alison

I think that is almost as unfair on Pennefather (and quite a lot of balletomanes, for that matter) as some of the earlier posts have been on Golding. I'd have said that "love to hate" was way too strong for the way RB-goers of my acquaintance feel about him. And with regard to these "single" performances: how many of them are genuinely that, I wonder, or is it just that they are cast in other performances which we either don't know about or can't see the casting for?

One of which clashes with one of the only two performances of La Bayadere.

I never expected to see a dancer's death being the subject of a piece in the Church Times . I've been regretting more than ever this week that none of his performances, and particularly his Swan/Stranger, have been committed to film (that I know of, anyway).

Such a shame that they happen to clash with the Muntagirov Swan Lakes at the Coliseum: that must surely reduce their potential audience.

I believe sand is used in some cases - perhaps mainly for downpours? Also believe (courtesy of my old conjuring book!) that sodium silicate (aka waterglass) can be used to stop water wetting in certain circumstances, but imagine that would be costly in bulk - if it works.

Option 1 would suit me nicely - depending on circumstances. 2) I'm not so sure about: i) this will be Golding's debut as Romeo, won't it? And don't they have an "invisible" performance somewhere which might interfere with a change in rehearsals? The Bonelli option does have the disadvantage that he's done a live relay of Romeo before. Like it or not, I'm sure some people will have done. Just because most of us on here are keen balletgoers and are aware of Hayward's talent, there are some people who won't even have heard of her, whereas they may have seen Golding in a previous lead or broadcast, and think they would like to see him again. ^ This. I would like to point out, once again, that the AUP requires highly critical postings to be made in the real name of the poster, not ... ah ... incognito. Some of the postings above certainly qualify. It seems to me that would be a fairer option. History shows that the company has suffered because of this before - whether affecting home-grown dancers or not. Not that I necessarily regret the "importing" of any particular dancers, but it has certainly slowed the development, or pace thereof, of other dancers in the past.

They used to filter them into both standing areas - dress circle and balcony - and as you said, it worked well. I think it must have been for Cinderella that people were being let in at several different times - unless it was for the Guillem performance I was at. They were hardly quiet about it.

Just bumping this: it makes life so much easier for everyone if things are tagged!

Right, it's done, although quite frankly it's been a real headache to do. We don't appear to have an autumn casting thread (or if we do, I couldn't find it), so this one seems the most appropriate.

I thought I had! I'll have another go. In the meantime, it would help if people could try and keep the right discussions in the right place

Why? Surely he's taller than Steven McRae?

Although, as has been commented previously elsewhere, Edward Watson doesn't have any.

Never, ever, sit in the central front row block of the Dress Circle at the Coli if you have even the slightest legroom problems. It amazes me that those are the "Super" seats! I did it once, and was in agony by the end of act 1.

Guess the Coli was tolerable last week because it *wasn't* Swan Lake?

More that I found it strange that the publicity was talking so much about Luke and he wasn't dancing the first night, so it seemed to make sense that the press night wasn't the first one. It isn't always, after all. I did see a couple of critics there on the first night, but am not sure whether they were there in an official capacity or not.

Lovely indeed, thank you, Janet. Just such a shame that we generally don't get these sort of appreciations while dancers are alive

Interesting thought ...

It should be noted that the Coli's own T&Cs state: "Latecomers: Once the house lights have gone down, latecomers will not be admitted into the auditorium until the interval or a suitable break in the performance. During this time you will be able to view the performance on a TV monitor." Would they would stick to it, sometimes.

Are you sure those are genuine? They look a little suspect to me - particularly since there are also a number of tops in the same style which aren't RB. Edit: interesting. Here's the UK registration, registered less than a month ago: https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00003118791 - there are distinct differences in shading between this version and the official one. I wonder ...

I wouldn't have guessed it from your English Thanks for your contribution, Katharina.

We also have an old "films" thread here: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/1674-ballet-films/?hl=films

What are you looking for, Primaballerina1? Documentaries, performances, works of fiction? Also, are you looking for them in DVD format, as downloads, or as recordings? If you had a subscription to Sky Arts 2 you could probably have filled half a hard drive with recordings by now.

As in, to be topical, how many Benedict Cumberbatch fans will ever go to see another Hamlet, or even another Shakespeare play, or another "classic" theatre play, if he's not in it? (Although to be fair, I'd probably have given The Winter's Tale a wide berth until a couple of years ago. Having seen the ballet, I might now give it a go - I believe there's a production of it scheduled somewhere? - so I can't really criticise ) It's tended to happen already for Acosta and Bussell, but yes, I could see the virality(?) of the situation causing even greater problems. And if he got injured/ill/decided to be a no-show, most would want their money back rather than see a replacement, I would expect. We've had some interesting contributions so far (and I'll reply in more detail some other time), but to judge by those names I "know" I'd say they're predominantly from older posters. It would be helpful to hear from some of the younger ones as well: how do you build an audience (preferably in a way that will stick) for the YouTube generation?

Afraid I can't remember well enough now, a couple of weeks on