DavidW

That's it! You are completely right - my teacher definitely said Yakobson but it slipped my mind. Thank you so much It's such a brilliant little piece, I'm glad I now know who created it, and for whom. As to my question - Prince of the Pagodas was one of the two I was thinking of. The other is much more recent (I'm slightly worried I'm misremembering now!). Didn't realise/remember blindfolds were used in Sylvia and Spartacus!

I can't remember a stream in The Bright Stream but don't think that's the one you mean! On a separate question, I learnt a rather lovely pas de deux today set between a (Russian?) blind girl and a boy who is looking out for and supporting her. Does anyone know if this is from a larger ballet? As an related (and easier!) trivia question, name two ballets where a Principal dances whilst blindfolded...

Fantastic news! Any excuse to watch Marianela Nunez's Kitri again... Any ideas on the cast for the Bolshoi SB? I'm guessing it's the Zakharova/Hallberg cast that was relayed to cinemas a year or two ago? I found her a little cold (for some reason I find it hard to connect to her performances) but still a very enjoyable performance from the pair.

ENB's Le Corsaire sailed into Bristol Hippodrome last night and I now see why it has everyone raving. Such a fantastic night at the ballet! I loved the sheer volume of dancing for all ranks of dancers and the lead cast was certainly star-packed. Alina Cojocaru and Vadim Muntagirov were sublime as Medora/Conrad - melting into each other's arms during the bedroom (bedtent?) Pas de Deux. The Pas de Trois with Junor Souza as Ali was a complete showstopper and Yonah Acosta shone as Birbanto, especially in Act II. Takahasi and Gruzdyev were also brilliant as Gulnare and Lakendem and the three odalisques were beautiful. I was entranced for the whole evening, and judging by the audience's reaction so too was everyone else. One thing I really liked (and which was a bit missing when I saw ABT do Corsaire a couple of years ago) was the fierceness of the dancers - Muntagirov managed to meld perfect textbook and gorgeous lines with a harder side to his character. I wouldn't want to cross his Conrad in a fight! Cojocaru also played a delightfully feisty Medora in Act I - makes me want to desperately see her Kitri! In case you can't tell(!) I absolutely loved Corsaire and it is definitely worthy of the glowing reviews. Hopefully this is the first of many successful new pieces for Rojo and ENB - very excited to see the Barbican triple bill now!

Thought this advert was fantastic - shows a bit of drama as well as awesome dancing (that turning split leap from McRae is pretty epic). One thing I didn't quite get was the tagline of "Spend time with the girls this Christmas". Didn't Iana spend most of the advert dancing with the guys?! Seems a little at odds with the visual...

Something I've noticed with ENB casting (hopefully not too off-topic!) is that they seem keen to keep certain partnerships together across multiple productions (for example between Le Corsaire and Nutcracker there are a few duplicate pairings: Klimentova/Muntagirov, Cojocaru/Muntagirov, Glurdjidze/Vargas, Rojo/Golding [only just saw that he was back for Nutcracker!]). Is this something that ENB has always done with it's Lead Principals (I've only been seeing ENB for 2 years) or do people think it is just a consequence of strong partnerships? I can see benefits and disadvantages of keeping partnerships together...

At the moment we're working on a condensed version of La Fille mal Gardee that one of the women is choreographing. A group of ladies are learning the Harvester's dance, another group are learning the chicken dance (looks so much fun!) and then I'm learning a small section with one of the girls as Lise and Colas. This is for a small "open evening" in December where family and friends can come and watch class then a small performance of La Fille. To give an idea of other rep, in the Summer Gala this year I performed in the Precious Stones suite from Sleeping Beauty, the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake, and the Wheat Pas de Deux from Coppelia. Some pieces we 'teach' ourselves from videos, some are 'led' by members of the group. With the Russian YBC we're currently working on two performances of Cinderella next year (with ENBs Elena Glurjidze dancing the title role!) and last year performed Swan Lake. But each fortnightly session we tend to work on other bits of rep too - recently I've learnt variations from Don Q, Corsaire, Gayane, and more, along with the Corsaire PdD and some corps de ballet pieces. These are all taught by my two amazing teachers, along with the occasional guest teacher. I'm very very lucky to get so much opportunity to learn rep!

