patsomerset

I didn't see you Janet but I hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you Lin for having another go! I too was there yesterday afternoon and what you say just about reflects my own views of the performance. I would have dearly loved to see O&V the evening before but it wasn't to be, so I have nothing with which to compare the matinee. I have not seen this ballet before and to be honest it is not on my list of 'must see again'. I thought the first act was very slow and seemed to be a hotch potch of ideas taken from just about every ballet you have ever seen with the court entertainment, that ridiculous Roman costume and so on. I also thought the music way too loud; it seemed to overshadow the not really very exciting dancing. The second act however was a different matter. It came to life and produced some lively dancing and of course that beautiful pdd which was far too short as far as I was concerned. I liked Lantratov and he did indeed draw one's eye when he was on stage. Maybe they were conscious of being the 'second' cast, I don't know, but I felt they very much upped their game during the second half and deserved the reception they received. It was my only Bolshoi performance this season and I felt I had chosen quite well. I don't particularly want to see it again but given the rather predictable choice of repertoire this visit I was pleased I had chosen, this but don't feel the need to do it again I didn't see the description of your outfit until I got home Lin, so I don't know whether I saw you or not!

I am on the left hand side of the balcony, row A. Shall we try to meet either before the performance or in the interval? I am off early tomorrow morning to stay with a friend on the way so let me know asap whether and where

I can't say how delighted I am to hear that the Bolshoi season seems to have taken off at last. I have been very puzzled by the lack of enthusiasm on this forum compared to the enthusiasm, by and large of the critics, one of whom said this season must be regarded as a commercial success. I take this to mean, "all the seats have been sold", whereas I get the impression that this had not been a vintage season as far as the dancing goes! I have saved my one and only visit for the Saturday matinee of Flames of Paris, the only reason being is that it is a matinee and I can get there and back in a day, and it's a ballet I have never seen before. I am hoping that they are saving the best to the last

Yes it was definitely last Saturday. I did comment on it in Ballet in the Media. As far as I know it is still on the i-Player. Well worth watching; I thought is was fabulous. I agree with Janet about Le Tricorne. Too fast and too silly!

She did indeed look good and she said some interesting things too. The programme contained a clip from an impromptu speech made by Daniel Barenboim last week, congratulating the promenaders on what they brought to the proms, namely 'silence'. This echoes several recent comments on this forum about the inability of people to remain silent through the overture and sometimes even through the ballet itself. I once had two women behind me at ROH who persisted in talking about their recent handbag purchase throughout the overture. Tamara also remarked on how wonderful a few seconds of silence is at the end of a performance while the dancers revert to being themselves rather than being say Juliet, before the curtain calls. We have also had a discussion on how immediate applause, whistles, shouts of bravo etc etc break the spell after a particularly moving performance. Interesting to have a view from the other side of the curtain so to speak Incidentally I thought the clip they showed from Bolero was knockout. It is well worth looking at the complete performance on I-player while it is still there

I was about to comment on this and wondering if anyone else had been, so good to hear from you Don Q Fan! My local Odeon was only a third full which is very unusual these days for ballet performances, they are usually sold out. I do not usually like mixed bills and hardly ever book to see them in the theatre. Nor am I over familiar with the work of Frederick Ashton so this was a change for me, and a delightful one. A wholly Ashton bill brought home to me his unique and very different style which I had not appreciated before and I could see why people say it is difficult to dance. I agree with Don Q Fan mostly. I thought the camera work in La Valse was ill judged. Far too close in so you could not always see the patterns the dancers were creating so that it just looked messy. My personal favourite was Voices of Spring. Five minutes of pure delight and charm and of course Margeurite and Armand which was so beautiful and touching. The icing on the cake was being able to see the curtain calls, the flower throw etc. A wonderful evening. I was sad that it was not well attended Final thought; I think this could be the DVD, if you see what I mean

I too thought it was disappointing on the television but the music put me off before they started dancing. I hope it was better 'live'

Mine came almost immediately although I had been warned it might take an hour or so! I hope your booking is OK

I get the impression that seats are going fast for everything, but I had a really good experience on the website. I was in and out in the time it took me to make up my mind, and the e-mail came almost immediately. I decided that my one visit this season would be to something which is not being transmitted live ie R&J and I have chosen Thiago & Marianella dancing together. I managed to get a good seat although not a cheap one. If I am only going once I don't want the tallest man in London to end up sitting in front of me. Perhaps I should be more adventurous but it's difficult if you live out of London and may need to spend the night as well. I guess I am not alone in this! This is not a sob story. I am lucky to be able to go at all

I am glad you got it booked. I am sure I shall enjoy it! You too I hope

I hope it is being shown near you. I am chuffed to bits as I did not get to ROH to see this

