assoluta

To answer your question, MAB, -- because I don't form opinions without making an effort to know well the subject of my opinions first (the provocative way you pose your question is a distortion of what I wrote).

...and of many other inhabitants of these islands who were introduced to ballet by her and her company.

No, that's not "quite an accusation". That is almost explicitly stated in the book published in 1947 that I mention in one of my earlier posts. I would like to stress that I am not interested in idle speculations, generic arguments and fantasies. Anything I write is based on investigating sources, in this case the sources I have been collecting in my private studies of Inglesby.

Well. Ashton and MacMillan, deserve that separate treatment due to the nature of their achievement. You are mentioning Marie Rambert in your post, Josephine, but you may not be aware that Rambert herself may very well bear at least part of responsibility for the hostility towards Inglesby and her marginalization by the British ballet establishment in the 1940-ies and the early 1950-ies.

I saw lots of works by Ratmansky over a period spanning close to 17 years, many multiple times, and in my opinion his forte is precisely this kind of feerie, while his pronounced weakness as a choreographer is his limited ability to compose 'melodic lines', figuratively speaking, as well as his command of ensembles. Having seen so much of Ratmansky abroad, I feel much less desire to see him also in London.

I didn't mean "conspiracy", FLOSS, I meant "hostility" of the establishment in the 1940-ies and 1950-ies. I am saying this cautiously, making any claims requires being thoroughly informed and I am not (not yet), I have encountered in a variety of accounts pointers to that hostility, however.

For me the only "odd" thing about it is that such a company, and a uniquely gifted person, like Mona Inglesby, who at the age of 22 organized it, has been purposefully marginalized in collective "ballet memory" of the nation.

Margaret, the book you are mentioning is it Mona Inglesby, ballerina and choreographer, by Geoffrey Handley-Taylor, published in 1947? That book contains some of the most enchanting photos representing a ballerina, ethereally beautiful and noble. If you can make a high resolution scan of the programme and post it somewhere, I will be the first one to thank you.

Next year in May, we will be celebrating 100th anniversary of birth of one of the most fascinating ballet personalities in Britain, Mona Inglesby, a ballerina, a choreographer, an artistic director, and an immensely gifted person, the one who "brought ballet to the masses", the one who preserved Nikolai Sergeev's archive that is invaluable for any work aimed at "reconstructing" spectacles of Russian Imperial ballet. A few years ago Ismene Brown produced a BBC Radio 4 program devoted to Inglesby. My sincere wish is to awake interest and awareness among the ballet public, and garner popular support for having next year some events that properly honour her life and achievements. Personally, my dream would be to bring back to stage one of her "charming" little ballets.

I know what you are talking about, FLOSS. Alicia Markova once said (quoting entirely from memory), that when she asked Antony Tudor what was the difference between a ballerina and a very good dancer, Tudor's answer was: "ballerina is perfect". Markova, confoundedly, remarked, "but nobody can be perfect", to which Tudor replied — "She has to be". This is unrelated to the fact that "ballerina" in professional circles is a neutral term for a classical female dancer, what the journalists write in their newspaper articles is of little importance for this matter, believe me. Members of various ballet fora pay far more attention to what the journalists say than competent ballet professionals themselves. The latter have trust only in what they see and what they hear from their peers.

A small corrective: in fact 'ballerina' that you see on some company websites is a shortened form of prima ballerina , informally referred to by everybody as prima. Any female dancer of classical extraction is referred to in Russian as ballerina. When Alexandrova, Obraztsova, etc, refer to themselves as 'prima ballerina' they are just using a neutral and commonly understood, in the ballet world, term, that is most often used for principals of grand old companies. One needs to be reminded that the Milanese school of classical (female) dance completely dominated Europe after a short-lived period of French Romantic Ballet until the Russians saved the classical dance from extinction.

I respect and follow with interest Wheeldon's desire to create narrative ballets (full-length or not, is secondary). His Winter Tale I consider much more successful than, for example, his Cinderella (the latter has not much to offer in terms of choreography).

MAB's advice is sound for those who don't know Palais Garnier well. Those who do (like me), can find ways to get good visibility seats for a tiny fraction of the expensive tickets. This allows me to be at Garnier any time and as many times I want.

I agree completely and I am particularly disturbed by the fact that those, at best, personal opinions are fed to an unprepared visitor of a site that purports to be factually accurate.

I am sorry to say that but Sheila gave an accurate account of this missed opportunity to honour Yvette Chauviré. When for 20 years you treat with disdain the great ballet classic, this is what you get. Contrary to her pronouncements made a year ago, Aurélie Dupont is steadily continuing on the destructive path of Brigitte Lefèvre. École de danse is similarly a pale shadow of what it was under strong guidance of Claude Bessy.

The site is an enthusiast's run project and should not be considered an authoritative source of information on the subject.

Nureev was notorious for such things, he absolutely resented that his partners might garner more applause than him. On occasions he did things to them much worse than what you mention. My information comes directly from the source: his former partners, colleagues and assistants.

This seems to be a rather bold supposition...

I keep seeing them in class, on stage, I know many of them, know their pedagogues, I know the realities of ballet schools, from the top to the bottom.

...which I find, by the way, a lot more proper for a ballet school showpiece than all those modern pieces combined. Having been to a lot of those ballet school concerts, I am sorry to report that the preponderance of modern pieces in the gala was more due to inability of many of those kids to dance decently, without simplifying steps, serious pieces of classical repertoire...

Last time they were selling slowly, in the end though all Swan Lakes, at least, were sold out and, yes, usually there are plenty of returns. I am really looking forward to check how good will be this time the fabled corps de ballet and expect few revelations if any from the soloists.

Western ballet without Ballets Russes would be very different, I am not even sure it would exist today. Kshessinska's (possible) influence on its fortunes, however, should not be overestimated. Even Fokine's influence -- Diaghilev was a difficult man himself, he didn't want to be dependent on anybody, and he was ready to part with anyone, including the ones who seemed the fortunes of his Ballets Russes depended most. Fokine and Pavlova departed early, Nijinsky was abandoned. It was always Diaghilev that was setting the trends and shaping the artistic image of his company. There is absolutely nobody today who is comparable with him. I frequently think of Diaghilev who was first of all interested in truly talented people, who was investing in them, even if they were totally unknown and inexperienced, unlike modern artistic directors who stick opportunistically with very limited choices provided by "critically acclaimed" choreographers irrespective of the quality of their work.

Concerning Matvienko, I do not believe, I saw it and recently. It was terrible. Concerning Kondaurova -- the dancer who is not fussing herself with much nuance, with strong, non-plastic hand and leg movements. Perfect for Forsythe (there is a reason why she remained unnoticed until it was precisely Forsythe who picked her).

I would see both Kondaurova/Askerov/Osmolkina and Tereshkina/Shklyarov/Batoeva. Of all the Solors Kim Kimin is very well worth seeing in the Kingdom of Shades.

Not an easy choice this year: Anastasia Matvienko has been in disappointing form lately, artistically and technically speaking, Kondaurova has been a favourite with Western audiences for many years, more, however, due to her sex-appeal than pure classical lines (the least classical one of all the active principals and first dancers at Mariinsky), an arch-technician Tereshkina doesn't inspire me much anymore (her recent premiere Stone Flower was artistically flat), I don't watch Swan Lake to count the number and speed of rotations in assisted pirouettes after all; the case of Chebykina is one of the most vivid illustrations of the misguided policies of the last 9 years at Mariinsky. In this situation the last show, Osmolkina paired with Styopin, one of the best dancers in the company, is my first choice.