Millie

Perhaps one reason that National Ballet School graduates are not joining the company is that they are being offered jobs with excellent companies in Europe. Many dancers prefer to dance in Europe. I know that the Royal Danish Ballet, for example, has many graduates of NBS, both male and female. German companies have also hired quite a few.

I was there last month. The audience tended to dress very well, and I saw no jeans. I would dress up more.

Thank you very much.

My daughter will be in Paris and is desperatley hoping to get a single ticket for the ballet for the evening of Thursday Oct. 18, 2012, for the Balanchine triple bill. This is the only day that she is there that the ballet is on. She looked online and it is showing no tickets availale. Does anyone know how she could get her hands on one? Do they sell rush seats on the day of the show? If so, what are the current times to line up and where does she go? She is not familiar with Paris. Or if anyone is sellingt a ticket, please let me know. She would prefer a good seat but will be just happy to go. Thank you for any advise.

I heard that RDB was dealing with huge technical difficulties with the sets last night, due to the small size of the theatre. They had to take the sets for the Lesson outside into waiting trucks, then haul the Sylphide sets back in from the truck, having problems turning the big sets. That is why the long intermission. Also, the floor was terribly slippery causing some injuries, and some props not functioning. They are used to working in bigger stage settings. I hope they are able to wrestle the sets in and cut down on the time tonight.

I have some extra tickets for RDB in New York that I would like to sell. Daughter is ill and not able to attend. There are two tickets for Wednesday June 15, the mixed program. Front row orchestra. Also, one ticket for Sylphide for Saturday evening June 18. I can't remember if it is row 6 or 7, in the orchestra. For some reason, I am not able to PM here, but I do have PM privileges over on the sister site, Ballet Talk for dancers. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks. Millie

Thank you everyone for your help in seating at the Koch. I bought tickets the day before yesterday. I was surprised that I was not able to get tickets in the front centre part of the orchestra, the closest the lady said they had was row P! I guess this means that either tickets are selling fantastically well, or they are holding some back. I did get Row A at the sides, near the aisle, for a show, and further back in the centre for another, so hopefully it will all work out. The ticket office lady was very helpful, and I agree that trying to get them on line, and choose the tickets you want is very difficult. It was worth the long distance phone call. Now for a hotel at "reasonable" NY prices......

I called as well, and was told they had no idea when the tickets would go on sale, but to ask them on Monday again. My dancer is with RDB, and this will be the first time that the whole family will make an effort to go and see him dance, ever! I live far away, and have never been to the Koch. Could someone please let me know where is the best place to be sitting. Is the stage high, so the first few rows only see the feet and we are looking up? I am hoping to buy tickets near the front of the orchestra if I can, so we can recognize him. How close can we sit in this theatre and still have a good view of feet and faces? Any guidance will be much appreciated.

Thank you so much for the quick answer! I hope it will work out for us to go. I will let you know. And sure, both hop in.....close the zipper tight.

I am going to Cuba in mid-January. Does anyone know how to find out if the Cuban National Ballet will be performing in Havana at that time? How does one go about purchasing tickets? I would love to see them. I have searched the internet and can't seem to find out this information. Thank you for any advice.

It is my understanding that in NY they will be at the Koch.

There is ballet in Panama? What a strange place to hold a gala. I wonder as noted above that world finances have something to do with it. But is the prestige of the galas held by these presenters declining after hosting them in New York and in Europe? Of course I know the dancers Marga talked about are world class, but why the obscure places? I do miss the Toronto galas.

Another year has gone by, and I have the same question as was aksed a year ago! Does anyone know if there will be a gala this year, 2010? especially in Toronto, but anywhere? If not, what has happened to this gala event? Was it too expensive, was there a lack of interest, or did the presenters simply burn out?

Could someone please translate this german news for us? I would love to know why he is staying in Stuttgart and wonder if the article explains it. Any reaction from NBC so far?

Still no news on who the participating dancers are? What a shame for both the organization and the young dancers involved. I am sure both could benefit from some good press.

It is almost time for the New York International Ballet Competition to begin, and they have still not listed the competitors on the site. Am I missing something? The last time this competition was held in 2007, the names of the dancers were listed at least a month ahead. Does anyone have a link to who is entered this year? It is much more fun following this event when one knows who is dancing!

Oh, I am so excited to see Isabella!! My son trained with her in the past. Who will she be dancing with?

Alina Somova is dancing in the Canadian Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker in Toronto, Canada, the weekend of December 20. Anyone care to come up and see her? http://www.starsofthe21stcentury.com/cbt/c...et-theatre.html Scroll down.

Thank you. I am happy you let us know, as I don't speak Danish and would have missed this. I look forward to reading it in English.

Could you tell us where the announcement was made? I would love to know more but the names don't appear on the RDB english site yet. Thank you.

About ten years back, a small company I know used potatoe flakes, the kind used to make mashed potatoes. It looked fantastic when viewed from the audience, under the lights. I guess eating these would not be as harmful as some substances. They had huge bags of the stuff ready for each night.

If anyone is attending this week, I am sure we would all love a report, especially for round one this Wednesday and Thursday. Do let us know your impressions. Round one will be Coppelia.

I bow to Marga's wonderful technical descriptions of the dancers last night,. I can only say that as an audience member I was greatly disappointed in the offerings of the evening. I think of galas as a venue for bravura dancing, and that was mostly missing until the final dance of the evening, Diana and Acteon, which finally woke the audience up. I was very disappoined that the couple from the Bolshoi did not choose to favour us with any classical dances. I miss the years gone by when the likes of Ethan Steiffel and Lucia Lacarra set the theatre on fire. I hope that Toronto will not become an also ran venue for this round of galas, but we will once again host the big stars. I would like to mention how much I enjoyed Bridgette Zehr and Zdenek Konvalina in " A Simple Moment." To me, this was the highlight of the evening.

Will the National Ballet be doing Ballet On The Water in August this year? I did not see a mention of it in this month's company newsletter. I have enjoyed this event in the past and would love to go again, but is it on?

There seem to be two apprentices returning from last year, and only two new ones hired. Only one male. Is this it for the year, or will there be more added? I thought that with the new opera house opening, and thus more performances, there might be more, not fewer apprentice positions available.