Mashinka

We Londoners will see for ourselves if Somova has upped her game or not. She is scheduled to dance Ballet Imperial with my beloved Igor Kolb, a dancer to cherish for his pure classicism, so unless the casting meisters of the Kirov amend that absurd casting I shall be seeing her dance even though I would normally follow Angelique's advice and avoid like the plague a dancer I cannot stand. Ridiculous comments regarding Bessmertnova: she had fantastic technique, though after becoming Mrs Grigorovich she relinquished roles such as Kitri and become rather type-cast. In Don Q (yes, I did see it live) she ran Maximova close and her faults were negligible though the 'broken wrists' in the classics bothered many purists. I think on reflection that the reason Somova is being down graded in London is due to two important factors, the drubbing she got from the critics and the luke warm reception from audiences. Last time around she opened and closed the season to the dismay of the fans but we are being spared that this time so perhaps someone in the Kirov administration is finally waking up to reality. Is someone suggesting Somova is equal to Osipova? That's a joke, yes? Although I didn't see it I believe the Kirov drafted in Osipova for the 3D version of Giselle - that must tell you something about Osipova's status internationally.

Is that a typo or a view of Ratmansky's choreography?

Bang on the nail Jane, couldn't agree more. Tickets prices: the production isn't selling that well so anyone who qualifies for a standby will get one, sometimes they ask for i.d. sometimes not but I got a standby for the stalls on gala night and noted a host of ENB dancers sitting around me, I guess the promoters had 'papered the house'.

I very strongly object to the description of the Royal Danish Ballet as a "moribund institution" it is not and never has been. Frank Andersen, Hubbe's predecessor, happened to be an excellent director and the company was in first rate shape under his leadership with exceptional dancers performing a diverse repertoire. I understand one of Nikolai Hubbe's stated aims when he took over was to enlarge the company and raise the profile internationally, all to the good in my opinion. Now I personally don't care if the man sticks half the annual crop of Columbia up his nose, what I do care about is whether his actions are having a bad effect on the company morale and if the report is to be believed, that may be happening. Perhaps this is currently a wait and see situation: either he will be vindicated or he won't. A word about the Queen of Denmark: we are talking of a lady who is one of the world's most ardent ballet goers and I personally have been to few performances of the RDB in Copenhagen when she has not been present. She is very, very hands on in what is after all the Royal Theatre and therefore hers. She is also, apart from the day job, a highly talented theatre designer and was responsible for the designs of the previous version of A Folk Tale, as at home back stage as in the audience. Please do not dismiss her views, believe me - they matter.

I never saw this company until the early 1970's so I cannot comment on the standards of 50 years ago, In the past five years or so I've seen a couple of dozen performances by the company both in London and Copenhagen and have witnessed the change over in directors. Compared with other companies they are doing well and it is unusual to come away from their performances with the deep feeling of dissatisfaction I experience after watching certain other companies that I've also watched over a long period of time. A great deal of ballet watching is subjective to some extent, but I believe the RDB tours less extensively than other leading companies of high reputation which may account for those divergent reviews: a mixed response to an unfamiliar style. I didn't see the company in the US so whether there has been a sudden drop in standards or not I can't say but up to 2009, when I was last in Denmark, I was impressed by the level of performance in particular the way the company performs as an ensemble, the depth of characterisation is every bit as rich and convincing as it has ever been and the standard of actual dancing is high. Based on what I've seen myself the US critics should have been grovelling at their feet - but that didn't happen. By the way, a Danish speaker interested in these revelations emailed me today to point out that Jyllands Posten and Berlingske can't be compared to the gutter press as both are highly reputable publications perhaps the equivalent of The Telegraph and The Independent in the UK. Furthermore the case has also been aired on national television news. Jyllands is in possession of the complete report and has now published an editorial on it as well. The original report was officially commissioned and is currently being scrutinised by the Parliamentary Culture Commission.

If I may play devil's advocate here, if this story is true then it may go some way towards explaining the very mixed reviews the company received on the recent US tour.

