Mashinka

That is a possibility, ironic that the ballets of De Valois herself are proving most fragile of all. Personally I would give a lot to see Job again. According to Jann Parry in her biography of Kenneth MacMillan, Ashton was already considered 'old hat' by the 50's and 60's. It seems he was eclipsed by MacMillan's expressionism at a time when angry young men and kitchen sinks were all the rage. MacMillan is now God at the RB, they even revived his excruciatingly bad Isadora. New work is seldom up to scratch and classics by choreographers other than Ashton, e.g. Fokine, Nijinska don't get a look in either. Kevin O'Hare is working wonders with bringing on the company's young dancers but the repertoire is consistently below par.

I have to concur with the others here regarding Ashton, for me he is the basis of the Royal Ballet style and his continued neglect is a matter a concern to many. It was thought that we might actually see more Ashton in the 2019/1020 season as a belated tribute to Fonteyn whose centenary came so close to being overlooked, but clearly that is not the case. I therefore hope that Birthday Offering and Homage to the Queen are included in the upcoming Fonteyn Gala, though I fear that won't be the case. Enigma Variations is a jewel, but over the years it has been diminished by indifferent performances. Ashton was born in the Edwardian period (as were my own parents) and understood the manners and mores of that time, I fear today's interpreters will have little feeling for a bygone age completely outside their sphere of experience. When it was first performed it was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult no less, a conductor who actually knew Edward Elgar and those early performance with Boult were among the most musically memorable ballet performances I've ever seen. Currently the conducting standards at the RB aren't that great, I fear those that know Enigma from the concert hall are in for a disappointment. The inclusion of Manon for the second season in a row, is extraordinary and baffling, and don't forget that ENB also danced Manon earlier this year with, dare I saw it, some rather more memorable performances than the RB gave. ROH seems to want to do it to death. Of the ballets I welcome back to the rep, Ratmansky's 24 Preludes, referred to now simply as Preludes, makes a welcome return and although it may be inflammatory to say it I would happily lose MacMillan's Concerto for Ratmansky's version of the same score. As for Balanchine, he may not be "central to the Royal Ballet's identity", but he is very popular with London audiences and I was rather hoping to see Theme and variations again. Ah well, at least I'm getting to see Raymonda Act III once more, so perhaps I shouldn't grumble too much.

Ninety seven is a wonderful age to reach but still feel great sadness at her passing.

Russian dancers in the main are still heavy smokers to the extent of standing outside stage doors puffing away in full costume when they're not needed on stage

This morning it appears that much of the building has been saved and I have read on Facebook that most of the famous organ has actually survived . Some pictures below. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47945465 Pledges of money for rebuilding are flooding in and it is worth remembering that when York Minster, a cathedral in northern England, suffered a similar fire some thirty odd years ago, the restoration work afterwards was so good you wouldn't guess the building was once seriously fire damaged. At the moment they think the fire's cause was to do with restoration work, however a French nun interviewed on TV referred to ten churches in France recently attacked by arsonists and I found this rather worrying Newsweek article that seems to indicate an upsurge in anti Catholic sentiment by anarchists and feminists. https://www.newsweek.com/spate-attacks-catholic-churches-france-sees-altars-desecrated-christ-statue-1370800 Stomach churning to even think this might have been deliberate. Wonderful work by the Paris fire brigade as the roads around the building are so narrow that getting access must have been a logistical nightmare. They are the heroes of the night for saving so much.

