Mashinka

With regard to Tsiskaridze I prefer the term outspokenness to ‘trouble maker’.Uvarov’s departure is something of a surprise as he was a hard working dedicated member of the company.Uvarov and Filin were close contemporaries so there may have been rivalry, Tsiskaridze is very slightly younger, but his career eclipsed those of the other Bolshoi male dancers. Settling of scores?

Here in the UK it's the most popular film, currently No 1 in the chart, but it is mostly young people that are packing out the cinemas, Those of us that lived through the Thatcher years want to forget them.

I believe he eventually became her father-in-law.

On this side of the Atlantic it was three dancers appearing in London for the first time that did a lot to brighten up 2011. They were the Kirov’s Maria Shirinkina, RDB’s Alban Lendorf who appeared with the Peter Schaufuss Company and Yonah Acosta who has joined ENB. Apart from Alice in Wonderland, more a mixed media event than a ballet, there were slim pickings on the choreographic front. Best of the year for me was Ratmanski’s Psyche albeit in Paris. Victoria Tereshkina of the Kirov ranks as my ballerina of the year for stunning performances in several roles but particularly in Ballet Imperial. Top male dancer has to be Steven McRae who simply goes from strength to strength – his performance in Ashton’s Rhapsody was astonishing, even the role’s creator, Baryshnikov, was never that good. The RB continues to disappoint, with worrying weaknesses among dancers below principal rank but ENB had a good year with superb revivals of works by Lifar and Petit. 2012 may be problematic as visiting companies are unable to come because of inflated costs due to the London Olympics. The Kirov were supposed to come earlier in the year with performances of Balanchine’s Midsummer’s Night Dream but that is now cancelled, though modern dance looks more promising with a season of works by Pina Bausch at Sadlers Wells. Slightly off topic the Olympics are already causing headaches to a lot of people with travel being seriously disrupted in the city, consequently West End theatres are likely to see a drop in numbers as the faithful American visitors that visit for the London theatre scene in the summer will keep away due to shockingly overblown hotel prices. Not good.

Emma Kirkby´s recording of Bingen´s "A Feather on the Breath of God" should be in everyone´s CD collection.

I remember Alan Hooper, but had no idea that was how he died. If I remember correctly Jean-Pierre Alban of Festival Ballet also fell from a window to his death, in Sloane Street I think. Not sure if it was an accident or suicide.

All three of the newly promoted have been dancing principal roles for some time now, so it is only fair that they should be promoted to principal rank, and, presumably, principal pay. Shipulina isn't my favourite either, but she's hard working and versatile and also has looks and charm. Don't imagine she's in the Somova category though as she's streets ahead in every respect. She does over extend though.

Not everyone's favourite but his early films about composers for the BBC will be remembered with affection by many. His early ambition was to be a dancer by the way. http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-15917073

I would rather see regular company members Perrin and Yapparova as Aurora.

All that is true and I often wish there were more dancers prepared to take a stand. I respect him a great deal for his championing of Grachova and Stepanenko. I'm very much of the same mind as ksk04 and Cubanmiamiboy.

As a Londoner, I rarely see any honest criticism about the RB other than here. Actually some of the online critics are really good, such as Sophia on Dansomanie, and Ballet.co's Ian Palmer and CriticalDance's Lyndsy Winship both now write professionally (the latter for The Guardian). It's a question of being selective as some posters are frankly a joke whereas others write better than the professionals - and with a greater depth of knowledge too.

By the way, that Mikhailovsky tour to London last year was the victim of poor planning. It coincided with the Bolshoi at Covent Garden and audiences were embarrassingly minute for most performances. I have to say I'm not convinced by the pulling power of Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, their R&J performances with Schaufuss's troupe didn't sell out with first night numbers boosted by complimentary tickets for most of the audience. Before someone comments that they weren't dancing with a front ranking company I'll remind you that Fonteyn and Nureyev could have been dancing with the Outer Hebrides Amateur Dance Group and people would still have fought to see them.

