John Mallinson

Ian you're right, it is a dilemma. Liam Scarlett does seem to have tried to compress a three act ballet into 48 minutes. I think he nearly succeeded. I saw it twice yesterday. Once (at the general rehearsal), confused and without the benefit of a synopsis, with little clue of the identity of the characters, and then in the evening having read the few introductory lines in the programme which were enough to pretty well sort things out for me. Narrative ballet can rarely (I might say never) stand alone and my 'controlled trial' yesterday proved the point again to me. It's not cheating to want a bit of help with the story. And Ann, you're not the only one needing new glasses. The only thing that Ismene Brown seemed to like in Carbon Life was "an attractively spun duet for Sarah Lamb and Edward Watson." I missed that though there was one for Lamb and Steven McRae. All these chaps with slicked-back hair do look rather alike.

Links – Friday April 6, 2012 Review - Royal Ballet, Polyphonia, Sweet Violets, Carbon Life: Ismene Brown, The Arts Desk Review - English National Ballet, Beyond Ballets Russes I: Louise Levene, The Telegraph Review - English National Ballet 2, My First Sleeping Beauty, London: Neil Norman, Express Review - Eifman Ballet, Anna Karenina, London: Graham Watts, LondonDance Photo Gallery - Eifman Ballet, Anna Karenina: Dave Morgan, DanceTabs Review - Sylvie Guillem, 6,000 Miles Away, NY: Gia Kourlas, New York Times Leigh Witchel, New York Post Review - Golden Mask Festival, Moscow: Katherine Lawrence Mansfield, Moscow Times Royal Ballet star (Tamara Rojo) takes inspiration from Chinese dance: George Webster, CNN Alberta Ballet partners with k.d. lang for new work: Bob Clark, Calgary Herald Dame Beryl Grey meets dance school pupils: Eastbourne Herald Tutu short? Dance company denied licence to perform in Malaysia: Matt Trueman, The Guardian

The answer to how to sell a mixed bill is that you do whatever the RB has done with it's Wheeldon/Scarlett/McGregor bill. The six performances are very nearly sold out and will be soon.

Links – Thursday April 5, 2012 Review - New York City Ballet, Who Cares?, West Side Story Suite, Fearful Symmetries: Sarah Halzack, Washington Post Review - Eifman Ballet, Anna Karenina, London: 2 stars, Judith Mackrell, The Guardian 2 stars, Zoe Anderson, The Independent Sarah Frater, The Stage Clifford Bishop, Evening Standard Rachel Phillips, Londonist Review - Michael Clark, Who’s Zoo?, NY: Apollinaire Scherr, Financial Times Review - San Francisco Ballet, Program 5: Paul Parish, Bay Area Reporter Review - Miami City Ballet, Coppélia: Harriet Howard Heithaus, Naples Daily News Preview - Northern Ballet, Beauty and the Beast, Milton Keynes: David Bellan, Oxford Times Angel Corella to Leave American Ballet Theater (on June 28): Julie Bloom, New York Times Review - Sean Dorsey, The Secret History of Love: Paul Parish, Bay Area Reporter Preview - Scottish Ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire: Mary Brennan, The Herald Peview - Ballet Revolución, London: Clifford Bishop, Evening Standard Lourdes Lopez to be new artistic director of Miami City Ballet: Ben Crandall, Sun-Sentinel Susan Reiter, LA Times Preview - Ballet Revolución, London: Clifford Bishop, Evening Standard First look at Gareth Pugh's ballet costumes for Carbon Life: Phong Liu, Telegraph Mark St James, FashionBlogger …and all over the place! Australian Ballet’s 50th season: Nick Bond, StarOnline The Nutcracker banned as indecent: Free Malaysia News

