Sim

Cyclists The House of the Rising Sun People who walk down the street texting and just assume that everyone else will walk around them Ditto people wearing music headphones who cross the street without looking or hearing....we drivers are supposed to see them, react and avoid hitting them when they don't even bother to look before crossing Litterbugs

A lovely performance from Zenaida last night; so good to see her do this role again. She does things differently from all the other swan queens in the RB; the way she slightly flicks the lower half of her leg back when she is lifted in the Act II pdd when most dancers keep them straight, the way she ends the Act III pdd and the way she still does most of the 32 fouettees as singles, for example I have been watching this ballet since childhood so I always appreciate it when there is something new to look at in the interpretation of the choreography. Nice performance from Nehemiah Kish, too....he feels the role and interprets it well despite a slight bit of nerves perhaps during his Act III solo, but nothing that was really noticeable. He is always a very good partner and does all he can for his ballerina. The usual wonderful performance from Gary Avis....his menacing, murky presence always felt even when he wasn't onstage. Regarding comments above about the lighting, I have been moaning about this for years, especially Siegfried's dark tights; from any higher than the Grand Tier you just can't see his legs. I was in the amphi on Monday night and couldn't make them out without my strong binoculars, but last night I was standing in the stalls circle and saw them perfectly well. Ah well, I don't suppose they'll do anything about it at this stage. I too would like to see a new production now; we've had this one for 25 years and no matter what you think of it these classics do need to be revitalised to keep them fresh.

I can't type much as my left wrist is in a sling, but my reaction when I got home from Swan Lake last night was as below....and I agree with bangorballetboy's comments above. At some points the conducting was so slow that I thought it was going to grind to a halt. I also love SL....I've been watching it for almost 50 years from when I was a little girl, and if it's done properly it still moves me. My main gripe with the RB's production is that I like to see a lake in my Swan Lakes.... "A divine start to the Royal Ballet season with the divine Marianela Nunez giving a beautiful, meaningful performance as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. We are so lucky to be able to see her dance on a regular basis. The rest of the cast did very well too; a special plaudit for the corps de ballet, on lovely, fresh-legged form! Bring on the next 7 performances.....and best wishes to the whole Company for a wonderful season."

As always! Looks very interesting, too.

Gosh, sounds like a truly wonderful night, Jane. How I wish I could have been there. Very much looking forward to reading your review.

I attended the ENB press conference this morning on behalf of this forum. As Bluebird has already put up the press release it saves me a lot of reporting, so I won’t go into the season’s repertory. Tamara began by saying that she wants to make ENB ‘the most exciting dance company in the world for a dancer to be in.’ She wants to transform it into the country’s ‘most loved and exciting company’. She is passionate about taking dance to everyone, to making ballet more fun, accessible and ‘a good evening out’. She wants to make ENB the ‘go-to’ company for all kinds of collaborators: dancers, choreographers, designers, composers, etc. She promised some ‘surprising’ collaborations in future, and said that it is during hard times that you need to be daring and raise the bar; she added that “I know I am not the world’s best dancer, but I am the most bloody-minded!” She told us how lucky she felt, that little 5 year-old girl who peeked into a dance class one day and was immediately smitten, who is now the Artistic Director of a world-class company, one which she has always loved and for which she has always had a lot of respect. With regard to repertoire, she said that the classics have always had, and always will have, an important place at ENB, but they are not enough. A company has to move forward and commission new works as well as performing less known popular ones. There will be changes to the repertoire, and she said that in times of cuts it is challenging because you have to be ‘more imaginative.’ She wants the company to inspire people, both artists and audiences. She intends to take pieces performed in London to other parts of the country; she is very aware of the difficulties in getting people outside London into theatres to see triple bills or lesser-known full length ballets, such as Manon, but added that she has no intention of ‘patronizing’ people in other cities and towns in the UK by just giving them the usual classical pieces. She has ideas about involving local people more than just by publicity for a show…getting them to come to open classes and rehearsals, for example; if they are engaged and involved, she hopes they will want to see the shows too. With regards to commissioning new ballets, she said that this is already being done, but it was too late to do anything for her first season. She would only add that it would be a surprise….her ideal triple bill would be one that contained something surprising but also pieces using classical ballet technique for the ballet fans: “after all, they are paying their money to see what they like and I don’t want to make anyone’s evening hell!” She isn’t sure yet how much she will be dancing in future; she will just see how it goes. She isn’t guesting abroad at all in the coming year as she has too much to do in her new role. She said that touring is very important to the company, both within the UK and abroad, the latter because ENB are such good artistic ambassadors for the country. She will also try and use electronic media more and in different ways to try to engage with a wider range of young people. Tamara introduced her new artistic staff (details in the PR above), and informed everyone that it is hoped the announcement of the new ENB Chief Executive will happen soon so that things can settle down. She is very determined to do her best for the dancers: “I have a duty of care to them. They are very young and if we are lucky we will have them with us for 20 years, after which I want them go and have a good life. We need to take care of them not only physically, but mentally too, so that they can do this.” She emphasised how lucky she is to have such talented, world-class dancers to work with. To illustrate this, we were treated to part one of the Bluebird pas de deux danced by Yonah Acosta and Shiori Kase, both of whom looked great and did very well on a small stage. To conclude, Tamara Rojo is a very determined woman, one who has far-reaching vision and ideas but is realistic about the restrictions within which she will have to function. She said the most daunting part of her job will be future changes in policy towards the arts, such as funding cuts and visa restrictions. However, I am of the impression that she will do her utmost to make the most of what resources she has at any given time, and wish her very well in her endeavours.

