chrischris

Reading those articles made me feel sorry for his female dancing partners. It must have been frustrating and challenging for them dancing with someone who was sometimes late or didn't turn up for rehearsals.

Sorry, didn't realise, thanks.

I'm not shocked, unfortunately. There are some horrible people out there, and I think the anonymity of the internet allows some people to act in ways they never would in real life, although this particular case seems to have spilled over in to 'real' life. Just read some of the comments under newspaper articles.

Thanks, i've just found it. I've just joined that forum. Some of the posters are pretty scathing and personal in their attacks on particular dancers. A bit uncalled for.

That's interesting, thanks. I find it odd that Deborah Bull is not better known. A very impressive person, whose career ran parallel to Darcey's but didn't seem to generate the same level of interest/ attention, despite also being British.

No, of course not.

Thanks Capybara. I think this is as good a place as any for that discussion. I've heard people be very critical of Bussell's dancing and imply that she achieved much of her success as a result of her Britishness at a time when there were few British dancers. I have no idea whether that is an accurate and justified accusation. I have heard similar things said about Cuthbertson, Watson and Pennefather.

This is something i've always wondered. I'm not an expert on ballet at all, but I, like pretty much everyone in the UK, have always known who Darcey Bussell is. Even before she did Strictly, she was by far the most famous ballerina in the country, and if you asked someone in the UK over the last 10-20 years to name a ballet dancer, I reckon close to 100% of them would have said Darcey. I've never really understood why that is. Was it just because she's British and became a principal of the most famous ballet company at such a young age? Was she a particularly impressive ballerina, or did her skills lift her above other dancers? Was it just that she was good looking, photogenic and did a lot of the French and Saunders sketches? I'm not old enough to have seen her dance in her prime, so I don't really know what she was like. It's strange that she became such a household name when other British ballet dancers (Bull, Cuthbertson etc) haven't.

That made me laugh. I'm not sure what the official figures are, but it probably isn't deep by Canadian standards. The problem is we only really get snow for a few days a year, if that, so we are completely ill equipped to deal with it when it arrives. They talk about investing in some of the methods Canada, Scandinavia and Russia use to deal with their winters, but what's the point when such infrastructure won't be used for most of the year?

Cool picture. It's a beautiful building. What is the best seat in the house, view wise? The royal box?

Thanks for the replies. That's really interesting. A salary of around £60,000 a year seems huge to me, but I can imagine if you are pushing your body to the maximum every day and dealing with the pressure of live performances, especially as a principal, I can understand that it wouldn't seem so much, particularly when you compare it to footballers or tennis players. I forgot about galas, which must add quite a bit for the high profile dancers. I remember reading an interview with Tamara Rojo and she said she lives in Bloomsbury, which is one of my favourite parts of London but phenomenally expensive, to both rent and buy. You can't live there unless you are earning a pretty decent wage.

I've read a few articles recently that have commented on how poor the pay is for professional ballet dancers. I'm quite new to ballet, but I had always assumed that somebody as well known as Darcey Bussell would have been making huge amounts of money per year, and per performance, but I understand from a recent interview that she was struggling to get by even when at the height of her career. I find that pretty shocking. Does anyone know what the general pay is for a professional company dancer? I guess the RB and ENB would probably be able to pay the most in the UK, and pay would increase as a dancer makes their way from artist to soloist to principal etc? Is the pay generally a steady monthly salary, or does it vary depending on the number of performances/ roles in any given month? Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I would be interested to know.

Thanks

Is Pennefather injured? If so, he seems to get injured a lot.