Tango Dancer

I think for me it's definitely the music. It's just not inspiring. When I think of my favourite ballets regardless of era the music inspires me and goes with the dance (Giselle, Coppelia, Requiem etc). It doesn't have to be classical music (I mean the Nina Simone music for Mthuthuzeli November's Nina for Ballet Black is electrifying) but it needs to move me somehow. I'd have liked LWFC a lot better with more inspiring music. I quite like his choreography and subjects but the music is just so bland and uninspiring.

He's a joy and seems to really enjoy it. He was the best thing about the terrible film of Cats and it was worth fastforwarding through large parts of the rest of the film just to watch him dance. I just love his tap skills as Skimbleshanks. I could watch him do that for ages. So if he's in Alice on the day they do the cinema relay I will definitely get a ticket.

Yes. Also sometimes people have different views on what is a better seat. I always like an aisle seat and will sometimes book an objectively worse seat if it gives me an aisle where I want one and am not inclined to move from a seat I've carefully selected. I think you have no obligation to move from your seat and they should have moved if they wanted.

This so much. I've booked for things before now to see a particular person and then not had them, that's just how it goes. It's not the fault of the substitute and they need as much support as possible. I mean sometimes you can be surprised by how good they are and enjoy what they bring if it's someone you're not regularly seeing.

Yes, I'm disappointed by the fact there are only 4 streams and one of them is the Wheeldon. I'd much rather have Ashton, Onegin or Balanchine. I mean I'll probably watch the Alice and Cinderella livestreams and (depending on cast) the Romeo and Juliet one but it's a bit annoying that there aren't more. There's not much I'd go to London for though.

Nothing that massively excites me this time, I mean I'll probably do the cinema relay for Cinderella and may venture to London for Onegin depending on who is performing. If they do a cinema relay for Balanchine I might also go. Otherwise it's a bit bland for me.

Yes, I always read it that she was enjoying being 16 years old and at a party and being courted by these princes and wasn't really sure which if any of them she wanted, but was enjoying getting to know them. It's never felt to me like she made any decisions about them.

I hate it when people sing along to opera. I mean I don't go to these things for audience participation. It's not the Rocky Horror Show with a call and response script. I had someone singing along to La donna e mobile when I went to see Rigoletto the other year and my regret was they were too far away to work out who it was and shut them up. I mean I went to a Lieder recital last week and I was singing one of the songs very badly on the walk home, but I waited until I was walking back so I only annoyed the people in the street.

Jeremy Brett was gorgeous in his youth - so handsome. I'd agree she doesn't walk off on her own. I'm not sure she ends up with Higgins. I always took My Fair Lady as being a bit ambiguous. She might stay and she might not. She might marry Higgins or Freddie or she might get Higgins to support her setting up a flower shop, meet someone else and marry them or even marry Pickering. The thing I like about the film ending is that she doesn't fall into anyone's arms, but she might. I like that they make up as friends at the end, even if I don't buy them as a couple.

@Silke H I love your photo of Rothbart. He looks so creepy and effective in it. You forget when you see it at a distance quite how scary he looks. That's a great shot!

I can't comment on the ballet side of it but the Hague is a lovely city that I've visited a lot for work but also for city breaks. It's beautiful, spacious and very green. There's a good public transport system (trams and buses). You can get a tram to Scheveningen and walk by the sea if you like. There's a lot of culture and art there and several lovely parks to walk in. I like the Mauritshus (art gallery) and the Escher exhibition. The shops are good. The Netherlands has really good public transport so you can get around fairly quickly. Also the cliche of the cycling Dutch is true in many ways because you can get run over by bicycles easily. I think it's probably a safe place to live (insofar as anywhere is). You can walk around at night without feeling worried. I like it much better than Amsterdam because it's a bit classier and doesn't have as many drunken Brits falling out of bars.

In my view no part of Les Illuminations is an appropriate moment for taking pictures or filming, especially when you have the pleasure of Ian Bostridge performing it.

I saw the BRB version of that in Brandon Lawrence's farewell performance last year. It was lovely.

I think Tiler Peck is definitely really worth them getting something made, she's incredibly talented. I'd love to see a mixed bill of female choreographers perhaps to tie in with International Women's Day, maybe new pieces from her, Kirsten McNally combined with something more traditional like something from Ninette de Valois to pay tribute to the founder. I'd also agree with having more Zuccheti, he's really talented. I also liked Ben Ella's piece for Northern so think he has potential.

What happened to Ryo? Is he ok?

