JaneD

When I saw Baryshnikov in R&J with the Royal Ballet he looked EXACTLY like Cagney running up and down the stairs in the market place.

Canbelto

No, people have stopped doctoring photographs to make dancers look more etherial!

Jane

In Britain we also had the (now sadly defunct) London City Ballet, which spent most of its time on tour outside London. There was also a company formed by some ex-Royal Ballet/Sadlers Wells RB dancers called Dance Advance, which I liked - both the name and the company. They are probably most famous for having Sir Kenneth MacMillan create "Sea of Troubles" for them (based on Hamlet). We now have a small and worthy London-based company called Ballet Black, which is a reference to the dancers' ethnic origins.

Jane

A good few years back, during an interval at Covent Garden, a stranger approached me (presumably because I was holding a programme) and asked "Who was that just dancing? Was it anyone special?"

Until that point, I would have though ANYONE would have recognised Rudolf Nureyev!

Jane

It was indeed Graham Fletcher, and he was proud of it. It appeared in his ROH biography for some years.

JaneD (who was taught by him - just once)

[Yes, marketing jobs in dance are very poorly paid... and yet, impossible to get apparently unless you have dance credentials other than simply 'liking' it.]

Quite a few years ago, Friends of ENB were asked to volunteer to run a stand at the Coliseum over the Christmas period. I clearly recall spending one entire interval trying to persude a Royal Ballet dancer to join Friends on English National Ballet. I didn't succeed, but it was fun.

Too often, large companies seem so interested in the big, corporate money that they quite forget individual audience members and enthusiasts. Unfortunately, they also know (in London, at least), that they can sell seats at almost any price as "corporate entertaining". Audiences may not be shrinking here, but I would say that knowledgable audiences are.

Jane

Dancers do it with a number of variations

I think I've found a source here.

http://www.tvdata.ru/catalog.php?dir=14〈=eng

Jane

Correction to the above (having slept on it)

Eteindre - to use lightening make-up before appearing in the corps for Swan Lake after sunbathing.

Ostrich

I can get an answer for you, but not for a couple of weeks as I'm about to go on holiday. My jazz dance teacher - who is a former Royal Ballet dancer - also teaches ballet to the British Rhythmic Gymnatics team!

Jane

Thanks for these ideas.

The Perez sound good for holiday reading. If I can find any tomorrow, they will go to France with me on Frday.

It's been a while since I read any Shakespeare - I used to know the non-historical plays quite well, but realised when I saw "Merry Wives of Windsor" a few weeks ago just how long it's been since I read any of them.

I'm not much of a fan of Larkin, but the idea of reading an antholgy is a good one - will see what I can find.

I know the Herriot books quite well. If you liked these, you might also like th "Village School" books by Miss Read - written by a lady who taught whithin twenty miles of where I now live.

The good news is that, after a few jorrendous weeks at work, I'm now off until 20 September!

A good few years ago, the Royal Ballet did the ultimate themed triple bill:

Gloria

Valley of Shadows

Requiem

Yes, a death-themed evening, which opened the day after my grandfather's uneral, and left me somewhat traumatised.

My attendance has been a little erratic lately (courtesy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer who has seen fit to make announcements that both put me out of work in about nine months time but also increase my workload about 75% for the present). It was good to see this subject again.

Remembering my "Seven movements of dancing" -

Plier - to make amenable by means of alcohol

Eteindre - to be promoted into the company proper

Relever - to change syllabus, e.g. from RAD to Cecchetti

Glisser - to assist a stage smile by rubbing vaseline over the teeth

Sauter - to fry in butter

Elancer - to complete a medical procedure

Tourner - to switch from ballet to musical theatre

Which reminds me ... here in Britain, stage plays are referred to as "the legitimate theatre". This left my jazz dance teacher and me wondering what musicals and ballet were.

And the following have also come to mind

Ecarté - to be ejected from the theatre

Effacé - falsely modest

Soubresaut - the big fry-up for breakfact after a hard night of drinking

Most of my reading is done during my journey to/from work. My journey is in two parts - 20-25 minutes on the bus to the station, and 17 minutes on the train into London. This means that the books have to be something that's worth carrying around with me, but that I will be able to stop reading at the end of that part of my journey (anything too absorbing and I tend to miss my station).

