Mashinka

Bussell?!!!

Couldn't agree more.

Seeing as Guillem turned her back on the Paris Opera Ballet when she decamped to London, I think that is very unlikely.

Alexandrova? Tereshkina?

I enjoyed Vishneva's modern programme when it was shown in London. Europeans like myself do not care for the term 'eurotrash'.

Promoted on stage and no one booed?

Wayne Eagling choreographed a massively popular Frankenstein back in the '80's with Jonathan Cope as the creature. Would rather have seen it revived than another version.

I would love to see Batoeva created prima ballerina one day, but suspect she's too good to climb the Kirov heights.

I second what you've just written about Osmolkina, Madame P.

One of the many problems I have with Skorik is that she only has one facial expression - sullen.

Adore Barca, wonderful clubbing scene too, Did you visit nearby Sitges? Best seaside resort in Spain in my opinion. Some years ago I saw the Bolshoi in Barca, performing at the Liceu, but the summer months are usually holiday time for most big companies. Spain is a country that just keeps giving, one day you must visit the Alhambra in Granada, not strictly Spanish but jaw droppingly lovely. Glad you had such a great time.

Ms Mason managed to mislay a number of dancers during her tenure from Sylvie Guillem down, a tendency that was noted by the London fans. A wiser director would have sent Polunin on a sabbatical and changed his contract to that of guest. He's done some growing up in the intervening years and has the star quality to act as a consolation when Acosta departs.

Rupert Pennefather's promotion to principal was always regarded as being a political decision because of the scarcity of British dancers in the RB's top ranks. Personally I'd prefer someone from outside rather than promotion of someone distinctly underwhelming simply because their passport says they are British. Of course, there is always the possibility of reinstating Putrov and Polunin. Both are steeped in the Royal Ballet's reformance culture and know the rep. The tried and tested is always a safer bet then the unknown. Parish is something of an enigma as outstanding dancers can catch the eye even in the back row of the corps de ballet, but Parish was never of that ilk, but having now seen him dance Apollo, I would say Fateyev hasn't succeeded in making a silk purse out of a pigs ear. Pennefather was similarly ineffective in that role.

I find Ashton Fan's remarks about Kevin O'Hare unfair. The "piece from the sixties...........to music by Glazounov", was in fact Raymonda pas de deux and variations created in 1962 and seldom danced thereafter. I believe that after acquiring the Raymonda Act III from Nureyev it disappeared from the rep, certainly I've never seen it. Walk to the Paradise Garden was premiered in 1972, a rather odd piece, never a favourite with audiences or critics, it hasn't been seen for decades. Kevin O'Hare is too young to have seen either of these works and therefore has a good excuse if he is unaware of their existence. I can't remember the previous director resurrecting those two works either and she would have been dancing in the company when they were created. Mr O'Hare is doing well as RB director, I understand every director collects a group of malcontents, but his decision to revive The Two Pigeons after years of neglect of London indicates he has a higher regard for Ashton than might have been thought.

As a consequence of my own experience, I tend to feel safer abroad than at home. Crime against the person is fairly rife though wherever you are. Is there somewhere you could go to where personal safety is guaranteed? Try Dubai or Oman. I would have added the Greek islands, but because of the recent rapid changes in demographics that may no longer be the case. I would also like to add a big thank you to Birdsall for his wonderful reporting of the festival. it was first rate. I only went to St Pete's once when it was Leningrad - and contracted dysentery, consequently I've never been back though I've been to Moscow many times, a place where you can clean your teeth without coming to harm!

Let's put this into context, I've been attacked and robbed just yards from my front door, it isn't just Russia where you can experience these things. I'm deeply shocked by the level of violence in the attack on Birdsall though and sincerely hope that he quickly makes a full recovery from his injuries.

They listed all the past winners in the programme and I noted that too. Btw, I was surprised that the judging panel were all directors etc. and no singers or former singers.

