jmhopton

Yes I daren't even think about later in April. I've now got 3 more weekends booked on the 14/15, 22 and 29. It should have just been the 14/15 and 22nd but when I started idly checking for accommodation on the 22nd (I'd booked both performances) I was horrified to see all my usual places were either full or double the cost. When I checked, the London marathon was being run on the 23rd! Ironically, I booked the 22nd rather than the 29th (identical casts) to avoid the May Day weekend and ended up with the London marathon which is worse. Had to keep the 22nd matinee as I got standing tickets for myself and a friend but changed my evening ticket for the same seat on the 29th and managed to get cheap accommodation. If the rail strikes continue I'm bound to have at least one weekend affected (in addition to the 1st). The 22nd will affect my friend (only her second visit to the ROH) but the 29th will affect my final performance with Morera. Aaaaaagh!

I (in common with many others) will be affected for Vadim's Cinderella matinee on April 1st. The first matinee I recall him performing (certainly in several years) and there's a strike! It's virtually a sell out and many will be relying on the train. I had to cancel his SB I'd booked as one of our dogs was ill and now this. Seem fated not to see him and its my last chance to see him live (as opposed to cinema) before the new season in Oct. Hope we can go to Cheltenham and I can get the coach from there. Will be a month after my previous visit to get to Fumi's SB matinee 4th March (rail engineering works). It's certainly a challenge being a ballet supporter at the moment!

Once things are on the streaming site are they just there for a certain length of time eg a few months, or are they there indefinitely?

Do we have any information about content? Difficult I know if the organisers can't even confirm who is dancing. Is it usually just announced on the day? Glad I haven't booked as if I had it would be on the strength of Vadim's participation

I'm afraid I can't face seeing the last act of Anastasia even for Laura's farewell so my final memory of her will be dancing Cinderella. However, I suspect my most enduring memories of her will be In Mayerling with Bonelli and Month in the Country with Vadim. Why those amazing, searing, heartbreaking performances were never filmed I can't imagine. A terrible shame. An irreplaceable artist we will all miss so much, though it's good to know she will live on in the RB, imparting her valuable knowledge to the next generation of dancers.

Am very pleased this is selling well and I hope it is successful. Sounds really unique. However, it does seem to confirm that Carlos (rather like ENB) is continuing his classics and modern programming while ignoring the heritage choreographers such as Ashton, MacMillan, Cranko, De Valois, Bintley etc. A shame as BRB under David Bintley put together some splendid triple bills of these works, often better than what the RB do (or did) as we've seen several great RB heritage triples in the last few years. Perhaps next season Carlos too can programme some great triple bills or even full length works by these choreographers. I do hope so.

Sorry everyone, getting so carried away, didn't check what I was writing. I did mean Corella and Stiefel, not Alina.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsaire-DVD-Julie-Kent/dp/B00004VUHK I think it was a video first then released as a dvd. I think my copy is a video transfer. Great cast, and quite an amusing piece at the beginning where they try to explain the plot without seeming to understand it themselves!

I also remember Angel Corella guesting with RB around that time and seeing him do Bayadere with Alina; Fabulous. Also both of them immortalised in the ABT Corsaire dvd from around this period.

Yes, there was Bruce. I remember as that's what caused me to write my first rather angry letter to Alex Beard on the subject of not taking your regular audience for granted as they are the ones who will turn up for several casts as often as they can afford it. These days thst is getting more difficult. I think the person who ran it left after all the bad feelings it created though I'm not sure about that.

Have only had a very cursory glance at small bits of the gala but the thing that leapt out at me was how better Francesca Hayward looked in the Dream pas de deux without that awful strawberry blond wig. To me it's a distraction from the beautiful choreography and dancing as it just doesn't look right when the majority of dancers have dark hair. It looked strange on Takada in the last recording. Did Ashton insist on it? Could it not be retired? Francesca looked just as fairylike and far more natural without it.

