Ian Macmillan

Spanner: I entirely accept your point about those ads. In fact, I remembered them not too long after my last post - and you're right to mention them. By virtue of the Royal Charter and a common governing body, they lay claim to the cachet factor I mentioned and it could not be surprising if people are misled as a result.

I rather wonder about the implied link made between some schools and 'their' companies, and the need for the schools to question what they are doing. Surely, for all practical purposes, the schools operate as independent businesses? No doubt they can gain a certain cachet by having a name associated with a major company, but do any of them make a claim that more than a small handful of graduates will ever go on to a contract with that company? On the contrary, it seems to me that they exist to feed a global market, and that the degree of global competition for places at them suggests that they are seen by many as adequately fulfilling that purpose. (Indeed, one might argue that it is this fact, or perception, that underlies the premise for this very active thread!) I do not doubt that in starting her own small school back in the early 30s, Ninette De Valois' main purpose was to provide a supply of dancers to her emerging company - indeed, I believe that both shared the rehearsal facilities at Sadler's Wells. However, by the 1950s, as it became the Royal Ballet School, that link had become much more diffuse, with only a very small number of graduates going to the Royal Ballet - a situation much as it is today. And looking from the companies' end, with the number of graduates emerging from UK schools, there cannot reasonably be any expectation that they will offer more than a very few places each year, if standards are to be maintained in their corps de ballet. And this will be equally true for the Bolshoi, Vaganova, and Paris Opera Ballet schools as well, I imagine. There are simply too many youngsters training for the number of jobs available in dance companies, the theatre, orchestras. It's not what keen youngsters want to hear, I'm sure, but Noel Coward's advice to Mrs Worthington still has much to commend it, I fear: "Don’t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs. Worthington. Don’t put your daughter on the stage. The profession is overcrowded, the struggle’s pretty tough, and admitting the fact she’s burning to act, that isn’t quite enough..."

Just a thought - but there must be a limit to the numbers that any company can take on a year-to-year basis unless it is prepared to accept a heavy churn rate, which is probably not a good idea for the standard of a corps de ballet. And if we go back to 1958, when the Royal Ballet was running both London and Touring companies, it took in just 2 female RBS graduates, one of them being Monica Mason. The other had done a year with the then Opera Ballet before progressing. So as far back as that, there was no automatic assumption that graduation from the RBS, say, ensured a contract with the RB.

As can now be seen, I've managed to add an image via Gravatar - noting that others were using the odd capital letter or space, it began to dawn on me that the username for their site need not be the one I use here, and so it proved. So, anonymity lifted as we step into the new era ........ I might even trade this one for a real photo one day!

I imagine we'll need a thread for this! Judith Flanders (Arts Desk) excoriates it today - see LInks - but alternative views may be available. Reactions to its being divided into 3 Acts? New material?

John: I have to admit that I took advantage of yesterday afternoon's miserable weather to have a look in one or two corners that I have tended to overlook now on a regular basis - you will note my erstwhile nemesis reappearing at the end, albeit in a curtailed form, for example - and that drove the score up somewhat! But Saturdays seem to have been fairly busy lately, in any event.

