Yaffa

Overseas groups can now book tickets (minimum 8-10 per performance) for the December Paris Opera Ballet School demonstrations. (Online booking for individual tickets starts on 8th October.) I've made provisional group reservations for the morning and afternoon performances of all three dates. These must be paid for by 30th September or else the reservations will be cancelled. Ticketing only happens after payment- so the sooner the tickets are paid for, the better. Anyone who knows me is welcome to join the group, If you don't know me, I can give details of alternative group bookings - Just drop me a PM. NB: I'm not making anything myself on these bookings but can't afford to lose anything either. So everyone must pay for their own ticket in advance, though I'm happy to help with the logistics. I also have quite a lot of info about cheap flights, buses, ferries, rideshares, Eurostar and places to stay if anyone's interested. Last year folks travelling to Paris for the weekend preferred to do their own thing in France - but if anyone would like to meet up with some Paris ballet school families, let me know. Eurostar has just started a sale of £59 return from London to Paris, with good availability around the dates of the performances. The £59 fare will be advertised widely tomorrow, so best to book quickly (http://www.eurostar.com). Unfortunately, promotional Eurostar individual reservations can't be cancelled, changed or passed on to someone else. With Eurostar group reservations, you book a certain number of tickets (minimum 10) and then can give Eurostar the names of passengers in your group just the day before you travel. So if your plans change, you can pass the ticket on to someone else with no penalty. Normally group Eurostar rates are cheaper than individual ones and with better payment terms (which are now slightly different for companies and groups of friends). But for December, they are more expensive than the promotional rate for individual tickets. I won't be making a group Eurostar reservation but just spoke with their groups dept and can pass on some info to anyone who's considering this option. If you're travelling from England to France in December, bear in mind that in several recent years, transport was serously disrupted because of bad snow. So if you're planning to attend the morning performances, it's best to arrive at least the day before. Yaffa

Travelodge (http://www.travelodge.co.uk) has just started a sale of £12 rooms for Jan-March, 2013. (The sale officially starts at 6 a.m. UK time, and it's not yet mentioned on the Travelodge home page, But if you search for dates between Jan and March 2013, you should already see the discounted rooms.) But - unfortunately, Travelodge is having serious financial problems, and plans to sell off some of their hotels and seriously alter their arrangements with other hotels etc... Before booking and deciding which type of card to use, you might want to check out: http://www.moneysavi...ells-off-hotels NB: Another particularly good travel deal mentioned in today's monesavingexpert.com tip: This week's Sunday Telegraph (£2) will feature a code to receive a £10 discount on train tickets at www.redspottedhanky.com .There will apparently be only a limited number discounts - but they will be available not just to new redspottedhanky.com customers, but also to people who already registered and obtained a £10 signup discount in the past. http://www.moneysavi...ket-deals#rsh10 Yaffa (just passing on info - no ties to any of the above companies)

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All the items have now been taken. Yaffa

This has now gone - except for the leotard and character skirt. Yaffa

I found a large bag of discarded ballet items at a second-hand stall on my recent travels. A young dancer took the items which interested her and the following are left: Probably not worth posting them separately, but I'm happy to give the bag with all the remaining contents to anyone who can collect it at one of the Linbury RBS performances this week (no charge): 2 1/2 rolls of pink ballet thread. Looks rather pale (faded?), but still seems to be strong. 10 sets of pink satin ribbons (Looks as though they were sewn on shoes in the past). Different thicknesses and shades of pink Set of needles and thimble in zip-up case with picture of a dancer (with space for small scissors, missing) 12 ballet greeting cards, newish (some with slight smudges). Different sizes, no envelopes 8 fine brown hairnets and three thicker brown ones (look like new but can't be sure) pink leotard in good condition with short sleeves, no skirt/frill/belt. No label at all. Maybe for age 11-12? ; character skirt (hand-made?), looks around the same size 2 pink hairbands bag with hair accessories (hairclips, slides etc.) two sheets of dance stickers tambourine Yaffa

