trog

Suspiria is a wonderful film about a ballerina - not much dancing though! I has just been re-released in a limited edition box set, which is supposed to be very good. Argento has remade it and the new version should be out this year. I can't see how he can improve on perfection.

Suzanne Farrell said in her autobiography when she was 14, she was able to do 114. Old editions of The Guinness Book of World Records said that Rowena Jackson had done 121 and that she stopped because she "got bored". One dancer that I spoke to told me that there was no secret to 32 fouettes, just get on with it. I never saw her miss them in Swan Lake or Don Q.

Fonteyn's fouettes were described as "a cooks tour" (meaning they were all over the place) by the press of the day.

I don't remember a print icon, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Can't you just print the browser page with ctrl/p (assuming you're on a PC)?

https://www.northeastjobs.org.uk/job/Cold_blooded_and_Spineless_Officer/159704

I definitely don't think that! I've seen many different Swan Lakes. The most obvious one is Mathew Bourne's treatment which is OK but I think that he created it with mostly men, largely to be different. Graeme Murphy's version for the Australian Ballet is stunning. Drawing inspiration from a certain 1981 royal wedding, Baroness Rothbart is the other woman. Odette has a nervous breakdown and is committed to an asylum, where she discover solace while watching the swans swimming on the lake near by. She imagines that she is swimming with them and recovers. During her internment Siegfried and Rothbart part company and Odette rejects his new advances, moving on with her life. In this production, some of the music has been moved about, while the costumes are clearly based on Imperial Russia. This is the only version that I know of, where the lake plays an important role and is presented as a lake. Jan Fabre version for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, which I saw at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival, is quite odd. The choreography is mostly the well known classical version but with some extra characters who appear for seemingly no reason. During the first act, a dwarf moves among the swans, and slices the stomach of some, who fall down and die. Later they stand up and carry on dancing. There is a scene where some knights are standing on a wall, wringing out their handkerchiefs to create the lake. Rothbart has a live owl perched on his helmet, which is allowed to fly off a bit, although the birds legs are tethered. While the staging was fab, I felt the ballet lacking in substance. The Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China's version of the ballet added frogs, monkeys and a camel to the story, which is performed with martial arts, acrobats and firey hoops. Derek Deane's version in the round, enlarges the corps, but the choreography pretty much follows the well known. Shakti, the wonderful Japanese/Indian dancer who used to appear at the Edinburgh Festival, presented a one woman version, although sometimes her two usual co-conspirators appear in the role of the prince. Her version is really more about swans than Odette/Odile. She says that the black swan symbolizes the material world, while the white swan is the pure desire that beckons from within the soul. You can see Shakti at the Adelaide Festival Fringe in March this year, with a new work. When the Swansea Ballet Russe where performing, their Swan Lake was presented with 13 dancers. The most striking feature of their version was that two dancers took the normal dual role of Odette/Odile. This allowed each to bring out the best in their role. The dancers told me that they preferred the role of Odile, saying the dark side gives more scope for acting. Finally, there is a pornographic version available on DVD from Japan. It follows the usual choreography, with some terrible dancing. After the ballroom scene, Odette and Siegfried have a bonk. The third act lake is bondage. Very strange indeed. There are probably some other versions that I have seen, but the above are the ones that I can remember (for better or worse!)

The honours system is very strange. Just before he died, there was a push for an OBE for Mick McMannus ( The Man You Love to Hate). He was a favourite of the Queen Mother but the petition was to no avail.

Mary, did you see Fred and Leslie Caron in "Daddy Long Legs" last weekend? I hadn't see that one before. I doubt they would make a film with this plot today, but the dancing is fab, especially the ballet sequences.

It seems to me the BBC have taken their usual programs and tacked "Christmas Special" onto the title in an attempt to fool us. Actually, I'm pleased the schedule is mostly tripe - I might be able to get through my ever growing pile of DVDs.

Somebody at the DX was trying to drum up business for this a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, work gets in the way of me helping, but one of my former teachers said she would be a motivator. I wonder if you have to dress like this

Nutcracker quiz: Test your knowledge of the ballet ahead of Birmingham Hippodrome performance.

I have this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B014V0EZLY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00 When I first pumped it up in Feb 2016 it was 64 cms. I haven't actually measured it, but I don't think it has gone down. All I do on mine, is sit on it to watch TV.

I saw this article over the weekend How to get by on just £1 a day near payday with these meals - which are OK if you like bacon and lard!

