Roberta

Ah yes, a showgirl name most certainly! 'Not our sort dear!' And Mrs Crapper, the landlady? I must reread them all! A wander down memory lane:- https://callmemadam.livejournal.com/708353.html Lorna Hill published fourteen books about the ‘Wells’ between 1950 and 1964. They were later reprinted in paperback and are still popular today. In tandem with those, she wrote another dancing series, Dancing Peel, but it was never as successful. Ballet had a much higher popular profile in the 1950s than it does today. Had you been ten-year-old me and reading Girl comic, you could have followed the weekly adventures of Belle of the Ballet and your Christmas annual would include a colour plate of Margot Fonteyn, a household name.

I understand it was a long ish visit to Paris, I'm presuming all RBS students who went participated in the (very nice) on stage class, and no doubt there were visits and other classes and an experience none of them will forget! Very pleasing that they danced Ashton at the gala. I believe groups of from three to five from each school invited. I hope all who went were in the final Grand Défilé. (The Royal Ballet School has its own version on the ROH stage in the summer.) @alison thanks have changed the date! 🙃

As far as I can gather five students went to Paris, or that was the intention, three danced in the gala. It's not terribly clear at the moment, no doubt further details will emerge over the coming days. Katie Robertson in 2022 at the RBS

He appears to be doing very well at the RBS! https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2024/02/11/the-prix-de-lausanne-partner-school-choreographic-project-with-pre-professional-year-student-emile/ Arrived at the RBS via Tring and yes another former Billy Elliot, plenty of stage and comps etc experience, also elite level gymnast. https://billyelliotthemusical.com/cast/emile-gooding/ A glimpse of Rhapsody (not last night) https://www.instagram.com/emilegooding/reel/C4y23ytI6bC/?hl=en Ravi Cannonier-Watson has his own website https://www.ravicannonierwatson.com/bio https://www.royalgazette.com/arts-entertainment/lifestyle/article/20240201/ravi-heads-to-paris-opera/ Rebecca Myles Stewart is an inspiration!

I watched this live online through the night, livestream from New York, here is the YouTube recording of the Senior Finals, there is a great deal more on the Youth America Grand Prix YouTube Channel, all ages, rounds and Masterclasses. Though it is called the YAGP the competition is international and the standard of training and performing very high indeed. https://www.youtube.com/@YAGP/streams Awards include further training at selected international schools and, for some lucky older students, contracts with companies. It begins on an impressive note with Dancer 503 and Walpurgis Night. Kohina Nakatani age 15 from Japan. So much talent, so many hopefuls!

Further videos are emerging on YouTube, this is about the POB school performances this week, official link is https://www.youtube.com/@operadeparis where there is more. [INTERVIEW] L’École de Danse répète le spectacle annuel (English subtitles) See also the YouTube channel of SORTIE DE SCÈNE

I hope you can spot her here! Not last night's performances (which I'm assuming were not allowed to be shown for rights reasons possibly) but the curtain calls and all students on stage at the last part. How glorious for them! Their own Grand Défilé. Opéra de Paris, Gala des Écoles de danse, 2024

Antoinette Sibley & Anthony Dowell "A Midsummer Night's Dream Ballet" on The Ed Sullivan Show

You mean... there are those who don't look at the LINKS first every day? 🤯 (that's a 'shocked face with exploding head' emoji I gather. Not me in a tiara at all) I simply thought it was better to put the one link that was relevant not the entire list.