Maybe Nana Lily is referring to Scott Alan Prouty, head of music and musical expression at the POB school. I believe that even the youngest POB students take and greatly enjoy his classes in musical expression. And the song-and-dance part of the annual POB demonstrations in December (usually the finale of the younger students' performance) always goes down well with audiences too. Yaffa

More interesting activities organised by Pavlova 2012/LJCC fusion: Morning and afternoon sessions can be booked separately (Full day: £40; morning only: £20; afternoon only: £25). The morning has a Cecchetti-style class taught by Anita Young with RBS students and a talk on Pavolova by Clement Crisp. In the afternoon, there's an Interlude of ballet music played by Philip Gammon. Then Tamara Rojo and Gerald Dowler will discuss 'Pavlova and the modern ballerina.' http://www.ljcc.org....-ivy-house.html (Won't be able to make this myself, but if anyone's interested in a rideshare with a friend from Manchester, returning right after the afternoon event, please drop me an email/PM - The public transport options aren't ideal.) Yaffa

If there is a tall person sitting in front and shuffling round isn't possible - you might want to ask the tallest standing person if he/she would like to swap. Particularly after the interval, standing folks often welcome a chance to sit down. Yaffa

Sorry, forgot to say that in addition to the above, the WL Museum offers its own free tours with free Park and Ride service (from Sheen Gate) throughout the school year. Details on the RBS website: http://www.royal-ballet-school.org.uk/wlm_visitor_info.php?s=3 Last time I visited, they had several new collections on display. Yaffa

If anyone can't make this event - the LJCC Fusion and Pavlova 2012 are organising a WL museum tour (also with transport - from Ivy House) on 28th June. This one costs £25. From the LJCC website: http://www.ljcc.org.uk/events/2099-white-lodge-museum-tour.html: Our excursion will include a visit to the Ballet Museum, a tour of the School and a talk by Museum curator Anna Meadmore on Anna Pavlova and the Fred Step - the link between Pavlova and British ballet. Yaffa

Just saw that Pavlova 2012 and LJCC Fusion are running two one-day courses. Not cheap (£85 per day), but the fee covers training, costume hire, food etc. 3rd June http://www.ljcc.org....fairy-doll.html An opportunity for dance students aged 7 upwards to work alongside dancers from The Royal Ballet and their Ballet Mistress Ursula Hageli to create one of Anna Pavlova’s favourite ballets from scratch. 7th August http://www.ljcc.org....-for-a-day.html The ideal holiday treat for ballet students aged 7-18 A unique opportunity to join Ballet Mistress Ursula Hageli, and dancers from the Royal Ballet in the creation of a short production of Sleeping Beauty. Yaffa

Three interesting events which I just saw on the RBS website: http://www.royal-bal...rg.uk/wl_museum : To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, White Lodge Museum is presenting a programme of public events to celebrate the rich heritage of White Lodge, a Grade 1 listed royal hunting lodge commissioned by George I in 1727, and home of The Royal Ballet School since 1955. Thursday 3 May, 7.30pm (doors 6.30pm) ‘Let Everyone Sing and Dance’ A concert of 18th Century ballet music by Janiculum (soprano, tenor, violin, cello and harpsichord), including Handel, Bononcini, JC Bach, Pasquali and Anfossi, in the Salon at White Lodge. www.janiculum.co.uk White Lodge Museum will be open from 6.30pm and during the interval £15 (£8 concessions), includes a glass of wine. Booking online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/whitelodgemuseum Thursday 7 June, 7.30pm (doors 6.30pm) Adorning nature: beauty and utility in Humphry Repton’s garden for White Lodge An evening of illustrated talks in the Salon at White Lodge, with tour of the gardens. Catharine Ward Thompson, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh, will explore the aesthetic theories behind the 18th Century English Landscape Garden Style. Chris Sumner, London Parks and Gardens Trust, will consider Richmond Park and surrounding aristocratic estates as a royal hunting landscape. White Lodge Museum will be open from 6.30pm and during the interval £12.50 (£6.50 concessions), includes a glass of wine. Booking online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/whitelodgemuseum Saturday 9 June, 11.00am, last entry 4.00pm Diamond Jubilee Open Day Admission and all events are free of charge. Free parking. No dogs please. Drop in to White Lodge, bring a picnic, and enjoy a variety of royal activities. Take a guided tour of the historic Fine Rooms and White Lodge Museum to learn about the lives of past royal occupants; enjoy historical dance workshops in the garden; and hear from ‘Lieutenant Des Barres of the 60th Regiment of Foot’ about King George II’s military campaigns of 1759. A shuttle bus will be running between White Lodge and Marble Hill House. For further information please email: museum@royalballetschool.co.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 8392 8440 (option 7) [edited for clarity - YJS]

