JMcN

They are superb photographs aren't they? One of my friends told me (I am thick sometimes!) that if you click on the main photograph and then on the name of the dancer that appears there are another couple of photographs of each dancer. The featured photographs are also in the programme.

This isn't a comment about dancers with dark skins but about audiences. My only visit to America was in 2000 to Atlanta to see Atlanta Ballet performing Michael Pink's Dracula. Walking around Atlanta, the majority of the population we saw was African-American but I would guess that the audience was 99% white. At one performance my friend and I got chatting to the lady sitting next to us (African-American) and she commented on the make-up of the audience and finished by saying she was from California! I find the same sort of thing in England. For instance, a good proportion of the population in Bradford is of Asian ethnicity but there are very rarely Asian people in the audience.

It was announced yesterday that Robert Parker will be taking over as Artistic Director at Elmhurst School for Dance from September 2012 (replacing the retiring Desmond Kelly who is staying on as Artistic Adviser). Here is the announcement from the Elmhurst website: http://www.elmhurstdance.co.uk/New-Artistic-Director.html Robert has already been working with Elmhurst and he was listed on the faculty for this year's summer school: http://www.elmhurstdance.co.uk/robert-parker.html Ismene Brown on the Arts Desk has covered the news and included extracts from an interview she did with Robert some years ago: http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/nuclear-star-dancer-robert-parker-leaps-head-ballet-school Fans of Robert as a dancer will have to make the most of their chances to see him on stage during the next year. He will be dancing (amongst others) Beast in Beauty and the Beast, opening in Birmingham on 28th September. It's wonderful news for Elmhurst and will establish, I am sure, even closer links between Elmhurst and BRB. Congratulations to Robert Parker!

I can't comment on RB but I agree that BRB always seems a happy company. I wonder if it is because they are a touring company and spend a fair amount of time on the road whereas possibly the RB dancers come to work and then go home again without the "advantage" of being all in it together on tour?

I think Muntagirov is a GORGEOUS dancer and excellent partner. I was particularly impressed with him as the Prince in Michael Corder's Cinderella. He is still very young so I am sure he will continue to grow his presence on stage. I don't think he would fit that will into BRB's demi-character style whereas I think Max Westell will. BRB has some terrific actor/dancers and Simon and I seem to have agreed to differ because I love most of David Bintley's works - both stories and plotless. It's astounding to think that he has been at the helm for 16 years now.

I'm glad you enjoyed Momoko's performance. She was one of my favourite dancers when she was at BRB and one of (if not THE) best Aurora I have ever seen.

BRB recently made some announcements. Marion Tait has been appointed to the role of Assistant, which is wonderful news. http://www.brb.org.uk/Marion-AD-2011.html There are some very welcome and well deserved promotees: Joe Caley to principal; Tyrone Singleton to senior soloist; Samara Downs, Celine Gittens, Matthias Dingman and Rory McKay to soloist; James Barton and Fergus Campbell to first artist: http://www.brb.org.uk/Promo-2011.html There are also a number of new dancers and some retirees and leavees: http://www.brb.org.uk/LAJ-2011.html "New Faces Welcome to Artist Emily Smith from the Royal Ballet School and Soloist Maureya Lebowitz from Winnipeg Ballet, who joined in May this year. Congratulations also to Elmhurst graduate Lewis Turner, who, after his Prix de Lausanne Laureate year, continues with the Company as an Artist. Karla Doorbar and Brandon Lawrence will also join the Company from the Royal Ballet School as Artists in August, alongside Tzu-Chao Chou from Australian Ballet, who will join as a Soloist. Goodbye and good luck Video Archivist and former dancer and Principal Character Artist David Morse has retired after 50 years with the Royal Ballet Companies. First Soloist Andrea Tredinnick has also retired from dance after being with the Company for 24 years. First Soloist Alexander Campbell leaves the Company take up a position as a Soloist with The Royal Ballet, and Artist Christopher Rodgers-Wilson has now left to return home and dance with Australian Ballet. Artists Sonia Aguilar, Dusty Button, Machi Moritaka and Anniek Soobroy have also left the Company." David Morse was still dancing leading roles when I first started watching the company. He is a consumate character artist, imbuing even the tiniest gesture with meaning. He has a very subtle style of acting and his performances as Widow Simone and Dr Coppelius are masterclasses in characterisation. I do hope that he will continue to pass on his enormous talent and breadth of knowledge. As well as those joiners listed in the announcement on the BRB website, it was also announced last week that MAX WESTWELL is joining BRB as a soloist from ENB. He featured prominently in one of the episodes of the Agony & Ecstasy documentary.