Daria has never liked the role of Aurora...indeed, she hates it so won't dance it! But all is not lost; she will be dancing Lilac Fairy in the Vadim/Tamara cast. She is fine, and not leaving ENB. She and Vadim are still very much a partnership but are guesting abroad a lot as this gives them more opportunity to dance in a wider repertoire. They recently had great success in Moscow with Swan Lake (no mean feat!!). And they will be dancing Nutcracker with ENB during the Christmas season.

Hello all. I am posting on behalf of the committee to clarify why we felt it necessary to intervene in this thread and remind everyone of the forum's acceptable use policy. Whilst it is not our intention to stifle fair debate (on the contrary, we try to actively encourage it) or people expressing their opinions, we do have to ensure that such debate is carried out without leading to insults (even when they are not meant as such by the writer). In the case above, we were contacted privately and therefore decided to take some remedial action. Of course we understand that everyone on the forum is passionate about dance (as we are) and therefore things can get a bit heated, which is where we step in just to calm things down. Inevitably, this will lead to some people thinking that we are trying to put a clamp on freedom of expression. However, we are here to try to take a dispassionate approach and ensure that no-one feels aggrieved, or, if they do, take some steps (if we deem it appropriate) to bring things back to where they should be. We look forward to the future of this thriving forum, a forum which is working so well thanks to all of our contributors. Best wishes Simonetta (Sim) Dixon Chair BalletcoForum Committe

Thank you all for your generosity and support....and all your encouraging comments! It's good to hear how much you all appreciate the forum, and what it means to you. Cheers!

The BalletcoForum Committee would like to thank all of you who have thus far made a financial contribution to the running of the site and ensuring its continuation into the future. We have just made our first payment of the monthly bill out of your donations. Until now about an eighth of our 800 registered members have contributed, which means that seven eighths have not (!), so with that in mind I'm posting this up to ask those of you who value the site and have not yet made a donation to please consider doing so. The more donations we can raise now, the longer it will be before we have to ask again and, with more people donating, we might be able to lower the suggested amount in future. Donating is easy....please click on the link below for more details, or see the relevant section on the BalletcoForum's home page. With many thanks from all of us to all of you. Simonetta (Sim) Dixon

The BalletcoForum Committee would like to thank all of you who have thus far made a financial contribution to the running of the site and ensuring its continuation into the future. We have just made our first payment of the monthly bill out of your donations. Until now about an eighth of our 800 registered members have contributed, which means that seven eighths have not (!), so with that in mind I'm posting this up to ask those of you who value the site and have not yet made a donation to please consider doing so. The more donations we can raise now, the longer it will be before we have to ask again and, with more people donating, we might be able to lower the suggested amount in future. Donating is easy....please click on the link below for more details, or see the relevant section on the BalletcoForum's home page. With many thanks from all of us to all of you. Simonetta (Sim) Dixon

