DVDfan

Well, as Colin's appearance is entirely functional (adaptations for desert life) he would look better than some of the costumes. (Von Rothbart in Dowell's Swan Lake, for example.) There is at least some point to it.

I recently took out a subscription to ROH streaming, so my ballet watching has been concentrated into December and confined to their offering. I was able to see the Ball/Naghdi Giselle and the Kaneko/Bonelli SB, both of them highly praised on the forum. Now I know why! I also enjoyed Dances at a Gathering, Enigma Variations and Within the Golden Hour. I was amazed at WTGH as I had no idea Wheeldon could choreograph something of that quality - his work seems to me to have a kind of relentless superficiality. Mostly. However, the big surprise was the Dante Project. I thought, I'll just have a look, I've seen the reviews and some still photos, so I'll just look at the first half hour to learn what it's about. I was rivetted, and had to watch right through to the end. I agree with many of the criticisms - it was annoying not to know who or what the different groups of sinners were, and the first act was the best, the ballet lost sense and momentum as it went on into Paradise, which I think needs more work. On the other hand, this is also a feature of the poem - Paradise makes less sense and is less interesting than Hell or Purgatory. I was also puzzled at the relative absence of Virgil in many of the scenes. (Of course he is absent from Paradise in the poem, as being a pagan he dwells in limbo and cannot be raised into Heaven.) But in the other two realms he is Dante's constant companion and support. Using the Purgatory section to explore Dante's love for Beatrice (a young woman he never spoke to but adored with great passion from afar) was interesting and in keeping with the ideas about love in the poem, though not literally expressing them, I thought. On the other hand, to me the costumes made sense, much more so than period costumes would have done, and they look much better in motion than in the stills. I could see why no props were used, which might have labelled the various souls, but would also have looked twee and out of place. I thought the scenery for Hell, described in the poem as a great funnel leading downwards, was splendid. The tree in a modern street for Purgatory was very interesting, (was it in Florence by any chance?) suggesting that the current life is a form of spiritual test, with the opportunity to travel towards blessedness. It was also pleasant, which seemed right to me. The final set wasn't so evocative, though the overwhelming light at the end was a good way to finish, and correct to the poem. The narrative drive was powerful, as I say, once I'd started watching I couldn't stop. I feel that the choreographer has learned to use classical movements to express his ideas well, and I'd love to see this with more work put into the Paradise section. I feel that more purely classical movements would express the blessed nature of the souls - but maybe for Wayne that would be suggesting that there is something sinful about contemporary movement.

Yup, that's Camelus bactrianus, aka Bactrian camel.

The first time I tried to watch Dances at a Gathering the stream kept breaking up and stopping. The following day it was fine.

I recently took out a subscription and have been happy with it. There are several advantages for me. Instead of having to buy a DVD of a triple bill when there is only one thing on it that I want to see, I can see short works such as Raymonda act 3 or Enigma Variations by themselves. Then again, I've been reluctant to buy DVDs of other casts when I already have one of that production, so now I can see some of these at no extra cost too. Also I can be more experimental and watch things I'm not sure about, such as The Dante Project or Within the Golden Hour. ( I was amazed, I had no idea Wheeldon could produce work of that quality!) I have the Sylvia DVD with that cast, so that's a bit meh, but I'm looking forwards to The Cellist and will probably watch R & J, though that really isn't my favourite ballet - but that's part of the point, really. So basically, I'm a happy member of a demographic that wouldn't see these works and performances any other way.

If I have to pick one thing, I'll go for well executed mime because it adds so much to any story ballet.

This is why I would never, ever go to a live ballet performance. Mods, can we have a new audience behaviour thread, please? I want to come here and read about the performers and the production, not the audience.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Michelle. You're looking after Adrian so well, he's lucky to have you.

Nobody does, because of what it means for the person you love. The information and support are there if you ever need it, for both temporary and long term carers. Good luck with your doctor's appointments, we're all rooting for Adrian!

Yup, this is the worst aspect of caring, in my experience. You're doing a grand job supporting Adrian. Contacting Carers UK might help. They're at Contact us - Carers UK. At the very least, you will know you are not alone, something that has always helped me. They also have a lot of practical advice on offer. I don't suppose you'll want to find time to go to a carer's coffee morning run by the GPs or the council, but they exist if you need extra support.

I know what you mean, but this is not actually the case in north western Europe. It was the case in China, which was almost unique in the world until the communist take-over, in that being a woman meant you were the property of a man regardless of age or status. But in Britain, Germany and Scandinavia, women historically had an unusual degree of personal freedom. They could have power and they could be important and active outside the home as well as in it. In Britain in the Victorian era, which is the period we're usually thinking about, single women over 21 and widows could and did own property, run businesses and work in a wide variety of jobs. They couldn't enter the professions and they didn't have the vote, but then neither did most men. Married women might have a problem if things went wrong, because a married woman had very few rights that were not invested in her husband. Then as now the levels of distress depended on the behaviour of both parties, but back then, law and social attitudes tended to come down on the side of the husband. Women were also not allowed down mines, and their working hours were restricted in textile mills.

The character of Odile (Black Swan in Swan Lake) can be interesting wrt abuse. She's abusing Siegfried, setting out to make him believe she's someone (Odette) and something (in love with him) that she isn't. But she herself is the tool of her father Rothbart, who is the prime mover in this deceit. Is he abusing her or is she a willing partner in the scheme?

