BristolBillyBob Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) Dear all, I had tickets to a number of ballet shows in the coming weeks, and needless to say a lot of them have understandably been cancelled which has made me very sad. I expect I’m not the only forumite in this boat. We’re also most likely facing an extended period of relative social isolation, with some people already needing to squirrel themselves away in their homes. With that in mind, on the night I would have been seeing Acosta Danza, I’d like to invite you all to join me for: A Night At The Ballet 7.00pm, Saturday 28 March “Er…” I hear you think, “Have you, after barely four days of working from home, already slipped the moorings of sanity?” No*! Fear not! We can all have a lovely night out at the ballet without leaving our front doors! Here’s how it’ll work… Before 7.00pm - Dressing room Everyone gets ready. Get dressed up as you would for the ballet. If that’s a dinner jacket or a chiffon ballgown, great! If it’s more like me, a collared shirt and the least faded black jeans you can find, that’s awesome too. But do make the effort. We’re having a night at the theatre after all. 7.00pm - The ‘House Opens’ / A glass of wine in the bar I’ll start a brand new official thread on here, and the night begins! Make yourself a nice glass of something and enjoy the fact you don’t have to pay £9 for it. Then hop on the thread and say hello to your fellow virtual theatre-goers! Why not take a selfie of yourselves and post it on the evening’s thread so we can all see who we’re spending the evening with? We can talk about the weather, how much easier it is to park than [insert your usual venue] and how much we’re looking forward to seeing [I’ll come to that in a moment]. As this evening will be to provide some escape from the tricky times we’re facing, the only topic that will be strictly off-limits is anything related to Covid-19. An usher will sternly ush you if you stray into that topic! 7.30pm - The show begins Now the house lights are going down (you'll have to operate the light switch yourself, I'm afraid). There’s a reminder to turn off your phone (which you should heed, as well as closing your laptop, shutting down your iPad, etc), along with the inevitable announcement that the principal you specifically aimed to see is being replaced at the last minute. Now the conductor has assumedly walked in because everyone is clapping for no apparent reason and you can’t see the orchestra. You get yourself comfortable in your seat ready to watch… Wait, what are we watching again? Well, here’s the beauty of it. We can all watch different things! As long as we’re watching ballet, we can pick what we like. Here are some options: Record something off Sky Arts to watch (if you have it) Maybe take out a 14 day trial of Marquee TV? Watch one of the ballets on Amazon Prime (I think there’s also a free trial) Watch a DVD or Blu Ray, even a VHS! Watch The Royal Ballet’s Mayerling on iPlayer There are plenty more suggestions on this thread Whatever you watch, turn down the lights and enjoy! Then, at a suitable point… 8.30pm (ish) - Interval! Time for a quick comfort break, a top up of your glass. Why not share a photo of your interval ice cream? Give yourself a few minutes to hop back on the official thread and share your thoughts on Act 1, perhaps, and see how everyone else is getting on (bearing in mind we’ll likely be back in the bar at different times). Then it's time for... 8.50pm (ish) - Act 2! Enjoy the rest of your performance! 9.45pm (ish) - The after show We’ll all meet back ‘in the bar’ to chat about what we’ve just seen, wax lyrical how much we loved/didn’t love it, how nice it is not to have to have to clap for quite that long, queue at the cloakroom or find a taxi in the rain... Then it’s air kisses - mwah! - all round and if it’s a success we start planning the next one! Hope to see you all there. 🙂 * well, maybe a little. Edited March 20, 2020 by BristolBillyBob 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 A lovely idea. I am thinking of dusting off a diamanté tiara I have only worn once for a Murder Mystery party. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) 1 minute ago, Odyssey said: A lovely idea. I am thinking of dusting off a diamanté tiara I have only worn once for a Murder Mystery party. That sounds great, I would love to see a photo if you do! Edited March 20, 2020 by BristolBillyBob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 But am not sure if you can post photos direct to a Forum page 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) A great idea, a few additional features to be added...... at 6.58 go out of the front door of your home with a bag....then come back in showing your opened bag to an imaginery person stood just inside. Let us all know if the imaginery person says anything to you. At 7.20 and 7.25 play this video https://youtu.be/hrqIq5hBFSw Give me your address and I'll hire someone to shout BRAVO through your letterbox at random times between 7.30 and 8.30, and 8.50 and 9.45 At any time after 9.45 I'll sit outside your home and sing 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life' and 'When The Saints Come Marching In' through a traffic cone Edited March 20, 2020 by Rob S 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 1 hour ago, LinMM said: But am not sure if you can post photos direct to a Forum page In that case I will figure out a solution. Leave it with me. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 57 minutes ago, Rob S said: I'll hire someone to shout BRAVO through your letterbox at random times Will you also send a second person to tut at the first if they don't correctly gender their exclamations? 😄 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 1 hour ago, LinMM said: But am not sure if you can post photos direct to a Forum page I've just posted the magpie pic direct. At the bottom of the posting box there is a paperclip which says you can drag files to attach or choose files. I always "choose files". Then select a picture from your Photogallery and post. I think the maximum size is 500Mb or thereabouts so anything off your phone (for example) should be OK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Just now, Jan McNulty said: I've just posted the magpie pic direct. At the bottom of the posting box there is a paperclip which says you can drag files to attach or choose files. I always "choose files". Then select a picture from your Photogallery and post. I think the maximum size is 500Mb or thereabouts so anything off your phone (for example) should be OK. Thanks! I'll post this at the top of the thread on the night. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 3 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: I think the maximum size is 500Mb or thereabouts so anything off your phone (for example) should be OK. Unless it's just me the limit appears to be 0.15MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Great piccie Jan ...but what is the posting box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Doh I see the reply to a post box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Rob S said: Unless it's just me the limit appears to be 0.15MB Oh I forgot - I get more because I publish the PRs. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, LinMM said: Great piccie Jan ...but what is the posting box? 2 minutes ago, LinMM said: Doh I see the reply to a post box? Yes - you've just used it twice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 10 minutes ago, BristolBillyBob said: Will you also send a second person to tut at the first if they don't correctly gender their exclamations? 😄 And a sheng player for the intervals? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) Yippee I just managed to post this which I had saved from my Facebook page as thought was quite funny ....well last week anyway......Which seems about ten years ago!! Now I need to work out how to have the piccie and writing on the same page. Gosh how long have you been able to do this? Don't tell me ...the last five years 😩 I thought you had to send it to Flickr or somewhere similar first so a bit more complicated Many thanks for that Jan ....honestly I'm such a slow learner where anything connect to technology is concerned I've just downloaded the Zoom App on my phone ....have no idea how it works .....in preparation for a few online ballet classes that are coming. I can sense you might wanted to have added Dear Liza Dear Liza to your you've just used it twice comment!! Edited March 20, 2020 by LinMM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janite Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Rob S said: 34 minutes ago, BristolBillyBob said: Will you also send a second person to tut at the first if they don't correctly gender their exclamations? 😄 Give me your address and I'll hire someone to shout BRAVO through your letterbox at random times between 7.30 and 8.30, and 8.50 and 9.45 I haven't laughed so much for some time. ( and it's a great idea) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Do your writing first and then click the choose files at the bottom. If you want to put the piccie somewhere other than the bottom, when it is in the box at the bottom move your cursor to where you want it posted then move your mouse (or equivalent) back to the pic at the bottom and click on it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 A hint for Zoom: make sure you've actually registered before you try doing anything else - it might take 15 minutes or so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 BBB2, your original suggestion sounds like fun Maybe even better if quite a few of us could agree to watch the same production, then we can actually discuss it a bit during the interval? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 How about RDB's Napoli as brought to our attention by Tours En L'Air a couple of days ago. (You just need to make sure you can get it to play - I had a few issues the other day but OK now): https://video.kglteater.dk/napoli-2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 9 hours ago, alison said: BBB2, your original suggestion sounds like fun Maybe even better if quite a few of us could agree to watch the same production, then we can actually discuss it a bit during the interval? Thanks! I had considered that, and I think it would be great. I didn't want to proscribe (?) it in case we couldn't reach a consensus or if people didn't have access to the right service to watch what we decided on, but it would be fab if a few people did want to go for the same thing. I also personally need to consider that my girlfriend is joining me, and she struggles with all the ballroom scenes in the classics. I've suggested to her RB's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland as something a little more accessible, but if a few people decide to go for the same thing I might be able to swing it at our place! If this does prove a success, maybe future events could be for specific ballets? We could have a programme of events that people could dip in/out of? Just a thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Good choice- Napoli- I wonder what wine would go with that lovely work? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 13 hours ago, BristolBillyBob said: Will you also send a second person to tut at the first if they don't correctly gender their exclamations? 😄 But when actresses are now actors and ballerinas are now dancers, what's wrong with a generic Bravo? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 22 minutes ago, capybara said: But when actresses are now actors and ballerinas are now dancers, what's wrong with a generic Bravo? Well, quite. It was gentle rib towards such tutters rather than an advocation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 I've decided to go for Northern Ballet's Casanova which is still on Sky Arts if you have Sky Arts or a Now Box with the entertainment package. Just getting myself in the mood with a mug of rooibos (but may switch to gin in the interval!). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 So Casanova has just started! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 11 hours ago, Mary said: Good choice- Napoli- I wonder what wine would go with that lovely work? For white: Greco di Tufo or Falanghia Red: any Taurasi or Aglianico For the sweet-toothed Lacrima de Christi del Vesuvio Look for the Feudi di San Gregorio, a very reliable shipper. I always knew those long lazy lunches in Sorrento weren't wasted! Linda 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Excellent- that really went down a treat with a smoked salmon sandwich in the interval. Well, I know- they are a bit expensive, but I thought I 'd treat myself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Well something really special happened tonight and was the reason I chose to watch Casanova again rather than the RDB Napoli. Tonight in Leeds should have been Hannah Bateman's valedictory performance after 18 years with the company. A very thoughtful lady organised (without Hannah knowing) a virtual flower shower for 19:30, which would have been curtain up. Lots of us posted messages to Hannah with pictures of flowers. Her husband Kenny made sure she was on line at the right time and judging by the couple of posts she made she was somewhat overwhelmed. It was a lovely idea and the build up with the message group was actually quite exciting too! Congratulations to Hannah on her glorious career. I was fortunate that the usher (my dog Chip) let me start watching Casanova a minute or 2 later. Watching it brought back many happy memories from 3 years ago not least because we were fortunate enough to see the performances that were filmed. It was all done very last minute and a restricted number of tickets were made available to the public to book. Filming took place in the Palace Theatre in Manchester and only the centre block of the stalls had been sold so we were a very select bunch. (I was in Paris when the email came through about the performances and I was on the phone to my friend liaising about her getting us tickets!). We were later told that the company that filmed the performance were new to filming ballet. Well, IMHO, they did an excellent job as Casanova is great to look at on the small screen. Hannah created the roll of Henriette, the love of Casanova's life. I applauded her loudly at the curtain calls just now! Well that turned out to be a lovely evening and I hope you all enjoyed your ballet-watching too! Let's do it again next week. (Thanks BBB2 for this great idea.) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 I didn’t manage to get involved this evening but would love to next time! Really lovely, creative idea, Bristol Billy Bob! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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