Alymer

Beriosova is certainly there in the clip as are Shaw and Grant. Elvin is still very much alive, living in Italy and she does visit London from time to time. And I believe Jackson is still with us.

According to the libretto as given in Beauties of the Opera "her eye fell on the glittering insignia of Count Albrecht's rank and her own desolation, she seized the sword, and souoght to plunge it in her side. The rapid hand of Loys dashed the weapon aside, but not before a deep and fatal wound had pierced the young and innocent maiden's breast". The account then goes on to state that she continued to dance, imagining to still be dancing with Loys until the final moment of her death in the arms of Batilde and Berte. So we can assume that Grisi stabbed herself in the original version. And the same source states that Giselle had a headstone with a cross.

To the best of my memory the choreographer was Ashley Page and it was made for a joint opera/ballet gala in 1993. I can't remember who the other dancers were - possibly Bussell.

Helen Starr danced with London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) and I imagine that the Lousiville version is based on that company's production which, to the best of my recollection, was staged by Nicholas Beriosoff. It had remarkably beautiful - and costly - costumes and decors, copied from the original Bakst designs. Scheherzade has never been part of the the Royal Ballet repertoire, although their productions of other Diaghilev ballets are pretty authentic having been staged by either Serge Grigoriev (Sylphides, Firebird, Petrouchka) or Bronislava Nijinska (Les Noces, Les Biches). I think that at one point Beriosoff came to re-stage the ballet for Festival and a pas-de-deux for Zobeide and the Golden Slave was added which he (Beriosoff) claimed had been choreographed by Fokine himself for a later production. Personally, I've never found the ballet very interesting except for the designs which are stunning but hugely, prohibitively, expensive if done properly and I'm told that the costumes are very heavy to wear for today's dancers.

She certainly used to dance inthat ballet, though I don't know if she created the role. Another cast was Manola Ascencio and I seem to remember Eva Evdokimova as the girl in pink. Michael Corder also used Elgar for a ballet he did for Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet).

Ronald Hynd choreographed The Sanguine Fan for Festival (now English National) Ballet and it lasted several seasons - until a change of director I seem to think. It was a pleasant little ballet with a plot about twin brothers, two? ladies and a fan. Not the plot which Elgar originally provided. I really wouldn't mind seeing it again.

Choe is actually Korean, but was brought up in Japan - and yes, I was told be a friend with excellent taste in dancers who saw the broadcast - that she was lovely, especially as Florine.

But she's not British!

I can only say that Shipulina completely transformed Possokov's Cinderella when I saw it. With Zakharova it was really so-so, but Shipulina gave it life and point. I liked her in Corsiare as well.

Horrible choreography!

It's probably not the case if the critic writes a round-up type piece for a monthly magazine. There you can be reasonably selective. But for a daily or weekly paper, more or less every major performance or opening has to be covered. For instance, if company X is visiting again, you've seen them before and you hate everything they do, you still have to go and write a review. And the other exception - here in London at least - is something like Dance Umbrella or the other "contemporary" dance seasons where companies give just one show and the critic would probably see only a sample of what's on offer.

Critics and criticism have changed hugely in the past years and the changes began long before the advent of blogging. It's a year or two since I was able to go to the theatre regularly but it had become unusual to see a critic at anything other than an official press night, which was not the case twenty years ago. At that time serious critics would try to catch most or all casts and would often see a visiting company more than once. And that applied (in some cases) even if they had to pay for a ticket. In London, at least, there tend not to be special areas for critics, although the press is sometimes offered a glass of wine in the interval. One other thing to bear in mind about professional critics is that they have to cover everything, regardless of whether it appeals or not, and write about it objectively. Bloggers, on the other hand, seem mainly to choose companies, programmes or casts they like or are particularly interested in which narrows their range of experience. Obviously, the fact that they have to pay good money for a ticket is a big factor in this. Why would you spend money to have a bad time?

I think Wayne Eagling is quite bright enough to know what he has with Muntagirov and that to give him freedom to guest is the best way of keeping him with ENB for a little longer. ENB's repertory is constrained for a number of reasons and it's normal that Muntagirov would want to expand his repertory and his experience. But who knows where he will end up. Meanwhile the company has aquired a new leading man in Zdenek Konvalina, and there seems to be a lot of talent among the junior men - (including Carlos Acosta's nephew, Jonah) which is not to decry Muntagirov's exceptional gifts. And it's also worth keeping in mind that his style and personality may not appeal to ABT's audiences. The Royal can be very difficult about guesting. Kobborg and Cojocaru are exceptional in the freedom they are given and who knows what the future will bring for them, especially given their relation ship with Monica Mason and the advent of a new director. But more generally, I do remember in the past one male principal having to turn down a really nice guest appearance because the company would not release him, despite the fact that his schedule was clear for something like a month. "You might be needed to cover", was the explanation.

And of course, it may be that the original ports de bras are not notated. But I agree with Leonid that on this video the variation seems to be all on a single note. I also think that I saw Marcia Haydee do the entrechats on pointe when she danced the role in Zurich many, many, years ago. But my memory may be faulty here.

I've learned that Alexander Grant died late on Friday night. The actual cause of death seems to have been pneumonia, but he had been in hospital for some time following complcations after an operation. He was a great dancer and a nice man.

Yes. Roland Petit for the ballet of the Paris Opera. I didn't see it myself but I don't get the impressionn that it was a great success.

A very minor point: Nunez was not a Lausanne winner. She spent a year at the Royal Ballet school because under UK legislation, at fifteen she was too young to be employed as a member of the company.

If I can add a detail (rather belatedly) to this account, at the time Ashton was working on his reconstructed Romeo and Juliet I spoke to him after one rehearsal and he said "I think it has to be the little whiz(his name for Healy). All the others have their own ideas about the role and she will be my Juliet". Several other dancers were learning the part and subsequently performed it. Sevillano had not yet joined the company. But there's no doubt that Healy was an accomplished dancer, Ashton clearly enjoyed pushing her and incorporated some aspects of her skating technique into at least one scene.

As far as I know Soares was never at the Royal Ballet School. Nunez did a year there because at 15 she was too young to join the company under UK labour law. She had been a soloist at the Colon for a year before coming to the UK.

I did see it and hated it. A really dreary evening despite some excellent dancing. And according to my recollection it wasn't very well received at the premiere. I can't imagine why they revived it.

It's a good many years since the Royal Ballet troupe based at Covent Garden toured in the UK although they do make visits overseas. So I think it unlikely that you can catch it anywhere but at the Royal Opera House and tickets for this six performance run have been sold out for months. I believe it will be shown again next season and it's always possible that it may be filmed in order to be shown on TV.

As did Makarova who was also in the audience.

They certainly did so on an ABT tour to London as I remember seeing them.

When the Cuevas company danced Night Shadow the Hoop Dance was at some point a solo variation danced by Rene Bon, a virtuoso french dancer who also appeared with Massine's company, and with Janine Charrat. I don't know whether the variation was made specifically for Bon, who was by all accounts a remarkable technician.

I never saw Youskevitch on stage, but my husband who did once said that the moment he stepped on stage to start his varition in Theme and Vaariations "you knew that you were going to see a Great dancer". And it's not a description that he (the husband) uses lightly.