Sophoife

Thanks BBB and pompalompa for the Sylvia coaching info and video. I love watching that sort of thing and enjoy the ROH Insights when made available. Wish Australian Ballet would do more in that line.

I find the speculation terrifically interesting. There are many reasons to enjoy the Nureyev Swan Lake but the biggest reason I find to dislike it is the Tutor as Rothbart scenario. No point offering any examples of odd choices or violin-playing redheaded Rothbarts from Australian experience as no videos available of the recent Baynes version, legally or otherwise, not even on YouTube (apart from some 40-second promos) so no comparisons possible.

At the times of the daming of Melba (1918, for her charity work during WWI, and the Grand Cross in 1927 for services to Australia) and of Sutherland (CBE 1961, DBE 1979, both for services to the performing arts), Australia used the Imperial honours system, and they were (with others such as Dame Joan Hammond, Dame Margaret Scott, and Dame Peggy van Praagh) awarded the highest honour available at the time. Since the 1975 creation of the Order of Australia, fewer Australians were put forward for British honours, with the Federal government ceasing nominations in 1983 and the States more gradually following suit, with the final British honours coming in Queensland and Tasmania in 1989. After discussions with Britain, Australia formally ceased to make recommendations for British honours. Australians can, of course, still receive a British honour but such an award is officially called a "foreign award" if made after 5 October 1992. So if Cate Blanchett is ever made DBE, it will be of the same honorary nature as Angelina Jolie's. Incidentally, Leanne Benjamin AM OBE got her (honorary? I don't know if she's a British citizen) OBE ten years before her Australian honour, in 2005. Also, to drag this back to the official topic, I met Dame Darcey several times when she was living here, and she was quite pleasant, but clearly a networker on a grand scale. She was invited on a number of occasions to coach Australian Ballet dancers in roles she knew well (I am told), and the fee "requested" was (I am told by one of those involved in the various invitations) so high on each occasion that it was felt to be an indication of just how much she didn't want to do it. She was on the board of Sydney Dance Company (and is now their patron) but never involved in any formal way (board, coaching, teaching) with Australian Ballet. Does she coach at the Royal Ballet at all? Her elevation can only be applauded, as it is reminding the GBP that dance (as she put it in a 2016 interview) "is not just street dance".

Is that the first part of the ENB series, Agony and Ecstasy? I remember him as hilariously stereotypical: waspish ranging to bitchy, demanding ("what Derek wants Derek gets"), and ultimately single-minded in pursuit of his vision. But he was conscious of being careful in how pushy to be with baby Muntagirov, which I liked, even though (because she wasn't his vision) he was so mean to Klimentová. Luckily, @CHazell2 specified British companies, so nobody will be able to scathe on the Graeme Murphy version 😉 (which we down here see perhaps a little too often).

Stella Abrera (ABT principal) as Giselle with Australian Ballet. Leanne Stojmenov in Ratmansky's Cinderella and Murphy's Romeo and Juliet. Elisa Badenes and David Moore in Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. The first time I saw After the Rain - Kirsty Martin and Steven Heathcote - silent tears started falling as they began the pdd and didn't stop until about 15 minutes after they finished! Kelvin Coe in the premiere season (1980) and years later (2012) Andrew Killian in the final part of Murphy's Beyond Twelve. Noone else in this role and I've seen them all. Marianela Nuñez as Giselle (on film). Vadim Muntagirov in The Two Pigeons. Leanne Benjamin (guesting) and Robert Curran in Manon in 2008, and in 2014 Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg in Sydney in what was to prove their final Manon together.

Try being a follower of The Australian Ballet. Casting never available until just before each run, sometimes a week ahead, mostly two or three days. Unless you live in Melbourne or Sydney, there are also significant investments in travel and accommodation and sometimes time away from work (yes I know they dance occasionally in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth).

Brilliant, thanks @Josephine, I enjoyed revisiting that afternoon!