A clip from the film in today's Guardian with unsurprising readers' comments at the end. I must say Streep is very impressive in the way she has picked up on Thatcher's mannerisms. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2011/jul/07/iron-lady-margaret-thatcher-trailer

A quote from an article in today's Telegaph. There really are a great many dancers that smoke. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/8618941/Ivan-Vasiliev-and-Natalia-Osipova-Romeo-and-Juliet-for-real.html

GBF, A good question and one which Monica Mason is most qualified to answer, as you've just summed up the Royal Ballet's artistic policy pretty succinctly. I agree. Having read this thread from the start ABT's male dancer problem reflects the RB situation exactly. Here in London the main stars Acosta and Kobborg won't be dancing for ever but the selection process is appalling with laughable imports. Mason has no eye for male dancers at all whereas over at ENB Wayne Eagling quickly recognized the outstanding talent of Vadim Muntagirov and has just added young virtuoso Yonah Acosta (nephew of you-know-who) to his impressive male contingent. The RB has one male dancer who could dance leading roles tomorrow: Brian Maloney (an American I think) with a couple of others looking interesting but not getting roles, a situation that reveals a shocking lack of discernment on Mason’s part. As someone that only gets to watch ABT on their infrequent visits I adore Cornejo and was extremely taken by Cory Stearns. Take Muntagirov if you must, but leave him be for another couple of seasons please.

One thing not mentioned so far is the fact that smokers actually work fewer hours on a pro rata basis than non-smokers – all those fag breaks really stack up. Also conspicuously avoided so far is the post-coital light-up, surely I can’t be the only non-smoker to have endured that? Here in Britain we don’t actually ban much at all and apart from smoking I can only think of the fox hunting ban, though I’ve a feeling the latter will be reversed before long. Back on the UK smoking ban front, plans are in motion to ban smoking in cars, something I’ve a lot of sympathy with because as a child I was regularly sick every time I got into a car with smoking adults. I was told I was a bad traveller and I never set foot on either a ship or a plane until my mid 20’s when I was very surprised that I experienced not a twinge of nausea, indeed I once crossed the Channel in a force 11 gale and from the state of the corridors when I disembarked, I think I was the only passenger that hadn’t thrown up. Children need to be safe from the ill effects of smoke so I hope this extension of the ban really happens. The only down side of the UK smoking ban that I can think of is the rapid closure of traditional pubs, though to be fair the availability of cheap booze in supermarkets probably plays a big part in the closures and the reason the pub nearest to where I live has closed I think has a lot to do with the rapidly changing demographics of the area, for example I bet the burkha-clad woman four doors down from me never set foot in that pub. The smoking issue is one that I have very ambivalent feelings about, but I’ve never bought into that role model scenario.

I remember reading about the Gilpin marriage in her obit - she died not long ago. I wonder what the backstory is to that. I read John Gilpin's autobiography 'A Dance with Life' and the book is fairly littered with references to Princess Antoinette, she was guest of honour at his first wedding and they seem to have maintained a close friendship for much of Gilpin's life. The book finishes before his second marriage took place though, so no real clues about the feelings that eventually led to that marriage. Must say though that I rather like Monaco, although the population seems quite old, the place still has a glamour that is mainly missing on the rest of the Riviera. The main tourist attraction there is the grave of Princess Grace inside the cathedral, with a long queue of people filing past. It is an odd place in that it is very small and merges into the town above, Beau Soleil, which is actually France. I had a feeling of déjà vu when I was there as I recognized so many places from those yearly news clips on TV of the F1 Grand Prix. Princess Charlene is really something in my view, quite beautiful in fact and a definitely a cut above Kate Middleton.

I don't know about the posh environs of Notting Hill, but in Central London cheap illegal cigarettes are frequently offered to people in crowded areas and the like. They are made of far more dangerous substances than the legal ones and packed with so many extra carcinogens they are supposed to be lethal. Stand at the south side bus stop just to the east of Oxford Circus in Oxford Street and you'll meet the cigarette pushers in no time at all.

To take this back to ballet, I remember reading that Frederick Ashton (himself a chain smoker) once admonished Svetlana Beriosova for lighting up by commenting "ballerinas don't smoke". I suppose back then it wasn't considered lady-like or something. Back in Beriosova's day ballerinas were role models but I really don't think that is the case today with most UK youngsters probably unaware of what the word ballet means, certainly a TV presenter I saw not long ago had difficulty with the word. UK role models are the likes of Katy Price and for those Americans that have not a clue who she is - consider yourselves lucky. Are dancers role models for the young in France? I don't know, but as others have pointed out smoking is small beer compared with the track records of certain other dancers. Personally I don't like the practice and tend to give smokers a wide berth, I'm aware that it is more socially acceptable in France than in Britain but that would never stop me from visiting France or even those places where you wonder if the habit is considered compulsory such as Greece or Morocco. Cigarettes come with health warnings on the packaging (as does booze in France), these girls can read presumably so it’s their choice if they want to clog up their lungs and walk about in foul smelling clothes: for me as long as they keep their distance it's no big deal.