Perhaps what we as adults are missing here is a cultural ref! Are we so out of touch? (I hope the writers will not be called plagiarists! Oh dear!) 🩰

I'm checking regularly to see if the University site has the updated Bayadere to watch again; so far no. This is from today's forum 'Links'. https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/why-are-we-still-watching-la-bayadere-2717076/

The origins of the story? Shakespeare was very good at retelling. "Where did Shakespeare get the idea for The Winter’s Tale? He often reworked elements from earlier literature and other authors, making a practice of creating something new and powerful from existing stories, and The Winter’s Tale was no exception. Popping up in the play are characters and scenes from Robert Greene’s 1588 romance Pandosto: The Triumph of Time, considered Shakespeare’s primary source material for The Winter’s Tale. If Greene’s name sounds familiar, it may be because he’s the same man who mocked Shakespeare as a poor writer and an “upstart crow.” " https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/how-we-got-the-winters-tale-and-where-it-went-from-there/

Adults who take up ballet are not that rare! See the 'Doing Dance' forum for inspiration!

Yes the Chagall ceiling is rather wonderful also. https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/paris/landmarks/opera-garnier/chagall-ceiling The students who participated in the stage class and will be dancing in the gala performance are very fortunate indeed!

Interesting interview with Lynne Charles here about her background and her 4Pointe method https://www.pivot-pointe.com/insights/post/interview-with-4pointe-founder-lynne-charles

Marquee TV has it on subscription https://marquee.tv/videos/balletboyz-youngmen It looks still available from here? https://www.balletboyz.com/product-page/young-men-stage-dvd NB: This is a recording of the live stage show, not the BBC film of the same name

There's a link to an extract via this page. Look under the book cover picture it's a PDF. https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781800785830/isbn/Ballet-Besties-Yaras-Chance-to-Dance-by-Yasmine-Naghdi-Chitra-Soundar.html Let's be kind.

The curtain calls for the three ballets are here from 14th April performance. I think it will be OK to link? Gorgeous building, worth watching for the opening shots!

Three separate events! The class with all the different ballet school students was most enjoyable to watch. Lovely music also. This is tomorrow so nothing on YouTube as yet. 'Dance School Gala' 17th April https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-23-24/ballet/gala-des-ecole-de-danse

It's only just now begun. You can watch it later though!

Cast list https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/insights-the-winters-tale/cast-list/59448

I won't link either, I think it is at (search) Opéra de Paris, Cours public des Écoles de danse du XXIe siècle, 2024 YouTube channel of ParisAndAllThatJazz Also Opéra de Paris, Spectacle de l'École de Danse, 2024 "The Paris Opera Ballet School, directed by Élisabeth Platel, presents its annual production. To mark the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Roland Petit, himself a pupil of the school, the young dancers are reviving his first ballet, Les Forains, which portrays a troupe of acrobats performing to a lively score by Henri Sauguet. In Un ballo, Jirí Kylián invites us to a ball where several couples are drawn together by the elegant music of Maurice Ravel. Lastly, Serge Lifar’s Suite en blanc brings his virtuoso grand neoclassical style to the stage. The Demonstrations offer the public the opprtunity to discover the many different interpretations of classical technique taught at the School."

I gather this is all part of the 'Cultural Olympiad' 2024 https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/cultural-olympiad-paris-a871?dpl5p=5 https://parisjetaime.com/eng/event/public-classes-schools-of-dance-opera-garnier-cultural-olympiad-e498 "Pierre de Coubertin, known as the father of the modern Olympic Games, believed that the combination of ‘muscle and mind’ (sport and art) was one of the core values of the Games. Although sculpture, architecture, literature, music, and painting were considered Olympic disciplines from 1912 to 1949, the arts gradually disappeared from the competitions. Nevertheless, these artistic disciplines are well represented during the games in the Cultural Olympiad – and a key part of the charter of the Games – organized alongside this major world sporting event. For three seasons, Paris will be programming cultural, artistic, sporting and heritage events to showcase the cultural richness of France and create exciting experiences and memories for as many people as possible." Excellent.

Never say never. Go buy those tights.

Small aside, short film of Yasmine Naghdi talking to Royal Ballet School students and book signing. If you're quick there's a screen of her photos from when she was very young! Sweet. Worth remembering she was turned down at first attempt at While Lodge entry. Persistence pays.