jmhopton

I'm glad people mentioned the problems other people are having as I'm having them too! I missed the start and put it on to rewind it when it had finished as I only wanted to see Vadim and it didn't seem to have the rewind facility when playing but all I'm getting is OFF AIR! I'm in the middle of emailing customer support wondering if the problem is just mine but apparently not. Have been waiting all day (well all year actually!) to see Vadim so hugely disappointed. I hope they'll have sorted it out by tomorrow. Doesn't bode well for people paying for next week. Why couldn't they show it on their own website or YouTube rather than Vimeo? Surely they could have managed payment on either of those sites.

Brilliant! So glad it's had the recognition it deserves. Sorry, I was so taken with the film I didn't investigate the site itself.

Great that we're getting 2 ballet performances at long last though I wish Matthew had been performing The Sun is God (one of the Alice Pennefather films he danced so beautifully) with Mayara. Also slightly disappointed Alex Campbell and Claire Calvert had been passed over; would have been even better to have three ballet pas de duex!) Still a great line up and really looking forward to it. Will be shelling out my £4.99 again. You can take it for granted tonight's has already been paid for a while ago and am counting down the hours!

I enjoyed all the films but thought The Sun is God exceptionally stunning and moving. it is a perfect combination of beautiful choreography, fabulous locations and exceptional and very emotional dancing. Why has it not won some sort of award? Far superior to most modern ballets on stage at the ROH. I can't recommend it strongly enough. I too have downloaded it and keep watching it and have recommended it to several ballet friends. I hope to see more of Alice Pennefather's productions and Valentino's choreography. Could he take the place of Liam Scarlett as Artist in Residence? I'd far rather see his work than that of the RB official choreographer.

Signed it myself and forwarded it on to others who've also signed. Reached over 135,000 signatures.

I'm sure it will be money well spent, Jeanette! Let us know what you think if you do.

You and me both, Tango Dancer. I find everything about his movement is just sheer perfection; even playing basketball on Alex Campbell's Instagram compilations! Everything is just perfect from his port de bras, his jumps, his exquisite partnering and just his general very likeable, diffident, personality. I've paid my £4.99 for this Saturday just to see him and if it works out £1 a minute I don't care. I could watch him forever. I already love the Ashton rehearsal featured above and it's a pity it's not a more widely performed piece. I can't remember it being done on the ROH stage before though I might be wrong. Indeed there are several pieces I've never heard of that are covered in the Ashton Foundation rehearsal videos that would be great to see as an actual performance. it seems a shame to get dancers and coaches to put so much time and effort into rehearsing ballets that aren't going to be actually performed either on the main stage or even in the Linbury when there are plenty of people who would love to see them.

Thanks very much for all those who clarified my original query about a vimeo account. Judging by all the different replies everyone seems to have slightly different takes on it so I suppose I will just have to sign up for a vimeo account. Can I do that in advance without signing up to a paying version? I suppose there is a good reason why the ROH didn't stream it either on their own website (which they rather seem to despise these days) or YouTube but it would have been a lot simpler if they had. I say that and I'm keen to see the concerts (well the ballet at least) so how do they expect those more marginally interested to manage or take the trouble to register and then buy?

Do you have to set up a Vimeo account to access the ROH pay per view or even free concert? I thought Vimeo was a service you had to pay for to access. That is pay to access vimeo itself and then you had access to their archive; how much access depended on how much you paid. Not sure if my interpretation of vimeo is correct but I'm saying I don't really want a vimeo account unless I have to. Of course if I have to have one in order to see Vadim dancing Ashton I'll get one but would rather not if I don't have to.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm looking forward to it.

Does anyone know how long it will be online?

I always visualise Eric Morecambe in full Egyptian costume in The Intelligence Men when I hear this music.

A friend of mine who volunteers there said the programme is just provisional dependent on the Government giving the go ahead for theatres to open. If this happens they don't want to have nothing in place. If it doesn't then presumably they will have to cancel. Having said that you seem to be able to book seats already (I clicked on a Father Brown play for the middle of September where people have already booked seats and with no social distancing in place). I'd love to think it would happen but I have doubts.

Balletfanp. 'confess to getting a bit tearful at the shots of the ROH and the view from the terrace, and wondering when it will be possible to be back there and watching a performance!' hear, hear, me too!!!

Apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere but ENB have extended their list of livestreaming. 'We will be back with two classics from Sir Kenneth MacMillan in June: Song of the Earth on Wednesday 17 June, and Manon on Wednesday 24 June.'

Many thanks for the Merry Widow link Jane S. It's been a busy ballet weekend. Thought I'd post this link. https://www.pointemagazine.com/online-ballet-performances-2645584131.html?rebelltitem=15#rebelltitem15 Apologies if this has already been mentioned. The magazine is 31st March so quite a few of the ballets mentioned have already gone. However it has been updated on 27th May with some coming items notably Miami City Ballet Miami City Ballet Tune in on Friday nights for Miami City Ballet's new digital performance series. Called Friday Night Spotlights, the series begins May 29 at 8 pm EDT and continues every two weeks through July, with all performances aired on MCB's Facebook page. Check out the calendar below for details: May 29: Firebird by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, with all-new sets and costumes by Anya Klepikov June 12: Justin Peck's Heatscape, a tribute to Miami's Wynwood Arts District with designs by artist Shepard Fairey June 26: Nine Sinatra Songs by Twyla Tharp July 10: Alexei Ratmansky's Symphonic Dances, to music by Rachmaninoff Also the final link seemed to have several general goodies.

