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Yaffa

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Posts posted by Yaffa

    Room 101

    in Not Dance

    Posted

    I've had booking problems too and no longer use Venere as a consequence, not just because their mistake put me at considerable extra expense, but their customer service is non-existence.  However Lowcostholidays are brilliant for booking hotels, when I found myself in a disgusting hotel room in Sardinia, they arranged an upgrade for us at no extra cost.   I think we should name and shame these companies that mislead the public, but also name and celebrate those that give good service.

     

    Sadly, LowCostHolidays collapsed. Some tips for those who are having a hard time getting their money back: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2016/09/lowcost

    Vaganova Prix - St. Petersburg, 23rd-29th October, 2016

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    Sorry - the broadcast on 29th October is not the final of the competition but the concluding gala. Still, it looks very interesting. The schedule (taken from the Mariinsky TV website):
     

    PROGRAMME: 
    I. Prize-giving ceremony for winners of the VII International Vaganova-Prix Competition 

    II. Gala concert of prize-winners 

    III. Die Puppenfee 
    (one-act ballet) 
    Music by Josef Bayer
    Libretto by Joseph Haßreiter and Franz Gaul
    Choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev

    The Mariinsky Orchestra 
    Conductor: Valery Ovsyanikov

     
     
    Age category 6+

     

     

     

    Apparently the final will be broadcast online on 

    https://mariinsky.tv/e :
     

    29 October Saturday 19:00-22:00 Gala Concert. Close of the Vaganova-Prix international ballet competition

    [edited to add that times are for Russia]

     

    World Ballet Day, 4th Oct., 2016

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    They have confirmed that the entire broadcast will be available for a while afterwards.

     

    I will also need to make use of this as I will unfortunately/fortunately be at the RBS Friends White Lodge Open Day during the RB slot. (NB: Anyone else who will be at the WL Open Day and who wants to share a ride from around the Manchester/northern area early on the Tuesday morning please send me a PM asap - thanks.)

    • Like 1

    Vitamin D

    in Doing Dance

    Posted

    My DD is at RBS lower school and although not actually tested, they are certainly recommended to take a Vit D supplement and to eat outside whenever the weather allows!!

     

    I recently met a lady whose daughter was considering vocational training, and showed her a brief video on the RBS site. Her first comment was about how great it was to see children eating outside... 

     

    Is Vit D. the only supplement that vocational students are advised to take?

    • Like 1

    Vitamin D

    in Doing Dance

    Posted

    I recall that RBS students were involved in research for Vit D levels in young dancers.. Did any specific recommendations emerge beyond those for the general population?

    • Like 1

    World Ballet Day, 4th Oct., 2016

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    Hm.... This says that highlights will be available after the event on Youtube. When I'd asked the ROH earlier, they had said that the entire event will be available online for 30 days. I do hope this will still be the case... will ask. 

     

    Good news: There's a reply on the site saying: The full recording will be available on YouTube for you to catch up and we'll also be sharing selected highlights from the day.

    • Like 6

    UK - Contactless credit cards?

    in Not Dance

    Posted

    Nice to see that contactless cards (like Oyster cards) can be used for the new Hopper fare, whereby you can switch to a second bus/tram (but not tube) for free within an hour. (Moneysavingexpert.com has a nice explanation of how this works at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2016/09/hopper-fare-makes-millions-of-london-bus-journeys-free ).  

     

    But pretty disturbing to read that the Contactless cards are particularly vulnerable for fraudulent use AFTER they have been cancelled. See: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/cards/2016/09/banks-must-take-action-over-contactless-card-security-flaw

    International Ballet Schools gala and other Paris Opera Ballet School performances (all in Paris).

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    On 7th April, 2017, Paris Opera will be holding a 2nd ballet schools gala featuring an exciting selection of schools, including RBS:

     

    The Royal Danish Ballet School,

    The Vaganova Academy (Saint‑Pétersbourg),

    The Royal Ballet School (Londres),

    San Francisco Ballet School,

    Canada’s National Ballet School,

    John Cranko Schule – Stuttgarter Ballett,

    Ballettschule des Hamburg Ballett

     


     

    The site mentions lectures and other activities taking place during the ballet schools' visit - I've written to ask for details of any rehearsals/classes/talks etc. that we could attend. 