I've just finished reading VIC'S BIG WALK by Vic Heaney. I found out about this book because he is the brother of an ex-colleague. He spent the 70 days leading up to his 70th birthday walking from his home in the French Pyrenees to the house where he was born in Blackpool (NW England). It is a light but interesting read and all proceeds are being donated to research into Pancreatic Cancer. This book is available in e-book format.

Michael Pink's Dracula (which was made for Northern Ballet in 1996) is very gothic. I think they may still perform it at Milwaukee as well as New Zealand. We also saw it in Atlanta and it was presented in Oslo. The sets and costumes by Lez Brotherston are utterly fabulous and the score by Philip Feeney is serious drive faster music. In its years in the NB rep it attracted a following among the British Gothic community and we often used to see groups of them in the various theatres. We were usually glad we weren't sitting behind them due to the Gothic hairstyles! Northern Ballet now has David Nixon's Dracula - not quite as gothic but a very fine production.

I don't know about ballet going the same way but I think reality TV shows such as "How do you solve a problem like Maria" cause an interesting dilemma where people who are "unknown" are catapulted into the audience eye and win major roles ahead of people with potentially more or at least equal talent who earn their place in the big roles through hard graft and experience. But there again, has this always happened? I am thinking of the famous Ballet Russe baby ballerinas or, more recently, the LFB baby ballerinas from the mid-80s. And there again, I don't think this sort of trend is restricted to the Arts! It can happen in any profession.

Done!

Apart from all her other skills she wrote intelligent and extremely articulate articles for the Dance Now magazine. What an enormously talented lady.

And I remember Trini dancing Julio Bocca off the stage in Tchaikowsky pdd in a mixed programme at Sadler's Wells! LFB was seriously strong on all counts in those days!

Simon - thanks for this. Koen Onzia was also one of my favourite dancers

I've seen quite a few performances of different productions of Giselle over the past quarter century where the hops have been replaced with a different variation. It is the overall performance that matters to me - not the hops. Trinidad Sevillano is an exceptional artiste and I have been thrilled to watch these Youtube clips as reminders of the days when I was able to watch her frequently.

I had heard that she had been invited to join the Royal but in the end did not. Trinidad Sevillano had joined LFB just as I started watching ballet and for me she has always been the ballerina that everyone else has to match up to. Thanks, Simon, for your lovely summation of her talents

I'm not a smoker, I've never been a smoker and I've never even wanted to try! One of my closest friends friends died of lung cancer last year - she had never smoked in her life, although I have subsequently heard that her Mum was a chain smoker. What I find most offensive is the amount of smoking casually shown in British television dramas of the soap variety. Some of them make non-smokers seem in the minority! Thia ia the fastest growing thread I have ever seen on Ballet Alert!

Apologies to Alex Campbell - it was he who danced Naive Boy so wonderfully at the matinee. Joe Caley performed the role beautifully in the evening. There are some super production photos on the BRB website: http://www.brb.org.uk/masque/index.htm?act=production&urn=4938

