Bruce Wall

Two comments (i) Alban Lendorf is a class act .... (ii) What was all THAT about?

I remember - and I AM OLD - seeing Gielgud dance Swan Lake at the Royal Festival Hall with Adam Luders .... NOW THAT GOES BACK A LONG, LONG TIME ...

May I make a suggestion: The 'Prinicipal Guest Artist' contract - (fairly unique to the RB I think) - was created for Guillem based on 25 performances per year. Acosta took this contractual role on after Guillem's departure. When Carlos goes - and it can't be long surely given that the powers that made him celebrated in Britain are -0 without being cruel - somewhat diminished and his principle desire to return home and create a new arts centre having been expressed - I would like to suggest that the 25 'GUEST' performances as have been established with the Royal Ballet for at least the past two decades NOT be assigned to any one PRINICIPAL GUEST ARTIST but applied to a variety of notables from throughout the world. In this way their would be no additional challenge to the current home team - which I agree needs to be developed and promoted where appropriate and where rightful indications are able to be made concrete through prudent time - but also the company can benefit from the exposure of the varieties of these talents. In a world where obviously compromise rules this, I think, might prove an effective way forward. As my mother (who was herself a High Court judge) done told me: 'You can't EFFECTIVELY complain without offering an EFFECTIVE alternative.' I promise you I often found that frustrating .... but it did teach me oh, so often to bite my lip. Even now - in so many aspects of life - I find it oft swollen. Bless all.

I should just perhaps mention that the reason I mentioned the imagined possibility of Vasiliev with Alina in Bayadere ... was because he did perform with her as Solar in ABT this summer ... and as it is the same (Makarova) production albeit a different physical surround and costumes ... I thought this would be an easy guesting assignment - would benefit all - and not rob any valued home team members of any due attention ... In such a case, I should have thought it would be a 'win/win' kind of thing ... but, then, who am I? (Answers on attractive postcards only please.) I also wanted to say that I used to enjoy seeing Makarova dance in London with either the Royal or (as then) LFB because you saw different sides of these international artists given the different stimuli that was enriching/being enriched in the immediate surround. Of course, she often danced with Dowell (then himself an ABT principal) - who was, then, of course frequently a guest artist with the Royal as well. (Was his presence retarding the development of others ... I never looked at it that way. It's most interesting. Perhaps it did .... What great dancer did we miss? Do you remember?) How lucky everyone was in my eyes. well, certainly I felt most fortunate when I have been blessed in seeing the Royal's current (or recent) principals in New York ... especially when they are dancing with different partners. How I remember those wonderful performances with Darcey Bussell of Agon at the New York City Ballet - as well as Midsummer's Night Dream. Surely such fine artistry belongs to world as a whole. I have always believed that TRULY it was for the benefit of ALL ... no matter from where these extraordinary artists may have originally hailed ... and certainly it brought home for me the fact that the literacy we were celebrating in Ballet was, indeed, an international language. What of those performances of Oneign with Maximova, Edokimova (sp?) or Haydee at the Coli? I don't remember anyone suggesting then that the home principals were being cheated in any way by the extraordinary presence of such. Were they? Certainly I felt enriched by seeing/experiencing them ... and, I say that knowing that I had been one of those rare ones who had been so, so fortunate to see them ALL in different locales. That certainly would have only been a pipe dream for, say, many in my grandparent's generation. Now, on 25th July, we can watch a live simulcast of the DQ with Osipova and Vasilev for free on our computers ... Times they have - and I expect always will - keep changing. Boarders are there - or so it seems to me in many instances - to dissolve. Still, of course, the Boarder Control staff are intending to go out on strike in England and Wales the day before the opening of the Olympics. I remember myself being a company member at Straford Ontario MANY, many years ago. I was in a fabulous production of Richard III with Brian Bedford, Maggie Smith, Maggie Tyzack and several notable others. It was a WONDERFUL experience. It was to be broadcast live on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). The week of the broadcast Canadian Equity said that all British performers would have to be replaced by their Canadian understudies. There was much debate and - in the end - even though the broadcast trucks were outside the theatre and all cameras placed - the CBC DID broadcast Richard III ... only they used a BBC recording with Ian Holm and Glenda Jackson. Did I feel that opportunities had been enhanced by that? In no way, shape or form ... and I WAS a company member. I will say that being on the stage with the extraordinary artists WAS a unique education for me that I have long profited from. That, I knew, spoke for itself ... and would (indeed has) throughout the world where my work fortunately has taken me. Bless all on this board.

I should perhaps respond that I got ALL of mine the day after John received his .... They did come .... as, so, briefly, did the sun ... LOL

What I did find surprising - to be honest - is the return of Polunin as a 'guest' - in light that is of his VERY recent behaviour in the VERY face of this VERY company. I would have thought some other RB principals - even guests - who had been - how does one put it - in a more respectful standing - might well - with justification - feel aggrieved. (Of course, it would be an entirely different matter if Mr. Polunin was to appear as a member of another unit company upon the stage of the ROH. That I could understand). If the RB management felt compelled to look for an 'outside' guest in this regard - even one who had proven himself in this role ... might they not have considered Nicholas La Riche? I wonder if Guillem came back now for a Manon would there be a similar concern? Forgive me. I do understand in the majority aspect this is but a rhetorical consideration, which is perhaps where it is best to be lodged.