Links – Saturday March 17, 2012 Q and A Feature – Boris Eifman, choreographer: Ismene Brown, Arts Desk Reviews – Martha Graham Company Gala, with Diana Vishneva: Brian Seibert, NY Times Tobi Tobias, Arts Journal Reviews – Men in Motion: Clement Crisp, Financial Times Sanjoy Roy, Guardian Review – Northern Ballet, Beauty and the Beast: Kelly Apter, Scotsman Feature- David Nixon on NB’s “Beauty and the Beast”: Kelly Apter, Scotsman Victor Hochhauser suing the O2 over BRB Nutcracker payments: Tim Walker, Telegraph Finding the right partner? Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune Review – Lyon Opera Ballet, Quad Bill: Natasha Rogai, DanceTabs Review – Scottish Dance Theatre, Quad Bill: Graham Watts, DanceTabs Review – Birmingham Royal Ballet, Spring Passions Bill: Jane Simpson, DanceTabs Review – Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, theRevisitation: Claudia La Rocco, NY Times Review – Alvin Ailey American Dance Company, Triple Bill: Ann Murphy, San Jose Mercury Review – National Ballet of China, The Peony Pavilion: Chloe Smethurst, Sydney Morning Herald Previews – Eiko and Koma, Fragile and others: Rita Felciano, SF Bay Guardian Reviews – Mark Morris Dance Group, Choral Fantasy Eifman Ballet of St Petersburg, Rodin: Robert Greskovic, Wall St Journal Interview – Michael Trusnovec, Paul Taylor Dance Company: Gia Kourlas, Time Out NY Interview – David Neumann, Choreographer: Gia Kourlas, Time Out NY Review – Shobana Jeyasingh, Classic Cut: Judith Mackrell, Guardian Review – Paul Taylor Dance Company, Mixed Bill: Robert Johnson, NJ Star-Ledger Reviews – Jody Oberfelder, Pam Tanowitz, Jody Melnick: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal Previews – New Jersey Ballet, American Repertory Ballet: Robert Johnson, NJ Star-Ledger Preview – Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Stravinsky Evening: Victor Swoboda, Montreal Gazette Review – ODC/Dance, Mixed Bill: Mary Ellen Hunt, SF Chronicle Review – Chitresh Das Dance Company, Darbar: Claudia Bauer, SF Chronicle Finally, to close my week’s stint, the ever-esoteric Brooklyn Rail for March is online , with just 4 Dance entries, accessible via the link here: Brooklyn Rail

Links – Friday March 16, 2012 Royal Ballet/ROH2 2012-13 Season & Edinburgh Festival 2012 Judith Mackrell, Guardian Kelly Apter, Scotsman Review – San Francisco Ballet, Romeo and Juliet: Aimee Tsao, DanceTabs Review – Paris Opera Ballet, La Bayadère: Marina Harss, DanceTabs Review – Birmingham Royal Ballet, Spring Passions Bill: Zoë Anderson, Independent Review – Martha Graham Dance Company, Mixed Bill: Apollinaire Scherr, Financial Times Review – Paul Taylor Dance Company, Quad Bill: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Preview – Eiko and Koma, Fragile: Jeanne Carstensen, NY Times Review – National Ballet of China, The Peony Pavilion: Deborah Jones, The Australian Review – Shobana Jeyasingh, Classic Cut: Clifford Bishop, Evening Standard Queen Margrethe of Denmark designing ‘Nutcracker’ sets/costumes: John Archer, Reuters Review – Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Water Stains on the Wall: Alan Brissenden, The Australian Review – Miami City Ballet, Giselle: Harriet Howard Heithaus, Naples Daily News Preview – ODC Dance Company, Dance Downtown: Mary Ellen Hunt, SF Chronicle Preview – Ballet Preljocaj, Blanche Neige: Edward Ortiz, Sacramento Bee

I have to say, based on considerable experience in my past life, miles away from Dance, that the more one sets down detail well in advance, the more you can expect to have to change it. In consequence, I pay little attention to long-advance notice of casting - it's a statement of intent, no doubt well meant - but is in no way to be relied upon, and it is certainly not a worthy basis for later recrimination.

Well, thanks for that, John - but what a performance, and surely designed to be difficult. (I think this would have been taken during the RB Touring Company's brief visit to Hong Kong in May 1961.)

