trog

David Bintley was interviewed on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" last night about Aladdin. If you're in the UK, here's a link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qwh0t Scroll to 33 mins in, and you'll hear some of Carl Davis' music for the ballet, followed by the interview and then more of the music. The whole segment runs for 11 minutes.

If you want to know whats on dance wise in the West Midlands, here is your one stop shop. http://www.westmidlandsdance.com/

A review in the Express & Star. Trog's take... What's not to like, lots of dancing, dazzling costumes and a story we all know and love.

Yesterday, I saw a van with "some company Your Partner In Restaurantation"

Birmingham Post with a picture of Angela Paul in her Autumn costume from "Cinderella"

There will most likely be some ballet featured in the Vienna New Years Day concert.

AFAIK with XP, the first window you open will be exactly the same size as the last window closed. So closing a fully maximumised window last, will let you to have a new maximum sized window next time. If you right click, for example, the IE shortcut and select properties, there is an option to set run to maximised. Another way is to use regedit to force every window maximised. [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer] "MaximizeApps"=dword:00000001

There are a few on eBay but they look expensive. Have you considered DIY? Here's one made from PVC pipe which is available from DIY shops, easy to put together and quite cheap. Alternatively, it's easy to attach a wooden handrail to a wall.

I visit as many art galleries and museums as I can. The Black Country Museum and Ironbridge Gorge are two places that I never tire of. There are several museums in the gorge and, of course, the bridge itself. When I'm in town, I always have coffee at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

BRB's Swan Lake makes history: http://www.itv.com/n...-makes-history/. There was an interview with Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton on ITV Central News tonight. If I can find a link to it I'll post it.

I've back taking ballet class at the DanceXchange after being off for a year. The knees are standing up OK so far, although we are only three weeks in. I guess they'll be a wreck at the end of term. It's a shame that I'm down with the dreaded lurgy and can't go tonight. Anyway, if it's not too far for you they are very nice studios and very friendly classes. There is a pay car park opposite, but if you're budget conscience like me, there is lots of free on road parking a short walk away. A few people from the old ballet.co boards have attended over the years. I've been going for about 15 years now and you know, one day it might even make sense. Come on, Fiz, do you remember writing this?!!! I used to take a Grade 6 class with a group of teenage girls. They were a bit wary at first but soon realised I was only there to dance. At the barre, they used to like me to stand at the back, so that when we turned around, they had somebody to copy who could remember the exercises. In the interest of fairness, the teacher also used to take bits from the boys syllabus and have the girls do it with me. This was very good for strength building.

Deborah Bull's Dance Nation is on Radio 4 at 13:45 23/09/12 to 28/09/12. Details of the five episodes http://www.bbc.co.uk.../episodes/guide I'll be at work when it goes to air, so hopefully they will be on the listen again feature of the BBC website.

Birmingham's Arts Fest was held over the weekend and the BRB performed on Saturday night. Here are some pix: Swan Lake The Dream

I remember going to school and all those who had parents at home, were sent home so we could all watch it. The school only had one TV and trying to get 950 people around it just wasn't going to work. I sat there glued to the screen with a little scrap book we had all been given. We had to collect drawings printed in the paper in the week prior to the landing. I still have the book.

It's a pity you're coming to Brum on Wednesday. If it was Tuesday, Thursday or Friday the Rag Market would be open and there is a costume stall inside. It's pot luck as to what you'll find as they have ever changing stock. There's http://www.fancydressoasis.co.uk/ in Oasis, which is at the top of Corporation Street. I've never been there so I can't comment. Alternatively, there's http://www.alteredim...owroom-27-w.asp which is a 30 min bus ride out of town (934 route). Mr Yellow Pages says this place http://www.fancydres...alog/index.html is in Digbeth, not far from The Custard Factory. They don't appear to have a showroom, but they do have a load of costumes. You might be able to arrange to pick something up from them.

An old one that I adore is Black Tights which cost me a whole £3 on DVD. Zizi Jeanmarie, Cyd Charise and Moria Shearer - what's not to like! If you fancy a mix of horror and ballet, Suspiria is the way to go. I for one will not be watching the remake which is due next year. Speaking of Moria Shearer, Channel 4 have been known to show The Man Who Loved Redheads and Peeping Tom and of course there is always The Red Shoes. Finally there is Save The Last Dance 2 which is a much better film than the first installment, and has more dancing too - ballet and hip-hop. Don't forget the "Step Up" series, although I don't like these as much as other dance films. I concur with Janet about Mao's Last Dancer and Strictly Ballroom. I quite like Flashdance too!

