Ian Macmillan

See Links, 27 October - Mr Vaziev due to take over from Mr Filin at the Bolshoi next March. I assume that's the reference.

He's the Man in the Moon - it's all his domain - he can't possibly be an alien when he owns the place, so he's naturally acclimatised to the dearth of O2. Simples?? Or maybe he's a former Dr Who in retirement? All things are possible to such chaps and, indeed, to their human sidekicks.

Scheherezade, Geoff, MAB: It's taken time, but we now have an Opera and Music area on a trial basis - so use it or possibly lose it!

Good Lord, has there really been some debate over this? Forgive an elderly chap and grandad, or have I got the storyline all wrong? Young girl busy with a telescope, presumably looking to see what she can see, spots something odd on the moon - turns out to be an old man, looking lonely - she organises a way of his being able to see her (park the science, it's a fairy story), a method of communication. And folk are in a tizz over this - really?

Just in from a catch-up showing of Thursday night's performance. Viscera - OK, but it won't surpass Ken MacMillan's Concerto; Faun - excellent, and a treat to see it again; Tchai PDD - enjoyable. Acosta's Carmen - I'd certainly see it again. I had no difficulty whatever with the mix of genres, and what a pleasant surprise to hear so much of Bizet in Spanish. The tavern group numbers and the fortune-telling scene struck me as particularly effective.

Links – Saturday, 14 November, 2015 Preview Features - National Ballet of Canada, The Winter’s Tale, Toronto: – Jealousy that can ‘seep into you like a poison’: Martha Schabas, Globe and Mail – Chris Wheeldon on NBC, Winter’s Tale & Toronto dining: Staff, CBC News – Jurgita Dronina, National Ballet of Canada’s new Principal: Michael Crabb, Toronto Star News – Carlos Acosta bows out from the Royal Ballet: Miranda Bryant, Evening Standard Carmel Smith, Londondance Review – Sylvie Guillem, Life in Progress, NY: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Review – Phoenix Dance Theatre, Until.With/Out.Enough, Tearfall, Bloom, London: Graham Watts, DanceTabs Review – Kyle Abraham, The Quiet Dance, Absent Matter, The Gettin’, NY: Lauren Gallagher, DanceTabs Review – Akram Khan Company, Kaash, Seattle: Alice Kaderlan, Seattle Times Diary – Next week in London: Judith Mackrell, Guardian Tour Review – Russian State Ballet of Astrakhan, Don Quixote, Guildford: Margaret Willis, DanceTabs News – Richard Alston to receive honorary degree: Georgia Snow, The Stage Video Extracts – Scottish Ensemble & Andersson Dance, Goldberg Variations: Guardian

Links – Friday, 13 November, 2015 Feature/Review – Twyla Tharp, 50th Anniversary Tour, DC: Sarah L. Kaufman, Washington Post Reviews – Sasha Waltz & Guests, Sacre, L’Après-midi d’un faune, Scène d’Amour, London: Sanjoy Roy, Guardian Hanna Weibye, Arts Desk Louise Levene, Financial Times Zoë Anderson, Independent Lyndsey Winship, Evening Standard Rachel Elderkin, The Stage Vera Liber, BTG Gallery – Foteini Christofilopoulou, DanceTabs Review – Northern Ballet, The Nutcracker (Nixon), Woking: Bruce Marriott, DanceTabs Reviews – Phoenix Dance Theatre, Bloom, Until.With/Out.Enough, TearFall, London: Judith Mackrell, Guardian Sarah Frater, The Stage Gallery – Foteini Christofilopoulou, DanceTabs Feature – Lauren Cuthbertson & hazards with pigeons: Miranda Bryant, Evening Standard Feature – Peter Wright restoring Summertide at Sarasota Ballet: Carrie Seidman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune Feature – Sergei Polunin/Stanislavsky Theatre, Mayerling, Moscow: Kevin O’Flynn, Moscow Times Review – Riccardo Buscarini, No Lander, London: Graham Watts, DanceTabs Preview – City Ballet of San Diego, Requiem in D Minor and others: Marcia Manna, San Diego Union-Tribune News – Benjamin Millepied returns to LA For Dance Project performance: Jessica Gelt, LA Times Review – Ralph Lemon, Scaffold Room, NY: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal Feature – How to attract the Silicon Valley crowd? Mike Scutari, Inside Philanthropy Feature/Review – José Navas, Rites, Montreal: Victor Swoboda, Montreal Gazette Preview – Hanna Kiel, Armband, Toronto: Michael Crabb, Toronto Star Tour Review – Ugo Dehaes, DMNT, Antwerp: Ian Mundell, Flanders Today

I understand from colleagues that my post late last night (No 36, above), whilst garnering Likes from some, has caused offence to others. That was not my intention and, where applicable, I apologise. That said, those of us who help run this Forum are no less entitled to express views within the bounds of our Acceptable Use Policy than are other Forum members. However, if in this case a degree of unwonted vehemence has crept in, let me re-phrase things to say that, personally, I'd be happy were a temporary moratorium to emerge here on the matter of Ms Osipova. Whether it does will be a matter for users generally. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? You good folk out there, it seems.... I fear that my Latin will no longer quite stretch to rendering that reply appropriately.