Yes, takes me back to an old episode of Yes Prime Minister where Sir Humphrey 'surveyed' Bernard and elicited 2 opposite answers just by phrasing the questions differently.

Another email from Avanti saying it's 'Time to get back on track'!!! and thanking me for having 'stuck with us'. ( I haven't, I've been booking coaches), and saying their new timetable is out. This is presumably the timetable with no Lancaster to Wigan services on the 4 weekends I mentioned above. They're completely shameless. If their franchise is extended in April I will certainly be writing to the government minister concerned.

Well I filled in the BBC comments form. Even with the link it seems to take ages to get anywhere that you can actually leave a comment. There were several headings to choose from. I think I selected the first, 'Positive feedback about a programme' or something similar. This is what I said. Birmingham Royal Ballet Don Quixote I've just had my feedback letter on this splendid production published in the Radio Times. It was so great to have classical ballet on TV I couldn't understand why it wasn't shown at Christmas. It was certainly far superior to any programmes that were shown. Too often ballet (and opera) enthusiasts feel ignored on mainstream tv and would be terrific to have more of both then I wouldn't feel I was buying my TV licence in vain. Also, it is a great way of introducing ballet to a new audience. Many people may never think of going to a ballet or opera and think perhaps it's not for them but I'm sure many who caught even a glimpse of this amazing, colourful, humorous ballet may rethink their ideas of ballet as being all about swans! Please may we have more ballet evenings. The docu/drama about Margot Fonteyn that followed Don Q was also very interesting. I do worry we may have even fewer evenings like this if BBC4 is phased out and goes online. I get the Radio Times delivered every week and BBC4 is one of only 3 channels I check every day to see what it's showing. The BBC has a huge archive and there was talk at one time of it being digitised and content made available. That is something I would be interested in as the BBC used to show a huge amount of ballet in the 1950s and 60s; far more than it does now. I know a lot of it might not have survived but I would love to see, for example, Margot Fonteyn's series The Magic of Dance. One episode was shown in a dance evening about 10 years ago so hopefully the series survived. Also, looking to the future it would be wonderful if Birmingham Royal Ballet's newly refurbished Nutcracker could be broadcast by the BBC next Christmas. I'm sure it would be really popular and it is a fabulous production; possibly the best in the world.' I'm sure everyone has their own ideas as to what they'd like to see and of course it will probably come to nothing but we can only try!

My letter to the Radio Times about the TV Don Q screening was published this week; headed A Time to Dance 'As a ballet enthusiast, I was thrilled by Carlos Acosta's Don Quixote from Birmingham Royal Ballet (29th January, BBC4). The choreography, sets and costumes were terrific and the dancing world-class. You could almost feel the Spanish sunshine on a cold, dreary January evening. For once the BBC actually showed something I could enjoy. I just hope it's not too long before we get another feast of ballet'. I did actually mention Margot as well but that was obviously edited out. I did want to question why it wasn't shown at Christmas as (for me) it was far superior to anything else shown then and I would also have liked to drop a hint about how great it would be if their refurbished Nutcracker was filmed for next Christmas but they don't like their letters too long. I think I will email in about the Nutcracker next Christmas as a programme suggestion. I'm sure it would be hugely popular. Perhaps if a few of us emailed for this (or any other ballet suggestion people prefer) it may have more weight. It will at least show there is an audience for ballet which is what the powers that be seem to doubt. https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comments-feedback/#/Your comment This seemed to be the most relevant form I could find. Like many information websites the BBC don't really make it easy to contact them, but I will be filling in this form, requesting the Nutcracker and more ballet/arts programmes generally and hope for the best.

At least you got one Peanut68. I still haven't had one so it looks if I'm not on the pecking order at all!

