Bluebird

Woman's Hour has just started and Viviana Durante is to be interviewed about Anastasia. I think I've seen elsewhere that they'll also be talking to Lauren Cuthbertson

Do you mean that they are not appearing in Jewels? They are, of course, both scheduled to appear in Mayerling which is also in the Spring booking period.

Nutcracker casting is now on the ENB website http://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/nutcracker/

The prices are the same as the prices for La Fille Mal Gardée (i.e. lower than the prices for Beauty)

He's listed for three performances of Diamonds (with Lauren Cuthbertson).

Mayerling casting going up now................ http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/mayerling-by-kenneth-macmillan

Jewels casting is going up on the website as I write..... http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/jewels-by-george-balanchine

....or this one? (i.e. what fillebiengardée referred to as the 'drunken dance') - around 35 seconds into this extract

I just called the ROH Box Office to check the meaning of 'limited availablility' for the February 18 Beauty matinée. The information they have at the moment is that the amphitheatre is reserved for an invited audience. The rest of the auditorium will be available for the rest of us.

The last time 'limited availability' was in the Magazine (in the Autumn booking) it was for an opera matinée and only the amphitheatre was unavailable for booking. The rest of the auditorium was available to book. If it only mentions 'limited availability' there must be some places available. Edited to add that, when there are no places available, the phrase is 'not available for public booking'.

I've double checked with the Australian Ballet in Melbourne and they have confirmed the casting on this link: https://australianballet.com.au/romeo-and-juliet-melbourne-casting The remaining performances are, therefore as follows: Friday: Leanne Stojmenov and Kevin Jackson Saturday matinée: Amber Scott and Ty King-Wall Saturday evening: Ako Kondo and Chengwu Guo

That 'treat with caution' might have been prophetic. A couple of days ago I wrote to the Australian Ballet in Melbourne to try to get some accurate casting. They've just sent me the link to the full nightly casting but they have the Saturday casts reversed with Scott/King-Wall in the afternoon and Kondo/Guo in the evening. (The link says Romeo and Juliet Melbourne casting but it does take you to the London casting for Cinderella!) https://australianballet.com.au/romeo-and-juliet-melbourne-casting I would have thought the representative who's actually in London (and who gave me the casting in my original post) would have had the most up-to-date information but can't confirm that.

In answer to Bridiem's other question about the prince's journey by ship, train..etc, the original Prokoviev Cinderella had the prince travelling round the world to find Cinderella. I understand this is supposed to be because, since nobody knew who she was, he'd assumed she must be a foreign princess.

I've been given the casting for the rest of the week with the usual warning that it might have to be changed. Treat with caution: This afternoon Ako Kondo and Chengwu Guo Tonight Amber Scott and Ty King-Wall Friday Leanne Stojmenov and Kevin Jackson Saturday matinée Ako Kondo and Chengwu Guo Saturday evening Amber Scott and Ty King-Wall

The Swan Lake casting on their website was inaccurate for the two matinées. I'm currently trying to find out this week's Cinderella casting. I've left my email address with one of the Australian Ballet representatives. If she gets back to me I'll post it here.

They've already announced that it's Lana Jones and Daniel Gaudiello (who's, sadly, no longer with the company) http://www.cinemalive.com/index.php?p=view&id=201 (Scroll down to find casting)

I’m in complete agreement with what you say about Benedicte Bemet.. I was lucky enough to see her as Clara when the Australian Ballet danced Peter Wright’s Nutcracker in 2014. She was an absolute delight and I can’t put it better than Michelle Potter did in her review of the ballet when it was shown on Australian TV that Christmas. http://michellepotter.org/reviews/the-nutcracker-on-film-the-australian-ballet I hope it’s OK to quote the following extract from Michelle Potter’s review. “She commanded the role from beginning to end, never losing strength or characterisation. She showed off a wonderfully fluid technique and I especially loved her use of épaulement, her gorgeous carriage of the head, those beautiful arabesques that seemed to soar upwards, and the way she always, but always, stepped forward onto a turned out foot. Those technical matters came as if they were second nature and she looked every inch the dancer from start to finish.” I also saw Benedicte's impressive Aurora last December. The performance was at the Sydney Opera House. I think it was her debut in the role but can't be certain that she hadn't already danced it in Melbourne. She’s most certainly a great prospect for the future.

