John Mallinson

We may want to merge this with the long-running Polunin thread.

Done.

If this is an O'Hare schedule then he's a man after my own heart. I'll excuse all those Swan Lakes and Nutcrackers - the dancers have to be paid somehow.

12 main stage programmes, 123 performances, (m = matinée)

Swan Lake x20 performances - Oct 8, 10, 11, 12, 13m, 13, 15, 17m, 17, 23, 25, 27; Nov 6, 9, 10m, 10 15, 22, 24m, 24

Viscera (Scarlett) / Infra (McGregor) / Fool’s Paradise (Wheeldon) x6 - Nov 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14

All-MacMillan programme: Concerto / Las Hermanas / Requiem x 6 - Nov 17, 21, 27, 29, 30; Dec 5

The Nutcracker x19 - Dec 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 23m, 27m, 27, 28, 31; Jan 1, 2m, 2, 5m, 8, 12m, 12, 15, 16

The Firebird (Fokine) / In the Night (Robbins) / Raymonda Act III (Petipa & Nureyev) x6 - Dec 22m, 29, 29; Jan 4, 9, 11

Onegin (Cranko) x13 - Jan 19, 22, 23, 25, 26m, 30, 31; Feb 1, 2m, 2, 5, 7, 8

All-Ashton programme: La Valse / Thaïs pdd / Voices of Spring pdd / Monotones I & II / Marguerite and Armand x5 - Feb 12, 13, 15, 21, 23

Apollo (Balanchine) / NEW Wheeldon / NEW Ratmansky x5 - Feb 22, 23m; March 7, 9m, 14

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Wheeldon) x11 - March 15, 19, 21, 23m, 25, 27, 28; April 2, 6m, 11, 13

La Bayadère x12 - April 5, 9, 12, 20m, 27m; May 1, 2, 6m, 6, 13, 14, 22

Mayerling (MacMillan) x 13 - April 19, 25, 30; May 3m, 30; June 1m, 1, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 15

Raven Girl (NEW McGregor) / Symphony in C (Balanchine) x7 - May 24, 28, 29m 29; June 3, 8m, 8

Nice piece by Margaret Atwood about Twitter from the New York Review of Books.

Where did people read that Sergei was gonna be doing his originally scheduled La Sylphide? That's the one I want to watch then!

It's rumour. It may turn out to be true for all I know but as of now it's only rumour.

I understand why you might keep the essential watching dance part of the board to the two forums and I understand why the names might be amended to be more helpful to people. What I don't understand is why there seems to be a rebalancing to put catch all points in News rather than What's Happening. My 2p but I've always thought of News as just that - items of news and not a place that generaly sparks lot of discussion - for the most part that happens in one place. Not saying a rebalancing is wrong just interested in the why?

Bruce, of course you're right and the strapline under What's Happening does make it clear that it's intended to be the catch-all. I suppose I tend not to read straplines - reprehensible but there we are! I guess it doesn't really matter where the general discussion topics (e.g. "Are dancers better at arithmetic") go so long as we're clear about it; there's no good reason to change the present practice.

What about

• Performances seen & general discussion
  
• Ballet / Dance news & information
  

No straplines. (​I'm sure there could be snappier descriptive titles.)

I've just read a review in The Times of Romeo and Juliet - it was very complimentary about Melissa Hamilton but mentioned that she will only dance Juliet once this season. How do RB expect dancers to develop roles if they only dance them once every few months. It seems a total lack of planning that some dancers are overburdened and others don't dance enough.

That's usually the way of it when relatively junior members of the company (Hamilton is a Soloist) first take principal roles. It must be very frustrating for them, but even more so for more senior members at the sub-Principal level who are overtaken in this way and haven't had such an opportunity. If Hamilton had another performance, given that none of the seven other Juliets this season (all Principals) has more than two, who would you leave out? Her time will come.