Petroc Trelawny did "Live From St Petersburg" yesterday - program on Radio3 website. Of more interest is the pictures on his Twitter of the Mariinsky. Love the dancer's canteen! https://twitter.com/PetrocTrelawny

loveclassics - I think that you are correct in that only the music was original. Robery Joffrey worked with Massine in the early 1970s to recreate the original. Massine was able to contact some of the original dancers, who had moved to the USA, for their memories. This new version draws heavily on Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The robot costume was a direct copy, as the image with the heart at the end. The shoppers in that brief shot where referred to in the credits as Stepford Wives - another story about robot. I liked the robot, liked the music but I thought overall it was pretty dull. Perhaps you had to be there.

I did a term of beginners tap classes a couple of years ago, and the the balance was about 50/50. The improvers class, which followed definitely had more women than men, much like the ballet classes I do. I have never been ill-treated in ballet class, even when I was the only man in a class of 30, which was pretty much the case for the first decade of classes. The closest that I came was when I was doing an RAD 6 class with a group of 13 or 14 year old girls. They were naturally wary at first, but they quickly realised that I was only there to do class. They also learned that I knew the syllabus very well and liked me to stand at the back during barre, so they have somebody to copy when we turned around. They also liked to follow me across the floor for the same reason. When I'm not dancing in ballet class, I'm pumping the iron in the gym. I use a body builders gym (not that I'm a body builder) and the few women who go, are accepted and just get on with it, in the same way as the men. I've gone to many gyms over the years, and I've always found the seemingly imposing body builders to be much more friendly that the people that go to a normal gym. In normal gyms, there is too many who sit on a piece of equipment, fiddling with their phones (which make me wonder why they bother to pay their membership fee). Anyway, I hope these chaps carry on at DX - I'm sure they will.

Tuesday this week there were four men in a class of 16. Yesterday's class (pretty much the same people), three men in a class of 13. I hope this is a sign of things to come! Many, many years ago, I was in a class where we men outnumbered the women - I can't see that happening ever again.

Consider custom made - any size you want. http://www.esmedancewear.com/ have been helpful in the past and I'm going to get more custom made wear soon.

Relax and enjoy class. If you're dancing a sequence and forget the steps, don't panic - it's only dancing and the world won't end. Chuck in a few steps of your own and carry on. A handy little sequence is coupe, chasse, pas de bourrée, run, run pas de chat - fits into almost all centre work. While in the centre and there is more than one group, try and get into the first group. This can be a bit scarey, because you've only had one mark at the steps but if you mess it up, you can dance it again at the back of the second or third group. Even if you don't mess the sequence up, it's good to have another go. Don't hide at the back. During the barre, stand in the middle, so you have somebody to copy on both sides if needed. Personally, I like to stand at the front - there is always plenty of room at the front and you can see the teacher clearly. On the other hand, people like to copy who is at the front and if you get it wrong, the entire row will follow. Still, as I said before, it's only dancing. Finally, if in doubt, ask the teacher. In my experience, they are always happy to demonstrate again. They are usually happy to demo something to you personally after class too. BTW, I used to be like you, over analysing myself and trying to hard. However, I stuck with it and it all started to make some sort of sense. Above all, carry on!

Brita, your son might not be enthusiastic at the mo, but he will be when he gets older. BTW, welcome to the forum.

Does anyone else think that bits of the music are similar to Chants d'Auvergne? As I watched on Friday night, I was struck by the forgetfulness of the ballet. This was the third time that I was seen it, and the only bit that I could remember was the flying Djinn. This was Tzu-Chao Chou and boy is he good! I agree with Janet, the jewels section is a highlight with most of my favourite dancers appearing.

Some real British humour coming soon to Wolvo https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/wolverhampton-entertainment/2017/10/07/lost-hancock-scripts-buried-in-the-archives-are-brought-back-to-life/

I hope the program is not a one off special. I say that as it contains the ballets that are being performed at Sadlers Wells, not just the ones on the regular BRB schedule. As to the ballets, I went on Friday night and we were treated to Brandon and Celine, not once (which would be heaven) but twice (really on cloud nine). They danced the first movement of Concerto and in Elite Syncopations. Brilliant in both cases. I had also seen Brandon with Delia the weekend before doing the grand pdd from Nutcracker. I feel really blessed. I would also like to mention Maureya as the Ram - she definitely turned it up to 11.

More on this on the BRB website https://www.brb.org.uk/post/birmingham-weekender-we-came-we-saw-we-mobbed

I found this on the BRB website the other day and tried it out. It is very cool! Bring our animals to life with Augmented Reality! If you've got a iOS and Android device, go the page above and download the zappar app from the link on the page (it's free). Find a poster or open the page on your PC, and scan the blue circular code. Enjoy! I'm local to Dudley Zoo, so I'll have to make time to pop along! If you haven't got a mobile device, there is a video on teh page which shows what happens.