might have posted here now contribute to the dance world via social media. See the ballet, Tweet that you heart a dancer or two and the job's done. One of the things confronting both the community and the committee is how the forum builds in the future rather than contracts. At the moment the emphasis is on how the plates will be kept spinning in a post 'Bruce takes care of it' world. I'd hope that the current committee or the one that takes over in March (assuming it all goes ahead) will put some serious thought into this and engage more with the community on generating bright ideas. Although the old forum is still offline it will be back as a record and one of the things that a forum does far better then social media is remember and record what's happening. Try searching on twitter for the audience view of Wheeldon's Alice and you won't find anything meaningful - all those thoughts and excitement effectively lost. Forums I think are great, but its not shared so much as it was. Thinking caps need to go on I think.

The Committee looking int the future has just put up a progress report and made suggestions and requests for help. All users should read and respond as they can please: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/3-balletco-forum-available-again-plus-opportunity-to-discuss-future/page__view__findpost__p__2437 More info and responses on that thread please, not this one. Thank you. (this is a repeat of info already posted in Doing Dance but I wanted to make it more prominent for a while. Thanks)