Russians, catsuits and catwalks

It's easy to miss dance posts in the Guardian Arts blog (great site - but you need to be very purposeful to find the bits you want). Here's one from Judith Mackrell made before the Christmas holiday:

"I don't remember a year when so many productions (of The Nutcracker) have been performed by visiting Russian companies....The proliferation of visiting companies makes life hard for touring British companies like English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, who regularly find that their natural markets have been saturated, or disaffected, by Russian companies getting in before them."

Guardian Arts Blog


And a response from Luke Jennings to Mackrell's posting:

"Some of these Russian shows are truly hideous. Naff, depressing productions which will effectively inoculate young audiences against ballet for life. The problem is, as you say, they'll do it cheap. And theatre managements aren't always in a position to make informed choices. It's a real problem."

And a delicious Guardian post I missed: Catsuits on the catwalk about the revival of Vogueing in a south London nightclub.

"The very first person, wearing an astoundingly elaborate creation topped off by a foot-high wig, set the tone by falling straight down the stairs. Clearly, rather than practising their amazing dance moves, most of the walkers had instead put on the most outrageous outfit possible, swallowed their bodyweight in booze and decided to wing it. This is no doubt when Craig Revel Horwood gave most of the walkers two or three out of 10."