archaeo

Don't know about that. My only question is : why, if it was a ballet competition, did one of the prizes go to that troupe of Brazilian Irish dancers?

I was at the performance of "Manon" on February 19th, with Darcey Bussel as Manon. I thought she was wonderful. I was not especially familiar with the story of teh ballet, and did not have a programme until after the first intermission, but found the acting so good, that the plot was easy to follow. My daughter saw Sylvie Guillem dance "Manon" some years ago, and enjoyed it, but preferred Darcey Bussel's interpretation more. We had also been on the backstage tour of the Opera House the day before, and saw the dancers - including Ms Bussell - rehearsing. That was the best part of the tour.

One of my daughter's ballet teachers was French. He talked about his experiences during his military service: finding quiet places to do a barre, while everyone else was resting. An officer saw him doing this one day, and commented that it would be good if some of the other draftees had such focus and discipline.

Mel said: 2. Arabian harem dancers as Coffee. I'm getting really tired of these supermarket houris. Can't anybody find anything else to say about the Levantine world than the obvious? Next year, our company will be dressing the Arabian dancer in full burka/abaya/chador. At least, that is what my husband thinks; this year, the Arabian was danced by our daughter.

It's interesting that you say that Catherine Zeta Jones doesn't sing or dance well, since she began her career in musical thatre. The sister of a friend of mine was one of the dancers in the film, so I am looking forward to seeing it. My online researches haven't turned up any credits for the dancers, which I find disappointing to say the least. Also, I gather that none of the dancers were invited to the premiere of the movie.

Going back to an earlier point in the discussion: Alexandra wrote: "I've always been surprised when I see a dancer with a cigarette, because of the effect on lung capacity." When my daughter was at Idyllwild Arts Academy, 6,000 feet up in the San Jacinto mountains of Southern California, we were shocked that any of the dancers smoked. I had enough trouble just walking around in the thin atmosphere, let alone dancing. The thought of someone smoking, and then dancing, up there was amazing to me. Yet, every year, someone would be suspended for smoking, or sent to counselling to help them stop smoking.

sneds wrote: ABT does not have its own school, so I'd guess the student were all from SAB. I also thought the girls seemed very young to be on pointe. Kate A young friend of ours was one of the girls in Act III. She is a student in her first year at SAB, but not all the children are students there. The audition call was for short girls who could dance on pointe. Our friend (Ellany Abbott - look out for that name in future) is twelve years old; I believe most of the other girls are of similar age. Fran

My daughter was telling me yesterday that a friend of hers is coming to NYC for a competition in May. She didn't know the name of the competition, but she said that he had won something in LA in order to qualify for this one. So, I have two questions: is this the right competition, and can we buy a ticket and go along and watch? Fran

Most of the replies I've seen so far seem to focus on works which are long, or which deal with large themes. I think "War and Peace" for instance, while it might be long, wouldn't necessarily be bad (so long as you skip all that philosophising at the end - well, I did). After all, Wagner is long, and deals with large themes, but people sit through it. (yes, I know...opera, not ballet) I see something by Ionescu as perhaps the kind of thing to aim for - "Chairs", maybe. Of course, I am well-known for my ability to predict the success of musical theatre productions. I recall driving home from work and hearing Andrew Lloydd-Weber interviewed about a new musical he was hoping to make based on T. S. Eliot's cat poems. No way! I said. Then, a few years later, I was living in The Barbican (apartment development in the City of London) We were offered discounted tickets for a production of the new musical version of "Les Miserables", when it opened at the Barbican Theatre. Not worth baby-sitting money, I thought. Ah well. Fran