Hi FullContretemps (and everyone else!), Yup - I take classes at the Russian Ballet School, but I take the advanced class with teenagers rather than the adult classes. I've never taken their adult classes but am sure they'll be awesome! I also dance at Ballet Bristol, which is an adult repertoire group. I do their Wednesday sessions which consist of a class followed by repertoire - the class isn't really about "teaching" ballet to the members, more as a warm up for rep. I don't know any other classes in Bristol, but know quite a few in Bath too! Feel free to send me a PM if you want more info! David

I would like to add that I personally don't view 'line' as a static thing. In something like an arabesque a good 'line' for me should not only look statically pleasing but should also convey energy. For me, an arabesque with a good 'line' should look like it is constantly growing - this is related to 2dancersmum's comment about fingertips. The best lines have energy running throughout the entire pose giving it the sense of growth. This doesn't mean an arabesque has to be over-exaggerated, a 90 degree arabesque with 'energy' is more pleasing for me than a 135 degree arabesque without energy. For example, this arabesque from Marianela Nunez - http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b206/cheerbabe9139/Ballet%20Dancers/Marianela%20Nunez%20Royal%20Ballet/nunez2.jpg - is just over 90 degrees, but with the arms and position of her body aligned with her leg, also conveys a lot of energy into a pleasing 'line'... or it does for me at least! I don't know if that made sense, but it's my two cents worth! I'm not sure if this fits with classical definitions of 'line' but is important to me when discussing arabesque line etc

Very true! The first thing I was ever told in PDD class was "if something goes wrong, it is always the guy's fault. Even when it's the girl's fault, it's the guy's fault". This might sound a bit ridiculous, but I think it has a serious point to it. In PDD it is the guy's responsibility to make sure the girl is safe at all times - some of even the simplest lifts can be very dangerous if the guy is not giving all his attention to the girl's safety. It's another reason why I think open PDD class would be a bad idea - I think PDD is best taught as part of a structured course or masterclass so that the teachers can make sure dancers build up to various moves in a safe and controlled environment.

I can add that the Spanish Dance in Swan Lake is so much fun to dance! It's a little tricky in parts to stay on top of the music (it can run away with you if you're not careful!) but I think it's a great piece to learn, and easily adaptable to many levels.

Indeed - for Lexus: Maybe we're finally reaping the benefits of the "Black Swan" effect? Or, much more likely, we have dancers who seem to be much more media savvy. It seems like each weekend either the Sunday Times or Telegraph has some mention of a dancer (Off the top of my head: Rojo, Cuthbertson, Watson, Cojocaru...) in some feature (often a "day in the life" or the like in their glossy magazine). I believe Melissa Hamilton was in one of the papers this weekend?

Two music videoes have been released in the last couple of days featuring ballet dancers. First, Tamara Rojo is featured in the crazily star-studded Paul McCartney video for "Queenie Eye" (alongside Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Kate Moss and many many more!): (Tamara first appears around 1:20 rocking out and then keeps on appearing throughout.) Secondly, Ed Watson dances alone in the video for The Feeling's new song "Boy Who Cried Wolf": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbMX8F8TCJA (It seems from a couple of articles about the video that Arthur Pita choreographed the video - there are a couple of movements reminiscent of metamorphosis!) Any other dancers infiltrating the music business? I know Misty Copeland danced for Prince in a tour a couple of years ago and McGregor choreographed a Radiohead music video... Any wishes for collaboration?

I feel that the established hierarchies are a product (or at least heavily influenced) by the hierarchy in the classic ballets. The 'levels' of dancing in, say Swan Lake, correspond neatly with the ranks of dancers. I wonder if a 'democratic' company could still cope with such ballets - would it be possible for a dancer to dance Odette/Odile, and the following night (or maybe even that evening if a matinee!) dance in the corps swans? I'm sure rehearsals would be very difficult to arrange on a logistics level - trying to get a corps together whilst different dancers also need to practice certain pas de deux for principal roles etc. I know you occasional have a corps de ballet dancer getting a 'big break' in a large role and companies cope with that, but I don't know if that would work for every performance. There is also the issue of ranking giving dancers a gradual increase in stage experience and exposure - I don't imagine there are many dancers who could command the ROH stage in a full-length ballet principal role straight out of ballet school. I agree that some companies seem to have an overly complicated ranking system (I still don't understand last seasons promotions at ENB due to their ranking system!). I'd be interested to know if dancers prefer this or would prefer fewer, but more clean cut, ranks.

