SheilaC

40% off Manon offered by Time Out

Thanks everyone for your sympathy and advice! Unfortunately, Lizbie 1 I’ve already been to that exhibition (it was very good). I’ll keep trying to get a return. Happy ballet going year everyone.

Unfortunately the website was correct for the performance I wanted, completely sold out when I rang (the last performance, Sunday matinee , 13 jan). I thought i'd booked it so have a train booked back to North Yorkshire in the evening, instead both ENB Swan Lake and the Matthew Bourne sold out so I'll have nowhere to go unless I can get a return!

I agree that all the signs are of an oversight. It reminds me of the Paris Opera Ballet's event meant to honour Yvette Chauvire, (their equivalent of Fonteyn) which was also very last minute and was an absolute disgrace,, I can't believe that the Royal's approach will be so demeaning. But as Floss implies the content needs to be carefully designed and prepared. The text about the celebration in the ROH magazine is written by someone who understands little about Fonteyn (' Frederick Ashton created several ballets for her'- little recognition that she was his muse). One despairs.

I requested a change of cast list but the young Irish woman was quite rude in saying the sign was sufficient. Yet the last time I got a form it (correctly ) named 2 changes whereas the sign only listed 1. I later went back to the sign to update my cast list: but I must have inconvenienced other audience members who were waiting to buy a programme. Thankfuly the wonderful mixed bill, extremely well danced, made up for the aggravation. But if the ROH can’t be bothered to print the changes they should announce them from the stage.

I'm glad that Beatrice Parma is cast in several performances. I saw her at Thursday's matinee, as the Rose Fairy, and was blown away be her dancing- very musical, and the choreographic shapes beautifully articulated. She'd make a wonderful Odette.

She was a really wonderful dramatic dancer and, as muse to Peter Darrell at Scottish Ballet, created roles in many ballets. After his death she remained at Scottish Ballet for a while, in a leadership role as well as principal dancer, but eventually seemed to be eased out, I never knew why. The last I heard of her was several years ago when she was featured in a campaign against government cuts in disability support as, sadly, , she had serious mobility and financial problems. She was yet another great dancer who came from Hull. Thanks to that, she and Scottish Ballet regularly performed in Hull at a time (like now!) when Scottish Ballet scarcely performed in England, apart from Newcastle. I was disappointed that when the 50 year celebration of Scottish Ballet was announced for next year none of Darrell's ballets were announced (Tales of Hoffman would still sell), even though Christopher Hampson has told me, and said on a TV documentary, how much he admired Darrell's work.

I'm glad to say, Bruce, that the Paris Opera staff will be paid for their day off. As Yaffa said, the closure also stopped the Paris Opera Ballet School class demonstrations scheduled for Saturday. Apparently they have been retimed for Wednesday, but still very disappointing and disruptive for the children and their families. I'm glad to say I was still able to see La Dame aux Camelias at the Garnier on Friday. Although well danced (Leonore Baulac and Mathieu Ganio in the main parts and Eve Grinsztajn and newly promoted Marc Moreau as Manon and Des Grieux) as always I was a bit disappointed in it as a ballet; the fusion of Margeurite's story with that of Manon must be confusing for people who've not read the ballet's plot and it reduces the emotional power. Ashton's version may not be one of his best works but in terms of structure and emotion it's more effective, in my view. The media, as ever, have exaggerated the relative amount of violence in Paris on Saturday, at least during the day. I kept away from the main demonstration areas but saw a lot of Gilets jaunes, ambling about peacefully. But sat in a side street cafe, I saw a convoy of 20 police vans, a procession of 12 mounted police, armed vehicles and frequent police cars and vans going backwards and forwards. Arriving at Kings Cross station this morning what did I see- a lot more police!

Thanks Don Q. I've had a personal email from Paris Opera, in response to an email I sent them yesterday, and since received a general email sent to everyone who had a ticket for the Saturday matinee. It has been cancelled on police advice. Very disappointing but information I checked, thanks to Max, made it clear to me that it's likely that there will be a demonstration outside the Bastille Opera, also one at the Hotel de Ville, which would have been on my route to the theatre, so the cancellation may be wise. There seem to be several more demonstrations and strikes planned so I hope no-one else is affected.

I have just spotted a tweet advising people intending to attend performances on Saturday 8 December at the Paris Opera. Presumably they are considering cancelling performances due to the planned demonstrations by les gilets jaunes. They haven't bothered emailing me to warn me that my matinee seat at the Bastille (for Nureyev's Cinderella) is in jeopardy. The news reports have focused on trouble near the Arc de Triomphe, some distance away, although the Bastille area can attract demonstrations because of its role in the French Revolution.

Beauty and the Beast trailer, what a waste of Brandon Lawrence. Unfortunately it's the only ballet they are taking to Sunderland for the year.

At a performance of the mixed bill last week I was sat next to a woman only in her late 20s and she commented that we were seeing the first performance of Symphony in C (!), having read 1 instead of 61, so poor was the print. I mentioned this in an email to Alex Beard the next day (primarily about the box office but also about poor information on cast sheets and on line). Complaining about the change of cast sheets I also told him how the previous week at a performance of Bayadere I was sat next to an eminent critic who hadn't been given the cast change slip when he collected his ticket so had no idea. Last week I managed to secure a cast change slip which listed two changes but the sign at the desk only mentioned one so even the signs aren't reliable!

