Jonathan Still, ballet pianist

Nothing to do with music, except that I have to go to Leicester Square several times a week on my way to piano playing jobs, so when something changes about the station, I notice it. Recently though, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I felt calmer on the way up the escalator from ...

One of the most complicated music references I’ve ever had to research was for a piece that I found on an album called Little Pearls of Czech Classics. The piece was called “Poem” by Zděnek Fibich, and we used it for an adage at the barre in the RAD’s new Advanced 1 in 2013. When I tried to ...

At the excellent advice of someone whose excellent advice has never failed me yet, I’m taking a one week vacation from Facebook and Twitter and a couple of other social media sites. This isn’t self-righteousness, I make no apology for loving Facebook and what it affords – but my friend said his recent self-imposed exile was ...

Much as I feared, I had to abandon the challenge today as the prospect of quickly finding a suitable independent food retailer  in central Prague was as likely as finding a greengrocer in Oxford Circus. There is one big fat supermarket in Prague, and it’s Tesco. I’m intriqued to know why by last year they ...

Pauline’s Cookbook is a wonderful blog maintained by Tonya Shuster. As she describes it, it’s a “memoir of sorts about my grandmother’s life, woven around the gift of a handmade pastry cookbook she cherished for nearly 80 years”.  The story is so poignant and so beautifully told, I’m not going to spoil it by retelling ...

I have a longstanding interest in folklore & folk music, particularly of Eastern Europe, so I got all excited when I discovered that there was a Folklore gathering in the Old Town Square in Prague, where I’ve just pitched up.  Unfortunately, I only had time to see the last act of the day, which, rather ...