@Mummykool and @Timmie, Benn Gartside called it #boysxmascurrynight 😂 (screenshot from my Instagram but had to resize the pic to make it fit into the posting requirements, sorry the text is a bit blurry!) Who can give them all the correct name? I could only recognise five.

I love going to the stage door! I blame my mum who when I was not quite four took me round to Floral Street and pointed out the homeward-bound ballerinas after my first ballet - Ashton's Cinderella. She told me it was polite to say "thank you" if I'd enjoyed something they'd done. So apparently I thanked Sibley, Dowell, Parkinson, Ashton, Helpmann, Ann Jenner, Deanne Bergsma, Wayne Eagling, David Drew, and Derek Rencher - Mum still has the signed programme, which she refuses to give over to me as she paid for it. Apparently I get it with the amethysts and the fur-lined parka after she's gone. I do possess the Nureyev/Park/Kelly/Collier/Rencher Manon programme from July 1974, back in the days when they still bound the cast list into the programme (stapled binding, so...), unsigned as I was too scared to ask for myself. Twenty years later I got Rencher to sign a Don Q programme after he'd played the Don for Benjamin and Mukhamedov. In the interval I was hanging around stage doors in Australia, a practice I continue to this day, including in London/Cheltenham/Berlin/Stuttgart/Paris this year, my European return after 23 years...I have great difficulty restraining my gushing tendencies but usually (I think!) manage to produce something vaguely resembling intelligence.

We were told at the Insight session Friday afternoon (C Wheeldon, J Barrett & K O'Hare) when Claire was demonstrating Hermione's trial solo that her partner had been injured during a rehearsal on Wednesday. Last night {Saturday) I was told it had been while rehearsing the act 3 pdd. By the way, saw three Winter's Tales in Brisbane and loved it every time. May post my impressions after tonight's TdF stage. Mountains!!!

Re the character roles, I would just like to say that at the Australian Ballet, far too often these roles are given to young members of the corps, and they are dreadful to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing senior dancers (not 82 years old, but you know what I mean) sharing their experience on my recent European tour - Royal Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, and Stuttgarter Ballett to name the most wonderful examples.

In Stephen Baynes' Swan Lake, the moment at the end when the boat stops, and the figure stoops and picks up what we then see to be poor drowned Siegfried. Visually arresting and I catch my breath every time - the first time I hadn't realised that when he disappeared he'd thrown himself in. In the Aus Ballet's ubiquitous Graeme Murphy Swan Lake, when the framework of the asylum ("sanatorium") withdraws and we see:

Bruce, thank you for that perspective on the performance of Nijinsky I also saw (31 May). This production, entirely Neumeier's (scenario, sets, and costumes as well as the choreography), is one that enthralled me last year in Australia. I too was mesmerised by Alexandr Trusch, also Aleix Martinez' Stanislav. Silvia Azzoni was also excellent, as was Edvin Revazov. Unfortunately I do not share your enthusiasm for the company as a whole. The men generally treated their partners like sacks of potatoes, and the thumps were clearly hefty ones, from row G en face as I was The only two who seemed to understand how to partner were Trusch and Revazov (Martinez didn't really get to show whether he could or not). The Golden Slave/Faune was not oozing sensuality at all, just "I'm so pretty look at me"! Tselikov's Petrouchka was outstanding. Having seen the Royal Ballet (Mayerling and the Ashton triple bill), Birmingham Royal Ballet (South tour - Jessica Lang's Wink, Ruth Brill's Arcadia, The Moor's Pavane), Staatsballett Berlin (Patrice Bart's Swan Lake), Stuttgarter Ballett (Cranko's Romeo and Juliet), and the Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris (Balanchine's La Valse, Robbins' En Sol, and the Cherkaoui/Jalet Boléro) in just over five weeks, I would have to say that in my opinion Hamburg's men were the weakest I saw in both technique and (apart from four very honourable exceptions) artistry. Possibly due to the relatively large number of students/apprentices in the cast that night? I saw three performances of this ballet last year - Neumeier himself taught it to The Australian Ballet (have to use capital T, they don't like it if we don't), and he brought Alexandre Riabko with him. Riabko was amazing, the heart quite broke watching him. One of the three locals cast as Vaslav also had the audience in the palm of his hand.

