mimi66

Actually I did wonder if King Carlos' abdication might influence our Queen's future...

For the past few years at least, 17/18 year-old prize winners of Prix de Lausanne tend to became an Apprentice rather than going to the upperschool. Although may be some of the finalists get a place in the upper school?

Where is the sun? It's nearly June....

I have read somewhere that Miko's father is actually British as well as Swiss. I am not sure whether they moved to America for Miko's training - perhaps it was just her father's job opportunity. She was at the Prix de Lausanne in 2013, but I don't think she did as well as she wanted there... in that she only won an award given to Swiss nationals. I got an impression that girls weren't particularly strong that year either. I agree with Anjuli's about her mother and I think I would use the same words to describe her! But all in all, I get an impression that Miko is one of those amazing persons who knows what she wants from the day she was born. It would be interesting to see how she will develop as a dancer...

LinMM, sorry to hear that you have to miss classes and workshops for a few more weeks... how frustrating. I supporse the good news is that your foot is improving. How was the session with Francesca? wishing you a swift recovery, xxx mimi66

A friend of mine who lives in Amsterdom went to see the performance, I think last week. She was raving about how good it was!

Ooops, sorry, Pas de Quatre for misspeling your name... watching too much DonQ video lately!

Now this is how it should be! Thank you Pas de Quatro for the link!

Last night's class was so moving. One of the people I know from that class had come back to ballet after nearly a year off ballet. She had a stroke which then caused her to be hospitalised for months on end. From the very beginning she was determined to go back to ballet again, no matter what, which initially medical experts were not so sure about. She recovered well enough to be discharged from the hospital about a few month ago, working very hard, re-learning to walk and all other things, and now she is back in the class room, dancing ballet again! Such a precious thing, being in a class and dancing...

Lilac, I think that depends on what exam/vocational school entrace audition your DD is aiming for. Plus how your DD responds to learning different school of ballet at the same time. I think Natalia's teachers are all trained in Russia or former USSR (Vaganova-method), and yes, (for instance) RAD and Vaganova-method are different. Is she hoping to get into vocational school in the UK next year, for instance? edited to say:- ps, I have pm-ed you.

Might be slightly off topic, but just found a short film about Vaganova Academy entry selection (with English sub-title). A snippet of th selection panel's discussion is featured at around 6'00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9utQgxWy8A The film was shot in 2007, so may be already slightly out of date, and many of you might have already seen it before...

Lilac, I hope your DD has "Russian" turn out... I do know some adults who have been taking lessons from one of the teachers who works there (may not be the same one your DD took a lesson from, though). I will PM you later.

Yes. I am 120 years old dancer and feeling rather fragile lately.

...and while she may not be exactly a professional ballet dancer (as in she is a member of a ballet company), this is what she can do... It's so funny, however hard you try to fake, your true self (and training) always shines through...

If this ad featured a girl playing the piano (something like one of Chopin peices), she would be playing it with a lot of mistouches (hitting wrong notes, and not being on correct beat) and it would have sounded terrible, even for those untrained ears. And that is while the voice-over would be implying that she has been learning piano at least for over 10 years... (that can happen, too). Then noone thought "that's ok, that is an ad...". I think ads like this one just prove that ballet is not being taken seriously enough...

I can just imagine the conversation between the director and the casting agent... D "She looks great! Can she do a bit of ballet?" CA "Oh, yes! She isn't a professional ballet dancer, but she has been taking dance lessons. Anyway she did ballet for a couple of years..." D "Oh, then she must be nearly as good as professonals then! Besides, it's not as if we are doing Swan Lake..." .... All those close-ups and slow-mos showing off not pointed feet...Could they not at least use a body double for the close up, if they had to include those shots?

Recent waves of senior moments.... I am mixing up younger generation ballet dancers... First, I mixed up Polina Semionova with Svetlana Zakharova... I must just be looking at their upper body area... Then I mixed up Akane Takada with Hikaru Kobayashi (both of Royal Ballet)...well, I recognised Akane Takada on video , just that I got her personal details mixed up with that of Hikaru Kobayashi. Very soon I will start complaining about not being able to recognise anyone on TV, saying that all those young people looks the same!

For London contemporary class, this past thread might help...http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/6109-contemporary-dance-classes/?hl=%2Bcontemporary+%2Badult#entry80750 At least they can get you started for your internet search, I hope,

Call me a footnotes/reference maniac (...though I normally behave well and refrain from littering my comments with footnotes/references...), but I just had to post this. Here is the link to the video, the 3rd odalisque variation. I don't know who the dancer is in the video, but she is certainly a lovely dancer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6c0fX5b5Fo

Michelle, glad to be of help. By the way, personally I wouldn't even do a very a terre a terre simple soutes at non-sprung floor studio, (and may I add that I am not in the same age group as you are) - that is even after I am warmed up (i.e. after a full barre and non-allegro bits of the centre work). In fact, for myself, I avoid taking classes unless the studio has sprung floor. I am quoting Balleteacher's post #1051 here, as this I think help a lot for jumps. Also, this is just a thought... since you have private lessons, why not ask your teacher to focus on grand jete for a couple of classes? I am sure she in the best person to be able to guide you on this. Just a thought.

Great photos, xzDaveM! Speaking of Golding, one of my freinds nicknamed him as "dancing Donny Osmond" ... He(edited to say, Golding, not Osmond!) is a great dancer, though. I do enjoy watching him dance.

All these exciting Kitris! I have been watching these video and just realised that it well past my bed time... Alas, I must leave the links Anjuli posted for tomorrow . Ah, Michelle, now I understand! You are doing a piece known as "Kitri's Entrance", not Act 1 variation... As to how to improve that split type grand jete, I would still follow LinMM's advice (post#1028) above. Off to bed, good night to you all...

Oh, I see! Thank you for the links, I love them all. Cynthia Harvey's Kitri was one of my dream Kitri in my youth...

Michelle, that's OK, I was just very curious. What you are describing as "the split-type" in Kitri's variation (act 1) is sissonne en avant, I think. Jetes take off with one leg, while sissones take off using both legs. This is my favourite Kitri at the moment:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYX_5aiwCsA

Oh, sorry! I got muddled up! I stand corrected. Thank you, bangorballetboy.