Tatiana

Hmm.. the first act of Woolf Works, Diamonds, and... Onegin, of course

Ooh, you go away for a few months and the whole site design changes. Hello everyone! Very excited for Mayerling tonight. I just remembered it's a student ampitheatre performance, which will be interesting. The best seat I've been able to afford for a while

Saw tonight's performance and I'm too tired to write anything comprehensive, but I just wanted to say that Flight Patterns moved me to tears. I was completely transfixed.

Well, tonight marks the first time I've ever left at an interval.... I actually quite enjoyed 'Tea or Coffee' - I'm not adverse to a bit of dance theatre on occasion - but upon realising that Narcissus was up next, I decided that, well, life is too short.

Damn, I would love to go to this, but am seeing TSB that night.

Thank you both! Very helpful If anyone wants to follow my progress (eek) you can find my blog at accidentallyscience.com. I'll be writing up a post on dance notation soon!

First time watching Woolf Works, and it's the first ballet that's ever reduced me to tears. I'm absolutely in love with the score and bought the CD on the night. Sarah Lamb's performance in the last act was my particular favourite part, (although she is the first dancer I ever watched, so I'm a little biased!)

Hi everyone! This term in my library science degree I'm writing a paper on how dance is documented, (using 'The Rite of Spring' as a case study). Right now I'm looking at the specifics of notation and passing on choreography to different companies. Does anyone have any good recommendations as to books, documentaries, etc that talk about this subject? I'm reading a few things at the moment, but obviously wanted to get some recommendations from serious balletomanes.

Okay, I'll weigh in with the student voice... With the exception of the block of seating set aside for a Mayerling performance, tickets weren't easy to get for us either. Jewels had been almost completely cleaned out of any affordable seats, I had to really stretch my budget to afford anything this season and paid much more than I usually do.

(Also, I usually restrict myself to a very very tight budget when it comes to buying tickets, but I ended up in a great seat tonight and enjoyed everything much more than usual. I might start to become extravagant after this - it feels like a slippery slope!)

Saw Dronina's matinee today with high expectations as so many people raved about her on the forum - definitely did not disappoint! I thought she was stunning, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Also, I'm not sure if it was the fact that I had a much, much better seat this time around, or if I was just paying better attention, but the narrative seemed to make a lot more sense today? I saw all the signs of a weak heart acted by Dronina very clearly, and Giselle's death worked better because of it. (For me, anyway - maybe I was just too tired last time to appreciate it properly!) People threw roses and lilies onto the stage at the curtain call. I'd never actually seen that happen before and I'm very charmed to find out that it's a real thing people do. If Dronina comes back to us at any point after this I might join them!

Thanks. It was kind of rhetorical. I just much prefer it when the sword is used, as it's clearer and I think it produces more of an effect on the audience.

SBF, I'm a librarian (in training) and while I applaud information literacy education, that's not the right way to go about it. Kat09 asked for ideas, not criticism. I'd be happy to point anyone to a collection of archives and dance history resources if asked for.

Gorgeous evening last night! I was so excited to see DePrince's Myrtha and she did not disappoint. So regal and commanding, and beautifully sad in her first solo. I could have watched her all night. Cojocaru of course as sublime as ever: I love how girlish and nervous her Giselle is in the first act. I also kept noticing Ken Saruhashi in the vine gatherers dance, he was a lot of fun to watch and got really into acting the part. Only drawback was the bored couple next to me who kept whispering about how they didn't understand the story, which was interesting, as I find it's one of the easiest narrative ballets to follow. I'll admit that Giselle's death in this one is a little odd: she just dropped to the floor, somewhat randomly.. When did ballet companies get so scared of using the sword?

If you're happy to give me your email, I can download it and send it to you?

Is this article any help? http://www.jstor.org/stable/1477843 I can get access to it through my library if you can't read it.

Gorgeous photos as always, Dave!

Thanks Quintus, that's really useful. I was planning a very UK-focused program, as I live in London, and I'm a historian by nature so I'd be really emphasizing the history and features part of it. I do like to tell a good story. Thanks for all your feedback everyone - still not sure if I'd have time to make an hour's episode every month but is an idea I'm really excited about!

I can't believe I get to see Michaela DePrince and Jurgita Dronina in the same week! What an absolute treat. I'm not usually an autograph hunter (too shy) but I would love to meet Michaela, I'm such a big fan.

I've got a ticket for the Wednesday show - I haven't seen him dance before and I'm especially looking forward to Icarus.

I think I'd have to give a shout-out to the Australian ballet's 'Cinderella' for my best of 2016. Completely bizarre and utterly lovely, with possibly my favourite costumes in any ballet. And AK's Giselle, of course. Worst is RB's Anastasia. I was just so bored.

I'm sure it's annoying, but it's only one performance. If it weren't for the student events and cheaper tickets, I would never have even seen a ballet, let alone become part of the community. It's gotten a lot of my friends interested in dance as well, and surely it's good to engage a wider and more diverse audience?

I listen to a lot of podcasts, and while there are a few shows that talk about ballet music and current performances, there isn't a definite ballet podcast as such that I've found. So I am thinking of writing one! I'd really like to gather some feedback here about whether or not people would be interested in listening to such a show. I hope I've placed this post in the appropriate forum, I wasn't sure. It would be a monthly show, 40 mins to a hour long, and free to listen on a site such as podbay or on iTunes. The format would be something like this; - News and reviews - A ballet history segment (the history of a certain ballet, an interesting time period, a feature on a dancer, etc) - Music break (related to the history segment or perhaps a 'track of the month'. Could be audience requests through comments on previous shows.) - Opinion feature. I would put a topic for discussion out, (say, "audience behaviour" or "should the classics be continually reinterpreted", etc) and then discuss findings. - Another music track, and then shout-outs done by request; good luck wishes and that kind of thing, plus a preview of the next month, ("I'll be talking about this thing, so email me with your opinions.") How does this sound? Any suggestions or critical comments? Good idea/terrible idea? I think it could be a lot of fun for forum users especially, as we have such a lovely community here and generate such spirited discussion.

I for one would love to see some all-female ballets - especially Swan Lake, which would only be fair. I think Janet is right about the choreographers - we clearly need more diversity in hiring

Ooh, I think it's a tie between the RB's Sleeping Beauty (it'll be my first time!) and ENB's mixed bill: especially Le Sacre du Printemps. I've been looking forward to that for months.