Whilst Matthew Bourne was talking to RTE about his Sleeping Beauty in Dublin, he mentioned a new project for next year - all hush-hush, he says, but based on a British film about Dance. People can guess, he says, if they're old enough. I may well qualify on that score, and offer The Red Shoes as a distinct possibility. There's plenty in the Powell/Pressburger film that might appeal to Bourne's dramatic stage sense. Link here, includes a video clip of the interview: http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2015/1112/741304-bourne-teases-next-ballet-project/

Links – Thursday, 12 November, 2015 Feature – Reviving Marguerite and Armand for Sarasota Ballet: Nick Reichert, YourObserver.com News – Sarasota Ballet for New York next August: Carrie Seidman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune News Update – English National Ballet, Giselle (Akram Khan): Carmel Smith, Londondance Review – Kyle Abraham, The Quiet Dance, Absent Matter, The Gettin’, NY: Apollinaire Scherr, Financial Times Gia Kourlas, NY Times Feature – Joffrey Ballet’s final Joffrey Nutcracker (Wheeldon in 2016), Chicago: Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times Review – Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Fase, four movements to music of Steve Reich, LA: Mark Swed, LA Times Review – Pacific Northwest Ballet, Emergence, Signature, The Calling, Sum Stravinsky, Seattle: Pia Lo, Bachtrack Feature – Choreographer Aakash Odera on Murmur and dyslexia: Playbill Arts Review – Expressions Dance Company, Carmen Sweet, Brisbane: Jill Sykes, Brisbane Times Feature – Israel Ballet’s New Season: Ori J. Lenkinski, Jerusalem Post Interview – Yu-Hsien Wu, Russell Maliphant Company: Staff, Londondance Preview – Xavier Le Roy/Kaldor Public Art Project, Temporary Title, Sydney: Andrew Taylor, Sydney Morning Herald Review – Michael Flatley’s Final Show, Lord of the Dance – Dangerous Games, NY: Brian Seibert, NY Times Speculation - Is Matthew Bourne considering a Red Shoes project for 2016?? RTE

Frankly, I've had enough of all this and would happily never see her again.

There appears to be some more detail here: http://londondance.com/articles/news/english-national-ballets-creative-team-and-partner/

Links – Wednesday, 11 November, 2015 Review – Baltic Dance Theatre, The Tempest, Phaedra, Gdansk: Laura Cappelle, Financial Times Reviews – David Michalek et al, Hagoromo, NY: Robert Greskovic, Wall St Journal Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn, Bachtrack Michael Popkin, Danceviewtimes Review – American Ballet Theatre, Company B, Monotones I and II, The Green Table, NY: Oksana Khadarina, Fjord Review News – Miami City Ballet to visit New York next April: Jordan Levin, Miami Herald Feature – Scottish Ensemble/Dancing to the Bach-beat: Kate Molleson, Herald Review – Rambert, Love, Art & Rock’n’Roll, London: Sara Veale, Fjord Review Diary – Coming up in New York: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Feature – Jayne Smeulders/West Australian Ballet, Cinderella, Perth: Stephen Bevis, West Australian Preview – Pacific Northwest Ballet, Emergence Mixed Bill, Seattle: Sandra Kurtz, Seattle Weekly Preview – Nina Haft & Company, King Tide, Oakland: Mary Ellen Hunt, SF Chronicle And: Misty Copeland’s name given to a road intersection: Daily Breeze

Links – Tuesday, 10 November, 2015 Feature – Real-life romance, the enemy of onstage ballet chemistry: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian Review – Royal Ballet, Viscera, Afternoon of a Faun, Tschaikovsky PDD, Carmen, London: Gerald Dowler, Classical Source Review – Australian Ballet, Symphony in Three Movements, Filigree & Shadow, In The Upper Room, Sydney: Valerie Lawson, Dancelines Review – American Ballet Theatre, AfterEffect, Company B, The Green Table, NY: Marianne Adams, Danceviewtimes Feature – Kim Brandstrup, creating Jeux for NYCB: David Jays, Playbill Arts Reviews – Ballet BC, Twenty Eight Thousand Waves, Awe, Solo Echo, Vancouver: Pia Lo, Bachtrack Janet Smith, Straight.com Review – Alonzo King, The Propelled Heart, SF: Janice Berman, SF Classical Voice Documentary Trailer – Bolshoi Babylon: Guardian Video Feature – The Royal Ballet’s Francesca Hayward as Juliet: Vera Afdjei, Reuters News – Jonathan Ollivier Tribute, 18 January 2016: Carmel Smith, Londondance Review – Mirenka Cechova, The Voice of Anne Frank, DC: George Jackson, Danceviewtimes Dancer’s Diary – Isabelle Van Den Bergh: David Jays, Guardian Review – Jérôme Bel, Ballet (New York), NY: Brian Seibert, NY Times Review – Lizt Alfonso, Cuba Vibra!, Boston: Jeffrey Gantz, Boston Globe Preview – Arko Renz/Eko Supriyanto & Melanie Lane: solid.states, Melbourne: John Bailey, Sydney Morning Herald

