alison

The Hobson's Choice Thursday matinee (the one with the cheaper prices) was a near sell-out too - and most of those were sold before anyone knew that Alexander Campbell would be guesting.

Fiz: can you not sit somewhere other than stalls? (Or you could try the new Scarlett/McGregor bill ...)

César Morales had an operation in January. He will be back on stage in early 2012\2013 season.

Natasha Oughtred is also injured at the moment.

Gaylene Cummerfield is off from personal reason.

Sounds like quite a nasty op for César, then, if it takes that long to recover from it. I wish both him and Natasha a full - and preferably speedy - recovery from what ails them, and all the best to Gaylene, too.

So, that's now 3 - or is it 4? - days running it's not been possible to get directly onto the booking site (yesterday I merely wanted to check my seating arrangements for a couple of performances, but I couldn't even do that). A good job for the ROH that their ballet tickets are sold out for weeks ahead, but not so good for the opera: they must be losing multiple opportunities to sell tickets for the controversial Rusalka for a start, because people who aren't used to the ways of the system probably won't want to hang around online for hours waiting to get through.

In today's METRO, short-course swimmer Liam Tancock discloses that ballet forms part of his training routine:

http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/891814-liam-tancock-ballet-gives-me-the-edge-over-swimming-competitors

If anyone was planning on going to this by train to Charing Cross, you'll need to read this:

"Engineering work starting on 04/03/12 between London Charing Cross and London Bridge.

Track improvements and maintenance are taking place from 01:10 on 04/03/12 to 04:00 on 05/03/12 between London Charing Cross and London Bridge.

There are no scheduled train services operating between London Charing Cross, London Waterloo East and London Bridge. As a result, services will operate out of London Cannon Street but run as scheduled to and from London Bridge. Passengers can travel to and from London Waterloo East and London Charing Cross on shuttle train services that operate every 15 minutes between London Cannon Street and London Charing Cross. This engineering work affects all train services scheduled to operate out of London Charing Cross."

Bumping this for the Bolshoi Le Corsaire next week: note the earlier-than-usual starting time.

Casting for the London Coliseum season of Daphnis and Chloe/The Two Pigeons and Coppelia is now up at http://www.brb.org.uk/masque/index.htm?act=whatson&tsk=venue&urn=14912

DVD cast is, I think, Michael O'Hare and Karen Donovan, though I suspect someone will correct me if I'm wrong - it definitely wasn't recorded in 2006, but a lot earlier, I'd guess early 90s? I have it at home on VHS, but obviously can't get at it at the moment. I'm not sure whether Kevin O'Hare ever danced Will: there were some roles the O'Hare brothers overlapped in, and others they didn't, and I'm not sure which this role qualifies as.

You know, I'd really appreciate a page on the website warning us when we're unlikely to be able to get through: then I'd probably try to avoid days like these. Mind you, of course the new all-singing, all-dancing, all-accommodating website will make this unnecessary, won't it?

Well, sort of in English. Half of it . Thanks, anyway. And there were definitely performances showing as available yesterday.

Posh Friends' opera booking today, by any chance? The queue's not long enough to be normal Friends', I don't think.

Mmm, I remember keeping an eye on Jones for several years prior to graduation - rather unusual for me, since I don't really follow the dancers as students that much - and possibly Moore, too. Good to know that Badenes is doing so well.

Do keep us posted with any performance reports if you feel like it.

Stuttgart has two male British principals now, doesn't it?

I can't remember that it has: I was aware that things were pretty rocky with his company, but not that he'd filed for bankruptcy. Wonder where that leaves the Mikhailovsky - and all its recent acquisitions, human and otherwise? I also wonder whether that was behind the cancellation of the M's US tour dates?

Two mixed bills for Sadler's Wells, when Birmingham only gets one all season? Interesting.

Edit: actually, that's a bit of a shame - I'd been looking forward to seeing their Swan Lake again, but I suppose ENB's major run during the summer has put the kybosh on that.

Not unloved, with over 1000 viewings, John!

There's a review of "Scenes de ballet" in the last issue of the Dancing Times.

I think I spotted one in the new edition of Dance Europe today, too.

Well done . We're all learning, gradually.

Seats are disappearing at a fair rate for this already, to judge by the website.

Edit: and I do like the way this forum just retained all the formatting from the original text without my having to do anything whatsoever.

The last thing was "Scenes de Ballet". Wonderful. (obviously i am a bit biased:-))

I seem to remember reading good reports of it somewhere.

Seconded

It has to be said, Ann, it wasn't made terribly clear in the publicity: there was a reference to the clog dance, the flute dance and something or other else. And there *was* a clog dance - just not *the* clog dance. Add to that the fact that there's a picture of the girls in a reaping pose not dissimilar to one in the Ashton, and that they were wearing similar costumes - which I didn't recognise from the performance - and I don't think it was that clear that it wasn't the Ashton version.

Links - Sunday February 12, 2012

Rather late, I'm afraid, but I just got hold of the Sunday Times for the 12th: the Culture section had a major interview with Adam Cooper prior to the opening of Singin' in the Rain - NB: it's not a Polunin-free area.

13 Mar 2012 – 15 Mar 2012

Now with Putrov and Polunin joint-headlining, and a different cast and programme

http://www.sadlerswe...n-Men-in-Motion

Lifted straight from the website:

"Following the sell-out run of Ivan Putrov’s Men in Motion earlier this year, the former Royal Ballet Principal returns to Sadler’s Wells with an evening of works showcasing the athleticism and beauty of the male form in motion.

For this exciting programme Putrov will be joined by some of the world’s finest dancers including Sergei Polunin (former Royal Ballet Principal), Tim Matiakis (Royal Ballet of Denmark), Clyde Archer and Isaac Montllor (Spain's Compañía Nacional de Danza). The evening will include Nacho Duato’s modern trio Remanso and a new piece choreographed by Polunin himself.

Also on the bill will be Leon Jacobson’s Vestris – a solo originally choreographed in 1969 for a young Mikhail Baryshnikov after he won the International Ballet Competition in Moscow. Other highlights include one of the most famous works ever created for the male dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky’s L'après-midi d'un faune set to Debussy’s beautiful music."

(which involves half-a-dozen women, or should do, of course)

Edit: clashes with BRB at the Coliseum, but coincides with a couple of "dead" nights at the ROH.

I agree with Pas de Quatre above, which means that you can include Romeo & Juliet no problem, but not just any Romeo & Juliet - it has to be an M&S Romeo and Juliet , or in this case, MacMillan's, say. I wouldn't say that either the Ashton or Northern Ballet's were "classics". On the other hand, I feel that La Fille Mal Gardée (Ashton version) is, whereas the Gorsky version probably isn't. It also seems to me that more or less any "classic" ballet is probably going to be a full-evening one. Or is it by definition a narrative one? Hmm ...

Thanks for this very interesting selection of reviews today, how lucky Wolverhampton is to see La Fille Mal Gardee from the Siberian Ballet for a change,

Mm, it makes a change from the more obvious ballets, doesn't it. That reminds me - I was going to write a review, so thanks for the reminder.