Ian Macmillan

Ming Luke, Guest Conductor with San Francisco Ballet has initiated a series of online (Zoom) discussions involving both dancers and musicians. These are held on Saturdays at Noon PDT, so (conveniently) 8pm here in the UK. The planned programme is here: http://mingluke.com/musical-pointes See also here.

And scroll down for Ms Naghdi in Elite Syncopations: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6cb52958-f0a2-11ea-aeed-ec95eac61729?shareToken=29fab493de5d54fce434e20c7880de56

In fact, I see from the Product Details that the Disc has not been discontinued by its manufacturer. But it's clearly now very rare and is thus advertised at a speculative ransom price, from a supplier in Japan. And if you don't like that, there's another supplier in Poland who will sell you it for £247 .... but delivery is Free. And NB that, should you have a copy, you could try selling it on Amazon at some less extortionate, but still lucrative, price.

Saturday 5 September, 2020 Feature – That Lagos dance school, still firmly on the global stage: Emmanuel Akinwotu, Guardian (and many other places) Stream Review – Mariinsky Ballet, Cinderella (Ratmansky): Oksana Khadarina, Fjord Review

Friday 4 September, 2020 News: Royal Opera House to launch free open-air cinema in Covent Garden: Harry Fletcher, Evening Standard National Ballet of Canada takes its fall season online so dancers can perform again: Michael Crabb, The Star Royal New Zealand Ballet cancels Venus Rising tour: Staff, Stuff.co Preview – BalletCollective, Drive-In Dance, Natural History, Pine Plains, NY: Jerry Hochman, Critical Dance Stream Review - Australian Ballet, New Ghost: Gracia Haby, Fjord Review

Thursday 3 September, 2020 Feature – The School That Camille A. Brown Built: Salamishah Tillet, NY Times Feature - How are we going to afford Covid-safe theatre? Karen Van Ulzen, Dance Australia News - Royal Conservatoire of Scotland offer to Ballet West students: Georgia Snow, The Stage News - L.A.'s dance crisis: Studios fight to survive COVID shutdown: Makeda Easter, LA Times Preview - Vicki Amedume/Upswing, Catch Me, Greenwich: Maryam Philpott, Reviews Hub Stream Reviews: Outdoors Ballet – some different approaches to Lockdown: Jann Parry, DanceTabs Jacob’s Pillow Virtual Festival, And Still You Must Swing: Jessica Lockhart, Arts Fuse And finally: What Can a Body Do? Anime Pushes at Its Limits: Maya Phillips, NY Times

From Dance Australia: How are we going to afford Covid-safe theatre? https://www.danceaustralia.com.au/news/how-are-we-going-to-afford-covid-safe-theatre

Wednesday 2 September, 2020 Feature – When Merce Cunningham Took On a New Collaborator: The Computer: Ellen Jacobs, NY Times News: English National Ballet’s Autumn online schedule, Departures & Promotions: David Mead, SeeingDance Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper San Francisco Ballet, The Sugar Plum Fairy Takes Shelter This Year: Janos Gereben, SF Classical Voice Stream Reviews – Marquee TV – Screen.dance & SF Dance Film Festival, Summer Shorts: Graham Watts, DanceTabs San Francisco Ballet, Dance of Dreams: Robert Greskovic, Wall St Journal Stream News - Graham Company to draw on archives for Its coming season: Peter Libbey, NY Times Book Review – “Marius Petipa – The Emperor’s Ballet Master” by Nadine Meisner: George Jackson, Danceviewtimes Still sheltering? Let’s do the social-distance dance: Jamuna Chiarini, Oregon Artswatch Or how about Nureyev and Wee Jimmy in Glasgow, 1975? Caroline Wilson, Evening Times

For admirers, there's a rather good feature in the September Dancing Times, with photos from her earlier years.

Tuesday 1 September, 2020 Obituary – Nina Popova, Ballerina: Staff, The Times Feature - Up on the Roof, Flesh and Blood Dancers Move and Connect: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Feature - With stages dark, ballet students fear to take the next leap: Catherine Lambert, The Age Feature - Hope Mohr Dance Crosses Another Bridge Toward Equity: Lou Fancher, SF Classical Voice Live News – Locreado Dance Company, Pause, Sydney: Staff, Dance Australia Feature/Interview - Center Stage Is 20 Years Old, and ABT Reunites the Cast: Alison S, Cohn, Harper's Bazaar Stream Review – Pacific Northwest Ballet at Ballet Sun Valley: Dean Speer, Critical Dance Stream News – Australian Ballet’s Corey Herbert becomes teacher: Catherine Lambert, Sydney Morning Herald

Monday 31 August, 2020 Dance Diary – August 2020: Michelle Potter, ... on dancing Live Review – Sam Trubridge & dancers, Ecology in Fifths, Wellington: Deirdre Tarrant, Theatreviews

Sunday 30 August, 2020 News - Royal Ballet limbers up for first stage show: Grant Tucker, Sunday Times Features: West Australian Ballet/Krzysztof Pastor, Dracula: Karen van Ulzen, Dance Australia Australia’s First Nations Dance Sector: Steve Dow, Guardian San Francisco dance group offers reparations for Blacks: David-Elijah Nahmod, Bay Area Reporter Streaming Review - Battery Dance Festival, From Africa: Maggie Foyer, SeeingDance And, finally, two questions: What Is Waacking, and Why Is It All Over TikTok? : Ted Alcorn & Mohamed Sadek, NY Times

From today's Sunday Times: Royal Ballet limbers up for first stage show https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cc240c2a-e9df-11ea-b9f8-ab500af5d066?shareToken=7c054f42bd8ba1481778e7b45df1496f

