rowan

In case anyone isn't aware, the repeat of "Madam and The Dying Swan", about Ninette de Valois, and featuring Marianela Nunez dancing, is on Sky Arts 1 on Monday 9th at 8pm. That's Sky Arts 1 and not 2. It's followed by a 10-minute showing from Act 4 of Derek Deane's Swan Lake performed in Greenwich, with backstage interviews - though I wonder how much they can show and interview in 10 minutes!

For the RB's Don Quixote, I was in the left side of the lower slips of the amphitheatre, the standing places. Two men nearby had their mobiles on throughout the entire performance, checking their emails and whatnot. These are restricted view "seats" and they are cheap. I didn't have a great view - (in fact, anything towards the back and even just to the left of centre was lost. The "mock death" scene? Nope, couldn't see it. ) These two must have had a much worse view, so much so that it looked like they pretty much just gave up. If you don't know much about the ballet or the plot, you're going to be pretty lost if you can't see half the performance. No excuse for the mobile phones, though. They did applaud and cheer roundly at the end, but it seemed more tongue in cheek than anything else.

OK, embedding didn't seem to embed, I'm afraid. The links work, though.

I love this dance, as well as the music. It's one of my absolute favourites! Perhaps there's different versions of it. Here's a Bolshoi version with Svetlana Uvarova. It's a traditional character dance, but so sensuous and sparkling. (I'll try embedding the videos....) <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F0RW2gEJqIU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> There's also a lovely version of it done by some Vaganova students as part of their exam. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B3J8oAM7xwo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I agree. She should wear what she feels happiest in if she has a choice. The leotard doesn't need to be the same one as the one in the photo. Mine started dance lessons with a big charity scheme and wore the leotard that was provided for the scheme, which happened to be a bright red tank style. We didn't have any others. Also, no need to fret about things like elastic waist bands. We didn't have those either. It really doesn't matter. Just enjoy your day out!

It's worth checking which exam board the GCSE is with, and then you can check the syllabus. There can be quite a bit of variation. For example, my child and her cousin both did music for GCSE but with different boards. For mine, the composition part was worth 25%, I think, but for the cousin, it was only about 10%.

Is this actually true, though? Pointework at too early an age doesn't help much, and can hinder greatly. There are lots of other things kids can be learning in ballet, though, that make them more "advanced" that don't include early pointework. Maybe those are the things that need concentrating on.

But there's a difference between being in the protected environment of a school and living as an independent adult as part of a company abroad, even if the company uses English as the lingua franca. And woudn't living in, say, the Netherlands or Germany be "easier" than living in, say, Romania or Latvia? If you're a Brit, that is. I suppose I am really thinking of the language barriers.

A lot of dance positions will be abroad, and this might be daunting/exciting (depending on your viewpoint!) If you're, say, moving to Romania as a young person, entirely on your own, without speaking a word of the language, knowing no-one, having to prove yourself as a newbie in a dance company, and having to fend for yourself - working out how to deal with the utility companies and all that kind of stuff - that is quite a big step.

What are students' reasons for giving up, or is it better to say changing their minds, Tulip?

Lexy is right. The clips that are prefixed with the three letters ARB (in English) are the Vaganova Academy.

I've had another quick look, and of the less well known ones, in the "7 months ago" section, the third one down is Conservatory, and the fourth is The Awakening of Flora. In the "8 months ago" section, the fifth down is The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, and the seventh is Chopiniana. The "9 months ago" section is headed by Spartacus, the "10th months ago" section by Zolushka (Cinderella) and after that is the ballet Park. In the "11 months ago" section, the third, fourth and fifth are The Legend of Love. Some fabulous dancing in these clips. Thanks for posting about it. I had no idea that Zolushka meant Cinderella either. You learn something every day!

I've not got time to go through them all now, and not all the titles are listed, though the dancers are. Reading from the Russian - the first (top video) is Don Quixote, the sixth and seventh is Raymonda, number 19 and 20 is Corsaire, 21-25 is Giselle, etc. There's some fabulous dancers there! Number 14 is Oksana Skorik, for example.