Don Quixote isn't my favourite ballet and with the Bolshoi bringing it to London later this year, I only went to a couple of performances, but the quality of what I saw would explain why the Bolshoi's Don Q. is selling so abysmally. Why bother with expensive visitors when the home team is so exceptional? It's pretty much a given that Osipova dazzles as Kitri, in London it's the role that made her famous. amazing balances, hops on point that spanned the width of stage and gasp inducing fouettés, she delivers every time. Her partner on this occasion was Vadim Muntagirov, that prince among princes, though not in my opinion a natural for Basilio, a bit of Spanish fire wouldn't have come amiss, his dancing was superlative and it would be churlish to consider him miscast. If that wasn't enough to send you straight to ballet heaven, Fumi Kaneko was the Dryad Queen. elegant, regal and assured, I never saw that from the Bolshoi last time around. Newcomers to their roles, Yasmine Naghdi and Marcelino Sambe, were a total joy in this ballet, I really must shake off my preconception of Naghdi being primarily lyrical, she is so much more and her technique is formidable. She actually matched Osipova's fouettés triple for triple and double for double. What a girl! As Basilio Sambé exuded confidence (one handed lifts still held perfectly after the music had stopped) and panache in the first full length I'd seen him dance, I marked him down as a future star the first time I saw him and he really looks the part in this role. He is an excellent match for Naghdi and I enjoyed both their shared sense of fun and their more romantic moments. Claire Calvert was Dryad Queen for this performance and apart from one unlucky glitch, was otherwise on top of the challenging role. An honourable mention has to go to Anna Rose O'Sullivan's animated Amour, but I'd have liked her even better in the traditional tunic rather than a tutu. Not everyone likes Acosta's production but it's worth bearing in mind that the company looks far more comfortable in it than it ever did with the previous versions by Baryshnikov and Nureyev, a new generation to be sure, but it's strange that the always classical RB never shone in the two more traditional productions. The music is the worst thing for me, using a very weak arrangement, but that could be changed. To sum up, a good time was had by all.

Thank you for that interesting analysis, I imagine the Bolshoi fans bought tickets under the Hochhauser priority scheme, as ROH friends are more interested in the RO and RB. I note some of the less familiar names are the slow sellers which is what I would expect. I'll have a look in a couple of days and see if general booking reverses any of the trends you've noticed, but with several months to go, things could well pick up later.

You can say what you like about Osipova, but she remains a very bankable star and with falling attendances, worth her weight in gold. Remember that much of the RB's rep is classical and that is very much her forte and she looks good in the works of McGregor too. News of next season's rep suggests at least two new roles that she will excel in, She is dancing Kitri tonight and I'm very much looking forward to it, though bitterly disappointed Corrales remains injured as I had hopes for that being the partnership of the century. There is indeed an embarrassment of riches in the RB right now but that doesn't mean Osipova is eclipsed, quite the contrary. Physically she is the type of dancer I like best with the compact body that most classical works were created on. I see her as a force of nature and remain in awe of her. And by the way unless you were watching the RB in the 60's/70's than you have no idea what the true 'English style' is, what we see today is an approximation.

Although usually announced in April, it seems we won't be getting the details until May this year. Also the season will become public in the Friends of Covent Garden magazine. Curiouser and Curiouser as Alice might say, could this be another money saving exercise by the cash strapped ROH? Although I've not been to one of their press conferences for some years, I remember them as fairly lavish affairs with a meal included. Oddly enough this is the one season where a great deal of information has actually 'leaked' in advance and as one RB inclusion struck me as a mighty mistake, it could be that some second thoughts are going on.

In Britain he'll always be remembered for this

So sad to hear this, he spent many years in London with the LSO and was well known to TV viewers here. Can't be many without one of his recordings in their collections. An obituary from the BBC, hopefully some more detailed ones will follow. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17342940

I imagine word had got out about his problematic personality. He was very generously offered a chance to return to the RB as a guest not long ago and true to form he cancelled.

If I remember rightly Joyce Trisler was still with the company when I first saw them in London many, many years ago.

This is always a problem with historical drama. The lives of the monarch's from about 1500 onwards were subjected to intense scrutiny and details of their private lives (such as there were) have been discussed and dissected for years and for anyone with an interest in history it quickly becomes apparent that fact is being ditched in favour of fiction. The composer Purcell was said to be in love with Anne's sister Mary and the music he wrote for her funeral does indeed touch on personal grief, that might make an interesting film, though of course no scope for lesbian romps.

What would the American reaction be, curiosity regarding his notoriety or would there be distaste for his utterances and the Putin tattoo?

Well, actually no. The RB dances a rather different version to the Bolshoi and I would rate it as superior.

I always had a soft spot for the Monkees.

Name your source please.

I believe this film is supposed to be a comedy. Frankly I don't see how a biography of this particular queen could be presented as anything other than a tragedy. Anne's father, King James II was deposed and succeeded by his ambitious Dutch son in law, William of Orange, reigning jointly with Anne's older sister, Mary. Mary died young of smallpox and her husband died a few years later. Anne had not expected to become queen but made a reasonable go at it. Politically the highlight of her reign was the act of union which joined Scotland to the rest of the country. she also enjoyed spectacular victories against the French. Her private life was tragic as she lost all of her seventeen children and suffered ill health in adult life. Letters she wrote throughout her life indicate unusually intense relationships with women, though it is unknown whether she pursued an active lesbian life style. Between running the country and multiple pregnancies she may have had little time for more than writing. Historically Anne is considered more competent than her immediate successors but it is generally considered that her life was not happy. As you didn't know anything about this queen prior to seeing the film, I hope this helps.

