chrischris

Yes, just like America, that cultural wasteland. It's a complicated issue, but to say that arts will die without funding is completely and utterly absurd.

I don't personally believe the RB, ENB or any other arts company should be subsidised. Private companies can do what they want, but I can understand people getting annoyed that companies subsidised by taxpayers employ a predominantly foreign workforce. A lot of my friends, who are all on the left politically and aren't racist or xenophobic in any way, wonder about this whenever I have tried to get them to come to the ballet.

The O/P did not say that, they said the ENB isn't really a British company, and cited the management, dancers and choreographers. That's true, and it is something that has been debated time and time again, and will continue to be debated, as these things are when money is tight.

I think the point is more that, if the company is not employing British dancers, why should it be subsidised by British taxpayers. It's an argument that has been made by many many people (just read the comments section under any ballet article on any newspaper website), and there is already a thread on here about it I believe.

"if you don't like it go and watch Morris dancing." Very mature

That's a pretty childish response to what is an understandable criticism voiced by many people, some of them very high profile and respected.

I agree. I don't think i'm explaining myself very well. I kind of mean that if you say to someone that someone is a ballerina at the RB, it sounds really impressive, whereas saying someone is a ballerina at the ENB doesn't sound as impressive, even though there's no real difference. A bit like in tennis, someone being a Wimbledon champion often sounds more impressive than someone being an Australian open champion, even though they are both the same level of tournament. Or the way people that go to Oxbridge often have a kind of esteem or certain reputation, even though there are many other universities in the UK that are better in certain subjects. The RB has a reputation that I think is more marketable, and I think a dancer from the RB is more marketable than a ballet dancer from the ENB, simply because of that brand/ recognisable name.

Rojo is known from the RB. Personally I doubt most people know who any of the people you mentioned are, but I think more people (not a lot, but more) will know who Acosta, Nunez, Watson et al are. The RB is the premier ballet company, and for whatever reason, people seem to be drawn to it more than the ENB. I doubt Bussell or Cope would have become the stars they did if they had danced with the ENB instead of the RB. I don't mean to be dismissive of the ENB or anything, but from an advertising point of view, it must be easier to market the RB than it is to market the ENB.

San Fran would be a great place to live, but I think if I was in the arts, Europe is where i'd want to be. Hope that isn't insulting to people outside Europe :-)

Yeah I didn't know that until I saw Darcey on tv talking about being in the touring company.

I know this will never happen, but I sometimes wonder whether ENB should just join with the RB, and they could then maybe split in two, with a touring company performing in smaller venues around the UK under the RB name. I have no evidence to back this up, but I assume a RB touring company would be more of a draw, simply as the name is more recognisable,and the dancers at the RB tend to have a higher profile than the ENB dancers.

I think the Arts Council stipulates that ENB has to tour, but i'm not sure how detailed their specifications are.

I've only ever been to narrative ballets at the RB, where every show i've been to has been full house (or it looks that way from where i've been sitting in the gods) so I would too be interested in the answers to A frog's questions about what is considered an acceptable sized audience. I don't know why ENB always stay in the coliseum, but there must be a reason I don't know about.

It seems like Rojo is doing well in re-branding the ENB and bringing in a younger audience. I just hope this can translate in to bringing in a large audience, as it appears that with this bill the ENB has failed once again to fill out the coliseum. Hopefully that will change over time.

More photos here: http://elliottfranks.photoshelter.com/gallery/Mayerling-Royal-Ballet-19th-April-2013/G0000dehnt0uwECA

Good to hear. Hopefully there will be some photos soon

That's good to hear. I'm really looking forward to it. Pennefather has his detractors but he's one of my favourite dancers and i'm looking forward to seeing Hamilton for the first time. I've heard male dancers talking about how painful Mayerling is to perform.

I've got tickets for Soares and Pennefather. Looking forward to it. I've seen the Watson version on dvd and I found it confusing to follow, but interesting and very dark, so really looking forward to seeing it live. Think there should be more ballets created around the male dancer, as it creates a different dynamic.

I saw this quote about Vasiliev (from the telegraph) a while ago: "Some have speculated that this prodigy will eventually suffer for the lack of a grounding in pure classicism.". I don't know whether that's true (have never seen him dance) but if that is a commonly held belief (I don't know if it is), maybe that was a factor in him not being offered a RB contract, given the predominantly classical repertoire there?

Apparently it was at the curtain call, but as I wasn't there, i'm just going by what i've heard. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm one of those people that even if I hate something (a meal for example) i'll pretend I love it just to avoid making a scene, and I just can't comprehend booing someone. If you heard it you'd just want the ground to swallow you up.

I wasn't there, I just heard about it. I'm not sure why they were booing, as I hear she was excellent in the role. People are very strange.

Apparently people were booing Roberta Marquez in La Bayadere the other day. I'd be mortified if I was on stage and someone was booing me, and I just can't comprehend ever doing it to someone else. It's so rude, and, in my opinion, never justified.

Thanks Janet for the link. I should have put my comments about subsidy and the lack of British dancers in here. I agree with Bruce's comments at the top. I'd be shocked if, in 10 years time, the ENB wasn't either a completely touring company, had lost its subsidy and was either closed or trying to survive with private benefactors. I'm not sure if even a city like London is big enough for two huge ballet companies often perorming the same ballets.

I'm trying to leave what I feel and think out of it, and just look at it as whether a particular business model is sustainable long term, and I don't believe a publicly subsidised company that employs predominantly foreign dancers is, not in today's economic climate, which I fear is going to get worse before it gets better. Well, should probably get this topic back on to Ivan Putrov.

That's my fault. It should probably be in a new thread, though the issue of government subsidies and lack of British dancers has been discussed before i'm sure.