LinMM

The most stretching I do before a ballet class is to see if I can still touch my toes from the day before! And after the barre I often just like to get into what's called "hare pose" a version of "child's pose" from yoga where you kneel down(as opposed to kneel up) with knees spread out and toes touching and stretch body forward onto the floor. This opens up the lower back joints(lumbar area) which can sometimes get a little stiff after the barre. On a lighter note it also prevents you from seeing all the extraordinary stretches others.....usually younger members....are getting into!! I agree that for some people dropping down into splits(if only) isn't that much of a stretch.....for them.....however much I can't imagine this!! Ive never been able to do the splits properly not even when in my twenties but I did use to be able to put my leg up on the barre and lay flat out against it whereas these days just getting my leg up onto the barre and trying to stand up straight is a good after the barre stretch when I can face it!!

Thanks for above post. In the late sixties and early seventies I'm sure a number of people followed him because he was so handsome too!! I agree with what Deborah Bull said on the radio too about his physicality and masculine presence......well I was very young at the time! I saw him in the first productions of Dancing at a Gathering which I liked him in and of course the drunken role in Manon! And I'm sure in Fille too....when Alexander Grant was still dancing....this may have been with Lesley Collier or even Ann Jenner not sure now. I also liked Alfreda Thorogood who became his wife and during my last year at college (in 1969) had a picture of her on my wall there as one of the dancers I'd like to be like! I think this was the then Sadlers Wells touring company as I didn't got to ROH until 1972. It was really the RBS seventies dancers who I call "my generation" of dancers as the first lot I (and ballet friends) followed and had ones favourites etc !! And David Wall was definitely one of those. We went a lot then as it was only something like 50p to stand!!

Thanks will try to get to see it when next up in London.

What a beautiful statue I had no idea this existed do you know whereabouts on the Embankment it is?

Completely off topic but love your new piccie Quintus ....is that a long eared owl? Still trying to get my act together on the DVD's but I'd definitely go for Diana Vishneva in R and J if that's a possibility though I loved Fonteyn and Nureyev in the Macmillan version too.....but could settle for them in Marguerite and Armand if a DVD exists. I also love Month in the Country and saw the premier of this. So am seeing if this is on a compilation somewhere with hopefully Lynne Seymour Denise Nunn Wayne Sleep and Dowell ......can live in hope!!

This reminds me of one year we arrived back at my parents house who had two cats at the time after a relatives funeral. It was quite late about ten and were a bit annoyed to see all these books over the floor as assumed the cats had been chasing each other around. We made tea and were just settling down to mull over the days events when....I think it was my dad first.....who noticed a female blackbird sitting on the top book shelf! He managed to get hold of it.....I think it must have been exhausted.....and as it seemed intact took it out and put on garage roof. It eventually flew off. Poor thing.....don't know how long it had been trapped on the shelf with two cats trying to get at it!! We don't know how it got in...presumably one of the cats had brought it in and it had escaped up to the shelf...but a happy ending that time. afds .....my first cat was like that he would turn his back on you and get the hump if you upset him at all very unforgiving!!

Michelle I don't want to pre empt Drdance (or sound like some old granny) but you need to be careful with your knee. If you are having to wear a support on it you have stressed it in some way so perhaps leave out the extra plies at home for a while and just do those required by your ballet classes. You obviously have good fitness levels anyway and after all lots of people in their sixties go in for marathons and "ironman/lady competitions etc( I know one such lady personally and inspite of my ballet classes she can knock spots off me with her level of fitness) however you do have to listen to your body as you don't want to end up with a permanent or more serious injury. I don't agree though with the teacher who won't let anyone who is older regardless do pirouettes or other turns. Perhaps these were complete beginners? So then they do need to build up to turning.....but refusing point blank to teach or allow is not necessary in my opinion. Each individual should be assessed on their particular ability whatever their age.

Oh dear this is sad to hear and untimely too. He was from my generation of dancers, dancing with the Royal from when first started going as an adult in late sixties.

Oh no seeing all these lists is making it impossible just as you're nearly there someone comes up with one you've forgotten....got to have Rambert in there too for all sorts of reasons....help!

Is there a DVD with Dances at a Gathering (with Nureyev and Lynne Seymour Lesley Collier et al) with Marguerite and Armand....Nureyev and Fonteyn on the other side or this fantasy land again?