Some interesting opinions are being aired here. I didn't bother with this book simply because it was fiction - thinking it pretty pointless to turn into fiction a life that was in reality extraordinary by anyone's standards. I buy every book I can lay my hands on about Nureyev and even added one to my collection when I was in Paris earlier this year (Rudolf Noureev: Images D’Une Vie). A couple of the books published after his death have been shockers and I strongly advise anyone against buying either Nureyev by Peter Watson or even worse The Real Nureyev by Carolyn Soutar, the only reason I haven't binned them is that both books have pictures unavailable elsewhere. Sadly most of the biographies have been written by people that only saw the tail end of his career and indeed seem not to have cared much for his dancing at all. During his lifetime Clive Barnes, Alexander Bland and John Percival produced books that gave some insight into his professional life and I would say these are a more valuable record than the biographies by the get-rich-quick merchants that cashed in on his fame.

My regular ballet going started only a couple of years after yours Leonid, and I totally concur with the above remembering the 60's as a golden age of ballet under Frederick Ashton's leadership. As to the politics of his leaving the post, I wasn't at that time privvy to any insider information but it is widely known through his biographers that he was unhappy at having to relinquish his directorship. I am less enthusiastic about Monica Mason's tenure as I've been unhappy about repertory choices and the odd assortment of imported dancers that she has been responsible for. Sylvie Guillem's treatment by Ms Mason alienated a large section of the audience, still smarting at their favourite's departure. I cross my fingers regarding Kevin O'Hare and hope that he springs some surprises but I won't hold my breath.

Would you care to enlarge on that statement?

In my experience more dancers smoke than not and not just tobacco either. The worst smokers are the Russians and here in the UK where it is now prohibited to smoke in any workplace, the sight of Russian dancers having a fag break in full costume outside of the stage doors is quite common. As an asthmatic I avoid smokers at all costs, though as for injuring themselves isn't it more a case of it being like Russian roulette? A friend of my parents actually made it into the papers as the UK's oldest smoker when she died last year, just short of her 103rd birthday and smoking didn't harm her. The cancer that is mentioned wasn't lung cancer by the way: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7941676/Britains-oldest-smoker-dies-after-puffing-on-cigarettes-for-95-years.html Cuban Miami Boy has a very good point about the glamour aspect of smoking and I picture some of the old stars in my mind, such as Marlene Dietrich wreathed in smoke and with a smokey voice to match, they looked wonderful on screen but I was always grateful that weren't sitting next to me.

Care to name names as to the "rubbish" dancers you would like to see made redundant? I've a feeling if I named them the post would be deleted.

I agree, although I have reservations about the rep at times POB should definitely feature in a top five. The Royal Ballet however most definitely should not!

Since my last post on this subject I've had the chance to speak to ballet regulars regarding the appointment and there is dismay all round. Unlike the ROH management the one thing they didn't want was more of the same.

As a Londoner with an Irish passport and therefore semi neutral, one of the things I admire most about the Brits is their healthy scepticism about 'national institutions'. If we are discussing the Royal Ballet in general here, I deplore the sycophancy towards it in sections of the British press and the willful disregard of the chronic problems, mismanagement and wastefulness. Unlike in the U.S. many British theatres are wholly subsidized by tax payers, a huge number of which can never afford to even step over the threshold of the Royal Opera House. Therefore I consider it incumbent of commentators to go for the jugular when dealing with organizations like these: tell it like it is and take no prisoners - GO BRITS!!!!!!!!!

Over the years dancers have migrated in both directions between the two companies. Campbell is a very capable looking dancer I'd say and certainly better than a couple currently masquerading as principals so this move doesn't upset me in any way. Perhaps he is being brought in to replace David Makheteli.

One? That can't be wise. Simon G. raises the question of those aging dancers and that is certainly a problem that will have to be tackled soon because although a couple of dancers could be usefully promoted from within the ranks, I imagine some will have to be imported. I mean just how do you replace Carlos Acosta? Monica Mason has had particularly poor judgement when it came to dancers as frankly offloading a megastar such as Sylvie Guillem wasn't a good move and with only a couple of exceptions the dancers drafted in have been dull and technically limited. Mr O'Hare could perhaps make a start be re-employing Ivan Putrov. One of the reasons Ross Stretton's tenure was so disastrous was that he recognized the weakness in the personnel and was taking steps to tackle the problem, thereby earning their hostility and the rest being history. The purge of rubbish dancers that I've been dreaming of for so long is unlikely to happen with that example existing as a warning to future directors.

I understand perfectly what Simon G. is saying, the RB is in a state of stagnation and drastic measures need to be taken to put things right. I would welcome an iconoclast at this point but I imagine non boat rocking was high on the agenda of the selection committee. I predict further years of mediocrity and boredom ahead.

I was told last year it would be Wayne McGregor, my personal hope was that it would be Alexei Ratmansky, most thought it would be Bruce Sansom: this is a surprise.