     

    Earlier the same month (1st, 3rd and 4th April), the Paris Opera School has their own annual performance. 

     

    Also the Paris Opera Ballet School's annual demonstrations (showing what the students are doing in their different classes and giving an amazing insight into the POB system of training) will be held this year on 3rd 11th and 17th December (Same performances on each of the three days. Usually they have the younger grades in the morning and the older grades in the afternoon; sometimes they swap these around.)

     

    Public booking for the above opens on 13th September. I'm able to book from today with my groups booking account. If you know me and would like to join the group or could use some tips about getting your own group purchase, just send me a PM. One problem with POB's group tickets (as opposed to their individual ones) is that they are paper, not electronic. This can be a bit tricky if you find you can't come and need to pass the ticket on to someone else at the last minute, though I've found that the Paris Opera have been very accommodating about reprinting.

     

    Also happy to help with some cheap/group travel and accommodation options if there's interest.

    Yafa

    • Like 1

    BBC Young Dancer, 2017

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted · Edited by Yaffa

    Just saw that the BBC Young Dancer will take place again in 2017 with four categories: ballet, contemporary, street dance and South Asian dance. The closing date for entries is now 2nd October, 2016. Category finals will be in January 2017, with the finals on 20th-22nd April, 2017


     

    I have mixed feelings about this event. I did enjoy the 2015 final at Sadler's Wells - it was particularly interesting to see forms of dance about which I knew very little. And there were certainly some good ballet dancers. But with the schedule and the lack of focus on ballet etc. it was hardly surprising that entries from the top vocational schools were low.

     

    ...I do miss YBDY, and the following Spring joint vocational schools performance, and hope we'll get more opportunities to see the best UK ballet students perform on the same stage.

     

    [edited to add competition categories]
    • Like 2

    Room 101

    in Not Dance

    Posted

    Autocorrect/automessup systems that refuse to let me decide what goes after the letters 'lo.' I just met with a dear friend who had lost a relative and almost sent her an email saying how 'lousy' it was to see her, but 'lovely' to hear about her loss.

    • Like 4

    petty or reasonable?

    in Doing Dance

    Posted

    My gut feeling would also be that the teacher's being petty but not worth wasting precious time and energy over 96 p. However, an outside chance - I've actually seen several cases where a teacher has always sent out everything (forgotten ballet shoes etc.) at her own expense. Then she meets with her accountant to go over her figures, and he asks why she has such a large postage bill. She explains and the accountant says she really must say to everyone who requests mail that they send her the postage. So she does that when the next request for sending something comes up, without really thinking about the circumstances or the amount...

    • Like 3

    Vaganova Prix - St. Petersburg, 23rd-29th October, 2016

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    Just saw that the Vaganova Academy in Russia will be reviving the Vaganova Prix competition for 15-8 year old vocational ballet students. The closing date for applications is 15th September.

     

    The final gala will be held at the Mariinsky Theatre on 29th October. At the moment there are plenty of tickets available, starting at around £18.

     

    I've seen some mentions of ballet master-classes and other activities taking place during the week of the competition but it's not clear which are open to the public and at what cost - I'll drop them a line to ask.

     

    Further details about the Prix:

    http://vaganovaacademy.ru/index.php?id=671

     

    Quoted on that page:

    Official website of Vaganova Prix: http://www.vaganovaprix.ru
    Vaganova Prix Facebook page: http://fb.me/vaganovaprix
    Vaganova Prix  VKontakte page (Russian social media - like Facebook): https://new.vk.com/vaganovaprix
     

    • Like 1

    World Ballet Day, 4th Oct., 2016

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    According to a ROH brochure, it will be held this year on 4th October, 2016 (Tuesday). The brochure gives a URL of www.worldballet.com, but I believe the correct URL is http://www.worldballetday.com, where you can sign up for email updates.

     

    I'll drop ROH a line to ask if they could please check which events will remain online and for how long after the live streaming, for those of us who unfortunately won't be able to spend the whole day watching ballet...

    • Like 8
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