I wonder if anyone knows if there is the same kind of comment when Alina, Tamara, Carlos or Johann (all current or recent RB principals) have guested with ABT (a company of similar size) - which I believe they have all done for more performances and in a greater variety of roles than either Marcello or Natalia Osipova will ever have done with the Royal Ballet. I wonder does Osipova get the same kind of comment when she guests (which she has done on a number of occasions with the Paris Opera Ballet or, say, in Munich? Please forgive my ignorance in this regard. I should think such cultural exchanges will - or at least I would hope it might - prove beneficial for ALL. Certainly ALL members of the Royal Ballet have had many more opportunities to be featured in foreign tours and - without hesitation - on international cinema screens than many of their (even national, given the celebrated international make-up throughout the entirety of the RB roster) peers in other much celebrated balletic climbs..

Thanks Annamicro for the update on Osipova/SL. What a thrill it will be to see her working in close tandem to the RB company. Alison, it's just that I'd been told that Dame Monica had not been entirely enamoured of importing Russian guests ... Though, of course, I do remember Obratzova being brought in to guest at a point when, I believe, injury was high ... so, as you suggest, this may not be ABSOLUTELY accurate.

I had booked all three of the TBC Swan Lakes as I thought they would probably be Rojo ... but say how delighted I am that it is Osipova .... Now if only Vasiliev would guest later in the year in Bayadere .... The season would be entirely complete ... Is this not Osipova's debut as Odette/Odile? I believe she has not done it with ABT. THIS IS GREAT NEWS .... and notes yet another valuable sea change from the previous administration ... That and the varied casting for the Period 2 schedule bodes extremely well for the RB's future health methinks. Onwards ... with a smile ...

First soloist .... Surely principal is the right ranking for this towering presence; indeed such would be the 'point' surely. One might almost say he/she/it is 'a guiding light' in the fight towards ultimate gender diversity. I wonder how potent the competition from other companies will be for this balletic role model. Responses by semaphore please.

Wondered if anyone had received their tickets in the post. I booked all of mine last Tuesday and still have to receive them. Usually I get them in a few days. Just curious me.

Mixed feelings about this session .... Got on fine ... Booked everything I wanted but with - as John said - far too many errors appearing for anyone's comfort or good health - (I can imagine many would be scared off by this - but perhaps that is the ROH's motive). One curious thing - usually I receive the email in confirmation immediately after I make the booking. I have not received it as yet for this booking .... so printed out the on-screen notation which I don't usually do - saving trees and all that ...

What was it Johnson said about London?????

Oh, I forgot to add their potency ... 10 x 50 .... I swear by it .... If it's not too rude to type that!! All good wishes, Marieve ... It's a BEAUTIFUL name.

Forget opera glasses .... I use FIELD GLASSES ... have for yonks ... As far as I'm concerned they are opera glasses for the poor ... but, of course, rich in spirit. (Blessedly they still have not taxed these ... and I have, I must confess, worn out more than a few pairs globally).... ENJOY YOUR LIFE IN THE THEATRE, MARIEVE.

Bless you, Angela ... BLESS YOU ...

I just wondered did Vasiliev and Osipova actually do their Sleeping Beauty on 9th April in Munich ... If so and someone saw it ... would love a report. I am having withdrawal symptoms I think from NOT seeing them. Cheers, Meunier

And Ann, you're not the only one needing new glasses. The only thing that Ismene Brown seemed to like in Carbon Life was "an attractively spun duet for Sarah Lamb and Edward Watson." I missed that though there was one for Lamb and Steven McRae. All these chaps with slicked-back hair do look rather alike. Especially when they are both redheads!

Were the two new ballets truly as dispiriting from an artistic perspective as the Arts Desk review suggests?

As, I believe, Mr. Murdoch is wont to do ...

Well, the RB have just come up with another marketing ploy .... Send a note out to all ticket buyers telling them that some elements of the new/upcoming mixed bill may well be a tad scandalous in taste ... (e.g., semi-nudity, violence and BAD LANGUAGE!) I have just had mine today ... I wonder if the ROH BO will be especially hot tomorrow?

Alison, I think it is a matter of tradition and experience. You look at New York City ballet and the audience that was BUILT to support the regime of constant mixed programmes. It took three goes before the company really grabbed hold ... Third time lucky as t'were. (The education department does a wonderful job giving free information and free docent lectures at all performances. The NYCB guild also give in-focus programmes which cost a fraction of those at the ROH. This has led to the creation of an audience hungry for diversity. This is not, I think, a British tradition - and, as a result, companies based in or striving for this particular kind of ethic struggle in London. (Some struggle even when doing substantive narrative ballets, to wit BRB's recent Coppelia, etc.) NYCB, for example, are free to do much more diversely mixed programmes in Paris than they were in London. Still, that was probably for good reason, as even hedged bets failed in that instance (true, the enormous seat cost was another MAJOR factor). Just think of the wide Balanchine rep that Londoners (unless well travelled) will have NEVER seen. It is such a pity, especially as you can NEVER buy those audiences back ... and the opportunity for change in audience perceptions simply recedes.

I don't know if this has been posted before .... (here's hoping not) ... but below please find the link for a very entertaining article about the Canadian National Ballet's orchestra over the past sixty years ... Most amusing ... Most telling too that British founder, Celia Franka, was a gifted pianist ... as well as having been a gifted dancer at Sadler's Wells in the ballet's early years. http://bit.ly/GXwvIZ Enjoy. I did.

I would love to see Osipova/Vasiliev ... or Ashley Bouder and Tyler Angle in practically anything ... True artists .... and all very refreshingly young ... Hope for everyone's future

I agree he should stop. Anyone who wants to help him in this regard will, I assume, simply ignore such notices and let him get on with his own life. He will, I'm certain, find his own way.