Yaffa

There are some interesting ideas for 'empathy cards' e.g. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/08/empathy-cards-serious-illness_n_7243148.html

Maybe to take advantage of the kind offer of a cafe owner who wouldn't accept payment for filling my water bottle: 'It is our pleasure to liquidate you - no charge.' On a more serious note, I wish my language skills were a tenth as good as those of so many thoughtful people I have encountered on this and other amazing stopovers. Yaffa

With less than a week to go until World Ballet Day (Tuesday, 2nd Oct), I was glad to see the following in the official blurb at https://worldballetday.com/about/ Don’t worry, if you missed the moment of your favourite company went LIVE, you can come back to the full schedule and click through to watch the full replay on their Facebook page. Knowing that we can catch up on anything later should make the day's activities much more enjoyable. (In previous years, there were vague promises to post edited versions/select events online after WBD.)

Um, not that I would do anything like that, heaven forbid... but I'd be interested to know what the power outlets and wifi are like in the new 'open' areas.

Would that be affected by the seating flexibility mentioned in the Guardian article? At https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/sep/19/royal-opera-house-linbury-theatre-open-up-stanton-williams it says : The seating can be raked in a steep configuration for ballet, or shallow for opera, or disappear completely at the touch of a button, while a state-of-the-art electro-acoustic system allows the reverberation time to be finely tuned according to what kind of production is being staged.

I've always felt that Alma Deutscher would have much to offer the ballet world. So it's very exciting to see that her Cinderella will be adapted as the Cinderella Ballet Suite and performed in Berlin on 13th and 14th October. More at: https://idfestival.de/cinderella-the-nutcracker I'm hoping to add an ultra-cheap stopover to my travel schedule.... Anyone else who is interested in going and would like details of cheap transport and accommodation, just send me a PM...

According to the airline's website, an area I'll be visiting for a stopover is 'known as one of the most futile plains of the world.' Oh well...

Great! But unfortunately it looks as though there will be other not-so-nice changes: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jul/20/toblerone-to-revert-to-original-shape-but-with-bigger-size-and-price

There are now (1:30 pm. Friday) 19 tickets available including 15 amphi. They're mostly Friday Rush tickets (see https://www.roh.org.uk/events/friday-rush) and will probably go quickly

Margot Fonteyn: Autobiography. Paperback from 1980. Free to good home (i.e. a ballet lover who would like to read it, not sell it immediately). Can bring to RBS matinee on Sunday (8th July).

I see she's actually listed as the Conservatory Director of Dance International San Jose, where she's giving the Masterclasses. See: https://www.sjdanceinternational.org/ It says in her bio that "She started teaching in 2016 and has held workshops in Thailand, Japan, and Australia" and she's also offering private lessons.

Thanks RuthE. Good that we already know the dates and location. I'm interested in people's impressions of OHP. Two years ago, I was really looking forward to the return to Linbury - I kept on getting lost trying to find the OHP within the park, and it was quite cold during some of the performances. And squeezing into the tiny loos wasn't much fun. This year, with the good weather, it was a really great experience and the bigger loos were much appreciated! A pity there were still hardly any directions to OHP within the park, but I finally realised that you don't need to go along winding paths...Just walk straight down Holland Way for around 10 mins, til you see the white tents and crowds.

Well, if you will insist on going to a place before you come back .. :-)

I see they have just posted the full video of Tsiskaridze's current class...

For anyone who was tied up when the live version of Alma Deutscher's Cinderella was broadcast from San Jose - it is still available for just another couple of weeks on Medici TV https://www.medici.tv/en/operas/cinderella-alma-deutscher-american-premiere/ You now need to set up a Medici account but there's no charge to set up the account or to watch Cinderella. It's a truly breathaking performance, which would make for great family viewing. Here's a review: http://operawire.com/opera-san-jose-2017-18-review-cinderella-12-year-old-alma-deutscher-is-a-genius-to-behold/ Missing from the archived version is a series of interviews from the interval in which Jane Glover (the conductor who also came to San Jose from England) commented on how remarkable it was to work with Alma: The young composer knows exactly what she wants and plays a very active and mature role in all aspects of the production, yet also brings the excited joy of a child. Members of the cast and orchestra also praised her work and said what a unique and special opportunity it was to interact with a classical composer about her work, rather than just interpret the creation of someone who died a long time ago. A shorter version of Cinderella for children is now running in Vienna. More about this and of Alma Deutscher's other performances in Europe (none at the moment in England) at: https://www.almadeutscher.com/events/

CeliB (or anyone else) - Do you know anything about the narrow red ankle bands that some of the boys are wearing in the rehearsals? Are they used elsewhere?The melmoth.blog writer isn't sure about this but guesses that Tsiskaridze introduced them as visual aids to assist with correct placement of the feet.

