Alice Shortcake

I'm sure the pizzicato has been used in at least one irritating TV advert. Speaking of which, is it possible for any British ballet-goer of a certain age to see "The Nutcracker" without being reminded of the words "everyone's a fruit and nut case"?!

"Proust" introduced me to Saint-Saens' Third Symphony and Debussy's Dances for Harp and Orchestra, for which I'm profoundly grateful. I was also bowled over by the music of "Sylvia", which I'd never heard before as the ballet is so infrequently revived. I would probably not have read "Eugene Onegin" had it not been for the poem's ballet and operatic versions. Slightly OT, but I'm fascinated by the process of adapting long, complicated novels and plays into operas/ballets. "The Winter's Tale" is one of my favourite plays and I loved Christopher Wheeldon's version for the RB, but I must admit to missing the character of Autolycus! Janet, I've just booked for NB's "1984" at Leeds and can't wait to see how they'll handle the story.

Oh, those hideous tattoos. I honestly can't bear to look at them. Please, Sergei, keep your shirt on as much as possible!

Two Pigeons, I too would love to see Markova as Giselle - ideally being partnered by Erik Bruhn as Albrecht.

Let's not forget that in the good old days before mobile phones we had the idiots who insisted on taking flash photos, even when the programme and pre-performance announcements made it clear that this was strictly forbidden. In the early 80s my mother and I attended a Nureyev Festival/Boston Ballet performance of "Swan Lake" at the Coliseum and were amazed at the number of people taking flash photos - the auditorium kept lighting up like a Christmas tree! In the first interval the FOH manager appeared on stage to admonish the culprits, to no avail. At the second interval he appeared again, this time to announce that Nureyev had threatened to abandon the performance unless the flash photography ceased! Fortunately this had the desired effect...