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What happens if you mix ballet and magic? Yan Yan Ma shows you. There are several clips of her on youtube (some with an annoying voice over). Her she is as an assistant in a short story

It is an adaption of the definition from Ambrose Bierce's "The Devils Dictionary". Telephone: An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.

It's a little way off, but I've forgotten to highlight when it has been on before. Wednesday 24th Feb 12:15 Harmony Lane - Talking Pictures TV (Freeview 81) - Svetlana Beriosova and David Paltenghi dancing a bit of Swan Lake

An email tells me that BRBs Cinderella (Wed 31 Mar - Sat 10 Apr 2021) has been cancelled.

If you click on the volume dodad on the task bar, it might show volume controls for two output devices, hdmi and pc speakers. Mute PC speaker and unmute hdmi. Alternatively, right click the dodad and check playback devices

Queen of Hammer horror films and many a boys fantasy has sadly passed away aged 88 https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/04/barbara-shelley-dead-horror-film-icon-dies-aged-88-13844336/

Toyah and Fripp dancing Swan Lake Dancing robots

Digital program for the Nutcracker at The Rep available

From the New Vic in Newcastle-under-Lyme Coppelia – A Mystery!

Both BBC Genome and imdb show only 27th Dec 1980 for Wayne Sleep on Record Breakers. Of course, there are known to be errors/omissions in both databases. I was surprised to learn from imdb that Wayne Sleep was in The Goodies. I'll have to dig out the VHS tapes, and see if I still have that episode.

Ballerina able to achieve professional-standard arabesque after hip replacement - Express and Star

It is split into two sections on Vimeo, both with different video formats. I think they have done this to make it difficult to pirate - joining different format files together is hard. Very enjoyable program - I wish I had been there to see it live.

I have found Brad Appleton's Stretching FAQ to be helpful in improving flexibility.

"I bloody love going up north to watch the Halle Orchestra play Opera North at 3pm on a Saturday. Especially now there's a lot less violins on the terraces." This and many others at https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2020/11/12/tory-mp-north-likes-football-south-likes-ballet-opera-is-to-southerners/

I'm from further south than most (Australia 🙃) and I'm not a football fan (any code) but I do love ballet. I used to enjoy a kick around when I was a teenager but I've never thought watching a bunch of blokes running around a muddy field kicking a ball as enjoyment. There is, of course, room for fans of both.

It is available on DVD; one for the future assuming I ever get through the ever growing pile of DVDs. Roll on retirement! https://belairclassiques.com/film/pas-dieux-soir-fete-ballet-nice-mediterranee?lang=en

I've never seen one in the UK (although there might be retailers). There is this beauty in the US, but they don't ship to the UK. https://www.hammacher.com/product/dance-of-sugarplum-fairy-music-box Do you have any friends there? Alternatively, there are some on ebay who ship to the UK

I don't know, but the BBC seems to transmit everything in 16:9, so if you watch, for instance Dads Army, the actors are all short and fat. (OK so some of them were short and fat, but that isn't the point.) Taking Pictures TV, my channel of choice, get it right, altering the ratio to how the film or TV series was made. Surely it isn't that difficult to get it right. Added bonus! Talking Pictures don't squeeze or talk over the credits. Added, added bonus! Their station ident graphic is very unobtrusive.

So you've got the trench coat, the trilby and the Ladybird Book of Codes and Cyphers. What more do you need to be a spy? Fancy a lipstick gun? A poison tip umbrella? A handbag with a hidden camera? Make a note in your diary (in lemon juice of course!) for February 13th, 2021. For Sale: The Entire Spycraft Collection of New York's KGB Museum Order your auction catalogue at https://www.juliensauctions.com/about-auction?id=353

Hackney Council hit by 'serious cyber attack' - Police believe it may be the work of ballerinas

Having worked for 40 years in "cyber" or "computing" as it was known when I started, I call tell you which is far worse! Sadly, when I was at uni I switched from industrial chemistry to the wrong course. Hindsight eh?

Some quotes from the twittersphere "Takes, on average, a decade or more to become a professional ballet dancer. About the same as it takes to qualify as a GP. Not a real job though, is it? Get behind a desk, Fatima" @wbuxtonofficial "TBH, if ballerina Fatima DOES end up crushing all her dreams to work in Cyber, I hope she's the one who notices they're using a version of Excel from 2003 and that it will stuff up the whole trace-and-trace campaign" @caitlinmoran "TERMINATOR : PAS DE DEUX The Terminator is sent back in time to save a troubled production of Swan Lake. He MUST stop Fatima leaving and accidentally founding Skynet - but can he fix her fouettés in time for first night without blowing up the Opera House?" @PiersTorday

Last night I watched a newly aquired recording from 1982, of De Valois The Rake's Progress, so old Davids Morse and Bintley were in it. Does anyone know why this lovely small ballet seems to have fallen by the wayside?

Back in 2002, The Royal Ballet Of Flanders did Swan Lake without an interval. It was a long haul, and to make matters worse, I didn't like the production much.

I have an theory about this, based on incidents while going to the Sainsbury's. The queue moves slowly but surely, and then suddenly stops for twenty minutes. The marshall spouts some nonsense that there are too many people in the shop. We watch people coming out, but nobody going in. When we eventually get in, the shelves are bare and the last few of the big trolleys that they use to pick internet orders are being wheeled off the floor. That's right! They are giving priority to lazy people who can't be bothered to go to the supermarket themselves.