tim b

yes I can get in now ta; but no tickets for either school performance on the seventh so tant pis!!

I too was disappointed at the matinee at the sparseness of the audience, tho it sounded even more absent for the evening! - one contributory reason may be the Hippodrome's pricing policy - I was told at 1.30pm there were no Standby prices for the coming matinee unless you were local holding something called "a leisure passport" - the senior concession available was a measly three pounds off the top three price bands (less than 10%) - London theatres which presumably have to be competitive will normally sell best available standby seats to anyone with notes in their wallet at about half price - which is much more of an incentive IMO!

Birgit Keil directs the lovely classical company in Karlsruhe and just across the border is the Ballet du Rhin - Mulhouse/Strasbourg? Maina Gielgud did her production of Giselle for them I think

Having been asked to post some thoughts on the matinee I saw yesterday - here goes My first thought is how enthusiastic and accomplished those dancers are - for example Samara Downs (Gertrude Lawrence in the Grand Tour) was in important roles in all three ballets of the afternoon and shone in each. Iain Mackay had leading roles in the first two and danced and acted his socks off. It is perhaps unfair to pick people out but it was the dancers that gave me my enjoyment not so much the works. The Grand Tour for me was a cross or a combination of Fin du Jour and Cavalcade and quite slight - for me it doesn't seem to make the most of the music and wasn't Gertrude Lawrence very much from a working class background - a shining star out of the gutter not the diletante (can't spell) that Samara is given to portray? Faster is just that and ends as it starts with cast out of breath - I personally can no longer run! The Dream I had a lot of problems with - that awful scrim first off - but I went to catch a Mr. Bracewell Oberon and for that alone I enjoyed it mightily. His costume is the wrong colour and has awful dreadlocks around the neck but how he dances and commands his Fairyland! Long may he continue! As a temptation for any "London balletomanes" who want to see him in the flesh I discovered that by travelling London Midland - takes longer and no reserved seat - I got a Senior day return from Euston to New Street for £13 - couldn't get far up the M1 in my car for that price!!

is anyone else unable to get in this morning? Are they up-dating or what??

I found the best Chuck Dick to be Tale of 2 Cities - less of the grotesque characters to take with the necessary pinch of salt - I always am put in mind of the Ministry of Silly Walks or Miriam Margolyes mugging her way thru a speech of Sary Gamp - the silly walks are the only thing I hate about certain productions of the ballet Onegin - by the bye didn't spot you in Brum yesterday afternoon for Billy Bracewell?

Thanks for all the info - Mr. Legris would be good - I am told he has worked wonders in Vienna so far

Well, his Beauty is alive and well in Canada where the dancers say they love it - presumably Ms. Kain is a fan too - nor do I think Mademoiselle Lefevre's view of the Nureyev productions is other than fully in favour - after all they fill the Bastille, one of the biggest theatres in Europe, for weeks night after night

Angela - you are a star for transcribing all that - thank you so much

Janet McN and afds are exactly right - "straps" are usually one price lower than where they are situated if you follow me and you can end up sitting quite low as they are getting pretty old - you also need to be quick on your feet as you would be "last in and first out" - you may be better off going down a price and getting a rear row seat in a box and then standing up & leaning on the side wall for the crucial parts of the show - I have done that before now The centre Amphi has perfect sightlines but if you are taller than 4'6" and over 6 stone you will feel like a sardine in a tightly packed tin!! I vowed never again! Best of luck

Yes alison you have! after all she only brings on the mobile phone doesn't she? Despite all the careful planning and diary warnings i missed it (partly because i have vowed not to go within a 5 mile radius of stratford east london until at least september!) - still i will always have paris where i saw the divine maria A. as raymonda a couple? of xmas's ago

you got it - indeed it is many thanks

Did anyone see or hear about this event please? I understand Mr Legris was dancing and also Vladimir Shklyarov

Any reviews of last Saturday's Gala in Vienna? Or personal thoughts of anyone who was there?

Tx everso to you all - that's really helpful

Is anyone whose indexing skill is better than mine (not that difficult) able to remind me of where there is a recording of this work which Anton Dolin ?created / revived and taught to the Kirov? I am sure I have seen one where one of the 4 ballerinas is a very young Kolpakova but I'm blowed if I can find it in the pile!! If it exists on a commercial dvd like treasures of the Kirov or whatever which I can now buy, that would be perfection. Can anyone advise?

Just read congrats messages on twitter - Myriam Ould-Braham has been named Etoile I guess after dancing Lise in Fille

thanks very much - you have put my mind at rest - I guess no one really knows anyways except perhaps Kevin McKenzie

you will realise i have put the above in the wrong place - will now seek to get in the right one! I too really love Balanchine when he is "doing" Petipa

thanks for your help - that has put my mind at rest - i guess no one really knows anyway except Kevin McKenzie!

Hi Aileen I loved the dancers - thought them all lovely both technically and to look at but for me the programme after the Balanchine/Glinka was a bit heavy on the modern - musically, choreographically & stylistically - I yearned to see maybe Symphonic or a Diverts "Act" or say The Concert or even (do they have enough bodies?) Dances at a Gathering just to lift the meringue but I very much enjoyed the evening - I had the impression the theatre was not quite full - maybe some house seats freed up last minute or people did not turn up or was I mistaken?

was hoping to read the article on abt's guesting policy - partic interested in attitude to Vadim (& hoping & praying that he is not going to be tempted to do a Semionova) but cannot get beyond first page on which Cojocaru & Osipova are discussed - does anyone know what the rest says - what would subscription entail or is it a schlepp down to whs to stand and have a read?

Snap! Also noticed there Jay Jolley (who got a mention on the cast list) Ronald Hynd and Sean Bates

sorry to be sloppy alison - my point was comme d'habitude much better made by Wayne in his interview - that it is the quality of the company and their work that we look for & enjoy and the name and nationalities are not of particular relevance to that - seems to me that the title often usually indicates where the bearers predominantly dance - ENB have England (& Wales) and seem to try their best to reach most regions of it - my comments on Paris Opera whom as you know I love dearly and deeply were also meant to be tongue very much in cheek

would it be controversial to ask what's in a name as long as it summarises a company of excellence & is known for that quality (which is what i think mr eagling is proposing in his recent interview for Australian TV News - link above) in Russia there is mariinsky, bolshoi, mikhailovsky - the difference being what? i don't know - their theatres perhaps some of the finest etoiles in the paris opera are from toulouse or even ajaccio and most of them don't sing opera either