Mashinka

In my view Krysanova was the most deserving of flowers last night, a pity she never received any. You may be interested to know though, that last time the Bolshoi danced in London she was the recipient of one of the biggest flower throws I've ever seen at Covent Garden with the stage absolutely carpeted in blooms. When a ballerina gets that kind of attention in London she knows the audience is in love with her.

A DVD is available of Nureyev/Jeanmaire though it doesn't include the rooftops coda. Sadly unrecorded, the performance of Yonah Acosta in this role for ENB was sensational, very personal but absolutely right. I'm reluctant to refer to benchmark performances, but Y. Acosta's was just that.

Originally Kaptsova, but now more likely Obraztsova or Krysanova. Annoying not to know for certain. I've looked on various websites that sometimes give casting but no clues at all! Like you, I'll find out in just over an hour.

Christian, you may be interested to know that in a dance packed year at the Coliseum, Acosta is the only dancer able to achieve a completely sold out week. One of the very few dancers in the UK with a profile that extends beyond the ballet fans, he fully deserves his popularity as he earned it the hard way not just through the efforts of the RB PR machine.

Agree with the views above re Smirnova and am surprised at her rapid rise within the company. Technically she has a lot of flaws and she doesn't have enough personality to carry a leading role successfully. Went expecting something special, came away mightily disappointed. Krysanova saved it from being a wasted evening though.

Watching videos on You Tube is no substitute for watching a dancer in performance. I saw Nureyev dance live countless times and although he could be inconsistent he was never less than riveting; during his prime he could not be called sloppy. The man was a legend. Just his name elicited the biggest audience numbers so far at the Coliseum this year after worrying low numbers for almost all the other dance events there. Incidentally

I am stating that nothing outside of the rules has been posted by me.

If that comment is aimed at me, then perhaps I should have added that what I learn will be for my own peace of mind, 90% of what I know about this business I have not shared here. I have not worked with the Bolshoi but have worked on performances with former company members. The close friend I have in the company is a paragon of diplomacy and he never gossips about work, but who is on this tour and who isn't will speak volumes.

I understand what a metaphor is, the one Aurora used is singularly unpleasant. What I said was that Vorontsova is less concerned with her teacher right now when her boyfriend is in prison. Tsiskaridze was never arrested because he had nothing to do with the attack. Dmitrichenko is in prison after his computer was seized and evidence that he was hacking into Filin's files was found.

Dmitrichenko is not a rapist. It is clear his "confession" was made under duress. Innocent or guilty he stays in jail and his career is finished, she says as much in the interview when she refers to the low rate of acquittal in Russia. Try just for once to employ a little empathy. She has lost her job and her boyfriend at the same time. If I were her I would be devastated.

So Tsiskaridze's influence colours Vorontsova's views on Filin? Strange spin to put on the words of a girl whose boyfriend is in jail and has lost his career, From the interview she sounded more concerned about Dmitrichenko than her former coach to me.

Yes, they do. Sylvie Guillem was denied the role and the most likely cast for Tatiana in London, Leanne Benjamin, never made the cut either. I know someone who worked for John Cranko and she told me he was a kind, unassuming man and would have been delighted if a major dancer expressed a wish to dance in one of his ballets. My friend is less than happy about the way roles are being allocated today.

No dancer will look as good at 39 as they did at 19. Tsiskaridze was a brilliant teacher - I've watched him in action though I never saw any of his coaching sessions. "Unidentified Bolshoi Employee"? some viewpoint with no name to it. Tsiskaridze dances in London later this month and I'll see for myself what shape he is in. The press will as always crucify him whereas the audience as always will shower him with flowers and applause. What difference does it make if Vorontseva was sacked or forced to resign, it's the same thing after all and there have been a number of forced resignations since Filin became AD - she's hardly the first.

If a time machine were available to me I'd re-visit those performances in the past that had had a profound effect on me. Fonteyn and Nureyev would top the list especially in Sleeping Beauty and Raymonda and I would want to see the original RB cast of Dances at a Gathering once more.

And I am saying that I don't take seriously people that have an agenda.

I think you'll find that I post on a whole lot more subjects than the current Bolshoi debacle.

Lunkina is very brave to say what she did as she still has family in the company which is why she hasn't gone the whole hog, much of what she has said is already widely known though of coure it takes a company member to speak up before is can be described as being in the 'public domain'.

As your every post on this forum has been as an apologist for Filin, you are hardly unbiased, are you?

Loved the pictures, I want to tour all the Italian Opera Houses one day. Two omissions though: London's Coliseum - much more attractive interior than Covent Garden, and the lovely front curtain of cherubs and Acropolis in Copenhagen. When it is finished the Royal Theatre in Marrakech will be really something, with the most unique stage I've ever seen: conventional proscenium setting at front and to the rear the same stage becomes part of an open air amphitheatre set in a garden of roses and orange trees. I've always felt that a suitable performance for the eventual inauguration would be the RDB's Abdullah.

And I have just developed much more respect for her than ever before. Bravo Sveta, tell the truth and shame the devil.

We Londoners had to book blind when booking opened for the Bolshoi; casting was announced a little later. This will be the first London season under Filin's directorship and it remains to be seen whether there will be any deterioration in the quality of performance from last time around. Lunkina confirms what rumour has suggested for some time: that morale within the company is at a very low ebb. Most London fans regard Alexandrova as the Bolshoi's prima and in any season it is expected she will feature prominently. Tsiskaridze was not listed in the first casting round at all, which I attributed to Filin's spite, but I imagine now that his dismissal was being planned all along.

Froustey is quite simply gorgeous and I can't understand why she is just a sujet, but we can all think of other dancers in POB that are kept back, not just Thibault, but others too such as Kudo She is very wise to leave and San Francisco is a brilliant choice. The Royal Ballet is short of principal dancers at present and I wonder if there may be other French ladies open to an offer, after all you can commute between London and Paris very easily on Eurostar. Any POB dancer would be a glittering jewel for any company to acquire.

I would say both, she is remarkably versatile. Although it isn't unknown for POB dancers to leave their company it is still pretty unusual. She is a gorgeous dancer SFB fans are in for a treat.

I liked Bondareva very much when she danced with the Mikailovsky in London a couple of months ago. Congratulations to her. All I know of Mr Askerov is from the recent RT documentary, quite good dancer, nice looks and compared to his girlfriend at least he has a personality. Silver for Skorik? Sorry, wouldn't award her tin.

In the UK ballet fans are overwhelmingly female and I don't see how it is possible to assume they know nothing about ballet simply by looking at a photo.