Blossom

Tamara Rojo has just posted links for vacancies for soloists and principals...

According to the Times article today, he will be performing Take Me to Church live and there will be a Q&A on 2 March at the London Palladium.. I assume most people know this already as it is pretty booked up.

A pity this was cancelled. Thanks for letting me know as I didn't receive any confirmation from them!

I always thought that they only use ticketing agents when productions aren't selling so well to try to broaden out the audience. I can't believe the mark up! Tickets are already expensive but thankfully not as much so as New York/Lincoln Center for example. Definitely in agreement that the u shaped theatre isn't ideal for viewing from many places - it actually makes it really difficult to buy tickets as there are so many restricted view seats. Having said that, at least there are plenty of affordable seats!

I booked on the day Friends opened for booking. Waited 4 hours to find out if friend could join me but tickets were flying so fast that I just had to go ahead and book. Thankfully a ballet I particularly wanted to treat myself to a better seat for as there was nothing reasonablly priced left...

I've been looking at a few of your conversations about school and/or uni leavers and not sure if this is of interest, but to those who say their children would gladly take any job, this is what I can tell you from my industry, advertising:- School leavers - apprenticeships - everything you need to know http://www.creativepioneers.co.uk/Jobs Post uni paid internships - there are TONS of entry level jobs in London in particular, but not exclusively. This is the industry internships site which is pretty good at giving a complete overview. Because data is so important these days in everything we do in the digital world and beyond, there are actually some really interesting roles for people with a maths or science background who know how to manage data, structure tests.... http://www.theadmission.co.uk/ I think one of the toughest things for graduates is knowing what they want to do if they haven't done a degree, but maybe this industry would appeal. It is somewhat competitive for the programmes I've linked to, but there are still often plenty of entry level jobs available in companies like mine. I hope this might help just one of your kids!

My money is on one of the ladies this year. Looking forward to seeing Cesar Corrales perform on the night too as the reigning champion.

It didn't seem to indicate what was super...

Pricing is out in the latest ROH magazine, prices up to £150 for 'super seats', then £140,£122,£105,£90,£80, £65....down to £10. There seem to be 14 pricing tiers vs the usual 13...

Fascinating, thank you. I love the idea that this is a truly historical version of the ballet, history being another love of mine, pieced together by Skeaping.

Back to curtain calls, looks like the Willis danced most of the male cast to death

Thanks for comments on death scene - no idea why it is so important for my daughter to know, because at 9 it isn't an issue as to what is authentic, but we had discussed it while I have been explaining the story, the music etc!

The staging of Red Shoes was very well done - and really fast paced to boot, especially in comparison with the classics which develop their stories very slowly. I find the conversation above as to which ballets will endure quite an interesting one. The drama, passion and emotion of a MacMillan ballet is what I think would continue to capture imaginations and as long as there is life in the traditional pantomime, I still see Ashton's story ballets enduring, because they have so much charm. People will always have an affinity with stories... Having said that, there is still so much that has not endured, but why? Is there a magic formula for creating a ballet today which will still live on in generations to come? I very much agree with MAB that arts appreciation has to be taught - this is something I feel very strongly about, having had a teacher at a (state) primary school who created a wonderful programme of music appreciation when I was at school. Aside from ballet, the classical music I have most appreciation for today is that which I fondly remember from his simple intiative of having a piece of music playing at our daily morning assembly across a week and 2 children giving a summary of the composer/history/story if any at the final assembly of the week. That would have been a good 35 or more weeks per year for 4 years - a considerable amount of music was covered.

Can't wait to see it on Saturday night. I have to say that I had thought from seeing some of the rehearsal video clips that there seems to be little chemistry between Cojacaru and Hernandez. I want to try to sneak in a Badenes/Corrales show if I can - she came across in the clips as exceptionally expressive and Corrales is a huge draw. I have my eyes set on Wednesday... A question from my daughter - how does ENB play Giselle dying? Does she die of a broken heart or does she stab herself with a sword as in the RB version?