Links – Wednesday April 4, 2012 Review - Eifman Ballet, Anna Karenina, London: Judith Flanders, The Arts Desk Review - Stuttgart Ballet, Das Fräulein von S.: Laura Cappelle, Financial Times A Critics’ Conversation - Modern Dance Madness: the NYT critics, New York Times Lourdes Lopez named New Director of Miami City Ballet: Daniel J. Wakin, New York Times and New York Times Review - Alberta Ballet, Swan Lake: Michael Crabb, Toronto Star Interview - David Hallberg: Maria Polletta, Arizona Republic Interview - Michael Schumacher, dancer and Kylian collaborator: Gia Kourlas, Time Out New York Paul Taylor Dance Company - Up Close: Christopher Duggan (photographer), Huffington Post Jack Widdowson - Ballet dancer spins back to health after assault damaged his spine: Steven Morris, The Guardian; Bella Battle, The Sun Sadler’s Wells to live stream Breakin’ Convention: DanceTabs Casebook Shorts #3 - Paris in New York: Tobi Tobias, ArtsJournal New Zealand School of Dance’s 45th aniversary: Kerry McBride, Stuff Gareth Pugh puts stamp on ballet shoes (for RB): Yahoo! OMG

Links – Tuesday April 3, 2012 New Director Imminent for Miami City Ballet: Daniel J. Wakin, New York Times Review - Michael Clark, Who’s Zoo?, NY: Leigh Witchel, New York Post Review - Juilliard School, Waldstein Sonata, Gnawa, Secus: Marina Harss, DanceTabs Review - Savion Glover, Trayvon Martin tribute show: Pamela Squires, Washington Post Book review - Matthew Bourne and his Adventures in Dance by Matthew Bourne and Alastair Macaulay: Kym Kechacha, DanceTabs Review - Cirque Mandingue, Foté Foré, London: Zoe Anderson, Independent Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian Florence Waters, Telegraph Review - English National Ballet, Beyond Ballets Russes II: Lise Smith, Londonist Edinburgh International Festival 2012 schedule: The Arts Desk Preview - Kyle Abraham, The Radio Show, Miami: Jordan Levin, Miami Herald New nail polishes tied to NYC Ballet: Sara Bauknecht, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tickets are on sale for Festival Friends from the 4th, for everyone else from the 11th.

La Fille mal gardée April 20 – May 16 Nuñez, Acosta (Apr 20, 26) Cojocaru, Kobborg (Apr 24, 28) Morera, Cervera (Apr 28m; May 2) Choe, tba (May 4, 9) Marquez, McRae (May 11, 16)

For anyone with Suite en Blanc withdrawal symptoms there's another chance to see it in London on July 3 at St Paul's Cathedral. I've put a posting about it in the News forum.

As part of the City of London Festival this summer ENB is giving a performance in St Paul's Cathedral on July 3rd which includes Suite en Blanc and a "special choreographic commission". More details.

Thanks. Never spotted that. The trouble with many websites is that they're commissioned and designed by people who don't use them.

Welcome into the sunlight! Good points all. I seem to remember as a child being put off by full-length tutu ballets and more interested by the shorter more modern-looking works - this was seeing Ballet Rambert in the provinces. The mystique about ballet always puzzles me: newcomers often seem to feel they should be looking for something that isn't there - I'm not sure quite what. It makes them feel inadequate. They don't seem to realise that it's just people dancing about. (Well, that's a bit reductive but you know what I mean!)

That's all that are on the ROH website. Maybe the others are considered to be 'corps' and hence unlisted.

I think this is accurate. There seem to be two missing from the Sarah Lamb Polyphonia cast. Polyphonia (Wheeldon) / Sweet Violets (NEW Scarlett) / Carbon Life (NEW McGregor) April 5–23 Polyphonia Benjamin, Stix-Brunell, Cuthbertson, Mendizabal, Kish, Dyer, Campbell, Trzensimiech (Apr 5, 10, 18) Lamb, tbc, Choe, Raine, Stepanek, Hay, Ondiviela, tbc (Apr 12, 14, 23) Sweet Violets Cojocaru, Morera, Rojo, Cope, Kobborg, Bonelli, McRae, Soares (Apr 5, 10, 18) Morera, Nuñez, Hinkis, Gartside, Cope, Cervera, Campbell, Whitehead (Apr 12, 14, 23) Carbon Life (all performances) Cowley, Cuthbertson, Hamilton, Lamb, Nuñez, Hirano, Kay, McRae, Underwood, Watson Singers: Boy George, Alison Mosshart, Jonny Pierce, Hero Fisher, Wale

An important link is to the Royal Ballet School's publicly available policy document dealing with Nutrition Policy. It's no. 20 on this page. They take it seriously.