BRB ALLEGRI DIVERSI & CARMINA BURANA – BIRMINGHAM – JUNE 2011 It was BRB’s final week of the Spring Tour at their home theatre last week. As an unashamedly enthusiastic fan of David Bintley and with these two works being some of my favourites how could I resist the lure of Birmingham? I was lucky enough to see the final five performances. A couple of months back I posted some thoughts on Allegri when it was performed as part of the Midscale South Tour. This time I was seeing it on a much larger stage. I’m happy to say that it looks great whatever the stage size! I think the opening seconds were more notable on the larger stage as the circle of six dancers stood in silhouette, perhaps in the breaking dawn. It really was beautiful. The three couples of the first part of the work dance in ensemble, singly, in duets and trios. This piece has lots of intricate and fast steps and the dancers displayed their talents wonderfully. The main duet for the leading couple again is full of intricate steps with leaps and some serious spin sections for the leading male. Allegri, as one of my friends described it, is a delicious lemon sorbet that cleanses the palate ready for the delights of Carmina. How do sixty five minutes disappear in the blink of an eye? Easily is the answer when you are watching Carmina Burana which is visually stunning as well as an aural delight. By way of explanation the cast sheet states “David Bintley’s Carmina Burana is cast in the form of a modern-day morality play and follows the fortunes of three Seminarians showing the consequences of their departure from faith.”. The rousing opening chords of O Fortuna ring out and the curtain lifts on a black stage. We see Fortuna dressed in a slinky black dress and high heels and she imposes her will on us. As she fades about 8 Seminarians appear and present a lively dance. They all rush off except for one – the Naïve Boy – who rips off his collar. This first sequence when the pregnant ladies appear and he is discovering the world is delightful. Chris Rodgers-Wilson was especially effective at conveying the picking up and smelling of flowers. As the pregnant ladies disappear the boys arrive and there is a lively dance for them. The Naïve Boy copies their movements. Then the back of the stage is full of chairs and there is another lively dance for boys and girls which makes amusing use of the chairs. Eventually they disappear leaving the Naïve Boy with Lover Girl and three of her friends. The movement of the girls suggests (to me) young ponies playing in a field. Naïve Boy teases them by seeming to gaze at certain points and they look intently to see what he is seeing. Angela Paul, in one of these scenes, just looks yearningly at Naïve Boy – a magical moment! Eventually Lover Girl tires of Naïve Boy and goes off with someone else. Naïve Boy is left bereft and dashes off. The second Seminarian then appears full of rage and expressing that rage by running and leaping around the stage before he collapses exhausted. Six enormous gluttons appear with a serving platter which, when opened, reveals the Roasted Swan whom they chase and attempt to eat. When she is finally overcome Boiling Rage meets up with some rather nasty thuggish types who, through movement, tell the audience that they are not happy bunnies, eventually turning their rage onto Boiling Rage. And so to The Court of Love. Fortuna appears in a red dress and pointe shoes, followed by the third seminarian who is Sick with Love. He is attracted to her but cannot understand what is happening to himself. He undresses and there follows a battle of the sexes egged on by tarts and boys. It is extremely exciting to watch. Eventually Fortuna seems to have been conquered by love and they disappear off together. The tarts and boys rush forward and back with a billowing white curtain. As it gradually subsides, Fortuna and Sick with Love reappear – she dressed in her true colours. As she rejects him and he sees her with horror shivers start running down my spine. She dances and is joined by the tarts and boys all dressed in the same black dress. The three Seminarians briefly appear and all too quickly it is over and the curtain falls. This work cannot, by any means, be described as in any way conventional ballet but it is larger than life and visually stunning and extremely exciting to watch. All the casts were terrific but for me the Saturday matinee was absolutely outstanding. The shivers started from the second we saw the glorious Victoria Marr as Fortuna; she was absolutely breath-taking. Joe Caley was terrifc with Carole-Ann Millar as Lover Girl and you could almost hear Matthia Dingman howling with his Boiling Rage. Nao Sakuma was delicious as the Roast Swan. Iain Mackay and Victoria Marr very nearly caused the stage to spontaneously combust In the Court of Love. By the end I was absolutely beyond the power of speech and I and many around me were on our feet. I love this programme and I want more! As a postscript, yesterday morning my friend and I were still mulling over the performances and looking at the libretto from a concert programme. We realised just how clever David Bintley had been in realising his vision of the Seminarians right down to Fortuna’s red dress. BRB’s season comes to an end with Coppelia in Dublin next week. I can’t wait!

Great link - I'm still giggling - thank!

I haven't seen the Nureyev film but I adore the Baryshnikov version with Cynthia Harvey. A friend of mine watches this one every time she is down in the dumps and it works a treat!

Bart, I assume you mean Mr O'Hare rather than Mr Campbell. Who knows who else applied or was considered other than the sift-board and the interviewing panel? Another web-site has highlighted an interview with the AD of the Joffrey where he states that he was approached with a view to applying for the post.

Why? I've said absolutely nothing offensive whatsoever. Kevin O'Hare is a nice man, not an AD. Campbell is a nice dancer, but in the RB where one of the biggest criticisms being that many talented soloist level dancers are never given opportunities is this cross-hiring necessary? There's absolutely nothing to be offended about in passionate arguments. Being offended is in the eye of the beholder. I don't really follow the Royal Ballet for a variety of reasons but the harsh way (or the damning with faint praise) that you word your postings makes me cringe and want to leap to the defence of the company! In my own working life (nothing to do with the arts) I've seen lots of people blossom on promotion in ways that no-one could envisaged and others that haven't lived up to their promise. Until they were given a chance, however, no-one could predict what their performance would be. What's wrong with giving these people a chance before leaping to harsh judgements?

I find your comments on this and the other thread we have both been posting on verging on the offensive.

I can't comment on the current state of the RB as I very rarely go to London due to the overall costs. I may well find myself going more now that one of my favourite dancers is moving across. I still your points, if still valid, would be better raised once we have seen how the Director designate manages in his first couple of seasons.