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A cold and rainy Sunday, time to come back to a performance of John Neumeier’s Bernstein Dances with Hamburg Ballet in Baden-Baden on 7 October. Without being a biography of Leonard Bernstein, Bernstein Dances uses key musical pieces to guide through and illustrate 8 themes that Neumeier identified in Bernstein’s life and thinking - to quote from the programme booklet, of Bernstein’s “spirit”. Overture (Overture from Candide) Prologue – Who am I? (extracts from Peter Pan et al.) Start and Departure (Facsimile. Choreographic Essay for Orchestra) The city of all cities (extracts from Wonderful Town/ On the Town) Spirituality (extracts from Mass/ Broadway for Peace) Success (extracts from West Side Story) Time lapse (Overture from Candide) Review (extracts from Wonderful Town) In the Evening and through the Night (Serenade et al.) – this features a party at an apartment in NY Neumeier calls it “a loose sequence of compositions and choreographies”, and the themes flow from one to the next. The parts that I enjoyed most were the interaction on stage between dancers (Christopher Evans as Bernstein) and pianist (Sebastian Knauer) respectively dancers and singers (Marie-Sophie Pollak and Roy Goldman). Plus recognising Age of Anxiety (it’s not listed in the booklet but I recognised a theme from it, unless this theme is also used in other compositions) and Serenade, and thinking about how Neumeier’s choreography compared to Scarlett’s and Wheeldon’s works for the Royal Ballet. Very beautiful, flowing, elegant, timeless costumes by Giorgio Armani. Finally, I just loved the curtain calls, choreographed to Candide’s Overture. Trailer on the company’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOhT1Rahtls.

The Wiener Staatsballett are showing a livestream of John Neumeier's Le Pavillon d'Armide and Le Sacre on Monday 13 March. The cost is €14 (£13.03). I've watched livestreams from there before and the quality is very good (depending on your broadband speed I suppose). What I really like is that you may choose what time to view it - within 72 hours of the original livestream. There is a downloadable programme booklet and you can also view subtitles on your iPhone/android. Further infomation here: http://www.staatsoperlive.com/en/live/380/le-pavillon-darmide-le-sacre-2017-03-13/#tab_0 Edited for spelling

POB sujet Marie-Solenne Boulet has posted a great behind-the-scenes video (10 minutes) of Paris Opera Ballet's recent tour to Japan with Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias. It's only on her FB page, not on YouTube, so I hope you can see it. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203703970024617&set=vb.1378663859&type=2&theater