Indeed - good for him. That is an incredible statement by Pappano - (a) that he said it and (b) that he thought it was an acceptable thing to say.

<img src="http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/covers/2003/09/10/fourhouses.jpg" alt="" />

Aria codes
Michael Berkeley, former board member of Covent Garden, examines Susan Gilbert and Jay Shir's history of Covent Garden, La Scala, Vienna and the Met, "A Tale of Four Houses"

The Guardian I felt strongly, as the only musician on the board, that I had a special responsibility to players, singers and in particular to the Royal Ballet, which tends to get marginalised. True to form, the ballet hardly warrants a mention in this book and yet it is an indispensable and vibrant half of what Covent Garden is all about.

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I get as sick as the proverbial parrot over this attitude to ballet. In the past the Royal Ballet was a far more successful entity than the opera company and whereas the ballet was tasting international glory in the 1940's, the opera struggled with frequently mediocre performances for well over a decade. Credit where it’s due please!

Who's in the house?
How many new stages does it take to change the Royal Opera House? Deborah Bull thinks she knows.

By Charlotte Higgins for The Guardian

There is more than one auditorium at the Royal Opera House. The Linbury Studio Theatre, seating
400 (with standing room for 30), is the less glamorous little sister of the chic main stage. In fact, when the plans were first drawn up for the House's revamp, the Linbury did not even figure - it was rushed in at a late stage under pressure from ROH funders the Arts Council. The Linbury was a compromise, and it shows: the acoustic requires careful handling, the seats are uncomfortable, and the low capacity has made it hard for visiting companies to cover their costs.

You might say it was something of a lost opportunity.

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<small>[ 18 September 2003, 04:46 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

The Royal Ballet has just announced revised casting for booking period 1. According to the following press release from the ROH website the Kirov's Daria Pavlenko is going to guest with the Royal Ballet to cover Darcey Bussell's performances of La Bayadere.

Royal Ballet Press Releases
Booking Period One Cast Changes



PRESS RELEASE 19 SEPTEMBER

BOOKING PERIOD ONE
CAST CHANGES

Following the announcement that Royal Ballet Principal dancer Darcey Bussell is expecting her second child, the following cast changes have been made in Booking Period one.

Daria Pavlenko from The Kirov Ballet will dance the role of Nikiya in Natalia Makarova’s production of La Bayadère on 21 and 31 October 2003.

Principal dancer Zenaida Yanowsky will replace Darcey Bussell in George Balanchine’s
The Four Temperaments on 15 (evening), 21, 25 and 27 November 2003.

Principal dancer Tamara Rojo will dance the title role in the new production of
Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella on 26 (matinee) and 31 December.

Daria Pavlenko was born in Moscow and graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in the class of Prof. Elena Evteyeva. She joined the Mariinsky Theatre in 1996 and became a Soloist in 1998. Her repertoire includes Aurora/Lilac Fairy/Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, Clemence/Grannd pas classique in Raymonda, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Nikiya/Gamzatti/Pas de trios in La Bayadère, Grand pas (variation) in Paquita, Moyna/Zulme in Giselle, A Young Woman
in Chemiakin’s The Nutcracker. She also dances the Pas de trios in le Corsaire, and in
Chopiniana, Serenade, Apollo, Symphony in C, Middle Duo, Le poème de l’extase and
Jewels (Rubies/Emeralds/Diamonds). In 2001 she was awarded the Soul of Dance prize
by “Ballet” magazine. In 2003 she was specially chosen to recreate the role of Nikiya in
Sergei Vikharev’s restoration of the original 1900 production of La Bayadère.

Janine Limberg,
Head of Ballet Press
Simon Magill,
Ballet Press Officer
Tel: 020 7212 9165 / 9241
Fax: 020 7212 9725
janine.limberg@roh.org.uk simon.magill@roh.org.uk

Here is a VERY interesting subject. A list of salaries of the chief executives of UK charities has just been published and the average pay for a CE in the charity sector is £79,805.

Of course some executives earn less than this sum and some earn more. One earns CONSIDERABLY more. Tony Hall, the chief executive of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden earns a whacking £205,000 per year. That's approximately eight and a half times the national average and puts him in the top 1% of UK earners.

Any comments, anyone?

Details and interview courtesy of the Guardian.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/salarysurvey/story/0,12406,1043975,00.html

Opera's aversion to dance is misplaced
By Belinda Taylor for The Financial Times

Sir, John Percival's letter ("Opera and dance companies out of step", September 6) struck a chord, followed as it was by Andrew Clark's article (September 9) announcing that Raymond Gubbay, "scourge of the opera establishment", is setting up his own unsubsidised company in a challenge to Covent Garden and English National Opera.

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Our correspondent Katie Phillips has a piece published in the Dancing Times. Well done Katie!