Links – Monday April 2, 2012 Review - English National Ballet – Beyond Ballets Russes II: 5 stars, Clement Crisp, Financial Times Gerald Dowler, ClassicalSource Review - English National Ballet – Beyond Ballets Russes I: Gerald Dowler, ClassicalSource Review - American Ballet Theatre, Firebird: Jean Lenihan, Los Angeles Times Review - Michael Clark, Who’s Zoo?, NY: Gia Kourlas, New York Times Review - Ballet Preljocaj, Snow White, Washington: Sarah Kaufman, Washington Post Review - Japan Society, Kabuki dance: Alastair Macaulay, New York Times Review - LeeSaar the Company, Fame: Brian Seibert, New York Times Deborah Jowitt, ArtsJournal Review - Zurich Ballet, Grid, Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel: Horst Koegler, Danceviewtimes Review - New Dance Commissions (Diallo, Dowling, Opoku-Addaie): Graham Watts, DanceTabs Review - Parallels 2012, NY: Brian Seibert, New York Times Review - Queensland Ballet, Alice in Wonderland: Deborah Jones, The Australian Review - Maine State Ballet, Swan Lake: Jennifer Brewer, Portland Press Herald Review - Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, mixed bill: Libby Hanse, Kansas City Star Review - Joffrey Ballet, Night, After the Rain, Pretty BALLET: Tara Mitton Catao, Palm Beach Daily News

Yup, Mr Murdoch has thought better of it. Paywall now re-erected.

Looking at the Mail's home page I think they're all April Fools - and not just today.

And stap me, it works. I think this is a brilliant innovation Bruce and to show that we're not Western-Hemisphere-centric I think we should run it permanantly in parallel with the conventional version.

Cameron asks Shaun Ryder to advise on class and help to detox Tories: Observer Amnesty for hosepipe owners as drought bites: Independent on Sunday *James Bond and The Queen to open The Olympic Games: The Sun Gmail Tap - the future of smartphone emails The 10 best April fools: The Observer …and more: The Telegraph * maybe this one's true!

For some reason Mr Murdoch has allowed me to see these so I thought I'd add them before he changes his mind: Review - English National Ballet, Beyond Ballets Russes II: 4 stars, Debra Craine, The Times Review - English National Ballet, Beyond Ballets Russes I: 3 stars, Debra Craine, The Times Review - Pet Shop Boys & Javier De Frutos, The Most Incredible Thing, London: Debra Craine, The Times

It's a broad church cobber!

Links – Sunday April 1, 2012 Review - English National Ballet, Beyond Ballets Russes II: Jane Simpson, DanceTabs, Dave Morgan photo gallery Review - American Ballet Theater, Firebird triple bill: Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register Review - Tulsa Ballet, A Ballets Russes Evening: James D. Watts Jr, Tulsa World Review - Alberta Ballet, Swan Lake: Bob Clark, Calgary Herald Review - Orlando Ballet, Swan Lake: Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel Review - New Dance Commissions, Linbury Studio, London: Luke Jennings, The Observer Review - Sacramento Ballet, Modern Masters: Leigh Grogan, Sacramento Bee Review - Kabuki Dance, NY: Tom Phillips, DanceviewTimes Profile - Teresa Reichlen, NYCB: Sarah Kaufman, Washington Post Cultural Life - Sarah Lamb, ballerina: Charlotte Cripps, Independent Misty Copeland - Local ballerina rises to national stardom: Rob Hayes, Orange County News This week’s new dance (London), Eifman Ballet, Royal Ballet triple bill: Judith Mackrell, The Guardian

Only the Act III pdd I think (April 5 2003)

Interestingly (or maybe not!) the review of the San Francisco triple bill mentions that the Raymonda sets and costumes are from the Royal Ballet - getting an airing before the RB uses them at the end of the year. Their last RB outing was 1998.