SPD444

Your comment regarding Frankie being a possible successor to Alina would fill her with joy. At the Conversation with her and James on Wednesday in the Clore she was asked which of the RB's principals inspired her the most when she joined the company; she said Alina. So well done you for being so perceptive. I am totally made up for her and I am sure she will fill us with much joy for, hopefully, many years to come.

I am so pleased for Frankie in particular and for all the dancers who have received promotions. I wonder if she new on Wednesday when I saw her in conversation, if she did then she really is a great actress as she never showed any signs of it.

On a similar note, I saw for the first time that the percussion/brass are now separate from the rest of the orchestra with what appears to be something of a partition closing them off. Is this in recognition of some legal action being taken by one of the orchestra who has complained of losing some of his/her hearing or another piece of H and S.

Yes, its not what I am used to is more accurate, thanks Alison. The hall was full on Wednesday so I thought there may be a few balletco's their

Very surprised at the lack of reviews here, are people saving their pennies for the Bolshoi perhaps or maybe Japan? I was at the first performance with Alina and, a new name for me, Osiel Gouneo, What a powerful figure he makes pounding around the vast spaces of the arena, very impressive. It did seem to take a little while for Alina and Osiel to become comfortable with each other but by Act 4 they were in sync and she was brilliant. Alina apart the stars for me where the swans. Goodness knows how many hours they have been drilled but it was pretty much perfection, dancing as one, dead straight lines, perfect unison. Particularly the lake scenes, with dry ice covering the floor, beautiful lighting and all these ladies gliding around, fantastic. The end has been changed so I won't spoil it for any newbies, but it brought the house down, huge ovation. A word for the orchestra too. How Gavin managed to conduct facing the orchestra and his back to the dancers, he must have eyes in the back of his head because there didn't appear to be any mirrors, but he did and the orchestra played wonderfully.

Given that Yasmine and Beatrix have been dancing the same roles as Frankie I would guess that it indicates there are plans to promote them. I watched Claire dance Hermione recently and she made a very good fist of it, as did Christina Arestis dancing Paulina. Olivia Cowley has been given more of a chance recently, unless my memory is playing tricks. I saw her at the recent BA visit to watch a rehearsal in the Clore where they were doing the Invitation, she looked really good in that. It must be very hard to meet the dancers hopes and expectations when there is so much talent to choose from.

I do apologise, that was not my intention to offend you or any reader. I will choose my words with more care in the future.

Thank you Duck for your explanation of the geologist elements in the dance. Will we know which element each dancer is being, and how, will they be in blue for one element and green for another and what are they showing us. They move at different speeds and intensity to do what? Are they rushing for the last train home perhaps or the wife is waiting to serve dinner. Sorry, Duck, but why does McGregor think I am in the slightest bit interested in how "elements" rush about. It is rubbish. In Woolf Works he, in his own way, told three stories in dance form. Not so happy with the second but the first and third really brought out the emotion of the stories in a dance way. I am going to the rehearsal, so could you advise me what you are looking forward to seeing then I can look for it as well and tell you whether I saw it or not?

Thanks, Capybara, I must have missed the introduction. Maybe it was only shown on the stream or I was in the bar.

