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I totally agree - given the fact that it's triggered by 12-12 instead of 6-6, I think the tie break rules should proportionally reflect that in some way. Or rather, I think that the thinking behind the 12-12 rule (presumably "if it's still neck and neck by this stage then the players need to be given more of a run at getting one up on their opponent") should be applied.

This is nothing specifically to do with dance, just a couple of practical tips. I haven’t “used” my dual citizenship yet, but have been through the processes of claiming Irish citizenship through the Foreign Births Register and subsequently obtaining an Irish passport. Each half of the process took a full 4 months from application to issue of the document - and for the duration of the passport application process I was without my British passport as it was one of the supporting documents with my application. However I understand from another forum member that one can get around this by visiting the Irish Embassy Passport Office (Cromwell Road, London SW7) in person and getting them to certify and return your supporting documents while you wait.

Oh, that’s nice to hear it was somebody “tangible”! She doesn’t have the “stereotypical” ballerina look, and had really strong presence and solid technique (the school must agree if they put her at the front of her year group) and really stood out from the crowd. I love it when my eye is drawn to somebody interesting! Best of luck to her.

Yes, it did indeed. Besides what it adds to the actual dance items, the atmosphere gains significantly from the ambient sounds of an orchestra before the performance and during the interval. It's very odd not to have it at Holland Park - and that's speaking from the point of view of somebody who's a frequent operagoer at Holland Park and therefore is used to the ambient orchestra sounds there. Of course at Holland Park the stage extension used for the RBS performances occupies most of the "pit" area, so they couldn't have a live orchestra for the RBS even if they wanted to.

Though one particular stat that doesn't get included in the official ones is the fact that Djokovic always had the upper hand in tie breaks... Who knows how it might have gone if the final set tie-break rule hadn't come in this year, but we are where we are!

We had a few of them in the Marquis of Anglesey with their parents watching the remaining 3 hours of Wimbledon men's singles final, too! I thoroughly enjoyed the RBS performance yesterday, though having seen one of the Holland Park "predominantly Upper School" shows, was *slightly* disappointed that with the exception of the solo piece, the Paquita Mazurka for the youngest students, and of course the grand defile, it was effectively the same show. However, with much of the principal casting different except in Simple Symphony, there wasn't really that much sense of repetition. I echo the thoughts of those above who complimented Untied, Undone. I was struck by how much better Simple Symphony looked on the ROH stage; at Holland Park without the lit backdrop, the costumes looked lurid, but with the correct background lighting it was much easier on the eye. And I was glad to see La Valse repeated on the ROH stage, as at Holland Park (which has no curtains) the ending just doesn't work. As an aside, there was one White Lodge dancer not in any featured role who consistently caught my eye as I thought she had a characterful face and radiated personality. She was in Bottega and then ended up at the front of the line of Year 10 girls at the end of the grand defile. I'll look out for her again next year!

I wouldn’t know personally about the Central syllabus classes, as they only run the higher vocational grades. The only Central classes at my level are the non-RAD, non-syllabus classes listed on the main Central Nights page.

Hi - the page is currently rather cluttered by general summer timetable-change announcements, but if you look down at the bottom, you’ll see details of Central School of Ballet’s RAD Advanced drop-in classes. https://www.centralschoolofballet.co.uk/adulteveningclassesradclasses.php

Not surprised by no promotion for Clarke, given how much of this season he has spent injured. Maybe next year he will be more fortunate (along with Corrales and Bracewell), leading to the appropriate professional reward - the company clearly has a lot of faith in him as a future star. I’m just over the moon for Romany Pajdak, though, as she’s richly deserved that for years and I really thought it would never happen.

If you're tempted but are unsure of the logistics of getting to and dining at Glyndebourne and would like some advice, please do ask! And sorry, slight error in original post: ticket numbers are 27/28 not 28/29. I have a potential buyer elsewhere so fingers crossed.

The email I received from OHP this morning confirms that they expect a running time of 2h 30m including the interval. (This is for Thursday's performance which is a "predominantly Upper School" one.) This is consistent with the running times in previous years. And don't forget that the evening performances begin at 7pm, not 7:30pm.

Forgot to add - unlike the standing room at ROH, you get a little padded ledge to perch your bum on, rather than one to lean your elbows forwards onto.

I have a pair of spare standing tickets, which I'm not willing to sell separately at present, £40 (i.e. £20 each) for Rusalka at Glyndebourne next Thursday - 11th July - at 5pm. Red Upper Circle Standing 28/29. If you are vaguely familiar with the standing room at Glyndebourne they are in the better section with an almost full view of the stage - not the poor ones in the slips. They are classified as restricted view, but this refers only to a small section of the front left corner of the stage which is cut off by the curve of the Upper Circle - the view and aspect on the stage is roughly equivalent to the ends of rows D and E in the ROH Amphitheatre. Please PM me if interested - I've also advertised them on Facebook and Twitter.

I've always been that age...

I'm not much of a fan of white acts either - but with Giselle, once Myrthe's solo opening sequence is over, I find it dramatically compelling because unlike any other scene I can think of, I'm not just watching abstract inconsequential dance sequences, I'm watching a direct dramatic representation through dance of characters who only exist to dance and make others dance. Does that make sense?

Totally butting in here, as I'm not a JA parent or a parent at all, but if it turns out that the smaller one will be suitable for now, why not try asking on the For Sale/Wanted sub-forum to see if another poster has a second-hand one which their child has outgrown?

Really? Romany Pajdak has been dancing significant featured roles for several years, is a terrific actress, and for four or five years now I've been expecting/hoping that a promotion to Soloist will be announced, to the point that I've pretty much given up on it ever happening. I'd be delighted if it happened.

Indeed - we have all seen certain dancers spend several years as Soloists or First Soloists (the highest rank they reach before eventual retirement) who do not fulfill their early promise at that level, but because they are now occupying the position (which seems to me to be a "jobs for life" scenario") are effectively blocking it from being available for a dancer who is now better than them to be promoted into. Were I in charge, this might inform extreme caution as to who I were to choose to promote when vacancies arise. Looking at the company's current personnel following the natural attrition of the past few years, I would say there are few if any dancers who are at a higher rank than they should be. That's a great position for the company to be in, and one worth maintaining.

The heats never sell well (except for the Song Prize which takes place in a smaller venue and always sells out), but the final is sold out.

I have a conductor friend who, if I check into a ballet on Facebook, will often ask me how the conducting was, especially if the conductor is a friend of hers (she has one particular friend who quite regularly conducts bits of RB mixed bills) and when she gets round to going to a ballet herself, always sits where she can see the conductor. And I never have a clue. In opera or concerts the conducting is much more part of the things I will notice about a performance than in ballet, where I typically only notice the conductor if they do something badly!

Surely there's going to be an element of preference expressed by the parent. If they have a very long distance to travel, other children, pre-existing extracurricular activities etc, surely some people will *want* a slightly lower time commitment?

The BBC have had a change of heart. Last night's heat had a delayed broadcast in full at 22:05 on BBC4, as will tonight's. This was only announced yesterday.

Surely, for the sake of one rehearsal, you could find an acquaintance who’s already a Friend who might be able to book an extra ticket and take you with them?

One *could* suggest that as a Principal she should be given precedence over Melissa Hamilton. I'm not suggesting I would agree with this approach particularly, as I like Hamilton in Macmillan.

Yes, and she (inexplicably, to me) isn't scheduled to do so in the next revival, either!