The Independent have the results of a survey of the most admired ballet dancers in the UK as judged by their peers. There is a lot of coverage for Alina Cojocaru and brief notes on the remaining 9: <P><B>The Top Brass: Perfect poise and the Nutcrackers who made critics' eyes water</B><BR>The 10 leading ballet dancers in Britain, as chosen by their peers<BR>Compiled by Kate Hilpern (through The Dancing Times)<P>Alina Cojocaru<P>Romanian-born Alina Cojocaru, 20, trained in Kiev before joining the Royal Ballet School in 1998. She returned to dance with Kiev Ballet for a year and then joined The Royal Ballet. Last year, still panting from a performance of Giselle, she was promoted on stage to become the youngest principal the London company has ever created.<P>Ballet critics enthuse about such moments. One said: "By the time Alina reached the second act ... you felt that history was watching over your shoulder. You sensed the ranks of great ballerinas who have previously performed the role jostling to make space for her. You felt that flukey thrill of being in exactly the right place at the right time."<P><A HREF="http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=282264" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

Well such lists are basically a bit of fun and should never be taken too seriously. I'm assuming that regular guests such as Agnes Oakes, Thomas Edur and Sylvie Guillem are excluded from consideration. <P>Some notable omissions include:<P>Johan Kobborg - bit difficult to see how he could be left out.<P>Darcey Bussell - on top form at the moment, but maybe the survey was carried out before she was fully back in action <P>Daria Klimentova - a superb dancer<P>When i comes to personal choices I would always include:<P>Ricardo Cervera - a young Royal Ballet dancer whose performances are always a delight.<P>Yat Sen Chang - whose infectious joy at dancing permeates his performances and can spin like a top.<P>Please feel free to add your own thoughts or your own top 10. There won't be a right one or a wrong one of course.<p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited April 08, 2002).]