Sim

And BRB were lucky enough to get the lovely Natasha Oughtred for that very reason!!

Yep....I know what's top of the list for my birthday or Christmas, whichever event is nearer to the DVD's release!!

In which case you'd think they'd reject the 'generous terms' in favour of transparency. If I wanted everyone to know my business I'd reject the payout and the gagging order so that I could tell journalists and others exactly what happened to me if I so chose. If you accept the payout and therefore the gagging order, that's a choice you make. But having made a choice not to publicly set any records straight, that does not give anyone the right to speculate or delve into their business, although rumour mills are inevitable.

Re. MAB's post no. 52 above. Whether that is true or not, dancers and any other human beings have a right to privacy and don't necessarily want their personal issues splashed around the newspapers or other media.

Agree Jane...a wonderful and deeply emotional performance from Lauren and Federico. Already looking forward to their next one!

I'm seeing that cast on Tuesday so please someone who is there let us know what they're like!

Gosh how wonderful. Worth making a trip to NYC just to spend a few days on the third floor! Would love to see the Gable/Seymour R&J excerpt...

Thanks Anne. Just goes to show how much nobility there was in everything Jonny Cope did....especially in the second half of his career. He was a wonderful dancer, partner and actor, as well as being tall and handsome. He is still much missed (by me, anyway!!).

From her Facebook page, she is absolutely delighted. I'm sure she will be very happy there, and what a great boost for NBoC too!

SMballet, I had the same feelings when I watched this video. Despite being one of the best, most naturally-talented dancers in the world, he still seems like a lost, lonely, confused little boy. Like you, I hope that he manages to find the inner peace and stability he so obviously craves, and that he doesn't throw away his prodigious gifts....but this is purely for selfish reasons; the thought of not seeing him dance is a very sad one! He is dancing now, but he is so volatile that one never knows if he will be dancing in a year's time. Let's hope that Zelensky keeps him calm, and on track.

So I don't get it Michael....if Chita is a year younger than Rita, why was she too old for the film but Rita wasn't?? Where's the logic in that? I'm confused! Wow what a life you've had! A friend of mine went to visit Stephen Sondheim in NY to discuss some theatre business, and Liza was there at the same time, so he spent the afternoon and evening with her. His descriptions of the day are hilarious!!

As that was the year of my birth I was unfortunately unable to see her!! So I only have Rita to go on, and I thought she did a great job in the film. Is there any film of Chita in the role?

Mijosh, you may be interested in this link from today's BBC Online. Rita Moreno is now 81, and looks 61!! She is amazing, and here talks about her life and how playing Anita in the film of WSS changed her life. What a talent....did all of her own singing and dancing. It is one of my favourite films too...and it still makes me weep each time I see it!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23761990

Well it would have been nice if the Telegraph had published a photo not only of Miss Smirnova, but of the right production and the correct ballet company. They have put in a photo of Roberta Marquez and the Royal Ballet's production. Sloppy....especially since The Telegraph had privileged access to the Bolshoi the whole duration of their London season.

MAB, what does that mean, that he is 'stylistically different'? Do any of the 'foreign' dancers in the RB have the 'RB style', if indeed there is one anymore? Mukhamedov was completely different from the RB dancing style, and this was way back in the 90s when there were many more RB-trained dancers in the Company. He managed to fit in and give lots of joy to many, many people. OK, so Vasiliev isn't a danseur noble, but there would be many other things he could do (for example, his guest performances with ENB in Le Jeune Homme et Le Mort were revelatory). Already in the Company there are quite a few dancers who are only given certain types of roles, and not given others (e.g. Ed Watson, Laura Morera), but they all contribute to the continuing ability of the RB to be able to present such a diverse repertoire to the audience...and present it convincingly. Having said which, I too would be delighted to see Lantratov dance here in London.

Another book that illustrates that very well is George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'.

Awww, that is the little girl I mentioned in my review at the beginning of this thread! She was sooo adorable! Vasiliev was also a very good Albrecht to Osipova's Giselle when they did it with the Mikhailovsky earlier this year. If I remember correctly, he was even quite restrained in the 'dance to the death' scene in front of Myrthe and the Wilis. I too would like to see him get going with a few MacMillan ballets to see what he can make of them. After all, Mukhamedov was a revelation as Rudolf and as The Foreman in The Judas Tree...and since comparisons are being made....give this young man a chance!!

Lartiste, there are no waiting lists for returns. The best thing to do is keep an eye on the ROH website, and call the box office as often as you can, just to see if there are any returns. This does work sometimes. Your other option is to queue on the day for the few day seats they release. For these two stars you'd have to get there early, as they go on sale at 10 a.m. You can also post on this forum that you want a ticket (stating the date), and keep your fingers crossed! Keep an eye open on our ticket exchange in case someone misses your request and puts up a ticket. With regard to restricted view seats, it depends where they are. There are quite a few seats in the house which are designated as restricted but are hardly restricted at all, and they are great value. However, there are some seats where the view is terrible, such as the Lower Slips where you lose half the stage much of the time, or any seats near the stage on the side. But some people don't mind this; although they lose some view, they are very close to the action that they can see, so it's a trade-off! It's really a matter of personal preference. Best of luck!

