alison

Someone mentioned above that McRae is expecting to dance with her somewhere, no specific details given. I wouldn't be surprised if it were Japan, though.

Sounds like this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bolshoi-Ballet-Giselle-Galina-Ulanova/dp/B000PC6EOO, then?

Miracle, you may find more information in this thread: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/9606-gaynor-minden-pointe-shoes/?hl=gaynor

I see Stormy Weather is on at BFI Southbank, among other places.

Somebody's pointed out, I think on the Fille thread, that he's just had a Significant Birthday.

Do Sky Arts ever bother *showing* any dance any more?

That's interesting ... Yet they haven't danced together at the ROH much in recent years. Japan, perhaps?

Welcome, JohnS. I think the trouble is that Benn is virtually contemporary with Ed Watson, and if we're thinking that these are likely to be Ed's last Mayerlings time may be running out.

*Very* traditional

Well, I've now finally had the opportunity to have a less-hurried look at the casting than I originally did. Firstly, I'm surprised to see various soloists doubling up in Jewels: this hasn't happened previously, and I always understood that it was largely down to logistical problems with rehearsals. I've always thought of Diamonds as something for relatively tall, or at least leggy, dancers: have shorter dancers such as Salenko and McRae danced it in the past? On to Mayerling: When I said how gutted I was that Gartside wasn't reprising Rudolf, I am sure he must be far more so than I am That really is a huge disappointment. I'm surprised and rather disappointed to see Hayward rather stagnating as Stephanie: I'd assumed/hoped she would get Mary Vetsera this time around - and preferably with Watson, since they seemed to work so well both in the previous run and in Manon. Not sure how well he and Osipova will work in this, but as FLOSS says I expect Anastasia will give us a better idea of that. I think the Bonelli cast is completely new? Like others, disappointed to see Nunez not having more to do in this run. Good to see some new dancers getting chances, though. Again, though, this run is very compact. I can see I shall have to pick and choose what performances to go and see, because there's a limit to the number of Mayerlings I can watch in a short space of time, too.

Yes, the audience were indeed enthusiastic - and we even got the clapping to continue right the way through to the dancers' exit at the end. It's been a long time since I've experienced that. There was definitely an "end of term" feel to last night's performance, somehow, and all the better for it.

Whew. I appear to be free on the 4th, so I guess another trip to Stratford is called for. I've never done an evening trip, but I assume it will be okay. Incidentally, since we're talking about the Ritzy, I noticed that there was a pay-rate demo (or even picket line) outside there last weekend. Does anyone know why? I thought the pay dispute had been settled.

Blast. It clashes with the live relay of Anastasia, doesn't it? Thanks for the info, though, Amelia. Actually, this isn't available on DVD, is it? I know I have a DVD (sadly still in storage ) with Ulanova's Giselle and some other bits on it.

Don't you mean "pre-loved", MAB? Vomit.

And I thought you were linking to the acrobatic version with the dancer standing on pointe on her partner's head, BBB!

I'm amazed Rojo still dances Clara: you'd think after all the performances she put in in the Derek Deane production she might have developed an allergy to it!

My goodness, I'd never before realised that there was a limit to the number of posts you could quote in a single post! Continuing, then: Well, whatever it is, I'm disappointed not to see Watson in Emeralds. I liked him in that, albeit not with Marquez, because I didn't find them a good stylistic or emotional match. It seems that he's now not doing a lot of the roles he used to dance with Leanne Benjamin since she retired, although to what extent that's by choice I don't know. Me too. Although to what extent one-night-stand-type guesting where you're shoehorned into a different production helps in that respect I'm not so sure. And that includes under-used principals.

And Ondine? No, although a significant anniversary is always a good excuse for giving them another showing. As is having an exceptional artist who would really suit a given role. Then of course you have to pray like mad that he/she doesn't get injured ... But then there are a lot of ballets based on operas (or stage plays) where the opera is the stronger piece (that includes Onegin). That's not necessarily a reason for dumping a work. Would you drop The Dream because the Shakespeare play is a bit better? Although perhaps you might drop Marguerite and Armand in favour of La Traviata (although how much more often the RO can put *that* on I don't know). McRae continued to dance Bratfisch after he was made principal, although I'd guess that was only because of the filming. But as for disbelief, one of my immediate reactions to the Jewels casting was "What on earth are they casting xxx in yyy for???!!!" Indeed. As long as he doesn't have to replace someone I really want to see ... And as long as we have enough notice to buy tickets, now day seats are a thing of the past. True. I have no idea how well Watson and Osipova will work in something like this. Of course, Mara Galeazzi will be around for rehearsals for Woolf Works. I don't suppose she could be persuaded to hang around a bit longer ...? Me neither for the first part. And who knows, Golding might surprise you one of these days. I'm not sure McRae doesn't have the springier hair, too Guess it depends on how it's styled.

I went. There were a lot of debuts, and I thought they all did very well, but since it's my first viewing I think I'll reserve judgement until I have some other performances to compare with.

I'd just mention that, with single coach tickets from £5, and performance tickets from £12, Bristol is not necessarily a bad option for anyone in the London area who has missed out on tickets for Sadler's Wells. Certainly a darned sight cheaper than schlepping down to Southampton

It's been done in the past - quite a few times, I think, which is why I suggested it. Just as in Anastasia. But would Watson still be around then? He did say a year or two back that he probably only had a couple of years left in the company.

Some designers should print that out in big letters and pin it to their noticeboards, sketchbooks and anything else relevant.

But isn't he taller than McRae?

Well, personally I'm gutted that Benn Gartside isn't getting another go at Rudolf: surely he was good enough, from what I heard? As for Muntagirov, with respect, capybara, I think there's a big difference between Conrad and Crown Prince Rudolf. I can't think of any new arrival to the company who's been allowed to take on that role without any prior experience of being in the ballet, usually as one of the Hungarian Officers or something, first. It's not just a question of ability to dance the role, I think it's familiarity with the whole thing - and I don't think Vadim was in the company last time it was danced, or if he was, he'd literally only just have joined. I mean, look how long Bonelli has waited to get a chance at the role. I might have considered Campbell for this one this time around, given his prior experience and his dramatic abilities. I had thought they wouldn't cast McRae because of the difficulty of coming up with enough ballerinas of appropriate stature, but I guess we shall see what we shall see.

Blimey, did I really write that? I have no memory of it