Mashinka

So jjust how do you account for the successful careers of the likes of Ravenna Tucker, Rashna Homji, David Yow? All of these were Asian and did extremely well in the RB companies in the 1980's. Possibly there were more, I'm not a 'stats' person so apologies if I've left someone out. Perhaps it's easier to use race as an excuse for personal failings than to face the fact you are not up to scratch.

That is a dreadful slur on the Royal Ballet style to imply that it is somehow racist. The number of black people living in the UK was fairly negligible before the mid 50's so it is hardly surprising that the style developed without any non-white exponents. Working class dancers were a great rarity in the RB throughout its history too as in general only a fairly affluent middle class can either afford or has the inclination to take its children to ballet classes. I worked with the black choreographer William Louther during the 1980's and we frequently discussed the class/race issues around classical ballet in Britain, perceived and otherwise. To the best of my knowledge only one black dancer around that time was rejected by the RB on grounds of colour and she joined the Harlem Company, she was an exception though as most black dancers at the time were late starters and often more strongly attracted to modern dance. Today no black dancer of the requisite standard would be excluded on grounds of their colour,

Actually Lamb is technically British as she has a English born parent, I believe there are a couple of others in the company that are in a similar position,

There used to be an English Style that was much admired and most people that remember it agree that it is now all but lost. Bryony Brind has made her point clumsily in my opinion but there is substance to what she says.

Slightly off topic, but back in the 80's I was doing some work for a contemporary group that rehearsed at Pineapple Dance Studios, I would often arrive early to watch the ballet class given by Eileen Ward that attracted some RB dancers. On one occasion I saw a small slender woman take her place at the back just before the class began: it was Makarova. I won't have to tell anyone reading this what supreme pleasure it was just to watch her in class. Many years later I watched a company class of the Kirov in Baden Baden. Several minutes after the class began a tall woman trailing more scarves than Isadora Duncan made her entrance disrupting the class as she chose the most advantageous spot and displacing other dancers that had arrived on time: this was Lopatkina. One was a servant of the Dance, whereas the other.................

Very good points from Catherine, especially regarding height. The ballerinas of the Imperial era were very short indeed, as were a lot of the men and these were the dancers the great ballets were created for. It used to be the case that tall dancers were weeded out during training but it seems the aesthetic has changed. The last dancer I saw who turned into a blur at the end of her chaine turns was Ananiashvili. While never commonplace, quite a few had that level of speed.

Legs? Appearance? Pluses certainly but not essentials. Solid technique, stamina, personality, sensitivity and the ability to dance rather than just pose all matter far more. The more quotes I read from Fateev, the more I consider him a complete idiot.

Of course Paris Opera Ballet are very bad about casting, only disclosing who is dancing at the last moment. But my annoyance with POB is more about wanting to see as many casts as possible whereas at the Kirov there are more and more dancers I want to avoid.

An auspicious day: Shakespeare's birthday.

I would say the best Guilio Cesare of them all was Janet Baker and her recording of the role still stands scrutiny too. For me the Baroque is the apex of the art of opera, though I know I'm in a minority with that view. As for counter tenors, they are singing the roles written for the castrati, so I suppose that is the nearest to the original sound we are likely to get. I worship Andreas Scholl and consider his the most beautiful male voice in existence, but there are new CT's emerging all the time which is baroque paradise for me.

Russian visas: I get charged double because I'm an Irish passport holder living in London, visas are an absolute racket and a nice little earner on the side. What the Russians don't realize is that charging £70 a pop for a basic visa. (£140 in my case) people are actually deterred from visiting in the first place.

Hmm... in my view Hunkentenors are still a rarity. There are some very tasty counter tenors around at present, any idea of a collective operatic noun for them, Birdsall?

Good points, Jayne, Pronin's changing sides is very significant, should Filin emerge as corrupt, Pronin's close association with him would damage his reputation in the ballet world. Tsiskaridze's got a view on everything, but he has lifted a few stones that needed lifting over the years, it's just a shame that what was discovered underneath those stones was never effectively dealt with.

I imagine just about every company hankers after a Ratmansky ballet in the rep. His recent work for the Royal was sublime, and although not my favourite version, his R&J that I saw last week was hugely impressive. His situation is very different from Osipova's who I suspect is doing the rounds of several companies until she finds the right fit.

Although I hate the term ‘female heroes’ every bit as much as ‘female actors’ I like the idea of listing ten ‘awesome’ women so much that I’m including my own top ten. I would be very interested to read the top tens of other Ballet Alerters. Here’s the original article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/22/hadley-freeman-awesome-women-katharine-hepburn-miss-piggy And here’s my list Jane Austen Lilian Baylis Colette Marlene Dietrich Margot Fonteyn Emma Kirkby Emmeline Pankhurst Edith Piaf Misia Sert Mulala Yousafzai

Earlier this week Pavel Dmitrichenko was refused bail. http://www.dailymail...s-bid-bail.html

Lyudmila Monastyrska was a terrific Abigaille on Monday night, but apart from a reasonable tenor and Domingo himself trying his best to make an impression in the wretched thing in spite of vocal shortcomings, the rest was mediocre. Although I generally agree with your views on Domingo as a baritone, I have to say he was a fantastic Simon Boccanegra a couple of years ago, but in live performance it is often stage presence that makes the difference between outstanding and acceptable and the emotion he put into the role made it something special.