I was very disappointed Alexander Campbell didn't get a Romeo this season - but I guess with it being such a staple of the RB repertoire they can't give a lot of debuts whilst also letting the Principals dance the roles. It's a shame there's no debuts at all this run (yet each cast still only has 2 performances) - would have loved to see Alexander Campbell and Yuhui Choe as the star crossed lovers! I must say that he is also one of my favourite Mercutios, and one of only a few that can reduce me to tears at the Mercutio death scene.

To add a male perspective to this... (although it might be a little off topic) Just as I'm sure dancing whilst wearing a tutu is different than without, it also makes a *huge* difference to the guy when partnering. If I'm doing some partnerwork and the girl will be wearing a classical tutu for a performance I like to rehearse with the girl in the tutu at least a couple of times before the dress rehearsal/performance. I've found some movements that seemed easy enough in rehearsals (with the girl just wearing a leotard) to be rather difficult when my partner puts on a tutu! You suddenly find you can't put your arms in the position you want to, can't necessarily hold your partner in the best position for a particular hold/lift, and there's the added "fun" of getting a face full of tutu when attemping things like shoulder sits! That being said, I feel like assisted pirouettes are arguably easier when the girl is wearing a tutu - I guess it is easier for me to see that she is on balance (and perhaps easier for her to feel fully "pulled up" in her torso?). Mind you, with a classical tutu you can't see the girls knee, which can make pirouettes, ummmm.., exciting!

On repeated viewing (opening night, cinema relay and Friday night), I definitely think this Don Q is "a keeper" (as all the reviews seemed to put it). So much fun, and the company seems to have really relaxed into the production making it more fun and joyous. I will certainly be getting tickets for future runs, especially if put in the Autumn as an antidote to a cold and wet October! The cinema relay was fantastic - all the dancing was superb but, for me, Nunez absolutely stole the show. Between her flawless technique and her cheeky grin she was sheer perfection. If it is indeed released on DVD next year I shall be first in line, if not just to watch her three variations on repeat. She has truly cemented her status as a ballet superstar. I was also very impressed with Takada on Friday night, especially in Act I and III. Her castanet variation had all the vim and vigour you could ask for - and even from the Amphi you could tell she was enjoying every second. McRae's Basilio was exactly as I had hoped - bright, cheeky and virtousic! Two parts worth mentioning - the first one-handed lift in Act I must have lasted for around 15 seconds, truly unbelievable and resulting in a stunned silence throughout the auditorium. Secondly, McRae's Act III variation was astonishing - instead of finishing with the diagonal of tours, he did a string of (7, I think?) double tours to pirouettes (from 5th), finishing with a split leap mid-tour en l'air. I actually gasped at the final jump - truly thrilling and nice to see him be given the freedom to make the variation play to his strengths. Hugely inspirational, although I don't think I'll be attempting that particular sequence any time soon. Much of the other principal casting was the same as the Acosta/Nunez cast and they were as brilliant as the other performances. Mention should go to the new (to me) castings of Kitri's friends (Naghdi/Pajdak), Queen of the Dryads (Choe) and Cupid (O'Sullivan) who all gave fantastic performances. I wonder if any critics saw the production later in its run? It would be interesting to see whether their thoughts have changed...

Fabulous pictures, as always, Dave! I particularly love the one of Obraztsova, in the Balcony scene, in arabesque and just about to fall into McRae's arms. For me it sums up the entire pas de deux - a new favourite photo of R&J for me! Alas, work means I'll only be catching one R&J this season - Hamilton and Watson next month. Very excited to see them (esp Hamilton's Juliet who I've not seen before) but really disappointed to miss the other casts (especially Cuthbertson/Bonelli - one of my favourite pairings for R&J).