The Help is good though maybe could do with clarification and expansion over some things. It's available on all pages, right at the bottom in absurdly small type, thus easy to miss - not sure we can do anything to make it more prominent.

...I'm not sure that there was a general consensus not to split out different geographical areas

You're right of course, consensus was the wrong word, but there don't seem to be a lot of people clamouring for geographical divisions.

How easy do you find this site to use? What puzzles you and what might you like to have explained?

I've been given the job of putting together some guidance for members on the practical side of using this site. It will not be a fully-fledged manual because most of the basics are well covered by the Help pages (I assume everyone has found and read the Help pages!) and I don't think that's needed.

Your suggestions about topics to be covered would be most helpful.

So far the consensus seems to be to leave things be, not to amalgamate News and What's Happening into one forum and not to add more forums covering different geographical areas.

If we are to leave those two forums separate (and maybe there will yet be an influx of opinions to the contrary) then I think they should be renamed. For myself, I always have to think twice before deciding which of the two is correct for what I want to say. But maybe that's just me. Thoughts?

What about:

• What's Happening becomes Performances seen & related matters
  
• News becomes Ballet & Dance news, information, general discussion
  

Going through the present What's Happening it seems to me that 10 of 53 postings could be said to be in the 'wrong' place i.e. would fit better into the other more general topic, presently News. In the News forum there are 67 topics and only a couple have gone forward from an announcement of something to come to a discussion of it when it had come i.e. something more suitable for What's Happening.

Links – Saturday March 10, 2012

Review - Stephen Petronio, The Architecture of Loss, NY:

Review - Russian Ballet Icons, Anna Pavlova Gala, London: Jann Parry, DanceTabs

Review - Houston Ballet, mixed bill: Brittanie Shey, Houston Press

Review - Northern Ballet, Madame Butterfly, Leeds: Charles Hutchinson, York Press

Review - Pam Tanowitz Dance, The Blue Ballet, NY:

Review - Pennsylvania Ballet, Messiah, Pittsburgh: Ellen Dunkel, Philadelphia Inquirer

Review - Ballet Hispanico, Boston: Jeffery Gantz, Boston Globe

Reivew - North Carolina Dance Theatre, Sleeping Beauty: Steven Brown, Charlotte Observer

Review - Jodi Melnick, solos, NY: Gia Kourlas, New York Times

Review - Same Planet, mixed bill, Chicago: Zachary Whittenburg, Time Out Chicago

Review - Russian State Ballet of Siberia, Swan Lake, Edinburgh: Josie Balfour, The Scotsman

Review - Ballet British Columbia, mixed bill, Vancouver: Kaija Pepper, The Globe and Mail

Review - Showqueen Productions, Fat Swan: Simonne Michelle-Wells, Australian Stage

Talking - Iain Webb and Jean Weidner, Sarasota Ballet: Carrie Seidman, Arts Sarasota

Kathryn Morgan (NYCB) gets Mobile: Thomas B. Harrison, Press-Register

This week’s new dance (London), BRB, Shobana Jeyasingh: Judith Mackrell, The Guardian

Links – Friday March 9, 2012

Review - San Francisco Ballet, Romeo and Juliet:

Review - Batsheva Dance Company, Hora: Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

Review - Nederlands Dans Theater 2, mixed bill, London:

Review - Hofesh Schechter, Political Mother, New Zealand: Jennifer Shennan, Dominion Post

Review - Russian Ballet Icons Gala, London: Graham Watts, Londondance.com

Review - Northern Ballet, Madame Butterfly: Jayne Dawson, Yorkshire Evening Post

Review - Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Giselle: Alison Mayes, Winnipeg Free Press

Review - Pia Meuthen (Panama Pictures), Skin, London: Zoe Anderson, The Independent

New Work From Michael Clark Company in Barbican 2012/13 Season: DanceTabs

New York City Ballet Spring Gala to feature Natalie Portman: Broadway World

Alison

I have no hotline to the RB unfortunately so keeping casting info up to date is inevitably a bit hit and miss.