Nabucco at Covent Garden actually earned itself no stars from the first critique I read and I have to say it was awful. Set in the 1940's both Jews and Babylonians wore the same tired looking outfits in black, grey and navy - very much post war austerity. Nabucco. being a king, was differentiated by wearing a well fitted grey suit and looking better groomed with a spot of hair gel. Main design feature a sand pit, destruction of the temple was the knocking over of some rectangular polystyrene blocks: I don't know why I bother. Actually I do know why I went to this one - Domingo was singing the title role and many were predicting it will be his last opera appearance at the ROH. Sadly the great man wasn't in good voice, the fans very clearly still love him though.

London will be enhanced by your presence.

I think his idea was always to fit in dancing with his directing.

Sock some away? Not likely in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but she has always had a fondness for Britain and I remember an interview where she was gushing over the city of Nottingham where she did indeed receive an exceptionally warm welcome. The RB needs her badly and there is a hole at the top to fill with three principal ladies leaving in the past year. I agree with Helene concerning the Ashton rep and the company's heritage. Two Pigeons hasn't been danced by the main company for an age now, I'd revive it specially for her.

You ask me to elaborate on my comment regarding the Ismene Brown blog about Tsiskaridze. I am happy to do so but to make things perfectly above board over the weekend I contacted a native Russian I know who works in London as an interpreter/translator to go over a couple of things originally reported in Russian that appear to have been misrepresented or ignored by Ms Brown. First of all I am disturbed by Ms Brown's assertion that Pavel Dmitrichenko is close to Tsiskaridze: he is not. As far as I can ascertain he has never been coached by N.T. and neither is he a particular friend, they would know one another but only in the context of being colleagues in the same theatre. N.T. does coach P.D.'s girlfriend admittedly, but I fail to see how being close to one automatically means being close to the other. Because of the undoubted seriousness of the attack on Filin, sympathy for his condition outweighs all other considerations, but I too find it unusual that his face is relatively unmarked; we are told that he alleviated the worst of the acid's effects by rubbing snow into his face. Actually this would do little to minimize the damage as according to my first aid handbook (I took a first aid course when I worked with the British Red Cross) when presented with chemical burns the initial treatment is to immediately 'flood' the injured area with water for a minimum of 20 minutes. I myself have wondered whether some other caustic material was used that would have severely damaged his eyes but not have produced the typical scarring that goes with acid on his face. The statement that Tsiskaridze "offered" himself as Bolshoi General Director isn't quite accurate; here is the link to the TV interview I am told he actually answers the question of whether he would like the job, not the same at all as putting himself forward, though I expect that his detractors, a rather sinister and well organized bunch apparently, will argue that his being on the programme in the first place is evidence of his intent. Read the following from January last year, http://www.rt.com/ar...vation-505/ as far as I'm concerned he is not accusing he is stating a fact. Tsiskaridze went on to prove to them that their actions were illegal and he was reinstated. Here is the story: http://ria.ru/cultur.../688070482.html As to other aspects of the blog, Ms Brown is right to wonder whether the examination of the Bolshoi books is down to an annual audit rather than to check to see if Dmitrichenko's accusations are correct. Personally I doubt if there had been irregularities that they would have been documented officially. As for Volochkova's remarks, they are impossible to verify but I know of an instance regarding another Russian company where a certain party took place and a small group of invited guests was asked to leave at the insistence of the 'business man' ostensibly hosting the party; looking back, Volochkova's remarks suddenly start to make sense. Any rules pertaining to press interviews and the like have to be viewed according to whether there is a contractual obligation to give these only under the auspices of the press office. From what I know of the Russian companies they rarely care about these matters, it is only Tsiskaridze's outspokenness that is the issue here not whether some arcane rule has been broken. Ismene Brown's later blog is far more interesting showing public opinion towards the acid throwing incident. It seems many consider this nothing out of the ordinary, which probably says more about the current state of Russian society than anything else. I'm surprised at the level of sympathy towards Dmitrichenko too, as I'm fence sitting where he is concerned until we find out whether his confession was made under coercion or not. Finally, as pointed out in another thread, Tsiskaridze is no longer cast to dance in the summer Bolshoi tour to London in spite of being originally listed as dancing. I think an explanation to the London fans is in order.

A preference for London is easily explained - it's a mere four hour flight to Moscow.

It's been in the rep since at least the mid 80's so I imagine there's been plenty of time for the Bournonville style to disintegrate regardless of who staged it originally.

I never considered them competitors as the Rojo fan club was very small compared to the Cojocaru one. Personally it's Leanne Benjamin whose retirement saddens me, not the loss of the inconsistent Rojo.