Two Pigeons

I remember when SWRB regularly did eight shows a week for about 3 months at a time. It was much the same on their foreign tours. When you see most BRB triples it is not uncommon to see the same dancers appearing in at least two of the works three times over a weekend.

Actually Alison that is exactly what I was going to say. I was in Lancaster the night part of the seating collapsed injuring some of the sponsors. Friends I had in SWRB at the time had some horror stories about conditions in the so-called dressing rooms.

I also remember seeing the Bolshoi in a tent in Battersea and having to walk back to my car in pitch blackness. Things would have to improve a lot for this type of enterprise to be permitted now.

sorry, it's me again.  My previous post went on before I saw Bruce's last missive.  I am not sure that other companies' audiences should be judged against the Royal's.  The Royal has a number of great advantages, not least the building which is a tourist destination in itself.  Secondly, although there is a very devoted and informed audience it is not the whole story.  There is also so a significant 'corporate' one which will turn up regardless of what is on and adds very little to the advancement of the art form.  This means that the company has to work less hard at 'putting bums on seats'.  

One final point about the cinema relays, the Royal is presenting Manon, one production of which there is actually a matinee. However, the programme I would really like to see, the Ashton one, is not being broadcast and as far as I remember does not have a matinee performance.  I think it is a really shame that the company's founder choreographer gets so little representation. It seems to be a case that if it is not Fille Mal Gardee there is no chance of it getting to a wider audience, despite the fact that so many companies around the world are now doing his works.

If I may return to the fray, the rebranding of LFB happened when I still lived in London and I would like to thank Peter Schaufuss for some of my happiest ballet going memories when he was at the helm.  But, back to the point, my memory of it is that the company said that the problem was the word 'Festival' as this indicated when they were abroad that it was not a permanent company.  Merely one which was put together for a short term purpose.  I don't think 'London ' was the issue.  

I think the honest answer to that one has to be NO.  Without ACE funding the Opera House would either become prohibitively expensive or it would close.  The other companies you mention could not survive in their current forms and life in this country would be (as far as I am concerned) considerably poorer without it.  

Speaking as a tax payer who lives in deepest Worcestershire I think that ENB strives very hard to be an accessible company. In addition to their touring when they appear in London they do at least offer matinees. The average non-London balletomane has a far greater chance of getting to see them than they have for the Royal.

I agree with the point that the nation's ballet going audience has not grown that much over the years and I feel far too much is being stressed on the cinema relays from the Opera House as bringing in a new audience. It is undoubtedly a start but, without wishing to repeat myself, the pretty narrow repertory is hardly educating the public that much.

Given this time of financial constraint I wish ENB every continued success. However, they may be faced with the stark choice of find an accepting city who will support them or drastically reduce their ambitions.

I remember very well all the deliberations when it was mooted that SWRB should move to Birmingham. Thank goodness they went because for the last 25 years 60 plus dancers and all the support network have had jobs. Had they declined the offer it would not have been long before the company would have ceased to be.

The audience and the amount of public money for ballet is finite. ENB have done incredibly well to stay afloat for all these years but the Royal holds all the trump cards, not least the amount of broadcast coverage they are getting. I would love to see the annual broadcast of The Nutcracker or another Swan Lake be replaced by Le Corsair or something equally interesting but performed by another company. I cannot see that Tamara can possibly achieve all she wants under the current set up. I will be very happy to be proved wrong as it would be a great result for Ballet. We will see.

Thank goodness the BRB budget isn't being cut. I was really getting concerned for the future of the company in its present form.

I agree that all these promotees (if this is not a word it should be) all well deserving of their advancement.  On a personal level I am particularly pleased about Samara Downs and Brandon Lawrence as both of these dancers have really impressed me this past season.  

However, my first thought was 'gosh, money is tight - no new principals'.  As well as the people already mentioned there is Mathias Dingman and there seems to be a real bottleneck of talent waiting to ascend the peerage as it were.  I think this could become a real problem when you have extremely able dancers, some with real star quality like Celine, who may seek opportunities elsewhere. This is a problem with lots of companies from time to time but BRB do seem to have almost an embarrassment of riches at the moment.  

I would like to finish with special mention for Kit Holder.  I am glad that he has been recognised, not only for his own merits but it does show that the company still values character artists and that should be welcomed

Congratulations to all the successful dancers and may there be a bit more leeway next year.

I saw this last night and found much to enjoy. I was lucky to see the first cast and can only praise the amazing Michael O'Hare who remains one of the greatest character artists we have. I am not sure that I share the view expressed by many that Mathias Dingman as Alain was the star of the show. However, I do congratulate him for doing so well despite being utterly cast against type. Here undoubtedly is a Colas of the future. He was very amusing but, for me, he missed the pathos and vulnerability of the party. I think some of this was due to his height.

The other person I would like to mention was Luke Scaufuss as the flute boy. I must confess to a strong bias here as I remember his father as one of my all time favourite Colases. That apart, Luke has lovely feet and legs together with a carriage which shows his pedigree.

