We have a tradition (well, this is the second one) that people leaving Illuminations are invited to write a farewell post. These are Ed's thoughts as he begins the rest of his life:
So, off I go, out of the Illuminations fold and out in to the big, bad world. I’ve been here for a hugely enjoyable fifteen months and it is with some sadness that I am (finally, Seb would say) leaving the building. I’ve had a great time over the last year, since John swooped to save me from a career in the customer service department of a biomedical publishing house, and today John has asked me to offer my thoughts, if any, on my time here. Gather round. Lock the doors.

You have to take today's post with a very large pinch of salt. I want to blog about the digital channels Sky Arts -- but you have to know that we work regularly for the channels (and very much hope to continue doing so). So I recognise that any and all of my comments might be seen as simply a play for further commissions. Just as long as you know that upfront, because it would be absurd to blog regularly about the arts and media and not recognise just how significant Sky Arts is.

I came home last night from La Traviata at Clapham Picturehouse to learn that Pina Bausch had died. I'm not sure I want to connect the two events apart from noting them together. Pina Bausch was a profoundly important choreographer and performer. Last night's La Traviata, with Renée Fleming as Violetta, was a sumptuous, enveloping experience, wonderfully (but not unproblematically) brought to a wide audience on outdoor screens and in arthouse cinemas. I'm thrilled that the Royal Opera House's La Traviata is available to so many in this way. Perhaps the day will come when the challenging performance of Pina Bausch and her heirs will similarly find audiences in this form.