They just put on Youtube a version with an English voiceover - most interesting:

From an interesting review at https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/opera-san-jose/deutschers-cinderella-is-a-melodious-surprise: The ballroom scene (for which Deutscher wrote a toe-tapping waltz) is choreographed with stately grace by historical dance expert Richard Powers. The live broadcast on Medici TV, which starts in an hour, will apparently be free to watch: https://www.medici.tv/en/operas/cinderella-alma-deutscher-american-premiere/ The video will be available after the live performance - not sure for how long.

An interesting take on this at: Why do European airlines keep going bust? http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/02/news/europe-airlines-monarch-competition/index.html ...Analysts say that more losers could emerge in the coming months as smaller, weaker players come under pressure. "It's primarily an issue of scale and competition," said Rob Byde, a transport analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. "It's likely you're going to see more consolidation and more failures in the European market."

Some good news for those of us who could not see Alma Deutscher's Cinderella in person: Tonight is the US premiere of a more lavish version (apparently including some dancers and an enhanced musical score), and one of the performances will be broadcast live online by Medici TV at 8 p.m. on 20th December Pacific Time. That is 4 a.m. UK time on 21st December, but the recording will be online for a few days afterwards for folks who aren't such earlier risers. Further details at https://www.medici.tv/en/operas/cinderella-alma-deutscher-american-premiere/ Alma continues to inspire on so many levels... The beautiful second movement of her new piano concerto is now online (see https://www.almadeutscher.com/video/slow-movement-almas-new-piano-concerto/) and she was also recently the subject of a second documentary - this time on the American CBS' 60 minutes. Yaffa

Very sad that this is company policy...

Sorry to hear about this... I've found Virgin's Complaints Department to be quite understanding and gave a voucher even for circumstances outside their control.

Before booking a ticket via the Virgin sale, you might want check out other cheap train tickets at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets and also to see if you can get the same Virgin ticket cheaper using the 10% Virgin Money discount. From an earlier post I made about this (NB: The Virgin Money lounges are not the same as the Virgin First Class Lounges): ...Also, if you want to buy a West Coast Mainline ticket which is not covered by the sale, and there isn't a better deal on the Virgin app or a railcard etc. - you can currently get 10% off many such routes if you're a member of Virgin Money. (To join Virgin money, you can just set up a £1 savings account.) There's no further railcard or other discount on such tickets. More at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/2016/09/30/travelling-on-virgin-trains-without-a-railcard-heres-a-quick-trick-to-get-10-off-west-coast-routes/ Membership of Virgin Money also gets you free access to stocked Virgin Money lounges with free wifi at Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Norwich, Sheffield and London (two -at Haymarket and Eagle Place). You do have to be a UK resident (not just a UK citizen) to join Virgin money - I found that they are very strict about that - but members can bring a guest into the lounges.

What you get depends on the day of the week, length of journey and a few other things. Updated details are at: https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/experience/first-class

Virgin is having two sales: a. West Coast Network From midnight tonight (Wednesday) until 11:59 on Monday 27th November: up to 52% on selected tickets e.g. between London and Manchester £5 one way between London and Birmingham £11 one way. Dates are from 18th December to 14th January, excluding 22nd-23rd Dec and 25th-27th Dec. That should hopefully still include travel for Nutcrackers and other performances. There will also apparently be child and first class tickets. b. East Coast Network Available now until 11.59 p.m. tonight (Wednesday). Tickets are available between 6th Jan and 2nd March, excluding the week of half term (10th-18th Feb) and 24th-25th Feb. Might work for some audition dates. Further details of both sales at: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/virgin-trains There are some other good travel deals around - before you book you might want to check out the moneysavingexpert.com list at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/travel-and-days-out No connection to any of the above - just passing on the info