I would say the reason you found Don Q. so dull was down to the indifferent performances it received. I've been watching the Bolshoi for well over forty years and more than in any other company I find the dancers react to the principal couple on stage and the excitement levels always rise to match a stellar Kitri and Basilio. The first pair I ever saw was Ekaterina Maximiova and Vladimir Vasiliev and to me they epitomized what the Bolshoi was all about, Today their heirs are a sorry lot. Ironically the one performance that took wing when the company was last in London was Alexandrova's. Astonishing isn't it that they leave their one truly bankable star at home.

Giving dancers debuts on tour would seem to me a risky business, I would have thought an AD would want to present the very best the company had to offer. Last time the Bolshoi was in London there were a number of sub standard performances and I can't help wondering if that has something to do with the lack of enthusiasm I'm detecting when I talk to the ROH regulars. After seeing her in Milan a friend is hugely enthusiastic about Kovalyova despite some reservations about her over all style, apparently she can really connect with an audience, something too few of her colleagues can do. I'm now very curious to see her and am booking for her Swan Lake. Very much hoping to spot some talent in the lower ranks to compensate for the dreary principals.

British taste is very different to current Russian taste, or perhaps I mean the current tastes of Russia's ballet directors. The line up of dancers coming on the tour is massively disappointing, I didn't expect Obraztsova, but was hoping for Alexandrova and Kaptsova despite their degraded status and where is Tikhomirova's name? Only Krysanova has the qualities that are generally admired. This won't be a memorable season I fear. I stand by my assertion that the RB's female principals are better and I surprise myself by saying so, as for me it has never been the case before.

I'm shocked, I gave up reading the critics some time ago due to inaccuracies and dull writing style. No idea the papers are recruiting philistines that actively dislike classical ballet. Funnily enough I ran into a former critic a few weeks ago and he was bemoaning the current standard of dance writing, now I realize how low it's sunk. Drop Two Pigeon's? Unbelievable!

Yes, it has an extraordinary front curtain designed by Grayson Perry that I don't think I can describe here without contravening the rules.

"New work New Music" turned out to be a wasted evening for me. Performed in the newly revamped Linbury Theatre, I found that I had a ticket that although not designated a restricted view, allowed so small a view of the stage that I might as well have stayed home. To make matters worse the music was excruciating and I left half way through. Apparently the complaints about the new Linbury concern not just the dreadful sightlines but also severely restricted leg room. Another example of 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' as there was nothing wrong with the performing space this one has replaced. Unbelievably it has been built in a horseshoe shape, a configuration abandoned years ago as patrons no longer go to the theatre to ogle those sitting opposite rather than looking at the stage. Heads should roll over this. Meanwhile on the main stage, a new work from Liam Scarlett specifically created for the students of the Royal Ballet School. The Cunning Little Vixen uses Janacek's music in an arrangement by Peter Breiner. and more or less follows the story of the opera, but excluding the human elements, also when the vixen is shot she doesn't die but recovers. Scarlett has created a work using a large cast thereby offering stage opportunities to as large a number of students as possible, all of whom acquitted themselves well. It's a pleasant enough ballet and it would be nice to think it has some sort of future as an educational tool to get younger children interested in the art form. I doubt however it will merit a place in the RB's permanent rep as dancers imitating animals tends to be a pet hate of many ballet goers, Indeed when the frog came on I thought Tales of Beatrix Potter, when the butterflies appeared I was thinking Piege de Lumiere, the chickens Fille, and so on. Nice as a one off but perhaps not for the grown ups. In a double bill with vixen was Ashton's evergreen Two Pigeons, it's second recent outing after a long period of neglect at Covent Garden. It is a dancer-proof piece and even survived the OTT attempts at comedy by Yasmine Naghdi who was also over extending in places which certainly isn't Ashton. Her partner, the always likeable Alexander Campbell, looked a natural as the young man and Fumi Kaneko made his decision to run off with the gipsies perfectly understandable. An enjoyable evening on the whole, but it seems strange to criticize wonderful Ms Naghdi, though let's face it there are very few dancers that can do everything.