<img src="http://www.dancing-times.co.uk/Pics/dancingtimes/200310/cover.jpg" alt="" />
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
The yearly education scheme of the Royal Opera House ‘Behind the Scenes’ allowed for a group of thirty 18-22 year olds to meet, mingle and really experience what life is like for the employees that make up the working team of the ROH. There was a diverse range of backgrounds and interests from students and recent graduates in all areas of the arts from languages and law to music and dance. Katie Phillips got to try out every aspect of a working day in an average working week at the Opera House for The Dancing Times.

It all started with the Bonding Session at 2pm on Sunday.

Head of Adult and Community Learning, Mike Spencer, led us through a few “ice breaking” games. We threw egg shakers and plastic fruit around whilst trying to remember each other’s names, and also sang a Zulu song complete with stamping gestures as we paraded indelicately around the large, light Fonteyn studio – definitely an activity designed to get us talking!

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The ROH has been updated with casting for 'Romeo and Juliet' next spring.

Online Now - Ballet and Opera
Romeo and Juliet





(2003):
30 October at 7.30pm
6 November at 2pm
6 | 7 | 19 | 24 November at 7.30pm
6 December at 7pm

(2004):
31 March at 2.30pm
31 March at 7.30pm
3 | 12 April at 7pm
7 | 10 | 15 | 16 April at 7.30pm
12 April at 2pm

Casting (2003):
30 | 7 Nov
Tamara Rojo, David Makhateli

6 Nov Mat
Mara Galeazzi, Frederico Bonelli

6 Nov Eve
Miyako Yoshida, Inaki Urlezaga

19 Nov Eve
Alina Cojocaru, Johan Kobborg

24 Nov | 6 December
Leanne Benjamin, Viacheslav Samodurov

Casting (2004):
31 March Mat
15 April
Mara Galeazzi, Frederico Bonelli

31 March Eve
12 April Eve
Alina Cojocaru, Roberto Bolle

3 | 7 | 10 April
Sylvie Guillem, Nicolas Le Riche

12 April Mat
16 April
Lauren Cuthbertson, Edward Watson

Approx. running time: 3 hours

Revival sponsored (2001) by The British Land Company PLC
and The Friends of Covent Garden


I guess I am not the only one looking forward to Lauren's and Edward's debuts.

I hope someone will attend and report on the October 18th matinee. Thanks!

The company once renowned for its 'Englishness' has bravely recruited a multinational group of male dancers. Ismene Brown reports

more...

The ROH has released further revised casting for
booking periods 2 and 3. According to the following press release from the ROH website quite a variety of dancers get to cover Darcey Bussell's scheduled performances.

CAST CHANGES

Following the announcement that Royal Ballet Principal dancer Darcey Bussell is expecting her second child, the following changes have been made to the advertised casting.

Giselle
24th and 31st January
Leanne Benjamin replaces Darcey Bussell

Agon
4th, 21st (mat) and 25th February
Jaimie Tapper* replaces Darcey Bussell

Agon
19th and 23rd February
Lauren Cuthbertson* replaces Jaimie Tapper

Symphony in 'C'
28th January, 19th & 23rd February
Zenaida Yanowsky replaces Darcey Bussell

The Sleeping Beauty
7th March (mat) - Roberta Marquez and Ivan Putrov replace Darcey Bussell and Roberto Bolle
13th(eve) March - Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg replace Darcey Bussell and Roberto Bolle

Romeo & Juliet
31st(eve) March, 12th(eve) April
Alina Cojocaru replaces Darcey Bussell

Spectre de la Rose
8th, 13th, 17th May
Tamara Rojo* replaces Darcey Bussell

* London debut in role with The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House

Janine Limberg,
Head of Ballet Press
Simon Magill,
Ballet Press Officer
Tel: 020 7212 9165 /9241
Fax: 020 7212 9725

E-janine.limberg@roh.org.uk
simon.magill@roh.org.uk

<img src="http://www.dancing-times.co.uk/Pics/dancingtimes/200312/cover.jpg" alt="" />

Balances and Attitudes
Interview with Tony Hall by Gerald Dowler for The Dancing Times

It is now two and a half years since Tony Hall took over from Michael Kaiser as the Chief Executive (now Executive Director) of the Royal Opera House. He came from the BBC where he had been Director of News and had been instrumental in modernising a news service which had been losing both its integrity and audience – a track record which many would see as ideal training for running Covent Garden. He is a genial man, who, since his arrival, has added both delight and excitement with the ballet to his long-standing love of opera.

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Viewfinder: Mara Galeazzi
Former dancer Johan Persson captures raw moments of intimacy at the Royal Ballet, writes Ismene Brown for The Daily Telegraph.


The shock of being raped in Kenneth MacMillan's ferocious ballet The Judas Tree ricochets through Mara Galeazzi's body. She's vomiting with the trauma, eyes wide with terror as an indistinct male body leaps in a blur of testosterone-fuelled elation.

Capturing dance motion in a photograph is easy now, but capturing the decisive moment of drama or grace that brings dance its power as a theatrical experience is quite another matter.

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