Forgot...Marieve have you seen the clip of Diana dancing with Shklyarov in R and J. Just trying to make decisions here whats wrong with the original number 8 Quintus?!

Yes Diana in Macmillans version of R and J would be a dream though I do like the Leonid Lavrosky version. Also Diana would be my favourite Nikiya from Bayadere.....going to,have to,be an awful long DVD if combined with modern works like F.L.O.W!! Nureyev would have to be in there somewhere....is there a DVD of the original cast of Dances at a Gathering anybody know.....I mean original cast for Royal Ballet version.

Going back to Anjuli again....yes I love the class to have all its sections and even though I'm not exactly what you would call that brilliant at it I do like the adage section to be there which is often missed out if too much time has been spent on pirouettes etc I find. It must be difficult for teachers to decide sometimes whether to stay with a particular section to "polish" up a bit if they sense that this is what is needed maybe on that day...or just continue to the next section and come back to the "polish" the following week. Sometimes if you do spend too long on one aspect you do tire and then start to get worse!! But good teachers can usually sense this in the class energy and know when enough is enough! So yes it does feel good having a balanced class. And ballet is such an ongoing process.....will we ever be perfect enough....I should imagine each person from beginner to starry professional feels the intangibility of this. But you can only have a go at your own level at any one moment in time and hope for the best! One thing I do like especially when at the barre is the explanation of which particular muscle groups are involved to execute an exercise.....not the names of the muscles just...where does the execution arise(seems to be the core muscles are important for most) is it the inside or outside muscles of the thigh which are needed. And what is happening with the supporting leg etc. For example in ronde de jambe a terre how do you maintain the turn out going from second position to the back when moving en dehors and how does this relate to supporting leg while executing and hip connection in all this etc. I do tend to like full explanations......at least in the more beginner level classes say...up to Intermediate level. Obviously there comes a time at more advanced level when the teacher is setting the class to be danced and expects students to know the basics.....but important at beginner or refresher levels I think.

Michelle by variation I just mean a dance within a whole piece .......both the ones we have been asked to look at are "variations" within the ballets. It's another name for a little dance sequence often a solo but not always. Perhaps the name variation came about because some dancers changed the original slightly to show off their own best "party pieces" steps. Now be careful Michelle as you are pirouetting across your studio and now out into your garden.....I seem to remember your garden backs onto a river!! Better keep off the vodka( only joking ) before practising!!

Love this so far Trouble is dont actually possess any Ballet DVD's. So will have to look at people's lists and pick from those....already seen one I want. Would love to have something with Diana Vishneva in. I don't suppose there is a DVD with a mixture of some of her more recent very modern works (I will have to check my Youtube favourite lists for name of modern work) with say Carmen on or R and J? Just in case someone knows off the top of their head!

Oh Alison!! They're so sweet!! I must admit if in an awkward place so you feel you can't go,about your normal business could be a nuisance but ah.....those little spotty cross looking faces....wasn't that worth just a little bit of a mess!!!

I agree that half the battle is a mental one!! One goes through various mind states all the time and if I'm in a less confident mood for some reason then there is that little condemning voice which tells you....you can't balance...can't turn ....can't do a decent arabesque or attitude and so on. On days like these I definitely will not be performing so well......if give in to this negativity. Some days you can get a grip on yourself and override these insecurities and just concentrate on the practice....then there is a bit of success and you feel better and your mood can even improve during the class but other days not so easy to do this.....especially if body is not 100per cent either. Sometimes you just feel very together.....perhaps the head connected to the body a bit more....and can really feel free to concentrate and get the best out of yourself. Then you definitely have more success in what you are doing. Then the inner voice is more friendly......you can do this if you give it your best shot....just stay focussed on the exercise....you'll be fine.....remember teachers advice on this....and so on. So yes mental state very important......and because one knows that staying positive is going to be helpful to ones practice I think there is a certain discipline involved here when taking part in any class to try to keep more connected to ones "up" side so to speak.

Little Cats Diary programmes Aileen? Do you know when these are being shown? Are they connected to this programme or a separate series?