A big thanks to the moderators from me too for doing such a sterling job!

Just to muddy the waters even furthe, I've got some teachers who refer to "lame ducks" as "degagé turns"...!

Thank you for all the kind words Anjuli_Bai! It really means a lot to me and helps keep me motivated! As for what I feel when dancing the Corsaire PdD. I guess I'm approaching it rather differently than Nureyev. I guess I extrapolate those opening and closing poses and try to keep in my mind throughout that I am of lower caste than the ballerina. I am there at her request and for her benefit, and my sole job is to ensure she is safe, and show off her beauty to it's fullest. It's convenient that this didn't call for oodles of confidence and bravado - I'm not that confident in my dancing! (...yet ) I'm also currently working on an abridged version of La Fille mal Gardee where I'm playing Colas and this has required me to examine the character quite closely. Whilst not as outwardly sure of himself as, say, Basilio in Don Q, Colas is definitely a bit of a cheeky chappy! I'm trying to transfer this into my dancing, adding a little bit of flair to my movements... haven't got the hang of it yet! And I'm definitely happy to perform wherever necessary. I've performed in Hospitals and Nursing Homes, as well as on stage. There's something rather nice about the unconventional venues too - you might have to dance on carpet or in a cramped space, but you can get a real feel for the audiences reaction which can be lovely. And I don't know if I can yet say that when I dance I am truly "performing", but I'm working towards it! Thank you again, for your words P.S. Fiz - hope you start to feel better very soon!

Just to point out something that might be useful when looking for tips on these - different schools refer to them as completely different things! I think RAD call them grand jeté en tournant, but I've also heard them be called an entrelacé in the UK, and when I was in the States they were referred to as a tour jeté... very confusing! (There's a surprising difference between UK and US terminology - e.g. in barre work glissés are reffered to as degagés!). And just to follow on from the mention of my blog (thank you for the kind words!) I'm more than happy to answer any questions anyone has about setting up a blog. I got some help when I first started, and am happy to pass on any knowledge I can!

Thank you everyone for all the kind messages! It has truly brightened my otherwise pretty awful week... I do really enjoy partnering, although I think it's probably the most stressful part of ballet! It's a shame that, as adults, we generally don't get much opportunity to work on partnering, but then again I don't think younger dancers get much experience at it unless they're at a vocational school (or have a particularly proactive teacher with lots of boys to act as partners fo rthe girls). It's also amazing how different partnering can feel with different dancers - there are some girls/ladies I 'click' with and partnering is really easy, and others it takes more of an effort with (probably my fault rather than theirs!) - but that's probably a discussion for another thread!

Indeed! They are truly amazing teachers - and I've learnt so much more than just technique with them. Their level of artistry, characterisation and 'performance' in everything they do really shines through and inspires me. I'm very very lucky! I use Wordpress for my blog and find it (generally) great. It's pretty easy to get first set up and relatively simple to post. There's loads of add-ons and plug-ins you can add to give your blog lots of bells and whistles but they're not always necessary! Another option is Tumblr, which lets you post text/photo/video/links etc. It's a little more informal and can be good if you're planning lots of smaller updates rather than more sporadic longer ones. My studying, alas, has nothing to do with dance - it's theoretical Computer Science! And I never danced as a child - if only! - I started 3 years ago when I was 23 (not the 'normal' age to start!). Thanks to an encouraging PM from LinMM I thought I would share the following video of a recent performance I gave (if you follow my blog you might have already seen it) of the Adage from Le Corsaire. I'm dancing with a girl, Ellie, from the Youth Ballet Company who is a stunning dancer - thankfully she has to do all the hard stuff! I normally hate watching myself dance (I don't think I'm alone there!) but I can watch this without too much grimacing - I think because I enjoyed performing the piece so much, it always puts a smile on my face! Any comments and constructive criticism are obviously welcome! (And I don't know if there's a policy for posting videos of ourselves dancing on here - if it's not appropriate I'll happily take it down!)

I seem to recall her saying in the interval video for the Alice cinema screening that she had never danced Aurora (hence why she enjoyed the "Tart Adagio").