Saturday 22 August, 2020 Obituary - Nina Popova, Dancer Who Fled Bolsheviks and Nazis: John Leland, NY Times News - Royal Ballet dancers performing by London’s Hoxton Docks: Alexandra Sims, TimeOut London Streaming Reviews: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Shelter : Sanjoy Roy, Guardian Missing Edinburgh festival? See a week's worth of shows online: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian Birmingham Royal Ballet, Cinderella: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper The Cockpit/EDIFICE Dance Company, Salomé: Miriam Sallon, Reviews Hub Battery Dance Festival, From the Middle East: Maggie Foyer, SeeingDance Streaming News - Female artists to choreograph dance films in New Adventures initiative: Giverny Masso, The Stage And should you need them: 8 pulse-racing videos of male ballet dancers leaping very, very high: Classic FM

Friday 21 August, 2020 Feature – Carlos Acosta and his plans for Birmingham Royal Ballet: Debra Craine, The Times (See also SeeingDance & Culture Whisper) Live Review – Kaatsbaan Summer Festival: Faye Arthurs, Fjord Review Streaming Reviews: Battery Dance Festival, Marking the centennial of women's right to vote: David Mead, SeeingDance SF/Bay Area Round-up, An August of Dance Film Shorts: Heather Desaulniers, Critical Dance Sydney Dance Company, Cuatro 1-4: Michelle Potter, ... on dancing Streaming News: Sadler's Wells Digital Stage, Our Bodies Back: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Streams Shelter: Dan Meyer, Playbill

Thursday 20 August, 2020 Features: Russian Ballet Returned to the Stage. Then a Covid Outbreak Hit: Alex Marshall, NY Times In Lagos, a Homegrown Ballet Academy Leaps Into the Spotlight: Noor Brara, NY Times News - A New Building for Stuttgart's John Cranko Schule: Florian Heilmeyer, Metropolis Streaming Reviews: San Francisco Ballet, Dance of Dreams: John O’Dwyer, Seen and Heard 2Faced Dance, Scottish Dance Theatre & Scottish Ensemble, iCoDaCo: David Mead, SeeingDance Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage, Our Bodies Back: Richard Maguire, Reviews Hub Streaming News – Vancouver International Tap Festival: Janet Smith, Straight.com

For tomorrow's Links, the New York Times will have a substantial piece on events at the Mariinsky, apparently largely based on a phone call with Xander Parish: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/arts/dance/mariinsky-ballet-coronavirus-outbreak.html

Wednesday 19 August, 2020 News: Miami City Ballet cancels season, but the dance goes on: Connie Ogle, Miami Herald Pacific Northwest Ballet plans an all-digital season: Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times Streaming Reviews: Forced Online, Battery Dance Festival Brings the World to You: Brian Seibert, NY Times National Dance Company Wales, Tundra: David Mead, SeeingDance Book Review – Kristian Fredrikson, Designer by Michelle Potter: Jennifer Shennan, ... on dancing

Tuesday 18 August, 2020 News - Police investigation launched after allegations of grooming at prestigious UK ballet school: Peter Smith, ITV News --- Statement from the Royal Academy of Dance: RAD Feature - Social DistDancing: street ballet surprises make hearts leap: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian Live Review – Plataforma Festival, Etude, AMAZONIA 2040, Berlin: Veronica Posth, SeeingDance Interview - Shaun Parker: A decade of inspiring with dance innovations: Candide McDonald, Dance Australia News – Royal New Zealand Ballet, Venus Rising postponed: Kate Green, Stuff.co Streaming Reviews: Royal Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty: Katie Heyes, Palatinate RAWdance, Digital Edition and Dance Party: Claudia Bauer, DanceTabs No standing still: the best of lockdown dance: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian

There has also been a statement from the RAD: https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/rad-statement-on-ballet-west/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=BalletWest

According to ITV News, matters have moved on somewhat: Police investigation launched after ITV News uncovers allegations of grooming at prestigious UK ballet school | ITV News https://www.itv.com/news/2020-08-17/police-investigation-launched-after-itv-news-uncovers-allegations-of-grooming-at-prestigious-uk-ballet-school

Monday 17 August, 2020 Interviews: Tobias Praetorius, Royal Danish Ballet: Marina Harss, DanceTabs Jacopo Grabar, Sydney Dance Company: Candide McDonald, Dance Australia Features: Dance Theatre of Harlem highlights role of black dancers: Faith Andrews-O’Neal, Columbia Spectator Berlin’s Tanz im August, still on, but replanned: Merilyn Jackson, Fjord Review Streaming Reviews: Battery Dance Festival: India Independence Day: David Mead, SeeingDance San Francisco Ballet, Dance of Dreams: Candide McDonald, Dance Australia

Sunday 16 August, 2020 Feature - Royal Ballet Principal Edward Watson’s life less ordinary: Sarah Crompton, Sunday Times Feature – The play of dance: Ross Hannaford, Limelight News – Jessica Swale to Write a Movie Adaptation of Swan Lake: Dan Meyer, Playbill Streaming Review - New York Battery Dance Festival: Black Voices in Dance: David Mead, SeeingDance Streaming News: Film Tribute To Ballet in a Deserted New York: Timothy Harrison, Vogue

On a point of fact, this quotation from the ITV News piece in this morning's Links may be relevant for some people: " In another development, Bath Spa University has also announced it has cut its ties with Ballet West. Bath Spa University had approved the BA Ballet degree for delivery at the Ballet West since September 2019, but they told us they are “very concerned” by allegations and have ended their partnership with immediate effect."

My congratulations on quite an impressive editing/compilation achievement.