Lizbie1

I would really like to see brisés instead for a change!

One trend in straight theatre that we have occasionally seen copied in ballet (I'm thinking of the recent ENB Raymonda) and opera is for the original "happy ending" of Miss X marrying Mr Y being subverted by the director/producer in the name of feminism. Call me unsophisticated but I hope this fashion passes - it's so preachy!

People sometimes find this hard to accept, but growing up my siblings and I didn't have bedtimes and simply turned in when we were tired. We were quite well behaved - it's just that bedtimes were never a thing so nobody got into stand-offs about them. I don't know about 11.30 but I certainly stayed up to watch the 10 o'clock news on occasion when really quite young. If I had been tired I'd have put myself to bed by then. I'm not saying this would work for everyone but it did for us - we weren't yawning our way through school the next day. (By no stretch of the imagination would my parents have considered themselves "progressive", though as both worked full time and there were four children - and no nanny - I suppose benign neglect became their style of parenting by default.)

Coming late to this it seems, but I was mostly confused by the "tap" description because it doesn't look like that is what's going on - even if you didn't know what a ronde de jambe is I can't see how a gargouillade can have that appearance unless it's being done very badly!

I am definitely getting old because In the Middle was performed there less than six years ago - sadly no longer "a very long time ago" in my book.

Head exploding!* *...with shock. My imagination might possibly stretch to not liking Monotones but preferring Untitled 2023 is a step too far for it!

🤯

Add me to the list

Yes! I liked that post because I'm usually pleased to see minority opinions but this puzzled me too.

Not sure how long this offer will remain available: https://officiallondontheatre.com/tfl-offer/

But this is what happens when you have a cough that's on its way out (as I have now). It's not a regular or predictable thing. To coin a phrase, they do not cough for their own amusement.

I find most cough sweets horrid to the point that I can't use them BUT Boots blackcurrant glycerin pastilles are very palatable (like real sweets!), do the job for me and - as long as you open the inner package sufficiently in advance or even decant them into the cardboard box - are not noisy.

But others here aren't?

You say this, but I am given to understand by some posters here that running a large ballet company against strong economic headwinds is actually a relatively straightforward affair. It is a mystery how so many of our large arts organisations are currently having similar problems, they must all just be very badly managed!

I suppose it's partly because none of these works has been performed recently and they might not have started rehearsals yet. I don't know who's staging them but could it be that the MacMillan estate wants to have a good look at some dancers first? On the whole the RB is exceptionally good at providing advance casting for lead roles. I can't really be angry at this delay (frustrated, yes!) because most other companies would be nowhere near publishing casts at this stage.

Very interesting to read the Bartok scepticism as he's one of those composers I like more in theory than in practice. (And here I'll own up to not liking Stravinsky in either theory or practice - IMO, the more he's "borrowing" from other styles, composers or sources, the better his music.)

Very pleased about Osipova being cast in the Isadora Duncan waltzes, presumably we'll also see her in London in this.

Those constraints - and the smaller stages they'll be using - put me in mind of the early days of home-grown British ballet, so with that in mind I'll start with Tudor's Lilac Garden - though I'm pushing it to the limit for numbers (12 in total I read?).

I probably have an Osipova bias, but as with her substitution of pique turns for fouettes in Swan Lake a few years back, I think certain dancers get to the stage where they have pretty much earned the right to make their own decisions in some respects. Osipova has probably forgotten more about Don Q than most dancers will ever learn. Incidentally, Peter Wright singled her out as a dancer who was very receptive to taking direction in Giselle - much more so than Cojocaru IIRC.

Isn't it the point that he's simply reminding trustees of what their obligations are under existing law? I'd hope that before accepting the role they'd have familiarised themselves with this kind of thing. And "questionable" is very subjective! What, for example, the ROH trustees might consider dirty money* (e.g. BP sponsorship) could be perfectly acceptable to the vast majority of the charity's intended beneficiaries (the audience), especially if for example it helped with ticket prices. So what right do trustees have to turn it down on their behalf? *Edited to add: there is a clear exemption, stated in the Telegraph report, for money gained from illegal activities: 'Charities are required under the law to accept donations unless they can justify that doing so would cause damage to its reputation, or that the money was gained illegally.'

...and a non-paywalled report of the same https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/09/charities-must-have-good-reason-to-reject-donations-says-head-of-england-regulator

There was some discussion on this thread about charities (including the ROH?) turning down BP money - it looks like the Charity Commission isn't pleased about this: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/net-zero/charities-reject-fossil-fuel-donations-regulator-intervene '[The chair of the Charity Commission] pledged to crack down on the “squeamishness” of charities that refuse or return financial support “without very good reason” and added that “significant” justification was required for organisations to say no to a donation. 'The Charity Commission is now working up fresh guidance to “support trustees in their decision-making”.'

Antony Tudor?

Saw the Robbins bill last night, but left at the interval (only because I was very tired and I've seen The Concert relatively recently). I really enjoyed En sol and In the Night, and thought POB looked a lot more comfortable in these than they had in the Balanchine bill back in (?)February.

I had one cancelled too this week, at Naples (in my case I'm in Italy anyway).