Mashinka

Have just checked my cast sheets for the current run, of the two other dancers I saw, Galeazzi and Cojocaru, neither danced Mary as a child but Leanne Benjamin did.

Interesting that no definite trial date is set and bail is again refused therefore Dmitrichenko must rot in jail.

Polunin's lack of courtesy was picked up on by a number of people when a film of him rehearsing with Cuthbertson was broadcast. Don't think he danced anything major with Benjamin though. It was another major dancer in the RB he was supposed to have had conflict with, at least according to rumours. Re the interview: 2nd from top photo is not Gloria as captioned it is Requiem, also by MacMillan.

What a wonderful interviewee Leanne Benjamin is: when you admire a dancer from afar for years it is always nice to discover that they are in fact a highly articulate and intelligent individual. When Leanne Benjamin first steps out onstage tomorrow night it will be in the cameo role of the young Mary Vetsera, a role that most dancers allow younger/smaller dancers to perform. She is unique in being able to play not just a teenager but also a twelve year old girl without the audience having to employ suspension of disbelief. Youthfulness has always been something Ms Benjamin has effortlessly projected, I watched her Mayerling last week from the front row of the stalls and believe me even at that close proximity I would never have thought her a woman in her late forties. Her dancing has a vigour that more and more appears lacking in other leading dancers, she has an innate energy that when matched with her impeccable technique and acting skills gives her performances a kind of ‘wow factor’. Her repertoire has always been wide ranging, encompassing classical, modern and dramatic works equally, and choreographers just love her as her tough work ethic means she never gives their works less than 100%. Her last created role was in Ratmansky’s 24 Preludes and it was clear that the choreographer was eager to exploit her exceptional musicality and display the more lyrical qualities she possesses in a beautiful duet with Cojocaru, a perfect match in height and form and then gifting her a brilliantly dramatic solo full of inner tension and angst – two very different moods in one work: no wonder so many creators viewed her as a muse. At various stages of her career I felt Leanne was too far down in the pecking order; rarely first cast and ignored in most of the big publicity campaigns, but her fan base has doggedly supported her and in recent years her talent has been accorded the recognition it has always deserved. Tomorrow’s farewell will be difficult for me personally, almost like saying goodbye to a friend and I daresay I’ll shed a tear or two, but as always on these occasions I’ll console myself with my memories of having followed the career of one of the very few ballerinas deserving of the epithet ‘great’.

Lethargic is the perfect word to describe the Kirov's 21st century style.

Paris Opera Ballet isn't a major company?!!!

The journalists doing the reporting are Yan Smirnitsky and Pavel Yashenkov and I have no way of knowing if they are deserving of respect or not. On the other hand Ismene Brown has displayed a shockingly disrespectful attitude to Tsiskaridze throughout his entire career, though she is not the only UK critic to display animosity. The two goons being interviewed seem to have their own agenda and a lot is unverifiable opinion. To link him with the porn scandal is outrageous. Dragging up the acid attack is beyond the pale too, just as it is a fabrication to call Dmitrichenko part of NT's 'inner circle' and by the way is there no concept of sub judice in Russia? The 'source' then claims NT receives no invitations to dance abroad when in fact he has had many appearing in at least three seasons in Paris, Kings of Dance, guesting with Taranda's company in Israel and I believe performances in the US with Cojocaru, probably a lot more I don't know about. All of this supposedly the thoughts of 'a female employee at the Bolshoi (not in management) on condition of anonymity' So could we have a little more information on this fount of knowledge. A dancer? I doubt it, Adrienko's views on Tsiskaridze would typify attitudes toward him among the majority of the company. So is it a cleaner? a box office clerk? Some sort of clue would have helped. Nothing so far on RT about this, though I suppose you only get ballet on slow news days, but any way good luck to the fans that will be picketing the theatre this week, at least one in the UK has already flown off to swell their numbers.

This is about a ballet company, hardly comparable to Watergate.

Indeed, I would never put any credence in slime balls that hide behind anonymity. A good journalist wouldn't bother with a source that can't be verified. Racism and Xenophobia is rife in Russia, even worse than in the rest of Eastern Europe. There is a definite pecking order with the ethnicities and in a TV documentary of a few years back, I was surprised that Tartars are considered the bottom of the heap. Georgians are low in the pecking order too. Tsiskaridze is far from alone among dancers to use that kind of deplorable language, but sensitivity over religion is growing throughout all Europe. Russia and Eastern Europe however find the concept of political correctness totally alien.

He loves to wind people up, haven't you realised that yet?

He certainly fitted in at the Paris Opera Ballet. Not blessed with diplomacy to be sure, but his whistle blowing exposed a great deal of the Bolshoi's ugly underbelly. By the way the 'billionaire sponsor' is news to me.