For those familiar with the current scandals in the British (though Australian owned) press, the inaccuracies in the report are mild by the usual standards. Wonderful pictures accompanying this piece in the actual paper though.

Chinara Alizade should be further up the rankings by now, it would be interesting to know what or who is holding her back. The older Goriacheva is seriously under used as well

Daisy???

Actually Natalia, there are THREE. The dark woods backdrop doesn't show up very well.

Clement crisp has reviewed this in Financial Times which can be read on line, but I had trouble with the link, probably down to the FT pay wall. He was very positive about Psyche and even the Phaedra that was on the same bill, but there was such a difference in audience response for this double bill with mild polite appause for the Lifar and noisy enthusiasm for Ratmansky's work.

I liked his 'playful view' and thought the Ganio/Gilbert cast was rather good.

Actually some years ago a Kirov dancer (now no longer with the company) did spill the beans to a close friend of mine and told him exactly how casting worked at the Kirov. A small number of people have been privy to this, including a dancer I know in a Russian touring company, for some time. This year though I was told about it by someone else, who I was surprised had this knowledge - apparently the dancers no longer care who knows about it. I fully expect it to be an officially sanctioned topic on this board the minute the details are revealed in the press. Back to the main topic: a second vote for Thomas Lund but tying with the afore mentioned Emmanuel Thibault. Sadly both these guys are in their late 30's and I'm told Lund is not a favourite of the new RDB director, so to nominate a younger 'best' I'd pick the RB's Steven MacRae.

I imagine the classic example of a non-dancing choreographer of today would be Wayne MacGregor.

Somova reminds me of Marguerite Porter who danced with the Royal Ballet in the 1980's; she was also promoted beyond her abilities and was defeated by every ballerina role she attempted to dance. Had she only performed minor soloist roles all would have been well and she could even have been remembered fondly, rather than the nadir of British ballet that she became. Somova is the same kind of dancer, quite acceptable when I saw her dance In the Night, but a disaster the following evening when she attempted the lead in Ballet Imperial. Regarding photographs, I've noticed a lot of pictures that in the past that would have been vetoed by company press officers appearing all over the web on official sites. Whether this indicates a drop in expertise among the specialist photographers or a more lax approach to what is published I don't know, but even on her Mariinka fan site there are some truly awful pictures of Somova.

Alina Somova didn't appear as Nikiya in Saturday's matinee of Bayaderka and was replaced by Kondaurova: no reason was given. Critic Giannandrea Poesio was very harsh about Somova in particular and the Kirov in general in The Spectator. Here's what he says about Somova So much for the rumoured "improvements".

Having now seen the 'new improved' Alina Somova it is apparent that any improvements are strictly cosmetic, literally in the case of her hair as she has ditched the cheap blonde look for what is presumably her natural colour and looks the better for it. The habit of sticking out her chin has all but gone too, but for the rest her line is still ugly and she still maintains poor épaulement. Having seen two Ballet Imperials back to back, the first with Victoria Tereshkina and the second night with Somova, there was no comparison as Tereshkina is so technically superior it was like seeing two different ballets, frankly Somova was completely out of her depth and relied on her fall back position of hideously high extensions to grab the audiences attention: not a pretty sight. She remains the Kirov dancer to avoid.

Although I'm unsure how many Americans know who Brian Sewell is, he is extraordinarily well known in Britain, as much for his TV appearances and his remarkably refined accent as his cutting reviews about art. He is also a ballet fan and I once got talking to him when he was sitting in front of me at the ballet and despite his reputation I thought he was a warm genuine person. His acerbic writings are to my mind superb, even when I disagree with him (not very often, though I still seethe over his dismissal of Gwen John’s work) I very much admire his writing style. He knows about art in a way I wish the UK ballet critics knew about dance. It is astonishing and very sad that he can't find a publisher for his autobiography; it is one I wouldn't hesitate to buy. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/arts/article-23973302-the-extraordinary-life-of-brian-sewell.do

Another criticism is that the male dancers Monica Mason has imported could hardly be called 'top'. The Royal Ballet is a ticking time bomb of mediocrity.