tim b

i knew sam lauron a little - to my recollection he was more into leaving lavish floral tributes which would be presented to his favourite ballerinas on stage at the end of the performance rather than actual flower throws which were nevertheless fairly regular in those days - jenny penney was his true favourite and received all sorts of floral confections - eg a huge swan with flashing lights after swan lake etc many of those performances are described in a copy of pat stone's "ballet diaries" i have for the years 1975 to 1984 - she died shortly after - and have been hoping to find someone who would like to take them into a proper balletic, historical archive - i have made several approaches to people but probably through lack of space no-one really wants them i fear at the end of the day i shall have to just consign them to the re-cycling - sad

last minute decision to do the sunday matinee and about half a house clearly wholeheartedly enjoyed the ballet and laetitia with joe caley (particularly stunning jumps) - have just been reading thro the above and agree with you alison almost word for word - there was never any doubt that this swanhilda might not lead frantz up the aisle whatever his little foibles with other gals which rather destroys the whole point of the story to my (has to be logical) mind!! the rather nasty elements to my mind - mugging an old man who is going about his own business quietly - breaking in & vandalising his home - paying him off at the end which is supposed to suddenly make everything all right i think are totally skated over & sugar coated - what would sir kenneth's version have been like i wonders m'dear?!!

love to see some answers to aileen's post from them as knows ? would any of the recent travellers to japan be kind enough to respond?

muchos gracias T

the dutch website is www.het-ballet.nl and i have to start with apology i now find my google toolbar has decided to translate the dutch for me so i can tell you that mr wheeldon is indeed producing a full length cinderella for christmas season - 13 december to 1 january that will be followed by a "best of balanchine" programme - that would tempt me if i knew what they regard as the best of mr. b - i so often find others choices ain't mine ha ha

don Q fan - i know what you mean about the POB website but i think it's worth battling with it to see those stunning dancers - friends tell me they are much better at telephone booking than they used to be too - at least it's better than the old rugby scrum to even get a queue ticket at the Rome opera

alison - please dig me in the ribs when Raymonda might be on view is it all on your website link? if so, sorry pardon!

not sure if this is proper place to add this but perhaps someone will start new topic if that is better - POB announced their 12/13 season yesterday and sad to see no Raymonda - the big Nureyev production which will be occupying the bastille from mid-november to new year's eve will be his Don Q ?Aurelie and brand new etoile M. Hoffalt together again?? also there will be a gala on 6 march marking presumably 20 years and 2 months since Rudolf's death - had to queue to get onto website this morning as subscriptions start booking today!!!

het national's 12/13 season was announced too the other day - their website is all in dutch - unsurprisingly - but which regrettably i don't understand - does it say a christopher wheeldon production of full length Cinderella presumably for their christmas show??

i adore raymonda & have been hoping for that dvd for ages - it is my favourite of the full length classics both musically & dancewise (have to make allowances for the "story"!) - there are lots of wonderful sequences in the dvd from the dancer's dream series but it is not the whole ballet which i was hoping & assuming might still be revived again - the grand nureyev productions which paris preserves are usually brought out again in rotation to fill the bastille seasons & theatre which is enormous - by the way the latest filmed performance has been shown - on portuguese television at least - so perhaps sky arts could be persuaded to get hold of it and show it here?

hmmm the zakharova ones gone again by the time i looked but thanks v much for the info - a very nice seat third row of stalls was going for the 19th march a few moments ago if anyone needs one! not my favourite cast tho for that one

haven't seen her mentioned so sorry if this is already known zakharova fans will be pleased to hear she is listed to dance two performances as nikiya in la bayadere at the bastille (full length nureyev production) beginning of april - casts are now on the website

i have just bought my tickets for this show online - i winced at the £1.75 charge but carried on - then when i had got past the point of no return i noticed there was an additional item charged for £2 described as default - can anyone enlighten me as to what this ?clever sleight of hand by the wells website is all about and how (?if) it can be avoided?

just a further bit of musing - i went down to bristol (coincidentally my home town) last week and saw stage rehearsal and first performance of strictly gershwin - thereafter i did not get in as the hippodrome was sold out every evening! - i found the company were still dancing this work with customary elan and enthusiasm so certainly mega cyber bouquets to all concerned

your last suggestion is ironically interesting JohnM in view of the other breaking news - to use current parlance - is the director bovvered any more??

hear hear cabriole!! - his leadership of enb and the enthusiasm he has engendered there has revived my love of ballet when i felt i was becoming totally jaded and bored having followed mainly the royal ballet for many years one wonders how "his team" of ballet staff - ros whitten, anthony dowson, maina gielgud and jane haworth - are feeling about this - shocked & stunned i imagine

thanks v much alison for the info i really must read things through properly - but somehow i don't associate suite en blanc (includes the letters enb for ballet crossword setters!) particularly with the ballets russes - i suppose lifar is the key thanks again see you there!

I had understood we might be getting my favourite Suite en Blanc again but it looks like one has to go to Australia for that - viz. the recent article in The Australian headlining Daria & Vadim

tim b

Please does anyone know of a link to a review of Vadim Muntagirov's (?debut) performance as Solor in ABT's full length La Bayadere (Makarova production) in Washington DC last Saturday afternoon? It is mentioned in passing in The Australian article quoted above - I would dearly love to have been at the Kennedy Center but only heard of it very recently - especially since I count myself lucky enough to have seen the debut of his current director - Wayne Eagling - in the same role (though only Act 3 - the Shades, Nureyev production, as the RB gave it then) partnering Freda Thorogood at the Bristol Hippodrome one Saturday afternoon in I think May 1978! Happy days!