I went along to Flames last night having purposely avoided watching it on YouTube so that it would reveal itself as something completely new to me. I Googled the plot yesterday afternoon, but it seemed so complicated that I forgot it as soon as I'd left my desk. One thing that told me: the complicated plot meant it was going to be a frothy piece, not something deep a la MacMillan! So I turned up, having decided not to mind at all about the plot or anything deeper, but just to watch the Bolshoi doing what they do best....pure dancing. How gloriously they proved me right last night. The combination of technical bravura and soft, lyrical dancing reflected all the good points about this company, many of which have been forgotten this past year because of goings-on behind the scenes. Seen like this, one would never know that there were any problems at all. As a ballet, just as a piece, I must say I wouldn't rush to see it again, but.....danced like this, it was well worth a view! Flames is a ballet of two halves, the first half being much less successful than the second. Act 1 is scene setting, and there is no obvious narrative flow, nor any real character development. On the positive side, I liked the clean and simple set, and it was such a delight to have lighting where we could actually see everything, everywhere onstage, from beginning to end. Act 2, although again held together loosely by a narrative, flowed much better and boy was it exciting! Osipova and Vasiliev performing gravity-defying solos, with him doing huge jumps, twisty tours en l'air, split jetes and even ending up almost horizontal in the air twice. The audience switched between laughing at the sheer daring and dazzle of it all to gasping audibly, then bringing the house down with applause and cheering. Osipova's turns and leaps were amongst the quickest and highest I've seen from a ballerina, and she too brought the house down more than once. But let's not forget her Giselle....aside from being able to pull all these technical feats out of the hat, she moved me to tears, twice, as Giselle; she is not a several-trick pony. I really look forward to her being given the MacMillan roles at the Royal in the coming seasons to see what she makes of them. She so badly wants to perform them, and I have high hopes for this very expressive dancer. Some people have said that, like Don Q, with these two it is more circus than ballet. This may be so, but everything in its context, and with Don Q and Flames, they are just fun pieces made so that dancers like Vasiliev and Osipova can let rip and have fun if they want to. It's as if the AD or choreographer says "ok guys, you have ten minutes of music just for you....do with it what you will". Another positive about Flames is the fact that the choreography allows for three leading couples to shine, so we are spoiled with a company like the Bolshoi....to see two of their leading couples (Osipova and Vasiliev now being guests) was a real treat, and all four dancers were very impressive. Andrei Merkuriev and Anastasia Stashkevich (of whom we will be seeing much more, I'm sure) were just the right balance to the bravura of Vasiliev and Osipova. Beautiful, lyrical dancing from them both, a deeply-felt pas de deux being the highlight of their evening for me. Kristina Kretova as Mireille and Artem Ovcharentko as Mistral made a real impact on me, again performing a very impressive pdd, each shining in their solos. I was also bowled over by the Furies, whose precision,synchronisation and speed alone struck fear into me!! They embodied everything good about Bolshoi ensemble dancing, as did the three men who performed the Marseillaise Dance. I would also like to 'shout out' for whoever played Louis XVI....it wasn't announced anywhere and he was very good and loads of fun, so if anyone can enlighten me I'd be very grateful. My binoculars kept drawing my eyes to the most adorable little toddler in the crowd scenes. She was costumed as a baby peasant, complete with hat and a flag to wave, and wave it she did, with a huge smile on her face. She danced on her tippy-toes in bare feet, and was having a wonderful time. She is definitely the youngest dancer I've ever seen in a professional production, no more than three years of age; maybe we were getting our earliest glimpse ever of a next-generation ballerina! She was just gorgeous, and seeing her made me smile, a lot. The whole evening made me smile a lot....it is a great show with which to end the company's run; it reminds us of everything that the Bolshoi really is, beneath the current problems. It sends the audience home feeling happy, and reminds us that, doing what they do best, when they are at their best, there is still no-one to equal the Bolshoi when it comes to company-wide pure dancing. Both audience and dancers were feeding off each other last night, because the sense of fun going in both directions was palpable. I do hope that by the time of their next visit to London, their problems have been solved and things have settled down so that they can be back at their glorious best from the very beginning. I wish them all well in this endeavour, and most of all I wish Sergei Filin well; he has some truly wonderful dancers to work with, and they will all do him proud, as he has done them proud with his courage and fighting spirit.

No problem Fiz, I'll do that now. Can you please PM me with where in Herts you are? Thanks.

Oh Fiz, if only you'd put this up last week....we've been wanting a piano for years and could never afford one, then last week we were chatting to a neighbour who said 'I don't suppose you want an upright piano do you' and we jumped at the chance! So from nothing, I now have two chances of getting an upright Will keep any eye/ear open for you. Would you like me to put a notice on our e-board at work?

Thank you Capybara....I wish I spoke Russian! So wonderful to see Sergei there, looking as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

SMballet, you do not have to apologise for anything. You have based your perception on what you have seen, which is all you have to go on. You haven't been insulting or rude or nasty, just expressing a view. You have also opened up a most interesting debate on this thread, for which thank you! This is one of those times the forum really comes into its own: good debate, varied opinions and some new posters (welcome all!). This place just wouldn't work if everyone thought the same way, had the same perceptions and the same opinions. How boring would that be?! Once again I am reminded of a quote.....Liverpool FC's legendary manager Bill Shankly said "football isn't a matter of life and death....it's much more important than that." Some dancers must feel the same way, for better or for worse!

I think you mean Chudin, not Filin! Welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting your thoughts Mishapanda...please keep 'em coming

Maybe it's the age-old concept of artists suffering for their art!!! Reading SMBallet's postings above reminded me of the wonderful Neil Innes, who used to open his shows by saying "I have suffered for my art for years. Now it's your turn."