On the subject of who does and doesn't get presentations on stage, I feel that if a dancer of whatever rank is giving a known last performance, he or she ought to be called to the front of the curtain calls and receive a bouquet (or bottle of wine) from the management.

I've given up on WBD, I'm afraid. I found the first one that RB did fascinating, basically a "what's happening here today" broadcast which let me into their world. The next one, moving between five (I think it was) major companies was interesting but didn't have quite the same impact. Recently with so many recordings from different companies inserted it just feels like, well, like recorded snippets. Not the same feeling at all.

Was it Picasso who said that all art is a lie, but it should be a lie that shows us the truth? So maybe the question about Mayerling the ballet is not whether the historical detail is correct (which it isn't) but whether it tells us the truth about each person involved.

My heart bleeds for you - the worst experience of my life has been trying to source help for my disabled daughter from a medical profession who didn't believe in her symptoms. (We do now have medical support, but only because she moved to another GP practice.) There's something about the situation that sends the stress of caring for a sick/disabled relative sky-high. I think it might be the experience of living in an alternate world - my relative is sick, I know it's serious - but the medics are just waving it away as though it did not exist. It's like getting up in the morning and finding you've been transported during the night to another time and place, where you don't know the language, the rules, have any friends and so on. No need to make any decisions now, you're exhausted and you don't know what the future holds. There are charities that support carers, and your GP practice may also have a member of staff who runs a support group. These aren't just for desperate long-term carers but for anyone finding themselves in this new world, even temporarily. There is probably also a charity that supports people with Adrian's condition, might be worth getting in touch. I'm sure that if you want to, you will be able to dance again when the crisis has passed, and your circumstances have stabilised. On the other hand, all dancers' careers are eventually stopped by physical injury - maybe you've got to that point, though it isn't your injury. Don't think about it now. Concentrate on looking after Adrian AND yourself, you both matter in this situation.

Lizbie, just for the record, I wasn't intending to criticise the Roman Catholic church as such, they've been right as often as they've been wrong, (like most of us). I simply reached for historic European examples, which I thought were non-controversial in the modern world, to make my point.

Many of the things we now deplore were done by people who sincerely believed they were doing right. For example, in the mid 20th century unmarried mothers were forced to give up their babies for adoption because it was thought that this was far and away the best option for both mother and baby. In the Middle Ages heretics were burned at the stake to save their souls (and everyone else from contamination). Jews were forced to convert to Christianity for the same reason. And so on... So, what are we doing wrong in the name of right now?

I was aware that no one had suggested sexual abuse at Zurich, so I was not alluding to the sexual abuse scandal in US gymnastics but to the repeated weighing and body shaming which I understood had marred UK gymnastics training in the recent past. In other words, a similar type of problem. It does not appear to me that ballet training is singled out for criticism whilst bad practice is tolerated in sport or in academic schools - in fact on the contrary, behaviour that would never be tolerated in other contexts have been excused in ballet for decades.

Bullying that destroys the mental health of young people is the issue, not hard training in the sense of hard work suitable for the age group. And it is an issue for sports too - look at the recent difficulties in gymnastics training. Unfortunately, we seem to live in an age of high sensation, low fact journalism, so it is impossible to form judgements based on the newspaper reports. Personal experiences on the other hand, carry more weight:-

I think a great many of the minor characters in ballets are close to caricature - the peasants in act 1 of Giselle, for example, the national dancers in Act 3 of Swan Lake, the Hungarian Officers in Mayerling. After all, in Bayadere, all the characters are Indian, including Solor, Nikiya, the High Brahmin and the Raja. It's not as if there were Europeans anywhere around. That said, I do see why people would be uneasy with the fakirs and the aya because they represent a particular negative stereotype that has been used in a racist context, and in addition they are not necessary to the plot.

According to a recent 'In our time' (BBC radio 4), vampires were originally low class and the idea of an aristocratic vampire first appeared in John Polidori's story 'The Vampyre', was named Lord Ruthen, and is thought to be based on Lord Byron. Count Dracula came later: I can't remember if the name is a deliberate link to Vlad the Impaler. Polidori was Byron's personal physician and was part of the house party in Switzerland where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Now there's a group of people and an event to make a ballet!

"You are being selfish" is one of the nastiest things that can be said to anyone. It's a nebulous accusation, almost impossible to disprove, which is why bullies are fond of it. However it sounds to me as if your DD's dance teacher might have misunderstood you when you said you were worried about cost, and might have thought you meant 'don't want to spend money' rather than 'do not have the money to spend'. Forget it - if the money isn't there, it isn't, decision made. If in your judgement, your DD is not ready/won't be suited by going to boarding school, then she isn't, decision made. The only input of any value from the dance teacher is her opinion of your DD's level of ability, and possibly if she has wide enough knowledge, which schools/associate schemes might suit best.

The author of the article is describing her experiences as a teenage fan. Though inevitably her explanation of her disillusionment is critical of Sergei, it is herself she is writing about, not him. By all means point out factual errors, but these do not invalidate what she says about her own feelings.

Could be, I suppose. Your different point of view is interesting - I've always seen a group ganging up on an individual as very rejective and hostile. I think it might depend on the nuances of performance, not just Alain but the village lads as well. Either way, it's certainly no justification for banning the ballet.