Well I do sometimes....I must say. But it's usually okay after a good nights sleep. Some days I'm fine though. Do you ache anywhere in particular? I have various things which play up from time to time.....usually not together fortunately. At the moment it's the left groin area! I'm sure this came on after a particular twist with the foot up on the thigh after yoga last week. It's a nuisance as it will hang around for a few weeks now no doubt. It could also be because have been digging a lot on our allotment recently because my partner has been unwell. It's been fine for about 18 months now!! But one does get used to these things. My Cambridge friend is about to celebrate her 64th birthday at the weekend and we were saying only the other day could either of us remember when we last woke up without some pain or niggle somewhere in the body! And we couldn't!! If you haven't been back doing ballet that long it does take a time for the muscles to strengthen up though.

If Ihad another cat I would have it chipped definitely. Don't know whether there's a cat flap which could "read" the chip though......good idea it seems.....you could be on to something there! Dragons Den and all that!! I couldn't have a cat flap when living in London(on third floor) but I always got Toscar in at night. Occasionally.....usually on the hotter days in summer(where have they gone these days) I couldnt find him and then he would turn up at two in the morning on the bedroom side of block yowling loudly to be let in so not very nice for the neighbours! My parents had two cats and they always went to each others bowls just to check that one hadn't been given something the other hadn't just like kids really.

Reminds me of climbing up that last bit of St. Paul's Catherdral where there is a spiral staircase bit. It's much easier going up than down I can't remember if for all of it but I think I went down backwards for part of it. The trouble is you can see the distance down with the spiral bit which is a bit more vertigo inducing! Even walking down the Amphitheatre at Covent Garden gives me the heebie jeebies these days......don't know what happened to that tree climb-loving girl!!

Lots of points there Anjuli......have to dash out to class now but would like to go through some when more time. Just to say that enquiring about injuries joint probs etc is very important with older people especially the 50+ and 60+. I did have one teacher who when I first went back didn't seem to understand why I wouldn't attempt a full plié in the centre.....I had just about started again at the barre with these.....but (and in a nice way) I held my ground and refused to do them! I think if the centre is still at a fairly simple it's okay to keep changing the way steps are presented etc slightly each week however once just a little more complex routines are being learned it does help to run them over a few weeks I think.

In other words am likely to be hoofing it a bit on the day so will probably only do one. I'll keep looking at video and keep wishing I was Darcey no doubt! Also haven't much space here to practice at home at the moment.....my once clearer room is clogged up with things from the garage at the mo while that is undergoing an overhaul!! One of the apple trees we grow is called Darcey Spice which I chose because of its name.

That's very well put Moomin. Yes I suppose even in an Amateur production there is a difference (fine line as you put it) between someone who has left the choreography till the last minute because they just haven't thought about it(or maybe haven't had time to.....as amateurs do have other jobs etc) and someone who has thought a lot about it but may be agonising over a certain section etc and whether to change or not......sometimes in amateur situation because dancers may not be coping with it that well! Professional dancers will be much better and quicker in picking up new steps etc.....and should be ......they do an awful lot more dancing! Having enough rehearsal time in the actual place you are performing is often a problem for amateur productions but I guess.....for different reasons....this can be a prob in professional world too. Really sorry to misquote you Michelle but I think I got the gist of what you were saying and that you like to be very well prepared for courses and teachers are not giving you enough info. and quickly enough. Apart from weekly classes Ive done very few extra courses since returning to ballet as its only now have felt strong enough.....and these with Franziska who is extremely well organised as you can see so have not experienced so far what you have about lack of response and organisational skills etc. Will PM you nearer the next course date in July so we can meet up properly perhaps for a coffee before course starts? As for the August one do you think you will be able to,memorise those solos from just seeing the videos.....it's helpful to see the variations of course but not sure I'm up to it!! I tend to memorise by doing in the end and certainly won't be able to write all the steps down!!

Another useful aid in a non syllabus class is where in the centre practice for say an adagio or allegro section is repeated over a number of weeks (4 seems about right) before it is changed. This gives one time to get to grips with the sequences and to give it ones best shot at attempting to actually "dance". Yes being moved into correct position can be very helpful. I remember a teacher moving my body back (I had not realised I was so far forward even though had been told) at the barre. It felt very strange at first as felt as though I was leaning back now but the rest of the class was asked to confirm that I was now actually straight up (in a nice way) so this helped a lot in being more aware of being correctly placed over ones hips etc.