October 2006 Newsletter
This newsletter is being sent early because of the change of venue for the October meeting.

At our second meeting of the new season, we welcomed Tara Bhavnani and Jonathan Watkins. Hotfoot from Highgrove, where the Company had been entertained for the day by Prince Charles, they regaled members with exploits from this year’s tour to Boston, Washington, Madrid and Turkey, as well as giving us some insight into their training and careers, so far. So animated were they, the role of interviewer was almost redundant!

For members unable to attend meetings, a summary is made available on our website, www.balletassociation.co.uk once the report has been checked by the guest speaker. If you do not have access to the internet and would like a copy of a report on any meeting, please send a stamped, addressed envelope to Joan Seaman, our membership secretary, at 56 Turney Road, London SE21 8LU.

Future meetings
As indicated in our last newsletter, on Wednesday 4 October, we continue our celebration of The Royal Ballet’s 75th Anniversary with a very special guest, Dame Beryl Grey. Beryl needs no introduction, being one of those whose name is synonymous with British Ballet. Making her debut with the Company when fourteen, she danced her first Odette/Odile in 1942, aged fifteen. Beryl will speak of her career, including her time at the Bolshoi and as Director of London Festival Ballet, as well as speaking about her involvement with the companies in recent years.

N.B We are pleased to announce that we have been able to acquire The Clore Studio for this meeting. Tickets will be sold on the night at the desk in the box office at the Royal Opera House, next to the collection point for pre-paid tickets. Please note that they will be £1 more than usual (Members £4, Concessionary Members £3, Guests £8). As usual, the talk will start at 7.30 p.m. Tickets will be available from 6.00p.m.

Meetings, unless otherwise stated, begin at 7.30 p.m. and are held at the Swedenborg Hall, off Bloomsbury Way (nearest tube Holborn). Doors open at 6.30 p.m. Admission: Members £3, Concessionary Members £2, Guests £7. The Swedenborg Hall seats a maximum of 100 people, so turn up early to be sure of getting in.

Annual General Meeting
The meeting on Thursday 16 November will be preceded by our AGM. Consequently the evening’s proceedings will commence at 6.45pm.

Agenda
1. Apologies
2. Minutes of previous Annual General Meeting
3. Matters Arising
4. Chairman’s Report
5. Financial Report
6. Election of Committee
7. Any Other Business
At this meeting we shall be electing Honorary Officers and Committee Members. The current Committee is David Bain ( Chairman and Organising Secretary), Joan Seaman (Membership Secretary), Melanie Shipton (Treasurer), Sylvia Tyler, Geoffrey Griffiths, Liz Bouttell, Rachel Holland, Belinda Taylor and Brian Don, who was seconded to the committee earlier in the year. Kenneth Leadbeater (Deputy Chairman and Reporting Secretary) resigned from the committee in July for personal reasons. All others have indicated that they will stand for re-election. Association members wishing to nominate candidates for election should write to the Chairman, David Bain, by Thursday 9th November, using a copy of the attached nomination form. No nomination can be received at the AGM. Candidates for election must be proposed and seconded, in writing, by members of the Association. Anyone interested in joining the committee should phone David to discuss what it entails. If we have more than one nomination an election will be held. .

Provisional dates for the rest of next season are: Friday 15 December, Thursday 18 January, Thursday 22 February, Thursday 15 March, Wednesday 11 April, Wednesday 16 May, Thursday 14 June, Thursday 12 July. Please note these dates are provisional. They will be changed, if they clash with ballet events at the Opera House. There may be some additional dates added later. NB The date of the December meeting is different from that originally given.


Annual Dinner 2006 - Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of The Royal Ballet
Photographs taken during the Annual Dinner are available for members to purchase at £2 a copy (7”x5”). An album of these is available at meetings and some will be placed on our website.
News

News
The Royal Ballet has announced that Miyako Yoshida has become a Principal Guest Artist from the start of this season. Miyako is joining K-Ballet in Japan, but will continue to dance with The Royal Ballet for this and future seasons. Donations towards a present for Miyako can be given at meetings.

Annie Carrol from the Royal Ballet School, Mathias Dingman from the United States and Celine Gittens from Canada have joined Birmingham Royal Ballet. Members may have seen Celine, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, at last year’s Genée competition, where she won the gold award and the audience vote. We wish them all a successful career in Birmingham.

Membership
If you haven’t already done so, please renew your membership. Please return the renewal form to Joan Seaman, as soon as possible, but not later than the end of October. There has been no rise to membership fees this year. Concessionary members should indicate which concession applies. This information will help us in analysing the profile of our membership. The November newsletter will be the last received by those who fail to renew their membership.

Ballet Russes
In our last newsletter we included details of the Ballet Russes DVD. We hope to have copies as raffle prizes at our October meeting thanks to Revolver Entertainment. We forgot to include details of their website: www:balletsrussesmovie.co.uk

Annual Dinner Photos
A selection of photos from this year’s dinner can be seen on our website. Photos can be ordered off the site or from the album at meetings.

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