Anyone who's logged in to this site can add to the calendar but it does need feeding by hand - I somehow can't see anyone wanting to come forward and devote their life to being the calendar czar. It would be a lot of work.

You are suggesting that the casting for a specific run is teased out from other casting and used to start a thread in What's Happening - presumabably when the first performance of the run happens. This seems to be work for somebody.

At risk of getting barred from this place there is Another Site which I run which has all the Royal Ballet casting information (usually accurate). Easy enough to link, or maybe better I could copy and paste into whichever forum here. It's organised per booking period which is how the information is released by the ROH.

I've looked at Photobucket's Terms of Use and can't see anything like that. They give full instructions on linking with no caveats.

The world's divided into lumpers and splitters. Me, I'm a splitter and would favour renaming rather than merging the two forums but my opinion carries no more weight than anyone else's. I entirely agree however that having too many different forums is confusing and annoying.

As Jane says using tags would be a useful means of collating related topics but I can't see them being widely employed. They can be made mandatory but that seems rather bullying. The Search function here is pretty good and helpful (especially if you get the Advanced Search by clicking the little cogwheel, or is it a sunflower?) to the right of the search box.

Links – Thursday March 8, 2012

Review - Nederlands Dans Theater 2, mixed bill, London:

Review - San Francisco Ballet, Romeo and Juliet:

Review - Mark Morris Dance Group, Choral Fantasy, Four Saints in Three Acts: Deborah Jowitt, The Arts Journal

Review - Birmingham Royal Ballet, Daphnis and Chloe, The Two Pigeons: David Bellan, Oxford Times

Review - Stephen Petronio, mixed bill, NY: Gia Kourlas, New York Times

Review - Gabriel Missé and Analia Centurión, Milongas, NY: Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

Review - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, mixed bill, LA: Jean Lenihan, Los Angeles Times

Review - Rafaela Carrasco, New York City Center’s Flamenco Festival 2012: Jocelyn Noveck, Boston Globe

Review - City Ballet of San Diego, Balanchine bill: Krist Eitland, SanDiego.com

Review - Vancouver International Dance Festival: Kaija Pepper, Globe and Mail

Liam Scarlett, A Cherubic Choreographer: Julie Kavanagh, The Economist

Lin Hwai-min of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre: Jane Albert, The Australian

Review - Russian State Ballet of Siberia, La Fille mal gardée, Edinburgh: Kelly Apter, The Scotsman

Preview - Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Neumeier’s A Streetcar Named Desire: Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Sergei Polunin, the James Dean of the ballet world: Sarah Crompton, The Telegraph

Salt Lake City's Ballet West will star in reality TV show: Scott D. Pierce, Salt Lake Tribune

Diamonds are the Royal Ballet of Flanders’ best friend: Claire Adler, Financial Times

NYCB Spring Gala with a French twist: Melena Ryzik, New York Times

Dear All

We want to canvas views on the best structure for BalletcoForum, that is, how many different forums? what named? The main criteria are clarity and usability - simple is best.

The following is just a suggestion. Forums might be:

Ticket Trade - Tickets For Sale/Wanted

What's Happening/News

Dance Links - reviews & features

Doing Dance

About Us and Help (this would include the present forum)

Not Dance

Test

You'll notice that this amalgamates the present What's Happening with News - they're quite difficult to separate sometimes anyway. Is that sensible or would renaming them to something like 'Performances Seen' (instead of What's Happening) and something like 'News, Information, Performances to Come' (for News) be a better solution? And what order should they be in?

Your opinions are most important in deciding about this so please respond. Of course nothing here is set in stone so if the usage and needs change in future things can be reorganised.