Today, they released rooms for London in December (amongst other dates - see their Facebook pages for the latest). I just helped a couple of people to get £9 rooms for weekends in December, making it possible to return from Paris on the Eurostar/budget airline flight late at night after seeing the Paris Opera Ballet School demonstrations (2nd/9tth/22nd December), then going up North the following day. Yaffa

A new Tunes (budget) hotel will be opening soon in King's Cross, and they will be selling 1,000 rooms for stays between 9th July, 2012 and 28th Feb, 2013 starting today (18th April) at noon. Instead of releasing all the cheap rooms in one go, they'll be doing so in dribs and drabs between 18th and 23rd April. Moneysavingexpert.com has further details: http://www.moneysavi...otel-sales#tune You can only get one room per person at this rate and bookings are non-transferrable. As well as being useful for folks attending London ballet activities etc., this hotel is very close to the Eurostar station. Yaffa (just passing on the info - no ties to any of the above)

Sorry, I meant to say that there is little availability in central London in December. There is still quite a bit of availability outside central London (Ealing, Park Royal, Kew Bridge, Wembley, Fulham, Heathrow etc.) in December, but I expect that will change soon. Yaffa

Dates for the 2012-2013 performances in Paris were recently released, though booking doesn't start for several months: a) Annual school 'Demonstrations' 2nd (Sun), 9th (Sun) and 22nd (Sat) December As usual, the performances on all three dates are the same, featuring students in the lower divisions at 10:30 a.m. and those in the upper divisions grades at 14:30 p.m. Gives an incredible insight into the school's system of training... Annual school 'Spectacle' 17th (Wed) and 18th (Thurs) April, 2013 In addition to the above annual events, there will be two other interesting events next April: c) The school's 300th anniversary performance 15th April, 2013 (Mon) and d) Gala with several other international ballet schools (including RBS) 20th April, 2013 (Sat) Further details of all the above at: http://www.operadepa...llets/index.php Apparently, all the above performances will offer advance booking for groups. Despite bureaucratic hurdles, I've found the POB group booking system (and Eurostar group booking system) very useful. I'm awaiting clarification about some changes - Will post the details when I have them. Yaffa

For folks hoping to attend winter ballet performances etc. - the Travelodge sale has started (as usual,earlier than announced) with quite a lot of availability, though not much in London (apart from 25th December). http://www.travelodge.co.uk If you don't yet see the details of the sale on the home page, click on the link to 'find our lowest price.' Details of the above and others at: http://www.moneysavi...als/hotel-sales No connection to any of the above - just passing on the info. Yaffa (apologising for not sending this earlier - Am catching up after some difficult months and will try to send a couple of related messages over the next few days).

Travelodge's sale (www.travelodge.co.uk) has started a few hours earlier than expected, with rooms throughout the UK (and Spain) from £10 from 1st April to 31st August. Some good ballet dates, though the London rooms are going fast (and there's of course nothing round the Olympics). If you don't yet see the details of the sale on the home page, click on the link to 'find our lowest prices.' Yaffa (no connection to Travelodge) [Edited to correct typo]