Harvesting links can sometimes be a chore but, from time to time, an intriguing non-Dance headline in an Arts/Culture section just has to be investigated. For example, from New Zealand this morning: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/visual-arts/6579712/Pacific-Mona-Lisa-unveiled-this-week

Links – Thursday March 15, 2012 News – Royal Ballet/ROH2 2012-13 Season Ismene Brown, Arts Desk Nick Clark, Independent Reviews – Birmingham Royal Ballet, Spring Passions Bill Clement Crisp, Financial Times Judith Mackrell, Guardian Reviews – Men in Motion, Mixed Bill Sarah Crompton, Telegraph Zoë Anderson, Independent Ismene Brown, Arts Desk Review – Paul Taylor Dance Company, Mixed Bill: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Reviews – Martha Graham Dance Company, Mixed Bills Gia Kourlas, NY Times Leigh Witchel, NY Post Review – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Triple Bill: Mary Ellen Hunt, SF Chronicle Review – Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Triple Bill: Gerald Dowler, Classical Source Preview – Ballet Flamenco, Alas del Tiempo: Mary Ellen Hunt, SF Chronicle Preview – William Tuckett & Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Tsuru: Nobuko Tanaka, Japan Times Montreal Danse Danse 2012-13 Season, Victor Swoboda, Montreal Gazette San Francisco Dance Film Festival: Andrea Pflaumer, SF Examiner 3-D Dance Film, Lost Action: Trace: Kathryn Greenaway, Montreal Gazette Bolshoi & Royal Ballet Streamed Performances: Jean Lenihan, LA Times Review – Riverdance: Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune

It certainly is! Would have been a good night for Astro in my earlier years - though two very similar azimuths as here would give postion lines that are too alike for fixing purposes.

It's almost certainly a generational thing, but I've stumbled across an alternative view to that of our protagonist here on the need and value of rehearsal from composer Rodion Shchedrin: "However talented one may be, skipping rehearsals is an absolute taboo ....... And the older you become, the more rehearsal time you need. This is because the more professional you are, the more nuances you can work on.” From the St Petersburg Times: http://www.sptimes.ru/index_bp.php?action_id=2&story_id=35318&section=4

The things you find - it's not Dance - it's not Black Swan - it's FAT SWAN!! http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/comedy/trevor-ashley-in-fat-swan-20120307-1ukbv.html

Interesting, certainly. By reputation, "Las Hermanas" is a MacMillan piece I'd hoped to see one day, and there's lots more besides. And I'm naturally delighted that Cathy Marston's Bern:Ballett will be back next May ...... maybe with her "Midwinter's Night Dream" which I have still to see? Also perked up to see one of Bruce's DanceTabs tweets suggesting RB tours to Northern Ireland and Suffolk (At what scale? Dance East? Aldeburgh?) as well as Japan and Monte Carlo. Is the dam breaking at last?

Out of interest, I've just tried Flickr once again. As on my last attempt, trying to put a picture directly here resulted in the nondescript icon, now deleted. I'm about to see if it will take a URL link: http://www.flickr.co...tream/lightbox/ Well that seems OK. I'm hanged if I know how Dave is managing to post images, but I'm delighted that he can do so!

A link to the full Newsnight interview: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17362051 We may want to merge this with the long-running Polunin thread.

Links – Wednesday March 14, 2012 Cunningham Legacy to Continue in France? Gia Kourlas, NY Times Review – Birmingham Royal Ballet, Spring Passions Bill: Clifford Bishop, Evening Standard Sergei Polunin: The Newsnight Interview BBC News Feature/Reviews – DV8 Physical Theatre, Can We Talk About This? Sarfraz Manzoor, Guardian Sarah Hemming, Financial Times Michael Billington, Guardian Paul Taylor, Independent Simon Gage, Express Review – Sydney Dance Company, 2 One Another: Deborah Jones, The Australian Paul Taylor Dance Company, Union objects to recorded music: Daniel J Wakin, NY Times Reviews - Stephen Petronio/NY Theater Ballet/Batsheva/Eifman: Robert Gottlieb, NY Observer Review – Ballet Hispanico, Triple Bill: Marcia B. Siegel, Boston Phoenix Preview – New York City Ballet, All American & 21st Century Programmes: Jeremy D Birch, Playbill Australian Ballet, Classics & New Commissions: Wendy Frew, Sydney Morning Herald

BBC2 'Newsnight' has just shown a brief interview with Polunin after rehearsals at Sadler's Wells. Nothing really new since the recent newspaper interviews - he was feeling diminished as an artist, has pushed the 'Delete' button, probably won't be dancing in 5/6 years time, and so forth. It will presumably be available on BBC iPlayer for a week before too long - at about 40 minutes into the programme.