Links – Wednesday March 7, 2012

Review - Nederlands Dans Theater 2, London: Judith Flanders, The Arts Desk

NDT2 and Paul Lightfoot: Rosyln Sulcas, New York Times

Review - Mark Morris Dance Group, Choral Fantasy, Four Saints in Three Acts: Robert Gottlieb, New York Observer

Review - Boston Ballet, Play with Fire (Elo, Kylian, Bruce): Alan Helms, DanceTabs

Review - Sarah Michelson, Devotion Study #1 – The American Dancer, New York:

Review - ENB Emerging Dancer Award 2010: Graham Watts, London Dance

Review - ENB at the Tate Gallery and ENB Emerging Dancer Competition: Clifford Bishop, Evening Standard

Review - Nina Haft and Company and Facing East Dance and Music: Rita Felciano, San Francisco Bay Guardian

Eating disorders in ballet: Matthew Lawrence, Dancing Times

Sergei Polunin: I'll give up ballet by 26: Alex Needham, The Guardian

Baryshnikov as an (inadvertent) business mentor: Nelson Davis, Huffington Post

That Miami City Ballet programme is to drool for - Villela is certainly bowing out in wonderful style!

 

Now that we know San Francisco Ballet is making a return vist to the UK, would it be too much to hope that MCB might do the same with this particular programme?

I've emailed them and they would love to come especially as they've never danced in London - just a little matter of funding. Any millionaires about?

Links – Tuesday March 6, 2012

Review - Anna Pavlova Gala, London:

Review - Dutch National Ballet, Present/s, Amsterdam: Rosyln Sulcas, New York Times

Review - Boston Ballet, Play with Fire: Keith Powers, Patriot Ledger

Review - Ballet Black, mixed bill:

Review - Los Angeles Ballet, Swan Lake: Laura Bleiberg, LA Weekly

Review - Northern Ballet, Madame Butterfly: Kevin Berry, The Stage

ENB’s residency at Tate Britain: Louise Levene, Telegraph

Review - Elektro Kif, hip hop, London:

Review - Compañía Rafaela Carrasco, NY Flamenco Festival 2012: Brian Seibert, New York Times

Liam Scarlett returns (to Miami): Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel. MCB's 2012/13 schedule.

Interview - Pam Tanowitz, choreographer: Gia Kourlas, Time Out NY

Interview - Carlos Fittante, dancer: Zachary Whittenburg, Time Out Chicago

Serge Lifar and the Ballets Russes sale in Geneva: Colin Gleadell, The Telegraph, photo gallery

Six reasons why more men should attend the ballet: Carrie Seidman, Arts Sarasota

'An Intimate Evening with Anna Pavlova' suggests that they have brought her back from the dead, and maybe that explains those exorbitant prices (£25-100). No mention that it's for charity which might be the other explanation.

The system allows 'open' tagging, as a present, or 'closed' in which case only a predefined set of tags can be used. The prefix system which puts the first tag reversed out of a little box is neat and could certainly be helpful in Ticket Trade with BUYING, SELLING etc. I've started another topic here which shows that.

I don't think there's a way of adding tags after a topic has been started but it is possible to force people to use tags when creating a topic by setting a minimum number (at present 0). There is a maximum number (at present 10).

Links – Monday March 5, 2012

Review - Russian Ballet Icons Gala: Celebrating Anna Pavlova, London: Ismene Brown, The Arts Desk

Review - Mark Morris Dance Group, A Choral Fantasy, NY: Apollinaire Scherr, Financial Times

Review - Los Angeles Ballet, Swan Lake: Victoria Looseleaf, LA Times

Review - Joffrey Ballet, mixed bill (Forsythe, Wheeldon, Liang): Natasha Gauthier, Ottawa Citizen

Review - Keigwin + Company, mixed bill: Sarah Kaufman, Washington Post

Review - NY City Center Flamenco Festival: Brian Seibert, NY Times

Review - Ballet San Jose, mixed bill: Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle

Cinemas open their screens to opera and ballet: Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer

Preview - Universal Ballet of Korea, Swan Lake, Johannesburg: Lynley Main, joburg.org