To be honest I was more impressed by the ladies on this occasion. Hotea, the winner, sang Ah mes amies , a brave choice as I once heard a tenor come to grief in a competition (Cardiff?) attempting this aria. I thought he sang efficiently enough but his Zarzuela performance impressed me far more as he sang with real feeling and passion. Pati sang well too and I felt he was more at ease on stage than Hotea. I should also mention Hyesang Park. She sang the mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor like a real pro but there were a couple of technical glitches, being young they should be ironed out before long, but her stage presence was remarkable and with the figure of a catwalk model this beautiful looking girl will make the ideal operatic heroine before long. If the next venue was announced I may have missed it as I was sitting on the end of a row and distracted by people leaving before the end after the prize giving.

In the end only one singer, Lise Davidsen, sang Wagner, winning the Nilsson prize and she was also the overall female winner of the competition. We were allowed to vote (she was my choice by a mile) and so won the audience female prize as well. She sang 'Dich, teure Halle' from Tannhauser on the basis of which I imagine she will shortly be engaged worldwide. She was really impressive with absolute self assurance as well as a beautiful voice. A very tall girl, she towered over Domingo when she collected her prize: A future Brunhilde?

Isn't it time for Polunin and the RB to bury the hatchet? His problems there were with the previous management and I've a feeling he would find Kevin O'Hare a more sympathetic boss. I suppose the RB would have to weigh up SP's difficult temperament against the positives of regaining a superstar. Osipova has proved a good fit with the RB and seems to have inherited much of the rep vacated by the wonderful Leanne Benjamin. She also inherited her regular partners, Watson, Acosta and MacRae. With Acosta leaving this year it would be ideal to invite Polunin back to fill the gap in the top ranks. Disappointed that we won't get to see an Osipova/Macrae Giselle in London. In the past she's danced the role with Acosta, but this time around she'll have Golding as her partner, a dancer with whom she is physically mismatched. The return of Polunin would go down well with London's ballet goers and perhaps we would even witness the birth of an outstanding partnership.

It sounds as if Ryzhkina's remarkable versatility has kept her on stage more regularly than her equally talented colleague, but it is a mean-spirited way to treat two dancers that given so much to the company. I suppose this is the down side of concentrating on younger dancers at the expense of the more experienced.

I think the Paris Opera Ballet dances a production by Nureyev, though I haven't seen it myself. Nureyev frequently had second thoughts about his productions so there is no guarantee the POB SL resembles the early Vienna one

This is not a Royal Ballet production at all, this is Nureyev's version for the Vienna Ballet. It was never performed by the RB. For the record the Royal Ballet changed productions in the 1960's from their traditional version to one by Robert Helpmann that included a prologue showing Odette transformed into a swan. I'm not sure of the dates, but eventually it was dropped and they went back to the former production.

After reading the above review I was rather surprised that someone was unable to "figure out what the piece was about". Do the programmes not include translations of the sung poems? Song of the Earth is such a famous concert hall piece I've always assumed audiences would have no difficulty in understanding the literal references in MacMillan's choreography. Btw, may I ask who the singers were? The Messenger of Death was never conceived as a virtuoso role, rather a sinister presence, so height and speed of jumps is actually irrelevant in this piece.

Speaking as someone who has no difficulty in listening to music with a vocal element I was nevertheless deeply unhappy with recent performances of Song of the Earth, perhaps if the dancers understood what they were doing and performed the steps a little more accurately the work might have made a better impression on the increasingly philistine RB fans. I saw two casts and roughly agree with what Ashton Fan said. Watching Acosta side by side with Soares in the ballet's opening movements I deeply regretted it was Acosta retiring rather than Soares who in my opinion has never been an asset to the company. The Osipova/Golding pairing is frankly bizarre as they are physically a poor match. In The Dream she at least seemed to know what Titania was all about and I had the feeling I was actually watching a supernatural being; it was a very exciting debut. Golding wasn't the first Oberon to go galumphing around the stage I'm afraid, perhaps McRae is the only one to currently give a good account of the role. As far as Voices of Spring goes, it was actually created as a party piece in the opera Die Fledermaus. Park and Eagling were filmed in it at the time and a video of what they looked like (presumably dancing in the way the choreographer required) exists, though I don't know if it has also been released on DVD. It was considered at the time to be Ashton's response to Soviet pieces such as Spring Waters and has always been a popular gala number since.