If we compare the Winter season to the Autumn season, Wolf Works has the same prices as Anastasia. The Human Seasons/After The Rain/ New Crystal Pite mixed bill has the same prices as the Chroma mixed bill. Only Sleeping Beauty has higher prices.

http://blog.ballet.org.uk/promotions-and-new-joiners-2016-2017/ I've copied and pasted the information below. Congratulations to all those who have been promoted or who are joining the company. All best wishes to those who are leaving. "PROMOTIONS Following his win at this year’s Emerging Dancer, where he also won People’s Choice Award, Cesar Corrales is promoted from Junior Soloist to First Soloist. Other promotions for next season include Ken Saruhashi, who has been promoted to Junior Soloist, Barry Drummond, Stina Quagebeur and Jinhao Zhang, promoted to First Artist, and Rina Kanehara who has been promoted within the Artist of the Company rank to 8th Year Artist. As previously announced, Shiori Kase and Laurretta Summerscales were promoted to Principal mid-season. JOINERS Currently a member of Compañía Nacional de Danza, Aitor Arrieta joins us as Junior Soloist. Joining as Artists of the Company are Georgia Bould (following her performances with the company over the Autumn/Winter season), Emily Suzuki from English National Ballet School, Giorgio Garrett from the National Ballet of Canada, Francesca Velicu from Romanian National Ballet, and Connie Vowles (who joined mid-season from the Royal Ballet School). PROMOTIONS Following his win at this year’s Emerging Dancer, where he also won People’s Choice Award, Cesar Corrales is promoted from Junior Soloist to First Soloist. Other promotions for next season include Ken Saruhashi, who has been promoted to Junior Soloist, Barry Drummond, Stina Quagebeur and Jinhao Zhang, promoted to First Artist, and Rina Kanehara who has been promoted within the Artist of the Company rank to 8th Year Artist. As previously announced, Shiori Kase and Laurretta Summerscales were promoted to Principal mid-season. JOINERS Currently a member of Compañía Nacional de Danza, Aitor Arrieta joins us as Junior Soloist. Joining as Artists of the Company are Georgia Bould (following her performances with the company over the Autumn/Winter season), Emily Suzuki from English National Ballet School, Giorgio Garrett from the National Ballet of Canada, Francesca Velicu from Romanian National Ballet, and Connie Vowles (who joined mid-season from the Royal Ballet School). We are thrilled to welcome them all to the English National Ballet family. LEAVERS Kei Akahoshi, Désirée Ballantyne, Naomi Bottomer, Josephine Frick and Ksenia Ovsyanick left the Company at the end of the 2015/2016 season. We would like to thank them for their contribution to English National Ballet and wish them all the best for the future!

The recent Osipova/Polunin Triple Bill will be shown on Sky Arts on 18th July http://www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/osipova-sadlers-wells/

Thanks you, Anne. That gets the meaning across much better than 'sentimentality'.

Unfortunately it's a word that doesn't have a direct English equivalent. Maybe a native French speaker might be able to come up with a better translation than 'sentimentality'?

A video of the actual moment of promotion has been posted on Facebook. It's possible that you need to be logged in to Facebook to see it. https://www.facebook.com/alain.pepin/videos/10209371591622997/?hc_location=ufi# This promotion is SO well deserved. A comment has been posted on Dansomanie by Lopatkino. Although it is in French, it is so well put that I will paste it in here: "J'ai eu le coup de cœur pour elle : une technique extrêmement sûre, une grâce naturelle, et il y a dans sa façon de bouger un doux lyrisme, une délicatesse sans mièvrerie et une très grande musicalité. En plus, elle est une excellente interprète." I won't attempt to give a literal translation but here is a very rough one. S/he is saying that Shiori has solid technique, natural grace and that the way she moves is softly lyrical, delicate without resorting to sentimentality and profoundly musical.

Here's the link to the beginning of the discussion. You'll need to scroll down past the comments on the Emerging Dancer http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3172&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=285

The tickets for Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Festival Hall don't go on sale till next week, June 21 for Friends of ENB and June 22 for general public booking. Tomorrow's booking date is only for Friends of ENB to book events and also to purchase tickets for My First Cinderella in venues other than the Peacock Theatre.