Links – Tuesday March 13, 2012 Review – Paris Opera Ballet, La Bayadère: Laura Cappelle, Financial Times Review – Bolshoi Ballet (Live Streaming), Le Corsaire: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Interview – Tony Hall, ROH Chief Executive: Ian Burrell, Independent Feature – The Cultural Olympiad 2012: Mark Brown, Guardian Reviews– Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet: Jann Parry, DanceTabs Mark Monahan, Telegraph Review - Royal Danish Ballet, Dans2Go Triple Bill: Jane Simpson, DanceTabs Reviews– National Ballet of Canada, Sleeping Beauty: Paula Citron, Globe and Mail John Coulborn, Toronto Sun Reviews– DV8 Physical Theatre, Can We Talk about This?: Judith Flanders, Arts Desk Charles Spencer, Telegraph Feature/Preview – Rafael Bonachela & Sydney Dance Company: Sallie Don, The Australian Staff, Sydney Morning Herald Review – New York Ballet Theater, Mixed Bill: Brian Seibert, NY Times Review – Pam Tanowitz, Untitled(The Blue Ballet): Margaret Fuhrer, Huffington Post Feature – Ashley Dixon, Northern Ballet: This is Hull & East Riding A US Ballet Boyz Company? Stuart Levine, Variety News – Royal Ballet, Line-Up for McGregor’s ‘Carbon Life’: Ismene Brown, Arts Desk Review – Scottish Dance Theatre, Quad Bill: Judith Mackrell, Guardian Riverdance – Final US Tour: Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

But of course ..... and as true today as on the day that he ............... walked out? Perhaps he'd had lunch?

I'm interested to see all of this. I fancy I was at that same performance 6 years ago and I left pretty sure that the all-British Watson/Cuthbertson partnership that many were touting at the time was not going to work out, and it sounds as if some of the reason for that remains extant. Ed Watson has largely cornered the RB market in many highly-charged roles, and rightly so - I still have him in my mind's eye in "My Brother, My Sisters" - but it sounds as if Romeo is not his strong suit.

Links – Monday March 12, 2012 Review – Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet: Clement Crisp, Financial Times Reviews– Eifman Ballet of St Petersburg, Rodin: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Leigh Witchel, NY Post Feature – Gillian Murphy, Ethan Stiefel and RNZB: Tracey Cooper, Dominion Post Review – Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Triple Bill: Sarah Halzack, Washington Post Review - Dean Moss & Reggie Wilson, Platform 2012: Parallels: Claudia La Rocco, NY Times Review – Batsheva Dance Company, Hora: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal Review - Ronald K Brown/Evidence, On Earth Together: Debra Levine, LA Times Review – National Ballet of Canada, Sleeping Beauty: Dana Glassman, National Post Feature – Michael Lowe & Menlowe Ballet: Mary Ellen Hunt, SF Chronicle Feature – Israel Ballet: Elad Samorzik, Haaretz Feature – Australian Ballet commission: Diana Streak, Canberra Times Young British Dancer of the Year Winner, Reece Clark: James Moncur, Daily Record

The 'News Review' section of today's Sunday Times carries a fairly lengthy article on the very considerable progress that has been made towards full recovery by Jack Widdowson, an apprentice dancer with Bern:Ballett, after an attack on him late last year that left him with a serious neck injury. (If the article is available online, it will be behind the Times paywall.) What may be of use at some point to readers here is that his family has set up a charity, the Dance Again Foundation, that will offer injured dancers immediate post-injury advice and help with early rehabilitation, with the aim being that they resume a dancing career. Early details are at: http://danceagain.org/index.html