bridiem

I enjoyed seeing Viola and Ella - both look very promising. But I didn't enjoy the rest of it (was watching on YouTube so I went off and did other things for some of the time) and didn't really find the coaching illuminating.

I have now returned the ticket to the Coliseum box office in the hope that they will be able to sell it so that the seat is not left empty.

I can't now use my ticket for tomorrow afternoon (2.30pm), so if anyone would like to use it for free please do post here. It's D44 and the full price was £29 (paid long before any discounts were being offered!). I hope someone will want to make use of it so it's not wasted.

'My' amphi seats are £66 rather than £51. On the one hand, I'm saving money on most of the other bills; on the other, £66 for seats that only a few years ago were half that sort of price is crazy. And Onegin isn't Swan Lake (from a marketing point of view; I imagine a lot of people don't even know how to pronounce it...). Maybe there will be a lot of discounting later on.

Thank you, @OnePigeon - the hashtag really made me laugh!! Maybe we could start a merchandise line?! Mugs, teatowels etc? Maybe the RBO shop would stock it? Oh no, wait...

It's very difficult to make decisions when funds are limited and you don't know who's performing in the second batch of performances of a work. Is Muntagirov doing Onegin later, or not at all? What about Kaneko? etc etc. And why give a cast one performance (Hayward/Corrales et al)??

Now that's what I call magnificent!

Thank you, @Estreiiita - I'm very envious! Wonderful bills (compared to what was brought to London earlier this year...).

The RBO has reported the death of Rowena Jackson: https://www.rbo.org.uk/latest-news/remembering-rowena-jackson

In which case it would be helpful to know what the funding is actually for; and if relevant wouldn't it be nice if funding was sought for a post that DID cover classical choreography?!

I'm loving this thread 😁

Thank you, @Sophoife - that's interesting. However, even if regrettable it sounds as if the situation in respect of federal funding has not changed, so unless there had been an expectation that it would change I'm not sure why this would have affected the company's - or the director's - plans.

I would have expected the company's budget would have been known and discussed before her appointment. So I find this very surprising.

And now she's leaving!! See article in today's Links.

And an even better explanation here from the Catholic Herald yesterday, for anyone who thought it was not a reference to the Last Supper: 'The French drag queen and rapper known as Piche from the show Drag Race France spoke to French media, saying the intention was to create a tableau of the Last Supper. “I received a lot of messages of support and people who were very happy that I was there and very surprised that there were drag queens at the opening ceremony,” he said, adding the opposition to the performance indicates that “we’ve succeeded and we’ve done what had to be done, that we’ve been fair and representative”. “Art always divides. As long as it doesn’t move people, it’s not art for me,” he said, arguing that the parody of the Last Supper “is not a provocation” as “it’s a biblical representation that has been reused in pop culture for decades and it’s never really been a problem”. “There were no real provocations or anything that was truly obscene. We didn’t make fun of the painting at all…it’s really just because it’s queers and drag queens who use that representation that it bothers,” he said. Similarly, Barbara Butch, a lesbian who donned a silver aureole halo crown headdress and low-cut dress while portraying the figure of Jesus in the Last Supper sketch, said the opening ceremony was intended to bring people together. According to her Instagram profile, Butch is “a Love activist, Dj and producer based in Paris. My aim is to unite people, gather humans & share love through music for all of Us to dance & make our hearts beat (in unison)! Music sounds better with all of Us!” Butch posted a screenshot image of her performance in the Last Supper parody above an image of Da Vinci’s original painting to her Instagram account with the comment, “Oh yes! Oh yes! The new gay testament!” The post was subsequently deleted.'