One negative point, I was less impressed with the revised light show. Having seen the ballet for 35 years I do realise that it is raining for part of act two without needing the point hammered home like that. I was amazed we didn't get to have a rainbow as well.

I must agree with the previous poster about the short amount of ballet time for this programme and that really rather worries me.  I thought it was brave of the company to mount three of Sir Fred's earlier works and certainly it was a great time to revive Dante Sonata.  However, the audiences were very disappointing and I do wonder if the feeling that £50 for an hour of performance was a bit steep and so likely to deter people further.  This has the knock on effect that such a programme is unlikely to be repeated and these rarer works will be lost again.  As it is we have absolutely no Ashton at all planned for next season.

Les Rendezvous has long been one of my favourite of his works and when I saw it at the weekend I could not but wish that they had dispensed with the 'scenery'.  I could just about live with the frocks - although the girls in the corps should all have had full length gloves rather than looking as though they had been doing the washing up - but the darkness of the backcloth completely overpowered the stage.

Oh well, back to watching the proper version on You Tube.  It always gladdens my heart to see it and Marion Tait had a real understanding of the style and wit the variation calls for.

Shows you how good Markova and De Valois were when it was premiered.

Thank you, I have just watched this and really enjoyed it.

I have just got back from seeing this programme and I am so full of seeing Dante Sonata on the 70th anniversary of D Day I wanted to record my thoughts. I did see this work when the reconstruction was first done by Jean Bedells (apologies if my spelling is a bit awry) and she gave a most enlightening rehearsal and chat to the BRB Friends which explained the context of the work. I was a little concerned that the younger generation of dancers would miss its sincerity and impact.

I should not have doubted them and must single out Iain Mckay and Mathias Dingman as the principal protagonists. I was caught up in the whole experience and it will stay with me for a good while yet.

Lovely ballet, horrendous costumes. Oh well, I have my memories.

I think it is such a shame the Royal Ballet decided to redesign some of Ashton's ballets. I cannot see that these, the ones for Rhapsody or Daphnis and Chloe were an improvement. At least with the last of these the originals were reinstated.

I must just console myself with the thought that at least we are being given this chance to see a gem of a ballet.

As always, Sir Frederick thank you for the joy you have given me over the years.

Speaking for myself, the comparative shortness of Giselle and Nutcracker is part of the attraction. In contrast I can find Sleeping Beauty interminable at times. Ditto the Bolshoi's Romeo and Juliet. That has two tight acts and the third one goes on for days.

I am away from home at present and this is not playing very smoothly on my tablet. However, from what I have seen so far, many many thanks for posting this rare gem. I cannot wait to get home and watch it properly.

What a great way to spend the Summer!

This is probably not the right thread for this but here goes. My penultimate visit to the ballet with my mother was March 2009 to the Birmingham Hippodrome to see Enigma Variations. At the end we turned to each other and we both had tears pouring down our cheeks. My father joined us and all he said was 'oh, that music'.

It remains one of my greatest moments of over 35 years of ballet going. She was a huge Ashtonphile and admired both Iain and Maggie greatly. Few people inspired that sort of devotion. Thank you Sir Fred and to the people who keep his legacy going.

Thank you so much for this thread. I am sure a lot of us would loved to have been there. All this and Les Rendezvous in the proper costumes. Sheer heaven!

Well done Iain and Maggie. May this harbinger similar events closer to home. It is the very least Sir Fred deserves.

Me too!

This is my biggest regret that the old white costumes can no longer be used. I see Iain Webb's company is using photos of the old designs. I wonder if they had to make up a new set.

BRB are using the RB ones which I have been told is the only way we could have the revival.

He actually admitted to me that he had used a couple of remarks I made to him about Alessandra Ferri's first Mary Vetsera and he had repeated them to lots of people. I suppose that I was fortunate in this. Most of the people I knew he had quoted did not receive that courtesy.

My regular Royal Opera House days were the 80s and I remember the lady in black very well. She was a ballet legend at that time. I also remember Macaulay and how he used to latch on to regulars and then report their views as his own. Indeed, there were a number of letters in the Dancing Times complaining he was being given too much coverage. I find his escalation to the New York Times both baffling and irritating. He has never struck me as being a particularly objective writer.

I think the point I am coming to is that if you knew him and saw how he operated in those days you might well find that anything he writes may well contain points which will irk. I remember an article he wrote for the FT in about 1992 which was an utter diatribe against Sir Peter Wright and his productions. I was so livid I wrote a letter of complaint to the paper. The Arts Editor did reply saying he would discuss the natter with him.

I am sorry but I have never liked him and I tend to view all his writings with suspicion.

I am genuinely pleased for you both as you deserve it considering the trouble you had to go to in order to apply.

Fonteyn was formally awarded this title during the celebrations for her 60th birthday. I think the term 'prima ballerina' is often awarded by dancers to themslves when the appear in articles and other publicity. I don't know of a case of it being specifically endowed.

If we are listing personal wishes for danseur nobles please may I suggest Desmond Kelly.