Bluebird

You must have a more intelligent television than mine then. If I try to watch in anything other than 4:3 all the dancers suddenly become very fat!

That's interesting. It was filmed in 4:3 and my copy is definitely in that format. Amazon are currently selling only the 4:3 version. Have you bought yours recently? I didn't know it was possible to reformat a 4:3 recording so that it fitted a widescreen television.

Sim, it's an absolute pleasure to read your thoughtful reviews. I'm quoting them both in full so that readers can easily see them. They take me back to the days of the ballet.co.uk era when you and others would write detailed, perceptive and constructive reviews. I am aware that, nowadays, social media encourage short, pithy remarks but it's great that you have taken the time to comment in such detail.

Sadler's Wells casting now on BRB website: Tuesday 13th October Céline Gittens; Tyrone Singleton Wednesday 14th October mat Delia Mathews; Brandon Lawrence Wednesday 14th October eve Yaoquian Shang; César Morales Thursday 15th October Momoko Hirata; Joseph Caley Edited to add that , currently, only the Swan Lake casting is up. Let's hope that the mixed bill casting follows soon.

I understand that the ROH Shop is due to be closed shortly and that it will remain closed for over two years. Presumably it will reopen in a new location once the building works are complete.. Edited to add that, if I understood them correctly, the outlet in the Floral Hall will remain open during this time. Presumably this will just be when a performance is scheduled in the main auditorium.

A tweet from a member of the ROH Insight Department indicates that, although nothing is certain, it's possible it will be Raven Girl or Connectome.

Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli are to be the guest artists at the Genée Final this evening.

Full details of the finalists of the 2015 Genée International Competition are now on the RAD website http://www.rad.org.uk/news/genee-2015-finalists-announced I've pasted the list of finalists below. The final will take place at Sadler's Wells on Saturday September 19.: Lania Atkins from Australia, trained by Mark Reily, Peta Frith, Tamar Arzoumalian & Julie Wells Sara Carver from Canada, trained by Yao Ping Zhu, Isabel Yuan & Fiona Smith Madison Cronin from New Zealand, trained by Lucinda Dunn, Julie Wells & Katie Pianoff Megan Gerber from South Africa, trained by June Melville, Dorothy De Witt & Iain McDonald Makensie Henson from Australia, trained by Prudence Bowen & Heidi Landford Uyu Hiromoto from Japan, trained by Moritoshi Kudo & Sakae Maruyama Anatalia Hordov from the USA, trained by Corinne Glover & Danica Primo Honoka Ishihara from Japan, trained by Mika Tamaru Paige Rochester from Australia, trained by Prudence Bowen & Heidi Landford Drew Jackson from the United Kingdom, trained by Samira Saidi & Irek Mukhamedov Leroy Mokgatle from South Africa, trained by Christopher Montague, Sayward Harris, Angelique Harris, Heidi Wright & Angela Malan Robert van den Aardweg from South Africa, trained by Christopher Montague, Sayward Harris, Angelique Harris, Heidi Wright & Angela Malan

I'm in full agreement about the better acoustic and poor legroom in the front of the Coliseum balcony but would add that I've sat with friends of differing heights in the front row (row A) and none of us have had problems with the safety rail. I do, however, agree that the rail can cause problems in rows B and C

Sorry, Janet. I only just saw this. It had been pointed out to me that Jan 26 was actually there, on the same line as Jan 23 as the casts are the same. Since I was still able to edit my original post, I deleted it. Sorry for any confusion caused!

redundant post deleted!

I also heard this and, since the ushers were clearly not taking any action, I assumed that the shouting was coming from someone who had the kind of disability which means that the calling out is involuntary. This raises a very difficult question. These occasional outbursts can be distracting for other members of the audience yet we wouldn't want to prevent people with this disability from watching and enjoying ballet. There's no real solution to this.

Sorry to disappoint you, Capybara, but the casting on the ROH website was the only version I saw and I didn't see any mention of a Family Matinée. Having said that, I think you're probably right. Partnerships who are only down for one public performance, almost always do either a schools or a family matinée.

That Traviata broadcast was in 1994.

They've given in. Cast sheets were freely available for this afternoon's performance. Sadly, attendance was so poor that even the Upper Circle was closed. Only the Stalls and the Dress Circle were open.