The membership fee was expensive for the level of benefits, as they were reduced at the time that the fee level was raised significantly to £70. Many NB supporters thought at the time that the motive for raising the fee to that level was deliberately to put people off. Ironically the letter starts by thanking Friends for the key part in helping the company to grow and for our loyalty. It refers to the 50th anniversary next year. Some of us Friends, not least those of us helping in their archive work, are frustrated that so far there seems to be no planning for the golden anniversary. Yet Scottish Ballet which also celebrates 50 years next year (the 2 companies developed from Bristol-based Western Theatre Ballet when it folded) has announced an impressive programme celebrating this landmark.

I totally agree with Janet. Caroline Miller has extensive and varied experience across the dance industry, which benefits BRB which is a bit insular, the drawback of its very positive sense of family-like community. She is outgoing and interacts enthusiastically with BRB Friends and audience members. A breath of fresh air.

I asked Alina in Manchester on Wednesday if and when she was dancing Swan Lake in London. She said she would be dancing it but didn't know when.

Tonight's performance of Three Musketeers was dedicated to David Drew, whose long term initiative is the basis of the ballet. Although I had attended the world premiere, the eve of the day when Malcolm Arnold died, I had forgotten how many sections of the score are based on the same music as MacMillan's early masterpiece, Solitaire, slightly disconcerting as it's such a different piece. The company performed with their usual panache but seeing it after a week in which I have seen 3 Mayerlings and 3 Manons its light hearted approach was quite a contrast.

Anyone in the North east who hasn't yet got their tickets for Newcastle next week can get them half price through a Travelzoo offer. Usually the company has good houses at the Theatre Royal so it is disappointing that sales aren't so good this year.

Cathy's a busy woman. In a month she will be premiering a new one-act ballet based on The Tempest at the international ballet festival in Havana (with the main character becoming Prospera) as well as the new full length work on Victoria for Northern Ballet next spring.

Sorry Yaffa, I'd forgotten the luggage issue following all the terrorist attacks. I've not been there since July so don't have recent experience but the POB FAQ answer is very likely to be correct still.

The Bastille Opera is very different from the Garnier- as austere as the Garnier is over ornate and with a less intimate feel, in fact I always find it cold whilst the Garnier is surprisingly intimate. To find your seat the key thing is to go to the right door (indicated on your ticket- although in a few cases a different door may be more convenient if you wish to move in the intervals). Seats are comfortable, with plenty of legroom and most seats have good sight lines There is a small shop but the shop at the Garnier is much bigger and more comprehensive. Casts lists ('la distribution'') are free and given to you by the usher who shows you your seat. Programmes are expensive, but very informative if you read French, with photos of the casts performing, as well as earlier photos. There are good, free facilities for leaving coats and baggage Snacks and drinks are dear but there is a very wide range of cafes and restaurants nearby, including an adjacent good mid-price restaurant, Les Grande Marches Transport is good. Lots of buses very close (you often are joined on the bus by dancers) and several metro lines recently casting has come out several weeks in advance (years ago it was available at time of booking, then it was very last moment)

Now even the picture's gone!

Northern Ballet have announced they will be participating.

I saw an excerpt of this piece in rehearsal at an open day and thought that it had the most interesting choreography Kenneth Tindall has produced so far. And it's great for the dancers to be involved in creating and performing real choreography.

I agree about Taylor Stanley. He was impressive at the full company's season at the Chatelet several summers ago, and has continued to improve. In Copenhagen his spectacular dancing was the only thing I liked about Justin Peck's frantic The Times are Racing, and his quality shone in Martins's cliche'd Hallelujah Junction. Only one of the three dancers performed at Copenhagen, Zachary Catazaro, and he was very disappointing in Serenade (fortunately Danchig-Waring was the other male; he seemed to have taken over from Stanley in Symphony in Three Movements, as Stanley was listed but Danchig-Waring performed). I was more impressed by Huxley in Copenhagen than in the recent Paris performances; he was expressive and lyrical in the Square Dance solo which promised well for his dancing in Four Temperaments. He did not disappoint in that (although no-one will ever match Bart Cook, in my eyes). Of the other males I saw, Ask la Cour was disappointing in Four Temperaments, although the home crowd loved him, but was competent in the After the Rain pas de deux. I liked Joseph Gordon the first couple of In the Night (he and Lauren Lovette were outstanding) and the 3rd movement of Symphony in C (in which Teresa Reichlen was again disappointingly tense in the 2nd movement, partnered by Russell Janzen). Ulbricht was his usual exuberant self in Tarantella, and Veyette and Garcia just danced in the wonderful Pictures at an Exhibition, alongside Tyler Angle, Joseph Gordon and Aaron Sanz. So, yes, there is a shortage of top quality male dancers in the upper ranks of City Ballet.

Much of the information is more glossy PR than traditional recruitment information. And it's not all accurate, the claim that BRB started in the 1930s refers to the Royal Ballet, not BRB, which started in its earliest forms in 1946/47. It is clear that the aim is for a change of direction. Despite the occasional reference to its heritage works the emphasis seems to be more on contemporary relevance and engagement with diversity and young audiences. Although there is emphasis on recruiting internationally, one interesting desirable skill is familiarity with the English style. Another interesting point is that the successful candidate does not have to be a choreographer. For those of us in the North, the emphasis, in places, on London is a bit dispiriting (although understandable!). The recruitment process will cost a fortune, both in paying for the time of the large advisory panel and the recruitment agency.