Mashinka

Back in the 1950's it was the first ballet I ever saw with Markova as Taglioni. It's a rare treat in Britain and I can't remember when I last saw it danced other than by Russians. As it was Choreographed by Dolin it really should be in the rep of one of the British companies, but as with the relative neglect of Frederick Ashton, heritage counts for little here now.

Songs of a Wayfarer has stood the test of time, with the exception of Bhakti, I have a strong preference for his shorter pieces.

Bejart's Bolero should only be danced by a man, looks wrong when a woman dances it. Have fond memories of Farrell's Bejart days.

Having seem Mr Golding dance Oberon, I should like to say his performance in no way resembled 'lumbering'. for a dancer making his debut it was a reasonable performance, In the fifty plus years I've been watching The Dream I have seen dancers with far greater knowledge of Ashton's choreography do worse.

I'm crossing my fingers for Akram Khan.

I liked the version by Angelin Prelocaj, most didn't though. Valery Panov made an excellent version in Bonn with some fabulous male dancing, especially for Tybalt who made his entrance jumping from the top of an arch over the stage, quite a drop, still sticks in the memory. Personal favourite is Vladimir Vasiliev's, so true to Shakespeare's text.

I can only say that UK opera audiences are driven to booing, usually at the end and for the production team, I've only once heard a singer booed. Sometimes the booing occurs during the performance, e.g. the gang rape of a naked woman to the ballet music of William Tell and Don Giovanni's last act feast consisting of pulling the entrails from a dead horse and eating them, that one elicited a cry of shame the night I went (the audience had tolerated the first act pile of excrement), but that is rare and dependent on what horrors we are forced to watch. The booing for Lucia was at the end and thoroughly deserved, I won't be going back for the unedifying spectacle of Lucia humping her lover between the gravestones and her consequent miscarriage in a bath of blood. Perhaps if the RO wants it's audience to stop booing it should stop force feeding us productions that are complete ****.

Bolshoi is pronounced with an a in Russian, similarly Moscow in Russian is pronounced Maskva, the mistake is easily made if you haven't seen the word in English.

So what would you prefer him to do, beg on the streets? In the UK ex-convicts reoffend because of employers' reluctance to give them work. Are you someone that thinks punishment must continue for life, even after a prison sentence has been completed- or do you just feel that way about Dmitrichenko?

I think Moulin Rouge was early 50's, wonderful evocation of the fin de siècle and a great tribute to the art of Toulouse Lautrec but completely romanticized and erroneous as biography of him..

Casting looks terrific to me, I can't see the problem.

In Britain, the best of the year was the Akram Khan Giselle, an astonishing work, capturing the essence of the original but with a contemporary relevance and playing to sold out houses and standing ovations the length and breadth of the country. The RB's young dancers go from strength to strength with Francesca Haywood in particular set to be a home grown star and the stellar performances of Beatrix Stix-Brunell and Matthew Ball in Ashton's long absent Two Pigeons was a joy. However performance of the year for me was Kondaurova in the Sasha Waltz Rite of Spring when the Mariinsky gave a short season in Cardiff. Worst of the year for me was the RB's Frankenstein, the dancers did their best to save it, but it was awful, fortunately for the company the subject matter is pulling in the punters.

I usually spend Christmas/new year in the Spanish Canaries, so am familiar with coming across the nativity sets in all kinds of locations, one of the most original was in a hotel in Puerto de la Cruz, with the holy family in furs outside their igloo surrounded by penguins instead of angels. Really cute but not very traditional

Those three should indeed be principals, they are the neglected Three Graces of the company.

Delighted to hear the news and realize now how redundant my suggestion of coming to London to see the Skeaping Giselle was. As a kindred spirit as far as appreciation of the 'mature ballerinas' goes I've missed you, happy you are back to posting again. All best wishes to you and your new daughter.

English National Ballet, unlike most companies, incorporates the fugue in the excellent Mary Skeaping version. As it happens, the next revival is in January, just three months time. With the pound at its lowest level against the US dollar for years, maybe you'd like to come over and take a look, you could even select a Cuban cast.

I was assured that Americans find bl easier to pronounce than Brits, so perhaps that's a linguistic myth. Most recently a Russian friend told me I must bring the sound up from my stomach. I made a noise that to me sounded like a vomiting cat and she told me I was getting close.

Rainer Krenstetter used to dance with the Berlin company until recently, I've personally only seen him in non classical, but I'm told he makes good prince.

Do demotions occur in any other company?

Saw her in Don Q and thought her pretty nondescript, actually thinking of getting rid of my Corsaire ticket now, the lack of musicality bothered me more than the lack of personality.

Thanks Natalia, that is an excellent critique. At Covent Garden the Royal Opera has recently inflicted on us some of the worst productions I've ever seen and with the three ballets you name it looks like the Royal Ballet is joining them in some ludicrous race to the bottom.

Really? I would like to think that in that case he might consider a move to the UK, believe me he would be welcomed with open arms. We'll be seeing Flames of Paris this summer, though unfortunately not The Bright Stream or Russian Seasons. His beautiful 24 Preludes that he created for the RB, deserves a revival soon, I imagine it would have been seen sooner had one of the leads not retired and the other left for another company.

I am trying to find out further information about this organization. I have visited the website but there is no mention of specific students that have gone on to professional careers. Does anyone know of any dancers that have passed through this school? Many thanks.

Seen in London some years back. Kirov Ballet with Sylvie Guillem in the lead.

Some dark mutterings in London over cast changes. They are always expected, but the fans expect the first team to appear and if newcomers are cast they will need to be of the calibre of a young Osipova to cut any ice. Btw, Osipova was rumoured to be appearing in Flames and Don Q but that doesn't seem to be happening. The fans were upset that booking opened before casting was announced and many have bought far more tickets than they can afford or need, planning to re-sell tickets for those casts they wouldn't have bought tickets for anyway. Injuries must be serious indeed if the dancers can't recover by August.