Sim

That wouldn't surprise me.....and of course, being so young, I think the artistic, emotional aspect of her skating has yet to fully emerge. When it does, there will be no beating her for a long while I shouldn't think.

And as for women's skating, give me Peggy Fleming any day.

Yes Alison that's him. Go on YouTube and watch him skate in the US championships in January. I love bhim because he really connects with the crowd and conveys to everyone how much he enjoys what he's doing out there. A lovely skater, too!

And what an amazing skate from young Julia....stunning! I've just watched it twice! Thank you.

Thank you very much for posting those links, Amelia. A spectacular performance! Were they all Bolshoi dancers?

Yes of course I will....she has already been very touched by everyone's reaction, both here and elsewhere.

DonQ Fan....I can confirm that the Prague gala will be held in the same theatre as the last one was, as above.

Following the official announcement of her retirement, Daria Klimentova has asked me to convey the following statement on her behalf: “Today English National Ballet has announced my retirement from dancing. I would like to set the record straight about a few things that have been said on this forum and elsewhere. First of all, Vadim has not ‘let me down’. He would never do that to me or the Company. We had been planning our mutual departures for a while, and the timing just seemed right. Vadim was ready for the next phase of his career, and I was ready to retire. To reiterate, I am not retiring because Vadim has left, and he has not left because I am retiring: we planned this carefully so the pain of not being able to dance together anymore was lessened by us both leaving at the same time. I have had a wonderful career, especially with ENB, and I am very grateful for all the ballets I have been able to dance and all the great times I have had with them. Finding such an incredible partner in Vadim prolonged my career by five years and has been the very best part of it. I would also like to re-assure everyone that Vadim will be carrying out all his commitments with ENB until the end of the season. It would never have been otherwise. We will be dancing together in Manchester (Corsaire) on 11 and 15 February, the Russian Icons gala at the London Coliseum (Sleeping Beauty pdd) on 9 March, a gala in Brussels (Cave duet and pdd from Corsaire) 22nd March, my ‘Thank You’ gala in Prague ( excerpts from Act 2 of Swan Lake, Corsaire and Act 3 of DonQ, together with dancers from Czech National Ballet) on 15 May , and finally all the planned R&Js in June. Our final performance together will be on June 22nd (matinee) at the Albert Hall in London. My birthday is June 23rd, and the best birthday present I could have is being able to finish my career dancing Romeo and Juliet with Vadim. We are very grateful to Tamara Rojo and Kevin O’Hare for this. Going forward, I will stay in the ballet world and intend to help young dancers achieve all they possibly can in their careers, and be the best they can possibly be as artists. I will also do all I can to support Vadim, who is very much looking forward to the new challenges and opportunities ahead. We would like to thank our fans for all the support and good wishes they have expressed for us.”

Hi Sharry.....I've moved this topic to Doing Dance as it's more appropriate for this area of the site....and you should get a lot of help here as well! Best wishes, Sim

Daria Klimentova has confirmed to me, a few minutes ago, that she and Vadim are definitely dancing together in Manchester, and in other performances between now and June. Most importantly, they WILL be dancing ALL of their planned R&Js together at the Albert Hall in June.

Oh, and while I'm at it....I loved Claudia Dean's Myrthe on Thursday night. She is chilling and totally believable as a spirit who won't rest until all men have perished, preferably by her instigation. She has a lovely ballon and really uses that big stage. A wonderful achievement for a young dancer still in the corps.

Yes, I have also heard wonderful things about Laura's debut, and I think she was very lucky to have such an experienced and generous partner as Bonelli as her first Albrecht. I too am very much looking forward to February 10th. I just cannot understand why it has taken soooo long for her to be given this opportunity to shine like the jewel that she is. I can only hope that next time R&J comes around she will finally be given a crack at Juliet, too. She is my favourite Manon and she is an excellent MacMillan interpreter IMHO.

Amelia, maybe your prayers will be answered with the arrival of Muntagirov....I will be very interested to see if they are put together, and if so, how it works out. Theoretically, it should be amazing: both Russian, both passionate, both technically fantastic and both very capable dramatically. I will be watching (and hoping) with great interest!

Angela, thank you so much for all the information you regularly give us on this forum. It is much appreciated, so please keep it coming!

Neither have I, but what a fascinating way to look at it. It makes complete sense in the context of why they are Wilis in the first place. Tonight I will be watching them from a new viewpoint, and thinking of them as mothers that never were. Perhaps that is why they are so cross and vengeful; not only were they deceived by men, but because of them they have been denied their basic function as a female; i.e., to reproduce. This would make any young girl very sad as well as very angry, especially in those days when reproduction was pretty much all a woman was good for! I have never, in the many years I've been watching Giselle, looked at the Wilis as mothers who never were. Now I have a new insight into their vengeance. Fab! This is one of the things I love about ballet; always something new to think about and watch, always different interpretations of a story or music by both choreographers and dancers....how can one ever tire of it?!!

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.