Jump to content

Roberta

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    552

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Roberta

  1. Roberta
    Oh dear, too late to correct, 14 not 4!
  2. Roberta
    For the children in your life. Or simply for yourself! Interview. https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/blog/debut-author-yasmine-naghdi-on-her-joyous-new-series-ballet-besties-6653 It's a long way from the stern ballet teacher glass in shoes type of drama ballet books thankfully! (Though didn't we revel in them?)
  3. Roberta
    Yup. And her classical for the YAGP (which is how she got to the RBS I believe) seemed totally the right choice for her! Fairy Doll!
  4. Roberta
    Yes she is lovely isn't she? Looks totally in control and enjoying performing!
  5. Roberta
    "Watch our recent graduate and Aud Jebsen Young Dancer with The Royal Ballet Ella Newton Severgnini" https://www.facebook.com/royal.ballet.school/videos/-a-late-christmas-present-watch-our-recent-graduate-and-aud-jebsen-young-dancer-/562476135347474/ Very short clip!
  6. Roberta
    Viola Pantuso age 14. Le Corsaire PDD. https://youtu.be/8etHycHaYoM?si=VEtsXTvTEJplDCww She was YAGP too, plenty of her dancing on YouTube from quite an early age. There's a World Ballet Day RBS pointe work class where she stood out.
  7. Roberta
    You can leave at 16 in Wales and Scotland, England has restrictions.
  8. Roberta
    Yes. And different countries have different requirements which still apply to students studying dance in the UK. https://www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school
  9. Roberta
    Catching 'em young isn't new, of course. The 'baby ballerinas' of Les Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in the early 1930s: Irina Baronova Tamara Toumanova and Tatiana Riabouchinska 12 and 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Ballerinas 'Doing the steps' at that age is one thing, doing them with the artistry and acting ability of a more mature dancer may be a different thing. There is no doubt that Beryl Grey, 'Britain's baby ballerina', was a prodigy however. Many sources say she danced Odette / Odile on her 15th birthday and Giselle at 16. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/dec/11/dame-beryl-grey-obituary
  10. Roberta
    Coming up on the 16th April Insight into The Winter's Tale.
  11. Roberta
    It's all a missed opportunity for education isn't it? The assumption is they are talking to an 'in crowd' who know all of this, rather than a general audience who may well be new to it. Often it's rather good, it appears little effort was put into this one.
  12. Roberta
    A new ROH 'short' on costume making for Different Drummer. https://www.facebook.com/reel/2075455429506228
  13. Roberta
    There used to be, Varna etc, though I have no interest in them I really don't know what is still going and what isn't! I do watch some of PdL and YAGP (student comps) but I'm not obsessive. I like watching class more than anything. A recent one I did watch online was the Erik Bruhn Prize as Viola Pantuso and Daichi Ikarashi were featured. https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/videos/royal-ballet-artists-viola-pantuso-and-daichi-ikarashi-in-rehearsal-for-the-erik/202277519110431/?locale=en_GB
  14. Roberta
    "He joined The Royal Ballet as a Soloist in 2017 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2018, Principal, 2022" With a pandemic in the mix of course.
  15. Roberta
    Beryl Grey was certainly a prodigy. Times were very different! Dancers didn't require an all round education it seems. Grey joined Sadler’s Wells Ballet (now The Royal Ballet) aged just 14 in 1941, performing the role of a Blue Skater in Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs. Grey became a Soloist in the Company the following year and marked her 15th birthday by performing Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, at de Valois’ invitation.
  16. Roberta
    And I seem to recall grumbling on this forum because Viola Pantuso is cast in Winter's Tale! You can't please all of the people all of the time. Whatever happens will be the cause of grumbling by some. I'm sure Bracewell will be Albrecht in the next run of Giselle. However, that could mean a current principal sidelined! And further grumbling. Re Joe Sissens, I think he's been carefully selected for a variety of suitable roles, he's clearly being prepared for principal, and his partnering skills made stronger before giving him the big ones. We only see dancers on stage in the main. The Director sees far more than we do.
  17. Roberta
    I think what I said was the general observation "Bringing a partner / spouse into the UK if you have a job in the UK nowadays is fraught with problems and becoming more difficult." It wasn't specific to to any 'partnership', though I think many people are unaware of this, the minimum income requirements and how difficult to achieve.
  18. Roberta
    Oh I do appreciate that there are advantages to be gained from performing in these big competitions for many, especially with online streaming. I'm merely repeating what is currently the RBS stated policy. It may change with a new person in charge. On the other hand, if students from the 'prestige' schools do compete and don't do well, possibly as they aren't hothoused for competitions like some are, it's going to be embarrassing for the school isn't it? The standout students who are already pencilled in as likely to be offered a place on say, the Aud Jebson scheme won't be the ones competing. In case this helps anyone's DC, there is the YAGP Jobs Fair https://yagp.org/yagp-2024-job-fair/
  19. Roberta
    Yes exactly! It was the mandolin dance stuck in my memory particularly as he exploded on stage and every time I see his name in the credits I recall that for some reason! Yet I've never seen him being singled out for interview for a cine broadcast and he's been a stalwart of the ROH offerings.
  20. Roberta
    It's a fact of life that ballet companies are now international, though reality is they always have been to some extent, it's also a fact of life that there are too many vocational schools (which basically are money making businesses) producing a surplus of highly trained dancers who in the end will struggle to find work. Even if every UK dance job was given to a UK dancer (not really going to happen is it?) there would still be a surplus as we don't have that many companies and vacancies are few.
  21. Roberta
    There are only so many performances available though, and a large number of principals. That's before first soloists have their chance.
  22. Roberta
    She was. Markova joined Ballet Russes at 14. Fonteyn. Bussell was 19 when she was chosen for Prince of the Pagodas. On the other hand, some dancers take time to mature.
  23. Roberta
    I recall his mandolin dance, with Dowell as Romeo. Who would have foreseen where his career would go? I've never heard him interviewed before, he's been working on the cinema broadcasts for years.
  24. Roberta
    So are we now into the catching 'em younger and younger for the major roles? If so, what happens to all the more mature and experienced principals? There are only so many performances available. There are always prodigies, I wonder how many of the latest batch will end up burnt out by thirty!
  25. Roberta
    No excuse for treating dancers as described above though.
×
×
  • Create New...