"Spectator Sport" - a good piece by David Jays on the audience as part of the spectacle: http://www.artsjournal.com/performancemonkey/2015/11/spectator-sport.html

Anticipating tomorrow's Links, there's a little more here: http://londondance.com/articles/news/mr-wonderful/

I don't think we've seen this before? Reuters is running a short video piece about Ms Hayward's Juliet debut" http://in.reuters.com/video/2015/11/09/rising-star-of-the-royal-ballet-delights?videoId=366242404

Jacqueline: I've not yet had a similar experience, but I'm fairly certain we've had Forum users mention and complain about similar 'single seat' restrictions in the past.

Looks like the exercise days are over? http://twitter.com/piccadillyline/status/662729484722814976

I haven't yet seen it in situ, but knew that it was out there thanks to three items in this morning's Times - an item on the young Norwegian singer; Hugo Rifkind's spoof weekly diary, this week featuring a JL exec; and Peter Brookes' cartoon featuring a certain politician, like myself no longer in the first flush of youth, as the chap on the moon. As the Telegraph article says, these JL ads have taken on a life of their own and become news items, spawning all manner of others in a similar vein.

Perhaps you'll take the word of a former RAF Navigator, old-schooled in Astro and a Scot to boot, but the hours of light and darkness vary with latitude - so the further north or south from the Equator, the fewer hours of daylight you'll get as winter progresses, with the reverse being true in summer. Think of things like "The land of the midnight sun" for northern Scandinavia in summer and complaints about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affecting moody Swedes during winter when they see little daylight. By contrast, if you're in Singapore or someplace else close to the Equator, you'll notice little or no difference across the year. Yet the 400 miles from London to Edinburgh can make a very noticeable difference. It's all to do with the 'ecliptic' or the Sun's 'apparent motion' - forty years ago I could have explained it all reasonably well, nowadays I have to refer to Wikipedia! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic

I trust that the pigeons themselves will behave. I'm told that in days of yore that was not always the case.

To my mind, the main burden of Luke Jennings' was not so much the financial aspect of recent RB narrative commissioning, but that he sees a lack of story structure in recent work, something he attributes to a refusal to involve outsiders in the narrative process, leaving the chosen choreographers to 'sink or swim.' So, for him, it's back to the need for an Editor or Dramaturg. Dare I say that such an approach has worked well over the years for Cathy Marston, delivering strong, dramatic work in Bern and elsewhere through her cooperation with Edward Kemp, now Director at RADA?

Today's Times 2 supplement has a substantial feature on Lauren Cuthbertson, complete with cover page photo: "Dancing on the edge - my dangerous life as a ballerina."

Links – Friday, 30 October, 2015 Reviews – American Ballet Theatre, AfterEffect, NY: Marina Harss, DanceTabs Brian Seibert, NY Times Review – American Ballet Theatre, Fall Season Programs, NY: Robert Gottlieb, NY Observer Review – Baltic Dance Theatre, Fun, Death and the Maiden, Body Master, Warsaw: Graham Watts, DanceTabs Reviews – ZooNation, Into the Hoods: Remixed, London: Lyndsey Winship, Evening Standard News – 2015 Annual Dance Award Nominations: DanceTabs - Comment – Judith Mackrell, Guardian Review – Hussein Chalayan & Damien Jalet, Gravity Fatigue, London: Mark Monahan, Telegraph Review – Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker & Boris Charmatz, Partita 2, NY: Marina Harss, DanceTabs Review – Jason & Ronald K Brown/Evidence, Why You Follow, The Subtle One, etc, DC: Sarah L. Kaufman, Washington Post Review – Limón Dance Company, Chaconne, Orfeo, Dances for Isadora, The Traitor, NY: Joel Benjamin, TheaterScene News – Joffrey Ballet Choreographic Competition Winners: Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times Review – Russian National Ballet Theatre, Swan Lake, Canberra: Michelle Potter, The Age News: - Bolshoi veterans hail Vaziev appointment: Izvestia via Ismene Brown - plus the latest from Nikolai Tsiskaridze: Sobesednik et al via Ismene Brown