thewinelake

Good luck for opening night. On a slightly wider matter, is there a ballet equivalent to "break a leg"?

Mmm... Thought I'd already replied again to this, but it would appear not... Just to report that I had a go with a bit of Vodka and, slightly impatient at the lack of clear results splashed on some of the Dylon Dry-Cleaning stain remover (the previously mentioned isopropyl alcohol, AKA propan-2-ol). Seems to have helped some...

Yes - I think so. Look at Osipova and the glamour shots of grand jetés straight out of rhythmic gymnastics. I know that there's a lot more than that to Osipova's technique, but her incredible legwork can't be captured in a single shot....

This is quite fascinating... I rang Gaynor Minden and they said that nobody had ever asked before! The girl I spoke to said I shouldn't put them in a washing machine and then suggested "spot cleaning with a wet towel" before saying "well, I suppose it would be like cleaning anything in satin". So I thought an Internet search might help. Here's one example where Vodka is the suggested cleaning method: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=233841 So Propan-2-ol would be quite similar to that in chemical properties. Clearly one would have to go gently and try and restrict the solvent to the surface of the fabric.

I note that the "traditional" way to clean pointe shoes is with the rather dangerous carbon tetrachloride as formerly used in dry cleaners. I think I may have a go with isopropyl alcohol (as used in products like Dylon's Dry Clean stain remover, also known as rubbing alcohol). Unless someone quickly(ish) screams "don't do it!" I also note that Gaynor Mindens are quite as averse to water as traditional shoes. I might make a video of this!

So DD has the show this week and her shoes (Gaynor Mindens) are a bit grotty with general ballet studio floor grime. What's a good way to get them looking vaguely presentable? We have various cleaning solvents at our disposal!!

I'm sure you'll be invited back on Wednesday ;-) Keep smiling!

Should probably have a thread in the "performances seen" now, but just to say you guys nailed it! Well done. Fascinating to experience it so close, too!

Looking forward to this afternoon. A bit of payback for all the driving, eh?!

In case anyone's interested, Adele's doing Aurora on Thursday and Sat mat, Amy has Friday & Saturday eves

I thought I'd see if I could work out which one you were based on that, thought you might have been the one in the pale blue, but then noticed that seems to apply to most of the dancers!

Oh yes! Thanks for the heads up... Our lidl darlins... ;-)

Surely a limit to how much damage one can do with such a thing?

You can always double-up for extra strength...

Thanks for the suggestions. I wonder if, like car tyres, ones mileage may vary! Those Grishkos sound like they may be worth a go. Annoying that I just placed a Porselli order on Monday, but I guess it's important to try them on.

Yes, that's the view I'm coming around to - I wonder if they do it on purpose!

So what are the forum favourites in terms of tough split-sole shoes?

Thanks all - I switched an order to Porselli as they had everything we needed (DanceDirect didn't) so we were able to save on delivery.

As a ballet wallet (so it seems!) I have a vested interest in finding out where are the best places to buy things like ballet tights, shoes and bags. eg. I need to get a Bloch ballet bag this week. Seems that going to Bloch's online shop is OK - with delivery for just under a fiver. Other places seem to charge less for delivery, but more for the bag! I could drop by the shop and pick it up, but for a fiver, it's not really worth it. Good sources for tough (leather?) split-sole shoes also wanted, as the girls are going through the canvas ones very quickly at the moment.

A lot of pain seems to be the consensus - clever leaving it until Sunday!

Very helpful - we've parked in leisure centre before and maybe were lucky to get away with it. Don't mind paying for parking but hate tickets etc!

I guess those of you doing it will have been in the local papers a week or two ago? Please share the links (if that's OK)... Ours have, but they got the names/schools the wrong way around! I mentioned this to their ballet teacher who said "oh, they always did that when I sent in press releases, so I don't bother any more!". I don't see how that's even possible - surely press-releases are just copied from the original, and so EYB must have muddled it up? Or do papers monkey with press-releases to get them down to the right length - and this is just collateral damage? Here's our one: http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/13656013.Gifted_dancers_land_role_in_a_professional_production_of_Sleeping_Beauty/ (Mods: If this is not allowed, apologies and feel free to delete the link!) Oh, and on a somewhat unrelated issue, I have been tasked with finding somewhere to eat before the shows. So I thought we'd try the PI Bistro on the Friday and On The Green on Saturday. This last place seems to be a proper restaurant with proper wine - something that I'd thought (in an admittedly snobby way) was surprising for Stevenage.... (OK - apologies to those who live there!)

Prix? Seriously?! Wow... How about Britain's Got Talent? (Or, more likely, America's Got Talent!)

Jana Baldovino As per http://www.rad.org.uk/news/genee-2015-medallists-announced Lania Atkins is pretty tall, at 5'9 - I suspect that such heights are getting more and more common. DW and DDs described her as "lanky" - I thought rather elegant with it! Also, I hadn't realised that the number of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals is pretty much anything the judges deem appropriate. Unusual for there to be one of each!

yes, good point - the small stage made the running around seem somehow silly!