Wow. Even in Australia we've seen some of his work (ok it was Elisa Badenes and Daniel Camargo in Little Monsters and we all fell in lust with one or other of them the second the lights came up), and I would have thought he'd be an asset they would be very keen to retain. Incidentally after Schwanensee in Berlin on Friday and Romeo und Julia in Stuttgart on Saturday, I am very impressed with the men's dancing, much stronger overall than we usually have with Australian Ballet. Also enjoyed the Patrice Bart production with the Queen getting to dance a couple of solos. Salenko and Tamazlacaru were wonderful to watch, but I nearly expired of excitement in Stuttgart watching David Moore and Elisa Badenes in the title roles, and Matteo Crockard-Villa's Tybalt and Louis Stiens' Mercutio were also impressive. I also liked two Stuttgart initiatives: you can pick up a postcard for free in the foyer, fill in the blanks and circle the appropriate options on the pre-printed back, drop it in the box, and it's posted wherever you want for free - a wonderful advertisement. Also, at every interval, two dancers come out and sign autographs and chat at a table in the foyer. Table was mobbed by the usual suspects - elderly and mature-aged ballet geeks like myself, and all the children in the audience. Excellent idea.

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Wink, Arcadia, The Moor's Pavane, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham (Saturday 6 May). BRB's South tour opened in Cheltenham last Friday and as I had never seen the company and was staying in Cirencester, my sister and I took her daughters (12 and 10, ballet fans but who have never learned) to the Saturday matinée. Of particular interest to me was that the programme included two works by female choreographers, plus the rarely-seen Limón piece. Not to mention that as a visitor from Australia I would see Tzu-Chao Chou dance for the first time since he left what the company insists be called The Australian Ballet (capital T please). I knew very little of the company but what I had read online, although former TAB dancers Elisha Willis, Matthew Lawrence and Gaylene Cummerfield spent large chunks of their careers there, and "we" now have Aussie Chris Rodgers-Wilson (RBS then BRB) back (I saw his Franz in Coppélia at Christmas and all that promise is coming to fruition). Was I impressed! I was able to do my favourite thing (watching class) before the show, which gave me some impressions of the dancers, and we then settled in to our seats in this lovely theatre, centre rear stalls (bang in front of the technical desk). Wink, by Jessica Lang, featured César Morales, with whose dancing I fell in love. The use of spoken word (Shakespeare sonnets) framed each section (solo, pdd, quintet of men, three pairs, etc). Tzu-Chao was in this and despite carrying a niggle is still one of my favourite dancers to watch. Company dancer Ruth Brill's Arcadia showcased Brandon Lawrence as Pan, and the piece was an instant hit with the nieces. He was magnetic, and Céline Gittens, in a small but featured role as the moon goddess Selene, was lovely. We were also treated to the presence of the composer, John Harles, in the pit as saxophone soloist. We were told Arcadia is to be included in the company's Sadler's Wells season later this year, and I do recommend it. Also, cheers to BRB for giving a female company member the opportunity of a main-stage commission, with all the support that ought to, but sometimes doesn't, go with that. The Moor's Pavane, danced by Morales, Chi Cao, Yvette Knight and Samara Downs, was one of the most beautiful short ballets I have ever seen. I was told afterwards that it has only entered the company's repertoire this year, and that the four we saw spent months working on the particular style required. It was stunning. The artistry of these four dancers was undeniable and of a very high standard, and even the nieces sighed happily and said it was beautiful. Nor did they need the story explained, it was presented so clearly. The very small stage (compressed further by the proscenium arch) forced some compromises in that some jumps were half-in, half-out of the wings, but no-one looked to be holding back. After the show the nieces begged to "get autographs and say thank you" (we train them well) and were delighted at the very generous response of the dancers, particularly Lachlan Monaghan, Brandon Lawrence, Ruth Brill, Chi Cao and César Morales. They were very amused to see one pair disappear into the next-door Italian restaurant - "pasta at four o'clock! They must work hard!" All in all, a delightful first experience of the company and one I will certainly repeat at the earliest opportunity.

