Balletfanp

Just had a look and Rhapsody/The Two Pigeons is available for pre-order on the ROH site ???? DVD:- http://www.roh.org.uk/products/rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-dvd-the-royal-ballet Or Blu-ray:- http://www.roh.org.uk/products/rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-blu-ray-the-royal-ballet Out on 3rd Oct!

I swear the Brownlees are superhuman! The triathlon has got to be harder than a marathon.

God, I saw the video - made me feel sick! ????

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds the cycling races deeply mysterious, albeit exciting! Totally agree, Alison, and they were booing him as he took his last jump too - OK, their man was in the lead and they didn't want him to be overtaken, but that's disgraceful behaviour by any standards.

Well done to Jack Laugher - silver in the diving!

I must say that, phenomenal gymnasts though they are, Simone Biles and her ilk leave me cold. I hanker after the days when gymnastics (particularly the floor exercises) were something pleasurable to watch and not just a display of athletics. Last night I looked up Olga Korbut's floor exercises on YouTube, and what a delight they were to see again. Such a performer! And what a contrast to the floor exercises now. The exercises now are undoubtedly incredible in terms of what they can achieve, but I know what I would rather watch...

I do Taekwondo, and have also had to teach the class on occasion - we would never take an attitude like that. Mutual respect, praise and positive reinforcement are our watchwords, and we have excellent results from that. Absolutely no need for bullying or shouting or pushing people beyond their limits. We expect them to work hard, yes - but it has to be tempered with common sense and compassion.

I have trouble with the dreaded "throat tickle from nowhere" which is pretty much impossible to suppress. However I have found that if I can really force myself to relax (not easy as one's instinct is to tense up in panic!) I can get control of the coughing much more easily - and water or a cough sweet also helps.

Max and Louis were both amazing! So happy for Max in particular.

I had to leave the room - couldn't watch!

Just watched it - how lovely!

God, stressful, yes - that following the diving made a nervous wreck of me last night. Fantastic performances all round. And very impressed by how cool and composed Max Whitlock was, given that awful situation of having to watch his rivals compete after him and just having to wait for their scores! Needed a glass of wine after all that (my excuse, anyway! ????)

Thank you Dormouse - it sounds as though there is hope for me yet! If I can do as well as you are obviously doing I will have no regrets. Congratulations again.

That is brilliant - well done! I'm interested in your comment about knee replacement as I have been told that is my next step, but they won't do it yet as I'm "too young" (and at 50 it's about the only occasion I am likely to be described as "too young" these days!). Just wondering how much it has affected you - are you able to do what you would have been able to do before having knee problems, would you say? I'm trying to hold off as long as possible, but if I have it done I would like to be able to continue doing Taekwondo, and I don't know if that's possible, or encouraged.

I do know what you mean - I'll still be watching though! Happily it all coincides with my two weeks off work! ☺

Thanks Capybara!

This doesn't seem to be on the website yet - have I missed something obvious?

I just don't know what to say any more ????

Our loss - but good for her!

Terrible. I remember watching the Royal Family Christmas special a few years back and thinking what an incredibly clever mix of comedy and heartbreaking sadness it was. Genius. So very sad.

That brought a tear! How lovely, thanks for posting, Bluebird. Congratulations to Shiori - she has always stood out for me with her beautiful dancing and lovely big smile.

It's definitely a function on my phone and my tablet. I keep telling myself I must turn it off, but often it is quite useful, and besides, it would be a shame to miss out on the inadvertent laughs it occasionally gives me! Incidentally, there is actually a website called Damn You Autocorrect, which is a collection of unfortunate typos as a result of, you guessed it, autocorrect, some of which are hilarious (but be warned, some are quite "adult" in nature, which makes you wonder what the designers of the feature were thinking when they programmed them in!).

Mayara Magri! I'm really going to have to figure out how to switch off autocorrect....!

I saw last night's performance. I had also seen the general rehearsal a couple of weeks ago, and hadn't really engaged with Obsidian Tear then. It did improve on a second viewing - brilliantly danced, of course, and certainly quite compelling - but I did find it a bit repetitive after a while, and as someone else said, there was an awful lot going on on stage. I found I couldn't keep up with it all and my attention wandered a bit. I did find the ending, with Matthew Ball silhouetted against the orange glow before throwing himself into the abyss, quite effective. I really enjoyed The Invitation (if "enjoy" is the right word...). I suppose it has dated a bit, but the overall story and message is so compelling that it overrode any small flaws in my eyes. Needless to say, all the main performances were superb. I thought Muntagirov and Hayward made the most adorable pairing. They hit off the naivety, playfulness, and coy, innocent adolescent flirting perfectly - which served to throw into even greater relief the contrast after the terrible deed has taken place. I found it almost unbearably touching how she runs to her cousin for comfort after the rape has happened - only to recoil when he becomes a little amorous. Gary Avis was quite wonderful (for a nice chap he plays villains awfully well!), and Yanowsky also brilliant. When she sides with her broken husband after the rape, it seems that she has finally taken control of their relationship (and him) and has gained the upper hand - at the expense, of course, of two innocent lives ruined; although on the face of it, the boy hasn't really suffered, but he has lost the cousin he loves. All quite hard to watch but quite brilliantly acted by them all. And a word for Mayara Matrix as the hen - really good - and Isabella Gasparini as a very annoying little girl! I loved Golden Hour! So beautiful, flowing and uplifting after the first two ballets, and the music gorgeous. I find the end, with the curtain closing on them all moving fluidly together onstage, very effective. I fully intended to try to find fellow Balletco-ers in the interval, but I was ragingly thirsty, and by the time I had queued for water, then queued for the toilets in the intervals I had to rush back! I did bump into Janet purely by chance, though!

I love the photo; makes me smile every time I look at it!