The BalletcoForum Committee would like to thank all of you who have thus far made a financial contribution to the running of the site and ensuring its continuation into the future. We have just made our first payment of the monthly bill out of your donations. Until now about an eighth of our 800 registered members have contributed, which means that seven eighths have not (!), so with that in mind I'm posting this up to ask those of you who value the site and have not yet made a donation to please consider doing so. The more donations we can raise now, the longer it will be before we have to ask again and, with more people donating, we might be able to lower the suggested amount in future. Donating is easy....please click on the link below for more details, or see the relevant section on the BalletcoForum's home page. With many thanks from all of us to all of you. Simonetta (Sim) Dixon

I wish they had shown this before the ballets were on; I for one would have got a whole lot more out of the evening.! I guess they wanted to show the first night, but it would have been nice to see it in advance. Ah well, if they ever show this bill again I will endeavour to remember this very good documentary!

It was indeed 'Graceland', and the song was 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes'. A classic album from the 80s that woke much of the Western world up to the joys of South African music, ably assisted by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, an a capello group from one of the townships. Paul Simon played the entire album in Hyde Park a couple of weeks ago and got 5 stars pretty much across the board. I still play it regularly as it never ages, and it was really apt, joyous music to play in the film which was re-capping the career of Dame Monica.

Re. Aileen's post #48 above.....a good example of this is former RB dancer Natasha Oughtred, who realised that she wasn't going to get any further in the company so left to join BRB as a soloist and became a principal quite quickly; she has already danced many roles that she would never have otherwise had the chance to dance. Whereas many of us miss her here in London, she did the right thing for her career by moving north. On the issue of guest dancers, I very much enjoy seeing them at the RB, and let's face it, it doesn't happen very often. For that reason, it's exciting and spices up the season. I think the RB does give young, junior dancers chances if they feel they are ready....recent examples are Melissa Hamilton doing Mary Vetsera and then Juliet, and Akane Takada doing Aurora (although, unfortunately, injury prevented her from performing the role). I very much enjoy watching all the company members, and even though I am a 'regular' at Covent Garden I never get bored with their dancers. However, the occasional guest thrown into the mix makes for a different evening with different interpretations and dynamics, and for me that can only be a good thing. It also gives those of us who can't afford to travel to Russia, Cuba, USA, etc. a chance to see some of their wonderful dancers.

Thanks Dave. It was a special and memorable night, and you have captured it perfectly!!

Am just catching up after a very busy week. As with some posters above, I'm usually very wary of galas, but this one was different; it flowed and made dramatic and artistc sense. This could have been very cheesy had it not been done with so much thought, respect and excellent performances from everyone onstage. My highlights of the evening were Valentino Zucchetti's performances and seeing Anthony Dowell dance again. That alone was worth the ticket price for me.

Yes Jan, it's definitely that time! This was our first visit and we loved it! Photos of how it looks now are on my FB page in the photo albums bit.

Is that a tattoo you can just see sticking out on the left side of her horrible leotard??

I agree with those who said above that Tamara and Sergei were the only convincing Marguerite and Amand. I saw it under duress when they did it and only because it was part of a bill where I wanted to see the other piece. The reason it was under duress was because when I saw it with Guillem/Le Riche and on film with Fonteyn/Nureyev it bored me. Maybe it is unfair to judge the latter without having seen them live, as live ballet for me is a completely different experience from film or TV broadcasts. If Tamara and Sergei did it again, I'd run to get tickets, and I never thought I'd say this about that ballet!

Janet, re. your post re. Fred and Ginge....funnily enough I was in Prague a week ago photographing that building!! We just came upon when we were walking around the city and I thought 'wow, amazing', and it is a real anomaly amidst all the lovely Art Nouveau buildings by which it's surrounded!

What an amazing performance by Johan tonight in his London debut as James. Truly wonderful. He darted around the stage like a man half his age, and his wonderful Bournonville technique stunned us all by its very lightness of being. Wow, wow, wow. Sarah Lamb wasn't half bad either....a truly ethereal creature.

Whilst I do really enjoy the Insights, I find that £16 for less than two hours is too much for me. I can see two full productions for that price in the standing/cheap seats, so these days I usually give them a miss.

Thanks very much Angela for continuing to keep us informed. Sounds like very varied seasons coming up; interesting that the RB is also doing Onegin next season. Respect!! We look forward to having some reviews of the performances from you!

Lovely review Anna....must try and get another ticket! Thanks.