Lynette H

Clement Crisp has reviewed this for the FT - you should be able to find this by a search on www.ft.com/home/uk/

The designs for Sir Peter Wright's version for BRB were by Philip Prowse, I think I thought the designs were beautiful, lots of red and gold for the court. They do look darker in the pictures in this link than I remember on stage. http://www.brb.org.uk/masque/bin/index.htm...ery&urn=120

To celebrate the 75th birthday of Hans van Manen, there is a festival of his works running for a few weeks in Sept 2007 in Amsterdam. Companies participating include Dutch National Ballet, NDT1, San Francisco Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet, and dancers from the Kirov. Sofiane Sylve of DNB / NYCB appears. More details at the web site (English version) http://www.het-nationale-ballet.nl/index.p...ason_next&s=210 The Edinburgh Festival showcased van Manen's work some time back in the 90s in a similar kind of format, with a number of different companies appearing on the same programme. A good way to catch up on different companies.

Darcey Bussell is appearing at Sadlers Wells in May in a Farewell programme (she will still have a few performances with the Royal in early June after that). It is presented by George Piper Dances and includes appearances by Roberto Bolle, Jonathan Cope , Tamara Rojo, William Trevitt, Michael Nunn and Ed Watson. Details at http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats_on/2006_...ey_farewell.asp Includes pas de deux from In the Middle (Forsythe) and Tryst (Wheeldon - with Cope) plus Winter Dreams. Tickets went on sale today and are going very fast. Please move this posting if it's not in the correct place.

The masterclasses (and some other programs) are now viewable at the BBC web site. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/tchaikovsky/video/ Well worth seeing. Watching Monica Mason run three different Carabosses through a scene was quite instructive, seeing how she developed individuality in each of them. Dowell and Sibley take Pennefather and Cutherbertson through some of Swan Lake act 2 (they make their debuts in May). Dowell coaches Acosta in the prince's Act 2 solo in beauty (lovely snippet of archive film of him in the role). Peter Wright is the coach for the Nucracker.

It is a very handsome production with gorgeous red and gold designs. It includes a good deal of mime. The Lilac Fairy here is a character rather than a dancing role. Very much worth seeing if you can.

You may be interested in the various TV broadcasts noted here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/tcha...vschedule.shtml Includes Royal Ballet Masterclasses and a Kirov Swan Lake broadcast, plus Sleeping Beauty

I don't think anyone has mentioned a British example which may have been in Wheeldon's mind as he was formulating his plans - George Piper Dances, a small company founded by William Trevitt and Michael Nunn. They were originally with the Royal, left to join K Ballet in Japan, and later decided to do their own thing. The company has only ever had a handful of dancers on a shifting basis - maximum five, I think. GPD has commissioned or acquired work from a number of choreographers. They probably don't get reported here much as much of the work is not ballet, but one ballet that they did commission a couple of years ago was Mesmerics from Wheeldon, which I enjoyed very much - rather more than some of his higher profile commissions in fact. GPD always give the impression of having a lot of fun and working with the people they really want to. From their last programme note last autumn, I noted that they had plans to follow Wheeldon to Russia and make a documentary film about his latest commission there. (Is this the Wheeldon Hamlet that the Bolshoi are due to bring to London next summer ?)

The Chance to Dance programme which has been running for more than ten years now at the ROH may be of interest http://info.royaloperahouse.org/Education/...?ccs=815&cs=936 You need to scroll down to see how many students are currently in training as a result of this.

The Playhouse is (by UK standards) a very large venue, but not, I find, a very inviting one. I think it was a cinema at one point. The stage is wide but shallow. The public areas are very cramped and poorly lit. The rear stalls can feel a very long way from the stage. Middle is best - the very front is a bit low for a good look at the feet. You might be better off in the circle. The audotorium is fairly wide, so if you are off to one side you may have a poor view.

Not about boats, but on a related note , in pantomime as it exists in the UK, the convention is that good enters from stage right and the villain from stage left. This is supposed to go right back to mediaeval mystery plays and where the entrances to heaven and hell were conventionally positioned on the stage. I am trying to think whether Ashton's Cinderella (a work with some elements drawn from that tradition like the ugly sisters played by men) has the fairy godmother enter from the "correct" side but I can't quite call it up right now.

SFB at the Edinburgh Festival ? I'd love to see them there again, but isn't it the Suzanne Farrell Ballet appearing there with Don Q this year ? Or are you talking about future plans ?