......also, stalls circle bench seats C17 to 21 and C92-96 are now available during Friends' priority booking.. Those (+ the standing places Anna mentions) account for all but one of the lost places.

When the Autumn casting was first published the Welcome Performance and Schools' Performance casts were on the list. They were swiftly taken off but I kept a copy of the original. The Welcome Performance cast is scheduled to be Francesca Hayward and Matthew Golding. The Schools' Performance is scheduled to be danced by Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball. Neither will appear on the ROH website as the Welcome Performance is for families who have never bought tickets to a performance at the ROH and the Schools' Performance is, of course, only for groups of school students. Edited to add link to details of Welcome Performances: http://www.roh.org.uk/learning/families/welcome-performances

I think the problem is that they have decided that the tickets for two of the mixed bills this Autumn should be priced in the same way as full evening ballets - i.e. seats that have, in the past, been priced at £6 for mixed bills are priced at £16 for the Monotones/Two Pigeons bill and also for the Viscera quad bill.

..........and Swan Lake.

A couple of names seem to have been left off the ENB Friends' email. Tiffany Hedman has also been promoted to First Artist and the names of Nicola Henshall and Chantel Roulston have been added to the mid-season leavers. Here is the link to the announcement which is now on the ENB website: http://blog.ballet.org.uk/promotions-new-joiners-20152016-season/

It's been pointed out to me that Isaac Hernandez has a very similar appearance to Joan Zamora and I now realize that it might well have been Isaac that we saw at the far end of the Markova House studio.

I was there that day and also thought that I saw Joan Zamora. However the person I thought was Joan was only watching the rehearsal - i.e. he didn't take part in it.

News just sent to Friends of ENB: PROMOTIONS AND NEW JOINERS Artistic Director Tamara Rojo is delighted to announce promotions within the Company and details of new joiners for 2015/2016 season. Alison McWhinney, James Streeter, and Max Westwell have all been promoted to Soloist. Cesar Corrales, who joined the Company in 2014, has been promoted to Junior Soloist. Anjuli Hudson has been promoted to First Artist and Barry Drummond has been promoted to 8th Year Artist. Huge congratulations to them all! We are also thrilled to announce Osiel Gounod, currently a Principal with The Norwegian National Ballet, joins us as Guest Artist for the 2015/2016 season. You can read more about Osiel here. Emilio Pavan, currently a Junior Soloist with Queensland Ballet, joins the Company as Soloist. Joining English National Ballet as Artists are William Beagley, Josie Frick and Erik Woolhouse (The Royal Ballet School),Naomi Bottomer (English National Ballet School) and Prix de Lausanne prize winner Rina Kanehara. The excitement isn't over: continuing to work with the very best talent from around the world, ENB also sees the legendary Irek Mukhamedov join its artistic team at the start of the 2015/2016 season when he joins as Principal Ballet Master and Character Artist. Many of you will remember the exhilarating masterclass he led in September last year and we are delighted that Irek is returning to ENB next season. LEAVERS After 22 years with the Company, Lead Principal Dmitri Gruzdyev retires at the end of the 2014/2015 season. Having joined English National Ballet in 1993 Gruzdyev performed Principal roles in all the major classics including Balanchine’s Apollo, both Des Grieux and Lescaut in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Romeo in Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet, and more recently in the Company’s production of Le Corsaire in the lead roles of Conrad and Lankendem. After 11 years with the Company, Principal Arionel Vargas, also leaves English National Ballet. Vargas performed Principal roles in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle with Albrecht being a particular favourite role and recently appeared in the Company’s production of Le Corsaire. Vargas has also danced both Lescaut and Des Grieux in MacMillan’s Manon and made many guest appearances throughout the world. Nathan Young, Seo Yeon Yu and Joan Sebastian Zamora, left the Company mid-season.

Too late to edit the above posting, but it just occurred to me that some might challenge my view of Ratmansky as a 'western' choreographer. If so, I apologize for applying the term too loosely.

But surely this music appears in a number of versions by western choreographers? I don't remember whether or not Bintley uses it but it's certainly in the final act of the Corder and Ratmansky versions. Also, unless I'm very much mistaken, although Wheeldon doesn't use it in the final act, he does use it in Act 2 for the dances of the three princesses (Russian, Spanish and Balinese)