I certainly didn't go to the ballet so much between 18 and 30ish because of the challenges of too little money and very small children, I think that will always be the case. What I see as the difference between now and my parents' and grandparents' generation is that there are so many other things vying for our attention. Nothing will ever beat live theatre of whatever kind, but the general trend, in everything we do, is that there is more and more choice and fragmentation as people carve out new ways of doing things - dance included. In the 21st century, our children's point of references are completely different. Where once (8 year olds were consuming ballet books and annuals and were fascinated by the stars of the ballet world (and there were 3 or less tv stations), their points of reference are completely different - tween popstars, children's TV programming across kids only channels, mobile phones and tablets, the 'selfie' society and choice, choice and more choice... I think if we don't find a way to operate for the audiences growing up in today's digital world which has a completely different context to even my childhood in the 80s, there is a risk to the preservation of some of the culture that we enjoy today, or the perceived value of it which enables it to self perpetuate.

I don't know what the answer is to this and in some ways I want to not think about it, but this really worries me. I'm not under 30 but given I still have grandparents the age I will be in 50 years or older, I have a good chance of still being around... It's actually pretty hard to verbalise the decline I would predict in classical ballet (the original classics through to the 20th Century greats) based on a combination of competition with other entertainment media (TV and film in particular which is ever expanding through digital channels), people thinking ballet is not for them and therefore audience numbers declining and a move away from public funding to a need for private funding which is harder to deliver. The golden age of ballet is surely long gone and without programmes to engage the audiences of the future - and getting more adults in their 20s and 30s to engage - personal connection with ballet and potentially audience volumes will surely dwindle and therefore so will our companies and the opportunities to see great classical ballet. Is that more doom and gloom than is called for? What I do think could prevent this, but perhaps isn't even reaching the best/right/enough people are dance (ballet) appreciation events for children through to adults. The ENB have some great engagement programmes available for schools and for children and while they do some lovely insights events for people who actively seek them, it would be nice to see a bit more outreach. The Royal Ballet has its programmes of discount tickets for young people and first timers, but again, how do you broaden the appeal to even get potential audiences to your website/box office to even investigate what they could see?

I grew up in Salford - a 10 minute drive into Manchester City Centre. It takes 15-20 from where my parents live to the Lowry. It's only since the wider complex around the Lowry - MediaCity etc - that Salford has been considered a destination.

I am about as digitally savvy as can be (my job is in digital advertising), however I don't usually listen to podcasts. Having said that, I think that a ballet podcast is a great idea. I would definitely give it a listen. I hear from a friend who sometimes guests on a (football) podcast that they can be a lot of fun. Look forward to hearing more.

My family are in Manchester so it's probably the most convenient location other than Sadlers Wells. Will definitely be looking out for returns!

No one was, I am just hoping this will be playing again in near history. Or will be on tv/DVD. I could watch this over and over.

Dear Reader, I loved it. A spectacular production, loved the score, the staging and design, the shadow effects, the comedy moments, the dancing, but particularly how Bourne has captured a moment of British dance history. Ashley Shaw in the first act could almost have been Moira Shearer, not just because of a wig or costumes, but in how she moved. Distraught to think that it's booked up for the rest of the London run, off to investigate tickets for the extra dates in Manchester. I do hope this becomes a regular part of the repertoire, how could this extraordinary production be consigned to the vaults?

Thanks for sharing. They had another lovely production of Corsaire which was available last year - would love to see more story ballets on Arte. I did a quick check on the site since I was there and they do seem to have a Balanchine celebration from the NYCB and a Nicolas le Riche Gala (with Sylvie Guillem) from 2014 which looks interesting having read the blurb and skipped through - include L'apres midi d'un faune from what I can see.. Lots of lovely new ballet viewing so thanks for original post!

Having had a dig around through my ballet books from when I was a child, I came across my mum's Princess Ballet Book (no.3). Princess produced ballet annuals and these little treasures were continued after the merge with Tina magazine. I had a bit of a hunt online and tracked down some copies from the 70s which are a wonderful treat - lots of snippets of Royal Ballet history and they feature many famous names who are still in the ballet world today. The pictures are great too!

Thanks for this! I've started to pencil in dates which I can do!

I have a friend who has been dancing for only a year or so and she started when she was 40! She has started from the very beginning and has taken ballet, modern and is now taking tap as well - and she is doing exams. She has done exceptionally well in everything she has tried so far and she enjoys it so much. If there are no adult classes near you, it's still worth speaking to the local dance schools. They don't always advertise their adult classes or they might be happy for you to join a teens class. If you're in a big town/city, there are usually some adult classes in the town centre at least..