Yes hasn't he! He's so good to pick this up at short notice. Woyzeck looks like a piece that's emotionally draining and really hard on the performer, to do that and Swan Lake back to back must be really tiring. I hope he gets some time to rest after before he has to perform again. It looks like he's not scheduled until Thursday so I hope he can relax.

Definitely things don't always work for us and we just don't like them. I agree it's not my favourite version of Act 4 either. I like Siegfried to be more active.

I'd suggest trying Bennet Gartside from RB. His website is everybodyballet.com and he teaches a regular class at the ROH and probably does privates too. I've never had a private with him but he's a really good teacher and I did his group classes in London while I lived there (and do when I go back) and he does a lovely class. He gets RB dancers to cover sometimes and I've had classes taught as cover by Luca Acri (adorable, great class and so charming several of us wanted to keep him as a pet) Julia Roscoe (really sweet, very nervous and really good at breaking down turn sequences) and Isabelle Gasparini (lovely charming person but her sequences were a bit too long and complicated for me). Most of the RB dancers are fairly responsive to instagram messages so if there's someone you'd like to book, message and ask them if they teach and what they cost. Not all of them teach (and not all of them teach well). Vadim, Fumi, and Marianela all teach via Danceworks masterclasses so may be open to it but would be more expensive.

No they didn't give much information on the plot. I think they should have done more talking about some of the detail of the story for Different Drummer and talked more about the different parts of the music for Faure because people may not understand the different parts or the meaning of the words. I know the Faure quite well but if you didn't they didn't say much about it.

Yes I think the same. I liked his Swan Lake as it had some innovative ideas, I'm less keen on some of his other works as they don't do much for me. I wasn't massively keen on his Romeo and Juliet when I first saw it before Covid but I saw it again last year (at a loose end in London one evening) and thought it was better than I remembered. As long as you're not expecting traditional ballet they can be quite fun to watch. I think I'd agree they're not something I 'd see more than once. I don't think I wouldn't make an effort to see them over other things but they're sometimes quite a pleasant way to spend time.

I was quite amused that one of the staff came in during the second interval to check I was ok and whether I needed any refreshments. I have a suspicion she wanted to see if I was still there or whether they could close early. But she was ever so sweet.

I'm going to the local theatre (York) because (given a choice) I like to support local theatres and give them the benefit of my ticket prices because a lot of them are struggling. So I will definitely be booking there rather than Sadlers Wells. Also it means I don't have to pay for trains, hotels etc. I'm really glad they're going to some of the smaller less well known theatres, it's good for people to see these ballets in places they might not otherwise catch them.

Well just back from the cinema where I had a lovely private showing because I was the only person in the cinema tonight. Shame it wasn't better attended. I didn't get a cinema cast sheet because they hadn't got them. So I'm going by the cast on the website. Also I am terrible at working out who is who as I'm rubbish at remembering faces. Especially if it's not clear what part they take or their character doesn't have a name. So apologies for not being able to credit everyone I liked by name. So I enjoyed Dances Concertante very much. I wasn't massively keen on the costumes and those hats were a bit weird but I thought it was a lot of fun. Chap in yellow and chap in green both stood out for me for their excellent footwork and technique. Isabelle Gasparini was exquisite in the lead - she has such lovely lines. I didn't like Different Drummer - dull, depressing and really too long and Schoenberg doesn't do much for me. Francesca Hayward is a lovely luminous dancer with beautiful expressive technique and gorgeous arms. I felt she had slightly more chemistry with the drum major than with Woyzeck myself. Francisco Serrano also was really charismatic and attractive as the drum major and some lovely jumps - he's going places I think. Marci as always showed such depth of feeling and definitely evoked a lot of sympathy so I felt he was really throwing himself into it - he's such a great dramatic dancer. I just wish I'd found the piece more engaging. Requiem was rather lovely. Sarah Lamb was absolutely excellent, such a lovely clear and controlled dancer, every gesture fitting where it should and really mattering. William Bracewell was lovely and moved beautifully and had such expressiveness with every movement. The taller chap she danced with was also very impressive and seemed to be so focused on embodying the movement (nice cheekbones too I noted). I also thought Melissa Hamilton was dancing with exceptional musicality and loved Joseph Sissens in the Libera Me. I think the quality of the singing also really transformed it and the young baritone soloist particularly impressed me, such a lovely tone and good diction. So overall a good evening, one fun, one moving and one that was bearable but dull. I'm really glad I went.

So happy they're coming to York. The Theatre Royal is a lovely venue. Also glad about Joseph Taylor, he's a really impressive dancer in my view.

Also looking forward to the relay tomorrow on the nice big screen. Both central Leeds cinemas are showing it so I'm spoilt for choice.