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I chatted to Linda in an interval at ROH once,  without making the connection with Capybara. It quickly became obvious this lady knew more than i would ever learn! I thought she would be my dream person to have next to me at the ballet. But as Lizbie1 says, never remotely didactic on this forum, such a civilised presence.

 

I shall think of 'Capybara' on Thursday while watching Muntagirov and Kaneko, her spirit very much hovering in the wings.

 

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Very touching - THIS NOTATION IS ON THIS EVENING'S CAST LIST FOR SWAN LAKE WITH VADIM AND FUMI - 

THIS PERFORMANCE OF SWAN LAKE WITH VADIM MUNTAGIROV AND FUMI KANEKO IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF LINDA GAINSBURY, LONG-TIME SUPPORTER AND CHAMPION OF THE ROYAL BALLET AND ITS DANCERS

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19 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Very touching - THIS NOTATION IS ON THIS EVENING'S CAST LIST FOR SWAN LAKE WITH VADIM AND FUMI - 

THIS PERFORMANCE OF SWAN LAKE WITH VADIM MUNTAGIROV AND FUMI KANEKO IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF LINDA GAINSBURY, LONG-TIME SUPPORTER AND CHAMPION OF THE ROYAL BALLET AND ITS DANCERS

 

That is wonderful.

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I’m very sorry to hear the news but how gratifying to read all the tributes. And how very fitting to have that dedication on the cast sheet, with Fumi and Vadim dancing Swan Lake and Fumi’s Instagram post.

 

Linda told me she had been agitating for flowers to be presented to male dancers for more than 20 years and was delighted when Vadim received audience flowers after his Rudolf in November 2022: she thought it so apt that Vadim as Rudolf was the first male dancer to be presented with audience flowers on stage after so many years.


Linda was very keen to promote further equality when flowers are presented believing it would be much better if the principal ballerina and her partner received their bouquets at the same time. That would facilitate exchanges of flowers as she would often arrange for her bouquets to have one or two easily removal flowers for principals to give their partners. I like to think Fumi and Vadim had this in mind during their curtain call celebrations captured in Fumi’s Instagram post. Perhaps we should make a further effort to see if the two lead principals might receive their bouquets at the same time?

 

Linda was also very concerned about spiralling ticket prices and what seemed the inevitable corollary of excessive discounting when sales didn’t materialise. Ever vigilant in calling for fairness, she would regularly write to Alex Beard about pricing and set out the advantages of more targeted, modest discounting to encourage audience members to attend additional performances when ticket sales were slow. 
 

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The photos are from what I believe was Linda’s last trip abroad, to see Vadim and Fumi dance Romeo and Juliet in Cape Town. Her health worsened considerably after her return.

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  • 3 weeks later...
13 minutes ago, li tai po said:

I will be thinking of Linda and Michael tonight.  They will be with us in spirit; Linda was so looking forward to Vadim's debut as Leontes.

She certainly was.  I am sure Vadim will be dancing it for her tonight.  

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, li tai po said:

I will be thinking of Linda and Michael tonight.  They will be with us in spirit; Linda was so looking forward to Vadim's debut as Leontes.


She most certainly was. I’d like to think they will both be able to be there somehow.

Edited by Balletfanp
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