-Before the discussion descended into talk of glue and underwear I was very much reminded about how "art" sometimes gets far to clever for itself. For many years I was a complete movie buff, spending many, many hours watching films of all types. I loved the John Ford, Howard Hawks story telling and the Hitchcock horror genre. I then moved into the arty type of film, Bunuel, Godard, Renais. Then along came the experimental stull of Warhol and his ilk. I remember going to the National Film Theatre for a whole weekend, I mean a whole weekend. All day Saturday, All night Saturday and all day Sunday, watching films. I recall a film by Stan Brackage that was 9-1/2 hours long and showed the camera filming a wall with a very small postcard attached. During the time, the camera very slowly advanced towards the postcard and the soundtrack was of bits of conversation so at the end the postcard filled the whole screen. Your were encouraged during the film to go and get a bite to eat or go for a walk because you wouldn't actually miss anything. The same with classical music. I have been to many concerts of Mozart, Mahler all the usual favourites, composers who were a little bit more modern I enjoyed - Walton, Britten etc. Then you got the experimental - Cage for example put a whole pile of hoovers on the stage and switched them on and off at different times. So, on to Mcgregor. He is of the Cage and Brackage ilk to me. Ashton etc we all know and love. Wheeldon, Akram, new generation but still understandable, but this chap, like Cage and Brackage, explain their work with such obscure intellectual rubbish that people are fooled into thinking they are clever. I read, or tried to, the meaning of the title "Obsidian Tear" and thought how on earth can this be put to movement, the truth is it can't. Hope I haven't offended anyone with my feelings, but I have to question the sense in spending lots of money on something that will probably never see the light of day again, except perhaps us because we paid for it. I expect all the intellectuals out their will have a field day telling me what it all means, because it doesn't work for me.

Is it me or was it just that Cesar chose the perfect dances to showcase his talents. Both were brilliantly aggressive routines that showed his prowess as a leaper, spinner and flying round the stage. Whereas the pieces for the girls were soft, sexy and gentle. I thought Isabelle danced beautifully, particularly in her contemporary routine. The best moment for me was Jennie winning the Corps award, she was thrilled to bits. The show is growing every year, Palladium this time maybe Wembley next year.

Be careful you might get arrested!!

Me too, wearing my badge as well. I am in the stalls because I am sure when I bought the ticket no circle or higher was available but now it look like an almost 2000 seat sell out. Amazing.

I would choose three, in this order - Frankie, Nela and Natalia ( only third because I have the DVD). If it came to one then Frankie because she is gorgeous.

Which site is that LinMM please. Looked on Amazon but can't find it!!!

You may be pleased to note that Mr. O'Hare is the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Ballet Association on the 19th May, so why not come along and ask him???

If not Frankie, and I can understand why ( wouldn't want a star ballerina injured hanging in the rafters ) then who was deemed replaceable? One of the stage crew?

Really!!!! For the first time I was seated up in the amphitheatre so was too far away to see faces that clearly, which is the only disappointment I felt sitting up their. Not being very good with heights I have veered away but having tried was very pleasantly surprised. I was very impressed with the dancing and thought the whole production was terrific. Sure, a bit of pruning here and there wouldn't go amiss but not as bad as some of the critics have reviewed it. Kish was a revelation. I have tended not to go to his performances in the past, indeed I had bought tickets thinking I would be seeing Nela and Vadim until they were replaced, but he was terrific. In fact the whole cast danced brilliantly as Bruce has identified earlier and the young man who danced William was wonderful. Lovely to see he was brought front of curtain with Frankie for his own bow. I do have one or two queries with the storytelling. Can anyone explain why Frankie, as Justine, having presented William with his birthday gift and played with him was confronted by her mother which caused her to throw the flower in her hair onto the floor and storm off. What had she done to deserve that. I thought the death of Victors father should have been better conveyed. He suddenly appeared at the bottom of the staircase and collapsed like a bag of potatoes with the creature standing over him ( where had he come from? ). Finally, one final word for the cast. Having finished at about 10:15 last night they are now about to start to dance it again as they are doing the matinee this afternoon. They will be totally exhausted tonight, good wishes to all of them.

The most extraordinary thing. In the review from the Arts Desk, see the Reviews section, it says that both Nela and Vadim refused to dance. Is that possible?

Alina has just retweeted something about her being banned, does anyone know.

You can delete your vote, an option on the bottom. Don't know whether this means you can vote again!

There is a view facility at the end of each option. Press view to see and you have.

Well, feeling very pleased I mentioned it. Obviously I am up for it. If the forum gets involved then whilst a premium could be added to the price but then someone would be responsible for posting, banking and queries if one went missing or faulty. Simple badge is all we need as Cavycapers suggests, this is not a fashion statement.

She was never in the cast list I saw!

There is a website that sells pointe shoe badges if you think we could use that as a motif. Have a look. www.zazzle.co.uk/pointe+shoe+badges