Mao's last dancer's painful decision to defect BBC World News

Some years ago I was there when 'Spem' was sung live in the Birmingham Oratory by Ex Cathedra and friends. As an intro, Jeffrey Skidmore explained it was a difficult piece to perform; getting 40 choristors together is difficult enough, but getting them with the correct vocal range as well is a tall order. They performed it twice, with 'Missa Et ecce terrae motus' (The Earthquake Mass) by Antoine Brumel in the middle and something else which I forget. Brilliant concert and I wish they would do it again. I've also saw this http://www.cardiffmi...inst/motet.html in the Walsall Art Gallery, which I thought was pretty pointess. So as not to get completely off the track of the thread, at the mo I'm reading "Programming PHP" by Rasmus Lerdorf & Kevin Tatroe and by jingo, it's gripping!

Some years ago, a dancer I knew, spent three years with Circus Roncalli. They used to have a small ballet ensemble who danced while setting up the big acts. I don't know if they still do this, but this and other European circuses could be a potential source of employment.

Of books that I wanted to read (or so I thought) - "Paradise Lost" and "The Spiral Dance" - I found both to be very boring! Of books that I had to read at school - "Tess Of The D'urbervilles", "Jude The Obscure", "Lord Of The Flies", "Catcher In The Rye" and "Brown Men, Red Sand" - again, all extremely boring. Actually, the only book that was required reading that I did finish was "The Secret Agent", but I'm not including the works that we did by Billy Shakespeare - I finished reading these, although they are much better to see live. Unlike AnneMarriott, I did finish "War & Peace", but I really struggled. It's a much better film than a book; I attended a screening of the 8 hour 1968 version, which was one session, with two much needed comfort stops along the way. Having seen that , I thought I read the book to see what was omitted. From memory, there wasn't anything.

Cadbury and Arts Council's £2m funding boost for Birmingham Royal Ballet Read More Birmingham Post Excellent news!

I'm seeing it tonight. IMO, it's one of several BRB ballets that doesn't get performed anywhere near often enough. My fav bits are Dick Turpin and the very sexy sword play pdd. Some years ago, Glynis Barnes-Mellish painted Leticia Muller and Michael O'Hare in rehearsal for Far From The Madding Crowd. I have prints on my wall, and jolly nice thay are too! If you click the link to her site http://www.barnesmel.../gallery/prints, you can see the two pictures. They are the first and fifth in the thumbnail list to the right.

What a hoot! Ballet with jokes. The sort of jokes children like; fart jokes, poo jokes, and knickers. This isn't an adaption of the traditional telling, rather an adaption of Roald Dahl's treatment, which are contained in the splendid Revolting Rhymes. This is a departure from the usual works by Ballet Cymru, who normally dance the works of Shakespeare, classic Welsh tales and Welsh authors. Perhaps it isn't too far a departure, as Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff. Choreography is, as always, by AD Darius James. There are no surprises here. James delivers lots with very little, choreographing to the strengths of the dancers (now numbering 10, an increase of 2 from previous years). I've never seen a Ballet Cymru stage so full. There are four new dancers this year, and they seem to have fitted in well. The real test will be when they appear in The Tempest an established piece that is also on tour. Having said that, I don't think the company have danced The Tempest in a decade, so it will no doubt be adapted to the new cast. The piece is danced to Paul Patterson's musical treatment, which is full of jokes too. The score was recorded by the Welsh Session Orchestra especially for the company. I'd love to see this danced to a live orchestra, if only to see that rarest of percussion instruments, the lions roar in performance. As usual, the costumes are just the merest hint. A pink waistcoat, pink flat cap and a curly tail - voila! Instant pig. Only the wolf wore a mask. Well that's not entirely true as Zorro made a brief appearance and I have no ideal why. Mozart did too, which is very funny. The narration is intact and delivered by Sam Bishop, who dances too. With lines like "The small girl smiles/Her eyelid flickers/She whips a pistol from her knickers/She aims it at the creature's head and BANG! BANG! BANG! she shoots him ... dead.", you really couldn't have not giggled along. The many children in the audience, especially liked the above rhyme. Very short at 35 mins for Little Red Riding Hood and 20 mins for The Three Little Pigs, the large number of children in the audience managed to sit though it without too much interruption. Of course, they will no doubt be familiar with the stories and very probably these versions. They obviously enjoyed the show. Emily Pimm Edwards was definitely enjoying herself as the heroine. She played Red as a haughty, upper class heiress, which is exactly as imaged by Dahl. Pimm Edwards is simply perfect. If you do want to see this, you'll have to get your skates on as there aren't many dates left: http://www.welshball....uk/tour-dates/

Elmhurst School's principal dancer Jessica Ward wants to make a mark "The former dancer-turned teacher is on a now on a mission to put the Edgbaston school on the map by working with other schools and in the community." Birmingham Post

I can do an entire class and my knees and ankles still click at the end, even in the summer. I think its quite funny especially as it's louder than the music.