Yes, Me (raises hand) Please don't ask for a critical appraisal as for me the evening was too emotional for that. There was a rather strange atmosphere in the house with just about everyone in a state of shock at the suddeness of it all. Kobborg has been plagued by injuries for a long time now, indeed my last minute scramble to get a ticket was because they had cancelled the earlier performance of Mayerling that I had booked for, but Cojocaru dances with other partners too and over the years had seemed a permanent fixture and for many the company's crowning glory, it's only just beginning to sink in that we Londoners are about to face an Alina-less future. The earlier Mayerling I saw was danced by Mara Galeazzi and last night I went again and saw Leanne Benjamin, so I saw all three Mary Vetseras for the last time, four principal losses in one season is a lot and of course Polunin and Rojo left last year. Hard to believe the face of the company could change so much in such a short space of time.

I notice the idea of 'Innocent until proved guilty' doesn't carry much weight here.

Burns take on different "looks." From what I understand Filin was doused in the eyes, not his face. It makes sense actually that his skin looks better than his eyes, which from all accounts are as of now unable to see. In other news it's disturbing how happy people seem to be that this happened: two wrongs don't make a right. Whatever Filin may or may not have done as AD doesn't justify physical violence. Since the initial attack on Filin there have been two high profile attacks on London women, both apprently random that were given a great deal of coverage in the press: http://www.bbc.co.uk...london-22350772 http://www.huffingto..._n_3263164.html Neither emerged with a clear face after two weeks. But Filin did http://www.bing.com/...selectedIndex=7 Is anyone happy? I doubt it, but a lot of people are puzzled.

Depends on how you describe easy. Mary Vetsera, Cojocaru's character, only joins the cast half way through and much of what she has to perform is acting and double work. If she has a foot or leg problem, she might still be able to dance Mayerling as she will spend a lot of time off the ground. If it's back or neck she won't appear .

The latest from Ismene Brown's coverage of the story http://www.ismeneb.c...ts_lawyers.html The important thing here is to get an independent expert to do the examining - not a Russian. The pictures of the original injuries look quite bad but a couple of weeks later when Filin emerges, his skin is remarkably clear. I'm told by someone who saw them that some (not all) of those infamous pictures of Yanin were photo shopped and it is becoming increasingly likely that the same has happened here. Photographic images are no longer to be trusted.

This is very bad news for the Royal Ballet, coupled with Leanne Benjamin's retirement and the unexpected departure of Mara Galeazzi this will leave a big gap in the upper ranks and to lose both Polunin and Kobborg in just over a year adds nothing to the health of the company. The one male dancer who to me looked capable of taking on leading roles, Brian Maloney, also goes this month. Kevin O'Hare will need to find replacements fast and although I'll upset some of the fans by saying this, there isn't anyone coming up through the ranks with sufficient talent and/or experience to be made a principle right now.

Not sure about the mountains but Barcelona certainly has palms http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/images/int/albums/placa-reial/images/placa-reial-01_jpg.jpg

I had never heard about this in the first pace. Was it as generally publicized? Remnick wrote a full article about the attack on Filin in "The New Yorker," it was widely publicized in the Western mainstream press, reporting still goes on four months later, the Internet is in full bloom, with discussion boards, search tools, and translators, and a major English-language critic, Ismene Brown, has been following the story diligently providing translation of articles in the Rusian press and keeping readers alert to new ones via Twitter, just to give some examples of the current landscape. Pre internet so not widely known at the time nor was it reported in the press - the theatre made a good job of suppressing the story. Eventually the UK Bolshoi fans got to hear about it but a long time after the event. There is mention of it in Mukhamedov’s biography but it is glossed over.

There was a considerable overlap with the two lists of dancers above and the decline set in after Norman Morris. As for Ferri it must be remembered that a change in EU rules meant that the RB could ne longer employ only UK and Commonwealth dancers as in the past. The late Alexander Grant gave an interesting insight about how nominees are elected in a talk he gave to an invited audience a some years back. Consequently I don't have much interest any more though the results are always interesting to read re ballet politics.

ITA with Jayne. It must be around 25 years since Mukhamedov seriously assaulted a female member of the audience inside the theatre, but how many people remember that today?

Ms Brown continues to monitor the situation closely and in her latest blog she quotes a letter from Filin's father in law expressing outrage at the editorial content of a TV programme he appeared in. To me this sounds like an interesting piece of investigative journalism: Ms Brown of course puts a very different spin on things. http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/2013/5/23_TV_wars_as_Filins_father-in-law_claims_libel.html

For those interested, Zakharova, Obraztsova and Smirnova will dance the lead in Bayadere in London this summer (I have tickets for Obraztsova and Smirnova - a good guess as I was booking blind).

Dunno, but assume anyone is better than Ivanchenko (yawn)

I imagine Brisbane is very nice at this time of the year and not the steam bath it is in January. Watch out for the pictures of the Bolshoi cuddling koalas, there are bound to be some.