cabriole

Is Isabelle Fokine credited with the production of Sheherazade?will be intersting to see what she has done to Petrushka at ENB .I remember Panov as Petrushka doing split jumps and a pirouette a la seconde in the cell scene at the Coliseum in the mid 70's (again most inapropriate)

A pirouette a la seconde in Sheherazade!! Fokine must be turning in his grave.

I wish I could have seen this performance,I remember Ambra Vallo from her days in ENB and lately With BRB when in London ,she is such an honest dancer and a wonderful actress, I hear from one of her colleagues that her family had come from Italy ,and her former  coach (ballet master) was there also ,apparently it was a very emotional moment when they met on stage after the show.

I wish her every success .

SW19 is the place next week ,indeed Allegro Brilliante  ,I don't believe it has been done since the RB touring Group performed it in the early 1970's a beautiful ballet.

A star studded audience at the London premiere of NBT at the Wells well done to all.PR and Marketing a big pat on the back.

As I recall Miss Brynd was better known for her relationship with a married Royal than for her dancing,need I say more !!!

I agree with Aileen ,it was a shame that there was not one piece (either musically or choreographically) in the classical or neo classical idiom.The ENBS duet was very interesting indeed one of the young ladies had a very strong presence.For me the best was last , Fabian Reymar no touching pas de deux had a sense of mystery and in the previous piece  I did like Xenia Ovsyanik (always a treat to watch) she and her partner created lovely shapes and seemed to have a good rapport.

Lets hope Restor does not object that there were a lot of Spanish people in the audience!!!

ENB must do more of these evenings.

 The second movement of Symphony in Three Movements perhaps? I am looking forward to their visit

I heard Boston Ballet .

It certainly has a way to go ,what is it representing? what do the captions mean ?it bears no relation to ballet or dance nor does it represent the current repertoire ,and must have cost a fortune .I agree the Whats on segment is clearer ,but same old photos of the dancers (none of the artists) all in all I am underwhelmed .,no doubt I will be in a minority!!

Went up to Milton Keynes and saw the first night of Sleeping Beauty ,the company is looking good ,the fairies were very nice and a special mention to Daria Klimentova super solo ,she lit the stage when she was on.Some Cavaliers were a bit long in the tooth!! is that what happens when casting from the top.I had great expectations and was looking so forward to seeing Tamara Rojo as Aurora ,but I must be honest I felt very underwhelmed , her connection to her fellow dancers and the audience was no where to be seen , she is a brilliant dramatic dancer (her Juliet is wonderful) but as a pure classical dancer ,her line ,i.e stiiff shoulders and an over muscled lower leg .Her arms in the act two solo were totally lacking the lyricism of the choreography,On a good note she did redeem herself in act three ,lovely solo and pas de deux .

Vadim Muntagirov danced very elegantly with perhaps less "Elan" as usual ,after all he must have been nervous dancing with THE BOSS,

Other notable performances were Shiori Kase as Princess Florine and Esteban Berlanga as Gold very stylish and not helped by the Tiara he had to wear.Te company must find a Bluebird who can do a Temps de Poisson and good batteries.

The corps were very spirited.

I am looking forward to London and seeing perhaps some of the younger members being featured, as promised by the AD

Was it wise of Darcey Bussell to join the judging panel on Strictly Come Dancing / She has been heavily criticised for her over use of Yeah and Ok.

Janet is so right Etudes is magnificent, I remember seeing it in 1956(yes I am that old!!) with Toni Lander John Gilpin and Fleming Flindt and later with other wonderful casts Samsova ,Prokovsky,Shauffuss,Dubreuil,Miklosy, Bart in the 60's and 70's. Being away I did miss the 80's revival ,it is a vibrant Ballet and so good for company technique.

I am bemused that Petrushka is on the Nureyev tribute, it was certainly not one of his signature ballets and IMO he was not very good in it, but pleased about Raymonda (although purists don't like it) will they keep the RB designs

The 1960 version is the best although Eva Evdokimova is wonderful in the 1st solo .I don't like the the headdresses in the 1980 version they are too big!!

There is a recording with Alicia Alonso,Melissa Hayden ,Nora Kaye and Mia Slavenska you can find it on YouTube I love this one, also Nina Aniashvili has it on one of her DVD's. Alonso Thesmar Fracci and Evdokimova on youtube .My favourite is the 1st one it has the quality and perfect style ,look out for Alonso's lightness and compare it with the later one.

Could Mr Zee who seems to be a fountain of knowledge, tell us if the current Balletmaster at ENB knows he is going to be replaced by Jose Martin .

Chi Cao is a lovely dancer I really enjoyed his portrayal of Li Xuxin in the film(why was it never released world wide) a far better film than Black Swan "AWFUL" film (imo) if he is better I doubt he will do a Matinee.Still looking forward to Grand Tour.

Hello Janet

is there a casting for the triple bill ,I love The Dream and my husband has fond memories of Grand tour, Matinee is best for us .Can you compare the casts of G T with the earlier (!978-1983)casts, you must be too young to have seen Barbieri Wicks Dubreuil Williams etc..

Will she continue to dance at ENB always a difficult balance, it is hard enough running a company without having to perform, I wish her all the best ,but I still think Wayne Eagling was hard done by.

Is she going to bring her own ballet staff?Shame to lose a good team if she does.

Jennifer Kronenberg was Villella's choice as a replacement is Lopez's appointment political .

Have ENBS announced their new Director ?

What is happening at ENB ,Graig Hassal leaves ,and only a few weeks later Wayne Eagling is now stepping down ,are we having a scenario on the scale of San Jose Ballet where the chairman of the board wants to run the Co .I think Wayne Eagling has done a terrific job he may not be every ones cup of tea but he is a man of the theatre .More artistic people on the board who understand the needs of a ballet Co are needed not ones that are there as figure heads because they have money and little knowledge of the art .

It will be interesting to see the full length Aladinn ,I am very disappointed that BRB are doing Coppelia again instead of a triple bill,what has happened to having new ballets that are not by David Bintley so healthy for a company (one can cast a Bintley ballet he always uses the same people,other choreographers might see talent in other dancers,like Vanessa Hamilton was chosen by Wayne McGregor at the RB) and please replace the GHASTLY Giselle by the GORGEOUS Peter Wright production.

That's it no more grumps !!!

Who else apart from Jamie Bond is injured I appreciate it is par for the course but Jamie Bond seems very fragile,

James Barton has the making of a good Will Mossop, I heard David Morse had not been well , will try to come to Brum ,a fine ballet.