Exactly. These days what marketing there is seems to be aimed at social media but that involves accessing the ROH page on Twitter, Facebook etc so how does this attract new members? Surely youre preaching to the converted? What happened to the lovely posters you used to see on bus stops and tube trains or even outside the ROH? Are they really so unaffordable? Or can't people be bothered to design and commission them when it's so much easier just to do a post on social media? Is it that marketing teams tend to be younger and perhaps dismiss traditional marketing as old fashioned? Do any of their surveys include traditional marketing and how effective it might be? To me the greatest lack of publicity is in the new open up areas. Plenty of people come in for a drink/chat/use the free WiFi or toilets yet you could be in any building in London for all the emphasis on opera and ballet there. Why aren't there attractive posters, leaflets, snippets of current and coming opera and ballets on the screen? Even the shop just plays music whereas it used to show a current or forthcoming production on dvd. So many marketting opportunities missed, and I'm sure there's many more than I just mentioned. If the marketing was better targeted perhaps the seat prices wouldn't need to be so expensive but I expect I'm in the realms of fantasy with that one.

Exactly, Emeralds. I've often thought the same thing. We see so little Ashton De Valois, Ballet Russes etc why not have a gala evening and make some money (not that I want Kevin to use this as an excuse to make my favourite choreographers only available at a premium rate). The Fonteyn gala they showed several years ago was easily the best gala I've ever attended as there was so much rarely seen Ashton and traditional choreographers. Such a shame it wasn't filmed. I thought it would have been popular at the cinema. An annual gala with a different theme every year would be a great idea and if it was part of the cinema broadcast or streamed it could generate even more income.

We only paid £25,000 for our 4 bedroomed house! Admittedly it was 1988 but couldn't imagine spending more on a 12 day holiday. I think I'd want Vadim as my personal tour guide for that price!

SkyArts are showing Rumpelstilzchen Mon 13th Feb 7.40-9am. A production of the fairy tale by the Ballet Boyz with Jane Horrocks in the title role.

Again not a livestream as such but what looks like a traditional Russian folk tale sort of ballet, Shurale, on YouTube. A bit like Legend of Love. Very clear recording. May be worth a look if you like those sort of ballets. Some very vibrant, colourful village scenes. Mods, please remove this entry if contravenes anything. You could always find it by doing a YouTube search. There are several but this one by Kazan Opera Ballet looks by far the best physical quality.

Neither free nor a livestream but I didn't know where else to put it and its not worth starting a separate thread. Just had an email from Trafalgar Studios that my favourite musical, Anything Goes, is at the cinema again on Mar 15th and 19th. Original film and cast starring Sutton Foster and Robert Lindsey that was shown on BBC4. It is still on iplayer but I might be tempted to see it on the big screen despite the horrendous price the Odeon charges for their event cinema broadcasts. It's such a feelgood musical and at least I don't have to worry about trains to see it!

In the London Ballet Circle's Newsletter it mentions the Prix de Lausanne's Gala 'can be watched online during the week on the PdL Facebook and YouTube channels and also on Arte TV’ https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/112827-001-A/50th-prix-de-lausanne https://prixdelausanne.org'

SkyArts are showing Northern Ballets Casanova Friday 10th Feb 7am.

Well, the NW train service strikes again (not literally this time but the result is the same). Network Rail have now announced rail works cutting off Preston for 4 successive weekends (except for Sat March 11th). the 'complexity' of upgrading switches and crossings means the railway must close between Wigan North Western and Lancaster. The closures will occur on Saturday, February 18, and Sunday, February 19; Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26; Saturday, March 4, Sunday, March 5; and Sunday, March 12, with no trains serving Preston on these dates. So, having had to cancel seeing Vadim this Friday as one of our dogs was ill and we had to cancel going to Cheltenham where I'd booked a coach, my visit 4th of March to see Fumi is now under threat unless we can re-schedule the Cheltenham visit. Going to the theatre is supposed to be a pleasure but these days it involves military manoeuvre type planning. I don't blame the strikers at all (no prizes for guessing whom I do blame!) but it does make life stressful as you're never sure if you're going to get to a performance or if you can then get home on the correct day.