alison

Oh no. And it was supposed to be Zenaida's last run in it Did they ever make a DVD of her cinema performance?

There *is*, of course, an alternative explanation: the class *could* be boring - it's not unknown. If the teacher, or the music, or something is uninspired then that's not much encouragement for the student. Has he tried taking class somewhere else, for comparison?

Mmm. Do Boston, Hamburg and SFB have any links with Bruhn?

Just the "wrong" ones. I didn't realise they'd done that before.

That was precisely my point

The Bayadere is the Royal Ballet version, isn't it, so you could see that over here. You wouldn't get the same casts, though. And I'm not a huge fan of the Balanchine MND either.

It's a small site: I guess they wouldn't be giving something like that priority.

It's the Goleizovsky that I know.

They may have had their fingers burned by a number of very unfortunate experiences when they tried the same for Bussell, of course. Not that that's a real reason for not trying, but it may suggest that things aren't that simple. And anyway, perhaps it was easier to borrow other dancers when necessary? I believe Yanowsky is 5'8", which doesn't even make her the tallest ballerina in the company, if we're using the term loosely.

Technology - and the way it is applied - is reducing our ability to concentrate for any length of time. The implications of *that* for the human race are very worrying. Think how many advances in science, etc. would not have happened if their creators had been unable to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes without wanting to move onto something else. And the poor girl would probably have suffered severe psychological damage if deprived of her phone for a couple of hours.

Didn't hear any mobiles going off tonight, but from my elevated perch in the amphi I spotted half-a-dozen phones still lit up after curtain-up. Including one on the fingerboard in the front row.

Merde alors! I remember when POB prices used to be cheap - the top ones were about £32, and that was *way* after the time when you could get those sort of prices at the ROH (which was back around 1990, when I started going, BTW)

Much of it, yes. And I'll be surprised if they *don't* end up cramming in yet more tables.

I frequently do Not to mention a T-shirt in warmer weather - or even tonight.

Ugh, yes. Two performances of Onegin so far, and two mobile phones (or the same one twice? It was the same ringtone) going off in similar parts of the score. The first day, it at least managed to merge nicely with the music, which must have camouflaged it a bit, but the second day it was just *after* the "right" bit of the music, and stood out badly. Then someone else's went off later in the performance. And that's not to mention the person in the Grand Tier box who decided to consult his/her mobile partway through the performance, or the person across the amphi who appeared to be opening a tablet rather than a phone, such was the amount of light which was showing

And now Precious Adams, at ENB. And there are loads more examples among the men - the RB alone has, what, about 4 black male dancers now? ENB has a couple; BRB my mind goes blank, but at least 3. Ugh, that must be horrible. And of course, being gay is contagious ... You could, for example, quote the higher ranks of the RB, where the majority of the male principals are straight. The same used to be true of BRB and ENB, but I haven't recalculated that in recent years since various people have left. Also, what about that young man featured in the papers a couple of years ago who combines ballet and rugby? And I think someone else combined ballet and judo or karate or something.

Can I add e) - those people who insist that all the local schools must be closed because there's half an inch of snow on the ground? Never used to happen in my day: I remember going to school on my bike in the snow, my back wheel sliding from under me, and me sliding down the hill on my backside. And gritters? What are they? Never made an appearance down the lane to *my* school ...

Well, that's a really long season. What sort of capacity is the theatre?

I thought Hinkis was supposed to be dancing with Zucchetti? Indeed, it's much improved in that respect this time around. I should add Gartside and Underwood to that number. Can't remember who else I've spotted - I try not to spend too much time on faces because it distracts me from the ballet as a whole. I think you must be confusing it with another night, aileen. It's been 100+ for some time (probably always, in fact).

Yes. There are opportunities in the first act to foreshadow her behaviour in the second act so that it doesn't come out of the blue, but those opportunities seem to get missed at times.

A recent one was mentioned in the insight evening the other day. I can't remember the name of the translator, except that it was male and short (both first name and surname). It sounded very good to me, although of course I've never read the original in Russian , and the lecturer recommended it. I've had reservations about some of the extant translations.

Thanks for the reminder (once again). I've had my browser open on the page several times this week, but something has always happened to prevent me from actually making the booking, so now I've rectified that The new Sadler's website is a mess, though: why on earth put all the important information fields in a colour which scarcely shows up?

Not, actually, a quadruple one: Naghdi danced Olga last time around, too. I don't know whether Golding had danced the role before? Olga, in my eyes, must be shallow, because in the novel it only takes her 6 months to get over Lensky's death and marry a hussar. I've always said they were a really bad match: she doesn't understand his poet's soul, and he can't understand why she's so flighty - I've always thought that he loves her (or thinks he loves her) much more deeply than she him, and that he and Tatiana would be much better suited, as more like kindred spirits. That's partly why I always put emphasis on the necessity of casting a convincing foursome in the roles - you need to be able to believe in the interrelationships between all four characters. It's not just that Lensky and Olga love each other and Tatiana falls for Onegin, but you need to feel the love between Olga and Tatiana, the affection between Tatiana and Lensky and the friendship between Lensky and Onegin for the ballet to work fully. Lovely review, Sim. Thank you very much.

If I recall correctly (I don't see it very often) I think it's supposed to be a traditional Russian dance, isn't it? I don't think many Western productions include it, but whether that's because it's deemed dull I couldn't say.

Well, I'm currently reading books on building regulations, so I won't bore you further ...