I only took The Da Vinci Code in once - nearly missed my stop! Crime novels (Donna Leon's Venetian set mysteries are good), plus historical fiction (Lindsay Davis and the like). Much as I love Terry Pratchett, he has to be read at home - falling about laughing on public transport gets you strange looks.

Any ideas, anyone?

Jane

Off at a tangent, I had a colleague who claimed to have won an argument with a restaurant manager after he lit up under a sign which read "No smoking allowed". He argued that, while "no smoking" was a permitted option, there was nothing at all to prevent him smoking.

Jane

Alexandra

A friend of mine, who danced this role with the Royal Ballet, told me that he was instructed that the Jester is in love with Cinderella, but realises she is beyond his reach and does all he can to help her achieve her potential. In this respect, it is actually a semi-tragic role.

Perhaps it's a bit of social commentary; the Jester has a position at court and can influence the Prince, while Cinderella is little more than a servant in a local family, but their true worth is different.

Jane

The blurb on the back of the French edition (yes, I'm sorry, I've read all five in both English and French) says that the series covers the life and death of Harry. I'm not sure how the publishers know that.

Harry Potter in French has given me some odd vocabulary, but I'm finding Lord of the Rings hard going!

Jane

Hi

I did a search on "pointe productions" and found some cards called "the lesson collection" on a website at www.22dance.com/gifts.htm.

Jane

Rosaline

I once heard Phillip say that, when he arrived at the Royal Ballet School, he wasn't very flexible, so he stretched everyday. It must have worked, because I remember his extension, and HEARING his leg hit the back of his head mid-cabriole from several rows back at Covent Garden.

I would love to see him teach, but I think it's unlikely. I've being trying to arrange a secondment to Houston from work, but it's not going to happen; all I've managed is an invitation to Albania!

Jane

A quick google search under Alexandre Caffiniere produced this (in translation from the Berliner Zeitung).

Date: 28.05.1996

Department: Culture

Author: -

Side: 25

no title

"Undine" after the ballet music of Hans's Werner Henze at the German opera: The title portion dances to Raffaella Renzi (l.), here in a scene with Alexandre de la Caffiniere as the sea Hexer. Photo: Fieguth +++

Jane

Just a thought - the first letter could be a copperplate-ish I or J rather than an S.

Jane

A brilliant book! At my mother's request, I bought it for her for Christmas. Unfortunately it got rather over-read before I packed it, so I had to buy a second copy!

It reminded me of the time when an office circular was put out stating "There will shortly be a review of government departments under the control of Sir Derek Rayner", which I read to mean that the powers that be did not trust the honmourable peer, but that wasn't quite the case.

Jane

I was going to suggest Moby Dick: The Ballet, but was beaten to it.

How about "His Dark Materials: A Ballet in Three Volumes"? I can see the second one as being very MacMillanesque. All require a number of young principals, and the creatures rollerbalding on something like a coconut would be a challenge ....

The Royal Ballet did, of course, tackle Frankenstein.

Jane

Almost certainly nothing to do with "rebellion", but I've picked up a Houston Chronicle artical of 4 June which says that one of my former Royal Ballet favourites, Phillip Broomhead, is retiring at the end of the current month (which effectively means after the performance on 20 June, I think), and will become one of the company's ballet masters.

Jane

Thanks for reminding me of The Rose and the Ring. I loved that when I was around 11.

There was one other book which I was trying to remember when I posted before, but could not recall either the title or the author. I've got it now.

Shadowmancer by G P Taylor - created quite a hit in when it came out England last summer, and was another one that got children wanting to read. I would say around 9-14, but a good read as an adult, and there are promises of more from the same author. Another story of children against evil, with some mysticism thrown in for good measure.

A footnote: The blurb states that the author "Lives in an abandoned cemetary" - yes, he's a vicar and hisvicarage is next to the church.