It's the Mariinsky, I'm pretty sure. The dancers listed are all Mariinsky dancers.

Before all gymnastics gets tarred with the same brush, Russian-method ballet schools have lessons called gymnastics, which, however, bear no relation to what we might think of as gymnastics! They're specially designed to work on students' turnout, flexibility, strength, and other requirements for ballet. All the big Russian-method schools have them.

In case some members don't look at other sections of the forum, in the Ballet/Dance News and Information section, there seem to be similar concerns in St Petersburg... about Vaganova graduates. http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/8583-mariinskys-yuri-fateyevs-opinion-on-vaganova-graduates-in-dancing-times-interview/#entry113487

OK, so students are both "over-schooled" and at the same time are also "not ready"? That does not speak well for the schooling, I'd say.

I don't subscribe to Dancing Times and haven't read the article. However, from Ribbons' first post - "he questions the motivation of British students and says that there can be an element of sitting back on their laurels and a sense of entitlement." Can anyone tell me if Powney actually discussed technique, "showiness", the advanced skills or otherwise, etc, of foreign students compared to British ones, or did he just discuss the issue of "motivation"? While possibly related, the topics of motivation and advanced skills are different things, it seems to me.

ENB School used to have an associate programme, entry by audtion only, in the same manner as the RBS associates. It was in operation about six years ago, but it only lasted for a couple of years before it was closed down, which left students scrabbling around trying to find places on the other associate programmes at other schools. I assume it wasn't financially viable to continue, but I've got no inside information on it! ENB seem to have a long-standing relationship with Tring Park School, from which it obtains young dancers for its Nutcracker performances.

I'm afraid this isn't correct! The Consumer Contract Regulations (replaced the Distance Selling Regulations this year) allow you to return goods for any reason - even if you've just changed your mind - within 14 days for online purchases. (If there's an actual fault, that's another matter, and you have a longer time in which to ask for refunds.) BUT these regulations don't apply to private sellers (not traders) selling second-hand goods. The only protection is that it's correctly described and the owner has the right to sell it. It really is a case "let the buyer beware". So if the seller says little about the goods and you buy it, then that's it. Even if it's shoddy, you weren't mis-sold, and you have no comeback. Though if they lie to you, you do. A photograph, which may not give a completely accurate reflection of colour, is not a "description" of the goods and has no bearing on the matter. Ebay is a bit notorious in protecting the buyer and not the seller in disputes, I believe! .

You might be surprised! Even if there's no pre-show or interval discussion, they will put up a label saying something like, "No subtitles are required for this programme." They're obliged to write something. I've worked in subtitling and I once subtitled a Cirque du Soleil show where there was no dialogue. They wanted each piece of music labelled with a subtitle saying what the piece of music was called. I think that would be unlikely for a ballet performance, though. However, I once did have to subtitle dance - it was a long Akram Khan piece. Despite protestations, they insisted that they wanted the music described throughout the whole thing! Very tricky it was to do, too, and it was almost certainly not entirely successful!

I strongly agree with Aileen. In addition, I'd say it's important that, as a first step, your DD should ask the teacher herself about extra lessons. (I'm not sure if she has or not!) If she's a teenager, she's old enough to be doing this. If she feels shy or reticent or anxious, I'd say by all means accompany her, but do not say anything yourself. She should do the talking. Only intervene if something needs clarifying or to prompt her if she forgets something she wanted to say. It will come over much better, and she will be showing drive, commitment and maturity.

Thanks, CeliB. I ended up watching the whole set of episodes - they're only about five minutes each - and they were great, one of the best series about life in a ballet company I've seen.

Have you looked at Vestry School of Dance in Walthamstow? No acro, but ballet, modern and tap.

I wonder if there is a precise definition of what is meant by: You must not be - and nor should you ever have been - employed on a professional, full-time contract as a dancer.Does this include those who may have had short-term or temporary contracts, such as those taken on for the ENB in-the-round productions or for just a season, for example, for some Ballet Ireland productions? Are these deemed full-time contracts?