It wasn't Ashton in this particular production. I was there at the RB performance that was filmed in 1994 with Durante as Aurora. The opening credits state "Choreography: Marius Petipa Production Anthony Dowell assisted by Christopher Carr". The detailed credits in the small print on the cast list are: "The Choreography for the fee des Lilas Variation in the prologue is by Feodor Lopokov; the Garland dance in Act I, Kenneth MacMillan; Aurora's Variation and the Prince's Variation in Act II and the Sapphire Variation in Act III, Frederick Ashton; entree and coda in the Act III pas de quatre Anthony Dowell after Frederick Ashton" I hope the credits given are as detailed in the new production.

"With 1,800 seats, the new opera house is perfect for many companies who may find NYST (almost 3,000 seats) too big." So what is the ideal size of a house for ballet ? Is the ideal size aesthetically not the same as the ideal size from the financial point of view ? And how does it differ in different countries and for companies ? (There are only a few venues in the UK as large as 3000 seats - for example the Edinburgh Playhouse - and I find I don't like them much).

Paul, I'm rather intrigued by this Makarova / Ashton version of Swan Lake as originally done for ENB. I can't find anything about it on the ENB web site, and the earliest ENB Swan Lake production I recall (and there have been many....) was by Raisa Struchkova complete with soviet-style happy ending, which would have been around in the early 90s I think, before the Deane versions. When was the version you are referring to here made - would it be the 1980s ? Maybe around the same time as ENB took on Ashton's version of Romeo and Juliet ? just curious......

I realise this isn't about ballet, but it's very easy to see how the same issue would affect any ballet company touring the US. "One of Britain's leading symphony orchestras has been forced to scrap an American tour, partly because of the "mind-blowing palaver" and cost of securing visas for 100 players and staff. The Manchester-based Hallé had been due to visit the US next year for two concerts, including one at the Lincoln centre in New York, the country's principal classical music venue. But managers said yesterday they had cancelled the tour when they realised that the cost of arranging the visas, estimated at £45,000, would render the trip uneconomic." http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1742626,00.html More from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4860392.stm Please move this if you think this isn't the right forum.

Just to confuse the picture further, Deane also did a further production of Swan Lake for ENB in the UK which toured more conventional theatrical spaces - the proscenium arch version as oppoosed to the arena version. This version includes Ashton's pas de quatre and Neapolitan dances. I expect the version you will get depends on the venue.

The other female role (the pianist) is more of an acting than a dancing role. At the ROH this role was undertaken by Zenaida Yanowsky and Deidre Chapman (in different casts). Yanowsky really made something of the character. The Lesson is a violent and creepy piece. I wouldn't have imagined that it would appeal much to Amercican audiences, but maybe all the Four Kings want to get in touch with their inner psychopath.....

How tall is she ?

As Leigh says, SFB are well known in the UK. SFB have visited the UK five times in almost as many years, bringing a very generous selection of work, nicely chosen to show the strengths of the company. They have made a very positive impression, and I hope they will be coming back. They gave the impression of a very cohesive company with a very succesful AD. Other US companies have visited, but not to the same extent - ABT not for, what, maybe 20 years or so. NYCB came to the Edinburgh Festival a few years back - the second time was an all Diamond project bill.

Sorry to hear you're financially embarrassed right now, as the theatre in Cardiff is superb and you would have seen the Kirov in a far superior (and cheaper) setting than in London where the seat prices are sky high and sight lines in the Royal Opera House are atrocious. Well done the Welsh!!! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm surprised you think that the Kirov seats is Cardiff are cheap. Most of them (even in the second circle) seem to be 55 pounds. As a result a number of performances have not sold well at all. I hope this doesn't put the Kirov off from returning to the UK in future.

I didn't see her either. But I can answer the odd question. I understand that she did do Ondine, which was described as quite different from Fonteyn - "pre-Raphaelite" in style. There is a snippet of film of Beriosova dancing Persephone in the recent DVD Ashton to Stravinsky, which was shown at the Linbury recently in their Ashton lecture series - a very striking pose balanced on her partner's thigh. I also recall a film (truly deadful quality) of the pdd from Lady and the Fool, also shown on one occasion in the Linbury. So there are little bits and pieces out there. I'm sure others can answer your questions about seeing her in performance. Mention of her name does elict some very wistful stares into the distance at Covent Garden.

Dark Elegies is still in the rep of Rambert Dance Company, and they will be performing it at Sadler's Wells in May. I understand their version has some differences from ABT's version.

Well, I'd love to see Monotones II as well, and I'm in London. Believe it or not, this has become something of a rare event on the main stage - it's been a number of years since it was featured. (BRB are touring it this spring, though I think). Certainly sounds more intersting than some of the rest of the programme. The Eyes That Gently Touch featured in last year's RB school performance - not a particularly interesting work. That performance also had a work from Robert Hill, which might be the same was this one - if the costuming is very dark and the stage is so gloomy you can barely see them, then that's the one.

I would never have made the connection between those two dancers. I find the line of Duprot's neck and shoulders very distintive and rather odd.