Thank you @capybara. That suggests I might be clever enough to know where to look! ? However in this instance I lucked on to the forum at the right time and thanks to @Bluebird I am indeed going. ?

I'm travelling from Australia and could not get a ticket for this. I would very much like to be The Lucky One, please.

Very pleased people like the dancers, especially Dimity Azoury (promoted to soloist last year after her debut as the Baroness) and Robyn Hendricks (promoted to principal four weeks ago after dancing Odette-Odile in the Stephen Baynes 2012 "traditional" Swan Lake - I was there and it was clear within seconds of her first entrance that we were seeing something very very special). Incidentally, Azoury's husband Rudy Hawkes is Siegfried to Hendricks' Odette. Gorgeous photos, Dave and John; thanks! Janet, AD McAllister calls this Swan Lake (his first commission after becoming AD) the company's "international calling card". I understand he has read the New York reviews from 2012. Nijinsky is still in rehearsal; the first performances will be in Melbourne in early September. Um...

Luci Dunn is the first TAB dancer to be acknowledged since the current AD, David McAllister, who is AM. He was (just) preceded by Steven Heathcote, also AM. Graeme Murphy is another level up, at AO. We don't have "imperial" honours down here, so no knights or dames since about 1986. OAM is roughly equivalent to MBE, AM to OBE, AO to CBE. If anyone's interested, Miss Dunn is married to Danilo Radojevic, and they have two daughters.

Hi Pas de Quatre, when I said "Career" I specially put the capital C in there, maybe I should have put "Big Career" to clarify my thought process Absolutely, any dancer who has a job dancing (earning a living is debatable, especially in some parts where a "full time job" is only for 40 weeks a year!), that dancer has a career. I was trying to say that only some are given the chances to stand out. Janet, thanks for your welcome - I joined about six months ago, but have read the forum for a number of years. Chris Rodgers-Wilson is utterly lovely, he's the most recent winner of the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award (a fairly certain path to Principal), always a delight to watch. Was off stage for a few months last year due to an injury but is back now.

A similar situation: Xander Parish, who danced with the RB corps de ballet for five years or thereabouts, "never danced a solo", and had "done...very little partnering work" (http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_10/jul10/interview_xander_parish.htm) in that time. Accepting Fateyev's offer saw him start as Béranger in Raymonda and the Poet in Les Sylphides, four years on still listed as coryphée but repertoire now includes Albrecht, Romeo, Paris, Apollo, and the Slave in Schéhérazade. Would he have eventually been offered or taught these roles in London? We'll never know Down here, when The Australian Ballet (TAB) employs graduates of the Australian Ballet School (ABS), from my audience point of view it seems as if most are taken in to fill out the corps, with maybe one dancer in a dozen given the chances to have a "Career". Recent examples: Chengwu Guo (teenage Li in film of Mao's Last Dancer) who joined TAB in 2008 from ABS (Prix de Lausanne brought him here), was promoted to coryphée in September 2010 with effect from January 2011, soloist from January 2012, senior artist in April 2013, and principal in November 2013 after a fairly stunning La Sylphide. Ako Kondo, who has been promoted to senior artist effective January 2014, joined TAB in 2010 out of ABS. Her rise to senior artist is even quicker than his! Adam Bull joined TAB in 2002 fresh out of ABS, was a soloist by 2006, senior artist in January 2008 and principal in June 2008. - please note my emphasis on things being my opinion and my opinion only