Tatiana

I was an idiot and forgot that December was coming up. Would have skipped Nutcracker this year, but my girlfriend just mentioned that she’s never seen it and that’s unacceptable! Bit of a long shot but looking for 2 tickets, any night or weekend matinee, below £30 each but I can be flexible.

Other, more sensible thoughts - I thought the entire show was delightful. I've never enjoyed a mixed bill so much, or enjoyed each part as equally. I think A Month in the Country was my favourite (but I'm a big Nunez fan), but I also enjoyed the Balanchine far more than I expected. Sarah Lamb was to die for, and I really enjoyed seeing Romany Padjak in a solo role for the first time - I think she's wonderful. As for the men... it's almost mean to put Joseph Sissens in a group. He was so good in the first movement of Symphony in C that he made the other male dancers look practically clumsy (which of course they're not!) Edit - forgot to say - would love to see Hirano in more leading roles. He went straight from a dark and almost irritatingly sexy villain in Medusa to a very darling Prince Ivan with ease.

I thought I knew the plot of the firebird. As it turns out... I did not. I have never seen a ballet without knowing the plot before. What follows is a very hurried note of my thoughts written out in the interval, which reads not unlike a five year old watching her first pantomime. Anyway I think the Firebird is 500% more fun when you don’t know the plot. It starts off pretty simple - we’ve got a bird, and a prince, the prince is trying to catch the bird. Standard ballet fare. Then there are lots of dancing girls in nightgowns. Up to this point I thought I knew exactly what was going on, possibly because I’d confused the Firebird with the Twelve Dancing Princesses somehow. Then there were apples? We’re dancing with the apples, okay. Prince boy shows up. There’s a nice dance. There’s a VERY long kiss by ballet standards. Enter Koschei. He points at you and you get a stomachache, so he’s a baddie. But it’s okay! The Prince has a feather! This... changes everything, for some reason! The bird shows up! At this point I’m the most confused I’ve been all night, because I thought the bird and the princess were the same person. There’s some fantastic angry dancing from the guards in costumes that make me feel like I’m in a Studio Ghibli movie. Everyone goes to sleep? Then they wake up for a bit. Then everyone goes to sleep again? THE PRINCE FINDS A BOX. What’s in the box? Gold? Jewels? His delightfully ineffectual crossbow from the previous scene? It’s an... egg? WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE EGG. He breaks the egg. MAYHEM ENSUES. Curtain goes down. Curtain comes up. Prince has a crown now and is using his newfound powers to get dates for all his new friends. Then we stand still for what felt like ten entire minutes until the music ends. They shouldn’t have put this first on the bill. I’m now too confused and delighted to concentrate on anything else. I could not tell you how good the dancing was, the story was too thrilling. 10/10, would watch repeatedly for the costumes alone, or at least until I understood what was going on.

Thank you for these lovely reviews. I'm beyond jealous as I couldn't afford tickets and I love Profokiev's Cinderella.

Completely forgot to say, but I did manage to go to this! It was absolutely rammed, hardly any room to move, but a very fun and convivial atmosphere. I was pretty late in getting to the ROH stall and there was nothing left but a few bottles of olive oil (can't remember why now) and one pair of pointe shoes. Imagine my delight when I was told the last remaining pair belonged to my absolute favourite dancer! I now proudly own a pair of Nuñez's pointe shoes. Very sweet of her to donate a pair - as I understand it all the stalls were supporting a theatrical charity.

Oh also, on the subject of cast changes - I was in Covent Garden last night and the cast change was only announced via loudspeaker about 10 minutes before the show started - no slips printed - so I'm not sure there was enough time to put the names on screen for the cinema. Hope Cuthbertson et al are all right, although I do love Francesca Hayward so it was sort of good news.

Golden Hour - lovely. I don't have strong feelings but would happily watch it again. Medusa - Underwhelming. Not a strong narrative at all, and the plinky plonky harpsichord music made it feel like I was watching a background scene in a film where two main characters happen to be attending a ballet. Really jarring and I didn't feel like it fit the dance at all. It was saved (mostly) by the Medusa and Poseidon pas de deux, which is really something special. I might watch it again just for that but I'd do so reluctantly. Costumes also brilliant, minus the see-through onesies. Also - I think this was my first time seeing Hirano? SUCH a powerful performance. I'm going to be sure to book casts with him in when I can to see more. Flight Pattern - have seen it before and loved it, and had an even better experience this time because I was up in the slips - I think it's much better viewed from above. Totally different perspective, and there's something very poetic about only getting the best viewing from the cheap seats. My partner was completely transfixed, just as I was the first time. I'd put up with a hundred slightly watery Medusas for Crystal Pite!

Thanks for this! I did end up taking my ear defenders as it's the pitch rather than the volume, and she had a great time

Could someone do me a favour and tell me a little more about the singing in this performance? I'm going with someone who has a sensory processing disorder and any kind of operatic singing makes them very uncomfortable. Just need to know if I should bring ear defenders or not

Mods, can we please not have people excusing homophobia in this forum? I like this community a lot (most of the time) and I'd like to continue to enjoy it without my identity being put up for debate.

I can't believe after that abysmal show at Sadler's Wells two (I think?) years ago he's managed to secure a run at the Palladium. (I know this thread is 8 pages long and many people have already said that - I've been away!) Also, I guess the Palaldium doesn't care about ticket sales from the LGBT community. I feel pretty let down by anyone who chooses to stage him right now.

I'm usually a "cheapest seat on the bench" girl, but I'll definitely spring for decent seats for Onegin. My girlfriend's never seen it before and I'm dying to introduce her to my favourite ballet.

Well, you know which announcement I'm most excited about... roll on Winter!

They’re yours, I’ll message you

Calamity, I have to run a work event that night. Free to a good home as they were only £3 each. E-Tickets, LEVEL 5 Upper Slips 5F, DD-30 | LEVEL 5 Upper Slips 5F, DD-31 | Let me know if you're interested in the comments and I can forward the tickets on.