It seems that a recording of the Ashton mixed bill is now being screened quite widely at Odeon cinemas. Monday 15 July at 8.30. Booking has already opened at my local Odeon

Thanks Ian. No sign of a repeat at the Odeon chain I was interested that you thought there were some odd things and yes, definite touches of Spartacus . I found it very odd that the friar picked Juliet up and danced a step or two with her. A very strange touch

Did anyone else see this this afternoon? My local Odeon was packed once again with a very well behaved audience with the exception of several people who arrived late. Other than that, no popcorn, no coming and going and no conversations once it had started I had never seen this version before and I was initially rather underwhelmed. Wonderful costumes, wonderful colours but minimalist scenery, no balcony for the 'balcony' scene etc. All in all a rather flat feeling. R&J's first meeting in the ballroom seemed very underplayed, no hesitation, no beating hearts and I thought Juliet seemed quite grown up already, no running back to nurse for reassurance, and dressed in a scarlet dress, surely not what a young girl would have worn for her first dance? The second act was quite different. Definitely not underplayed. The market place came alive and all the men, including Romeo gave magnificent performances full of drama and emotion. Anna Nukulina as Juliet is a lovely dancer with wonderful long legs who really came into her own playing out the tragic scenes at the end of the ballet. The final scene was so emotional that the applause which started almost immediately, seemed intrusive, but we have been there before on this forum Apart from one very brief sound glitch the transmission was unbroken but we did think that the long distance camera was out of focus, so it was difficult to read the dancers faces except in close up. There were some wonderful overhead shots during some of the crowd scenes and the usual virtuoso performance from the presenter Katerina Novikova who changed effortlessly from French to English to Russian

I'm with you there. I thought the Giselle was a bit of a disaster. I took friends new to ballet and felt very uncomfortable all the way through

Normally I would agree with you about the fireworks Janet ie I usually hate what I call showing off and all that pausing for applause but I could not help but be seduced by the Don Quixote of these two. They just seem to love dancing, enjoy dancing together and charming the audience. It's hard to resist!

I too saw their thrilling performance at ROH in 2010 and I have never forgottenn the electric atmosphere in the theatre that afternoon. I have also seen the recent Bolshoi transmission which was also breathtaking. For this reason I fear for the Royal Ballet and rather wish they weren't even attempting it! I saw it way back in 2001, with what seemed to be stellar cast including Tamara Rojo & Johan Kobborg to mention but a few, and I can remember even now, my sense of disappointment that it failed to catch fire. I wish Carlos all the best with his production and I am willing him to succeed but it simply may not be the right vehicle for the Royal Ballet

I have just been back to the Telegraph e-mail and no mention is made of Twitter or Google but I am a Telegraph subscriber anyway so perhaps they wouldn't think it applied to me. I imagine that 20 articles a month might suffice for Balletco I am sure that you will have to ask for funding for Balletco in the future and I am sure you will get the support you need, particularly as we seem to have so many new members lately

Totally agree Alison

I had an e-mail from The Telegraph this morning. I gather that non subscribers can view up to 20 articles a month free of charge. After that there will be what they call a modest charge. I think that 20 articles a month is fairly generous but this will of course depend on how wide your interests are

Ann, we had the same problem with the sound at a Bolshoi transmission a year or so ago. We found the manager in the interval who fetched a zapper, identical to the ones you use on your TV, and turned it down to an acceptable level in a flash! I imagined it was beyond the control of the individual cinema but it seems not! I agree uncomfortable levels of sound do spoil a performance. I think cinemas still have a lot to learn about handling ballet transmissions and the audiences that go to them ie a cast sheet is good, people coming in late is not, and the music does not need to dominate the performance

Thanks Alison. Spurred on by all the comments, I have been able to select my own seat for the last matinee. When I first went in this was displaying the "we'll select a seat" too, but it wasn't when I tried again. I am afraid I have no idea what I did the second time so can't pass on any advice. Just try again!

The code box is there now, I have just tried. If you go onto the ROH website direct and then type in the code, it brings up a list of 'best available' . It tells you the seat you have got before you go to the pay screen, but I am going to wait and take my chances when the public booking opens. I like to select my seat myself I'm afraid. I shall probably only be able to go to one Bolshoi performance so would like to ensure, as far as possible, that I can see and am not behind the tallest/broadest man in London!

Joan, how kind of you to remember me personally! I have booked for 12 May. According to my Odeon Plus Culture leaflet Anna Nikulina is Juliet and Alexander Volchkov is Romeo but you never know with Bolshoi casting. I too had the same experience with the Bolshoi website ie it brings up the casting for April 2012 so maybe this is where the information came from. Taunton Odeon now seem to take all the RB and Bolshoi transmissions and they have been rewarded with virtually full houses, so long may it last! Thank you again Joan