Colman

Sounds appalling. I'd be cringing in a corner somewhere.

Honestly, it'll likely be months before we know what's going to start happening. In the short run I'd be more worried about the consequences for local funding of arts and course - if the current turmoil doesn't calm down we/you could be in for an emergency budget quite quickly. Or it could all blow over: not convinced the people likely to take power actually want to leave. Even if they do, what the negotiations will look like isn't clear, how long it will take isn't clear, consequences are entirely unclear.

I'm afraid, LinMM, that this probably isn't the place for discussion, but I think our media environment makes politics that justifies our basest instincts much easier to sell than politics that appeals to our better angels. The first fit better into sound bites than the second.

As I understand, and I'm no friend of theirs, the Britain First report is not well sourced at the moment: it seems to be one (possibly secondhand) report amplified by being reported again and again. I don't think I'm going to say anything else here: I'm very angry (and sadly neither surprised or shocked) and I'm only slightly British.

Bussell holds the RAD presidency that Fonteyn held - and apparently worked diligently on - so there's an institutional logic there. Pictures of Bussell are also more likely to get into papers as well, so there's a PR logic too.

Well, it is hard: I'm a reasonably active chap, and that first month to six weeks was hard, painful as new muscles get exercised and confusing. I knew it would be - it always is when you start something like this - but a lot of people don't expect that. And it stays hard: that's the point. If I was easy it wouldn't be worth doing. As to advanced classes, we quite often do the advanced adult class, staying down the back of the barre or room and trying to keep out of their way - the teacher will simplify for us. There are only three hours of adult classes available a week, and you get the hours in as you can.

Still the only guy in my class. We've had two do single classes since I joined, but that's it. Currently almost no new Irish adults, but lots of their kids (Ireland: if you're not white and of British ancestry you almost certainly arrived here in last 15 years).

I'm afraid I'm almost completely disconnected from TV popular culture - we sort of decided some time ago that between horses, martial arts classes, dance classes, music classes and so on that we didn't have time for TV and don't have access to "normal" TV services - so I'm not exactly up to date with what's going on there, but I suspect there's a couple of things happening, keeping in mind that I'm in Ireland: * The popularity of the assorted talent/dance "reality" shows has put the thought in people's heads * There's been coverage of the idea in media - as I said, the Irish Daily Mail (I know, I know) did an almost full page spread on our class in one of their lifestyle bits about a month ago - journalist came and did a class and they sent a photographer, did phone interviews. Led with a picture of Victoria Beckham doing something terrible too. They did it because an editor decided it was trendy. * There's a wider acceptance of people, especially women, doing weird stuff, I think. The social cost of a woman in her sixties taking up ballet now is nearly zero - it may even be a social positive. That certainly wasn't true twenty years ago. * There's a reaction against the idea that we're basically waiting to die once we turn fifty, and that we can't do new stuff once we're past about 25. [added] It reminds me what happens in Iaido (japanese sword) class whenever there's a couple of samurai movies out. The influx of newbies slows after a while, but some end up staying. (Or, in our case, leaving to move to Japan!)

I don't know why I find re-broadcasts different (and less desirable) than live broadcasts, but I do. Completely irrational. We've had a couple of people join our class (which has hovered around 15 people too, about 50% more than two years ago) in the last few weeks too. We did get coverage in the Irish Daily Mail recently, which might explain it, but it's really late in the term. Maybe people are tiring of the gym thing and looking for something more interesting to do.

Congratulations!

It was almost worse than solemn: she was unnervingly chatty and helpful and cheerful! :-) Anyway, onwards: school show in a month and we discover what madness our teacher has in mind for us on Tuesday.

The examiner was lovely, but intimidatingly senior. Very kind to the about ten of us doing grade 1 and 2. The exam went ok: my final preparations were less than ideal since I managed to damage my calf on Tuesday and had a family event (my sons communion!) on the morning of the exam.

Just finished my ISTD Classical Ballet Grade 1 exam. ????

I know my teacher takes people to the shop to be fitted so she can double check the fit. I'm doing some early pre-pointe classes: mostly about articulation and improving foot/ankle/leg/core strength.

Give it a try. Worst case, you learn something interesting over a couple of months and then decide it's not for you. As to the rest, relax, let your body sort itself out and worry about it then.

I don't know how seriously they're taught it - it's another school she reaches in. At least some of the vocational track boys that are now in vocational dance schools in the UK. We have a running joke about me going doing pointe work once NASA's advanced materials division start building shoes capable of holding me.

I know our teacher puts at least some of the senior boys she teaches on pointe. Partly to give them a better understanding of how it works for partnering and partly because it's the sort of thing that might turn up in contemporary dance. In real life most students aren't going to be in classical ballet companies. (Also, given the mutterings I've read about blurring between male and female technique you can see the possibilities.)

I liked Carmen: it made perfect sense as a personal work. Maybe not one for the ages. Looks like plenty of people like Frankenstein. And not a few liked Strapless. I read a recent survey of modern art photography and what is told me was that it was almost all gibbering nonsense: a way for critics, galleries and an art world to pleasure themselves and exclude outsiders. The main criteria seemed to be having a esoteric process (travelling to isolated spots to take utterly blurred photos, floating a picture of a river in the river for a few months) and an artists statement that made no sense (generally a comment on the fact that photography is always a representation, got it the fifteenth time, bored now). Making the work affective seems to be a bit too populist. (And this is the polite version of my assessment …) A lot of ballet criticism seems to be in a similar vein. (Also, I'm grumpy because I missed the cinema streaming. Local cinema cancelled showing because there weren't enough bookings. No one books because you never need to unless it's Swan Lake or the Nutcracker.)

Again, relax: I was 21 before I figured that stuff out, and I wasn't the only one either.

BMI is a really bad measure of anything for an individual, especially an adolescent. He quite possibly won't fill out properly for another couple of years - as Aileen says of her husband, I was at least 21 before I did. Possibly older - I was much older before I realised how broad my shoulders had become. I was probably too busy to notice in my 20s. Relax, unless he's got some symptoms of illness. (Also, first girlfriends at 19, up North? I thought they'd all found their prospective spouse by 16, or is that a Fermanagh thing?)

Pork pies? I'm only being slightly facetious: "eating healthy" often seems to translate into eating low calorie density foods suitable for middle aged, sedentary office workers. I wouldn't worry about it too much, to be honest. I'm not that tall and I'm built broad, but I certainly grew up first and then out (and then out and out, but that's another matter, and later!) when I was that age. Make sure he's getting suitable exercise - which can get hard with all the changes to life at that critical age - and it'll sort itself out.

I think I'd be inclined to back off, give it a week or two to calm down and then have a chat, ask her if she's got a plan for working on her flexibility - and if she doesn't, and if she wants to, help her to form one (which really her involves talking to her teacher if she hasn't been given a specific programme) and then let her implement it - you can ask her how it's going, you can gently remind her, but that's about it. And as Anna C says, you have to be good and warm to stretch, which pretty much means that she has to do it after classes, unless she's going to warm-up, do some work and then stretch at home, which rapidly turns into at least a half hour session! But on those hours, she may not need or be able to do extra stretching at home! She needs some rest and recovery time too.

Since a good part of stretching is learning to relax, that's probably not going to be fruitful. How old is she?

I think it's a struggle with most kids: as I say it's hard enough to motivate myself, especially for something as unfun as stretching. As they get older, well, they have to start making those choices, or not.

I struggle to get me to do stretching at home.