Tango Dancer

Well I quite enjoyed that. I think I must be the only person who didn't like Time Spell. I just didn't like the music and the singing did nothing for me. I just didn't find the piece worked for me as a whole. I loved the Forsyth though, the choreography was wonderful and the interpretation was really exquisite and delicate. I also really liked the first piece that Tiler Peck choreographed, it was rather meditative and the choreography and the music really worked for me and I found it very satisfying to watch and really quite meditative. I also liked the costuming as it really suited the dancers and was bright and colourful. I also liked the pas de deux as it worked well and the pair had really good chemistry and struck sparks off each other. So overall a thoroughly interesting evening.

Just back from seeing Phantom of the Opera with a friend. More fun than I remember (although I'd forgotten what a creepy weirdo Eric was). Lovely except for the 3 people sitting behind us who kept talking throughout. I mean it's a fairly engaging, almost melodramatic show with a loud orchestra. Why would you come to this and talk?

He's got such a lovely infectious smile on that video. Thanks for sharing.

I've booked as well. Looks really good.

Definitely. Every dancer has less good days, days when they're dancing through a cold or a minor injury or preoccupied emotionally. They're amazing but they're not perfect and things go wrong on occasion.

Sometimes I go for a night and stay over. You didn't ask about accommodation but if you want to stay overnight the Holiday Inn isn't bad and is convenient. The Radisson next door has nicer rooms so if you have a choice I'd stay there.

Hippodrome's a nice place. I usually go for the rear of the circle in an aisle seat because it's cheaper and I'm parsimonious by nature. I've never had any problems with sightlines as the rake is quite good and I can see and hear everything. I think the view is probably better further forward but I've never sat there. I go by train from London so can't advise on parking. The Hippodrome is on the edge of Chinatown so it's quite good for restaurants. There's a food hall (rather like a canteen) with a range of different Asian stalls (called the Asia Asia foodhall) about 8 mins away and you can walk around the stalls and pick your favourite dish (Chinese, Korean, Malaysian etc). I liked it because it was varied and lively and full of locals.

How lovely. I thought Max was superb in the Evening of Music and Dance last weekend. He did a variation from Rhapsody with Beatrice Parma and it was some of the most supportive and responsive partnering I've seen in a long time. He really seems to get how to respond to the music and the woman he's with to get the best from both. I thought he was a really sensitive and mature dancer. Lachlan was also great in that, doing a lovely pas de deux from Carmen. He's really attractive and charismatic.

It was excellent, I would definitely go again. I didn't get a programme because I was in a rush and wanted to find my seat. So I don't know who the compere was. She gave her name and said she was on the BRB board. She also said she did a breakfast TV show but I don't watch breakfast television so I didn't recognise her and don't remember the name because I was a bit excited about the dancing to come. Sorry about that. She was good though.

I must say the audience for the BRB gala at Symphony Hall tonight was very quiet and well behaved. I went to a spooky play at Richmond theatre earlier this week and there was a Lewton bus then a real jump scare making the woman behind me squeal and jump up. Which was a tribute to the job they were doing. One chap was checking his phone a lot during the play but was told off by the usher and left at the interval.

I couldn't see a topic for this so wanted to start one as I've had a marvellous evening. It was a mixed programme at Symphony Hall so some works were just orchestral and the BRB orchestra did well. These were interspersed with dance. The high points included a lovely Diana and Actaon pas de deux with Tyrone Singleton and Sophia Lenares. His technique was amazing and she was delightfully engaging. Not every man can pull off a short leather skirt but he looked very good in it. Brandon Lawrence and Celine Gittens did a lovely Black Swan pdd, great chemistry and some lovely interactions. She was wicked and flirtatious and he acted beautifully. They really work well together as well as being technically excellent. There was a lovely variation from Rhapsody with Beatrice Parma and Max Maslen. She is so elegant and as always conveys so much in each gesture and he seemed to partner very sensitively. The last piece was from Le Corsaire I didnt catch the names but they were amazing. Some amazing jumping from him and lovely port de bras from her. There was an interesting male pas de deux with Brandon and Tzu Chao. It didn't overwhelm me hugely as choreography. The guys were great but why they put them in sludgy brown dresses I don't know. If you have 2 really handsome guys they should be in flattering colours. I'd put Brandon in red and Tzu Chao in green. All in all a brilliant evening. I'll be back next year!

I still don't feel good with that. He's too old and she's too young. It just feels wrong to me personally.

Yes, that's just not right. I don't think it's right for children to be partnered by mature men and some of the roles are unsuitable for children to be dancing. I like seeing the children in the party scenes in Nutcracker but I definitely think they shouldn't be at 10 dancing adult roles with grown men. It just makes my skin crawl as well.

Me too. I'm struggling to make it to any of their venues for any of the dates. I'd love them to bring it to London.

Oh I will enjoy this, but probably at Birmingham rather than Southampton. I'd also like to see the casting so I can pick my preferred cast (although it can be a hard choice nowadays, they're all so good).

I think it's part of the job of being a prince, you know, have good legs, great dancing ability and no brains. I think that's why they had courtiers to do the thinking for them. I am firmly of the view Rothbart (in the ROH version) would have done a way better job ruling the country than dim Siegfried.

Oh my goodness those are some ugly costumes! Also what's with the fish scales? The lilac fairy outfit is really ugly with the eyes, and poor David Hallberg. It takes a job of work to make a handsome, elegant dancer look short and washed out. Those colours do nothing for him.

I went to see the Berlin Philharmonic at New Year and the audience was very well behaved (and Petrenko was amazing - my mother wanted to take him home because he was so cute). No talking, eating or misbehaviour. I wish the Coliseum audience could be as good. I can't stand all of this eating and drinking during the show. I mean I sometimes have a bottle of water or a cough sweet but that's only for emergencies. I eat beforehand or afterwards. I think people are too used to watching things on live streams at home where you can do what you want.

Vadim is just amazing. As well as being a wonderful and inspiring dancer, he's also a really good teacher (which is not always the case; not all dancers can teach). He does masterclasses at Danceworks and on zoom and I think he's lovely to learn from, gives really good explanations of the sequence and corrections to help people improve. He's also really nice and funny and modest, coming across as down to earth and with no ego.

Yes. Moreover she's a fairy, and they're not usually all that tall when depicted in art. Also height has nothing to do with an ability to convey a sense of power and strength. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is barely 5'6 for example (shorter than his dance partner on the Ukrainian Strictly) and he is incredibly charismatic whether dancing or fighting. Charisma and power comes from within.

I bet he was great as the Wolf. I liked him as the Mouse King in Nutcracker. He seems to have a real gift for really bringing to life the more character based parts.

Me too. It looks really great. I will definitely be trying to attend.

Definitely, she was great. Indeed they all were amazing and it was such a lovely experience.

Thanks for the reminder. I've just booked for this. It looks really interesting.

Absolutely. I mean you book for a particular person or pairing but it's not the replacement's fault you're not getting the dancer you wanted. I've booked for a cast I like before now and gone and found my preferred dancer wasn't performing. It's life and it happens.