I seem to remember recording this off tv many years ago. I think it was on the old Performance channel which predates Artsworld, let alone SkyArts by quite a while so it won't be this recording. I seem to remember Performance was only on in the evening. In the daytime it was the Landscape Channel which was a splendid match of filmed wildlife/countryside to an accompaniment of classical/ambient music. Perfect for those who enjoy 'slow' TV. Even today I always associate Packabell's Cannon with penguins and Symphony in C with a steam train! Anyway back to A Folk Tale. I found it interesting but 'of its time'. A bit too much mime and not enough dance for me but that was how ballets used to be. it's certainly a great opportunity to see a little known ballet. I might even watch it myself and see if time, a new recording and a large screen TV has made me appreciate it more

I quite enjoyed the programme, hearing the dancers laughing and joking and seeing their dressing rooms etc. I realise it was only meant as a general introduction to male dancing and I thought the clips featuring Sambe and Joseph Sissens well done as it made the point not all male dancers come from either a dancing background or a well heeled middle class one. However, like others I felt it slightly lost focus and didn't make its points clearly enough. Though it showed traditional ballet clips with some more modern ballets it didn't really emphasise the huge range of dances modern ballet dancers have to master and the very different ways they need to use their bodies; often on the same day. To talk about a typical ballet day with class, rehearsals and evening performance would highlight the tremendous amount of training and stamina needed everyday, not just occasionally like many athletes. Also unlike athletes they are not allowed to show the effort and exhaustion they may feel and often need to smile a lot as well! The gym training which might have been a revelation to the uninitiated was touched upon but there again not really focused. Partnering is all important. There was the Mayerling clip but not really used in a focused way; a clip of the last minute or so of the final pas de deux from Manon and possibly a Romeo and Juliet clip would highlight more modern ballet partnerships and also acting ability which I don't think was mentioned at all or just in passing. Also men showing emotion on stage. Solos. Perhaps too much focus on Bluebird. I would have liked a clip of Vadim doing the act 2 solo from 2 Pigeons or act 3 solo from Coppelia. Both only last about 90 seconds but are obviously a real work out. Also something more modern by another dancer/s. Ballet technique. As has already been pointed out no effort was made to analyse or explain why Vadim is perceived by some to be somehow 'better'. Needs to be explained more that each dancer, especially principles or would-be principles, all have their own very individual qualities that make all of them special but in different ways. They are not all cloned men in tights. Despite these criticisms which I didn't think would take a lot of time to address and would have lead to a more focused revelatory programme, I did enjoy it. As others have said it was a bit odd to hide such a generalised programme on BBC4; a more general channel would have been better. Perhaps they'll do a follow up and incorporate some of my points and the points others have made. Some actual performances would be good as well! You would have thought it would have been good to follow it with Mayerling rather than showing Mayerling earlier as it is the best RB ballet with a male focus.

Well I've finished watching Rosalinde and I really enjoyed it. OK it's not going to set the world on fire character or possibly choreograph wise but it was a very pleasant 90 minutes watch. It had great Art Deco sets and costumes; very colourful. the opening of the act 2 ballroom set got a deserved round of applause. The filming was fine apart from the wide angled shots making light costumes completely white; close ups were fine. I can see why it's not done as often as the Merry Widow but if you just want a light, coronavirus free 90 minutes it's your ballet!

I might be wrong but I thought I read somewhere recently (can't remember where) that Yuli is not being broadcast until July. Saw this in the Times article about the BBC dance season Yuli: The Carlos Acosta Story, the celebrated film about the Cuban’s remarkable life, will get its TV premiere on BBC Two later in the summer.

I've never seen this ballet so it will be an unexpected treat. I love Ronald Hynd's Merry Widow so will really look forward to seeing this. Thanks for highlighting it, Irmgard.

Yes Month in the Country would be number one for me with Symphony in C a good second. However, these weren't shown at the cinema so it depends whether or not the ROH want to stick to cinema relays or be a bit more adventurous. I personally would pay to see Month in the Country or Symphony in C so if they could have some sort of PAYG scheme perhaps in tandem with a free offering to encourage newbies to ballet that would bring in some much needed cash as well. However, I don't know if it would be logistically possible.

I only said this because other companies seemed to be able to show unofficial archive material at this time and I thought I'd seen mention that some companies had waived their usual artistic fees. Perhaps I was mistaken. It's not something I would normally be in favour of as everyone should normally be recompensed for any artistic work but there seems to be a feeling at the moment that to keep engaging with your regular audience and possibly even attract a new audience you need to go the extra mile and possibly stream material that was never intended to be streamed. Given that companies are somehow having to manage to pay staff and dancers with no income coming in I wouldn't expect any of them could afford to pay the usual royalties for broadcasted material. I may be wrong, but I don't see where the money would come from. However I'm just very grateful they are streaming ballet in whatever conditions.

I know I'm not the only person who feels the RB online offerings have been a touch uninspiring (unless you're an Ed Watson fan of course!) Given their ten years of cinema broadcasts it would have been great if some of the early broadcasts had been shown or, if they want to attract an online audience who are familiar with some of the current stars, perhaps do what other companies have done and show some recent ballets that haven't been filmed for broadcast. First on my list would be the Firebird triple bill with Vadim starring in Month in the Country. I thought it an inspired triple bill with Symphony in C providing a sparking finish and I was so sorry it wasn't broadcast. Like the Concerto triple it really highlights all aspects of the RB skills in dancing and acting and all the music scores are terrific too. Surely there must have been recordings done that weren't meant for public consumption but given the circumstances could be made available without the usual artistic negotiations? This is only one example. I'm sure everyone would have their favourites, and think of the historic treasure trove of dancers like Fonteyn and Nureyev also.

Hi Bruce all I'm getting is an invitation to download the app. Is there a way of getting the Information without doing this?