penelopesimpson

He was, but even my favourite dancer couldn't tempt me to waste money on Raven Girl again

I think he would revolt at the very idea. But where has he been all these long months? He is the RB's top man, bar none, for me.

Anything with Edward Watson in it as he seemed to be a rare sighting since his Manon with Francesca Hayward (wonderful). Please, more of this wonderful dancer whilst he is still at RB - I need to see his Mayerling again...and again...and again! Loved Woolf Works and not for Alessandra Ferri although she was a plus. It just worked for me and I would like to see it again. Other than that, not a standout year. I missed Naghdi and Ball's R&J to my great regret. Worst performance: Carmen, again, but the opera this time, the one that Jonas Kaufman was very wisely sick for. Terrible. Awful waste of money for a pantomime production

Yup. Me, too. Loved it.

I agree with everything you have said until you get to Acosta. We are not all good at everything and there has been no evidence to suggest that this wonderful dancer has choreographic ability. I thought Don Quixote was not much at all, very much based on the 'and now we'll do some folk dancing' narrative. But worse was to come with Carmen which was truly terrible. Yes, of course, choreographers have to be allowed their mistakes in order to eventually arrive at works which we will treasure, but simply playing amateur night with scarce funds for no reason that I can understand, is simply not on. Personally, I would also have left Raven Girl buried in the attic rather than give it another outing but that one we can chalk up to experience. Why Acosta was allowed such licence is a mystery.

I meant Kevin O'Hare

Too right, Aileen. Although I can understand dancers wanting to experiment and I have enjoyed some of the new work and want more, if a dancer can't give of his or her best in the classical roles, then it certainly is time for them to do the other thing. They and we are privileged to enjoy some of the most magnificent classical ballet and I don't want somebody dancing for me who would rather be doing Acosta's vaudeville which, IMHO, was a travesty and a blot on RB's repertoire which should never be repeated.

Hear, hear. Why on earth isn't he featuring them?

Certainly not unpopular with me, Aileen. I made the point about lack of star quality some months back and was howled down. Now, as you identify, there is little in the male Principal cateogory. The only ones I want to see are Muntagirov and Watson and I presume Watson will not be there for very many years longer. Soares is so-so, Bonelli okay when he is with Cuthbertson, but I have no idea what Golding is doing at RB and Kish leaves me cold. Macrae is fabulous but I prefer him in the modern stuff - for me his Romeo was more cheeky chappy than doomed lover. It simply isn't good enough. Money is hard to come by and my visits to ROH involve a lot of travelling and I want more and don't mind saying so. I don't want these mix-and-match combinations we are being served up - the divine Hayward is not enough when partnered with the less impressive Golding. There is now not one star partnership left at RB and Mr. O'Hare needs to nurture Naghdi and Ball and any other pairings that may be simmering below the Principal level. Macrae and Salenko are impressive but do not move me in the way of Cojocaru and Kobborg or Acosta and Rojo. I still believe that more should have been done to coax at least one more season out of Cojocaru and Kobborg and the way of their leaving rankles. I am an Osipova fan but even if I wasn't, I would have to admit that when she is injured there is gap. I think we need to see much more of Hayward and Naghdi (why have neither been given a Giselle?) and, if there isn't anybody else, Mr. O'Hare needs to look outside. What is urgently needed is at least one fabulous partnership and at least two more top-rank male Principals, as well as one more female Principal. I simply am not going to shell out the sort of money I've spent this year to see people who are not right at the top of their game.

I'm with you, there. Frankenstein has absolutely zero appeal for me so I will give it a miss

A mixed verdict from me. On the plus side: - Woolf Works, fabulous - Hofesh Schecter - I enjoyed it and would like more - Winter's Tale, a triumph - Thanks for bringing us the fabulous Osipova but I suspect she is going to need careful managing Downside: - Carmen: words fail me. What possessed RB to waste money and resources on this travesty? Surely the lacklustre Don Quixote was warning enough? - Raven Girl. Should have had the courage to say it didn't work, it will never work so it's gone - Too many partnerships that I don't want to see, e.g. Osipova paired with Golding, Hayward with Golding - Need more performances from the rising talent. Such a shame that Naghdi and Ball only danced one R&J - surely they should have been given at least two? - Male Principals may need re-thinking, especially as there is so much talent coming through just below. Soares is not at Nunez's level and, frankly, I wonder what Golding and Kish are doing at RB. Would have loved to see Alexander Campbell as Romeo

Fabulous. I absolutely loved it. I think I may splurge and book for two casts, one of which will Cuthbertson and Watson who were astonishing first time around.

I really enjoyed it. I still can't help wishing that he had let his dancing be his swansong at ROH rather than choreography. Maybe the management felt they owed him which is why the execrable Carmen got through (hopefully never to be seen again), but they should have learnt from DQ which was hardly a triumph. Mr. Acosta is a peerless dancer who has given great joy in his career, but a choreographer he is not and RB did him no favours pretending that he was.

May I humbly say that I believe Rojo and Polunin pulled it off. I certainly loved it.

Does this mean there will be a promotion?

Edward Watson's lines are superb

Hear hear. If it had been more reasonably priced I might have gone

Don't understand a word of this. Is it some sort of code...?!

I won't give chapter and verse because this is a ballet, not an opera forum, but..... tonight we understood the power of star appeal. Without Jonas Kaufmann to hold it together the whole thing fell flat and one cannot help but think that Mr. Kaufmann made the right call. Carmen was more trollop than temptress and Jose seemed bemused and ended up being a dope rather than duped. A poignant moment before curtain up when the Director came on stage and thanked us all for coming and told us that Art transcends terrorism. We then stood in silence for a minute in tribute to the fallen in France. London was sombre tonight but I was moved by the South Bank Centre and the London Eye spectacularly light in red, white and blue. There were people in the bars and restaurants but joy was in short supply.

They are not offering tickets any cheaper. I rang this morning and decided to upgrade my ticket as there are now much better seats available and I had to pay full wack. And that is fine - it would be terrible if they started handing out cheap stuff to people who were wavering. The young man I spoke to said they had been inundated but he still had a good sense of humour and handled everything brilliantly. Well done, ROH.

What a lovely tribute to Carlos Acosta who has given joy to so many of us. I wish Mr. O'Hare had paid tribute to Cojocaru and Kobborg. I was there on their last night and it felt awful not to have any word from management.

Just like to say thanks for your highly informative post. I didn't see Acosta's Carmen because having been utterly bored by his Don Q, I thought it probably wasn't one for me and seems I was right. His idea of choreography seems to be of the 'and now we'll have some folk dancing' variety. Raven Girl was an empty vessel and I hope we have seen the last of it.

Despite being disappointed I'm not one of those calling for a refund. You have to accept that this sort of thing can happen and then just suck it up. However, having just taken at look at the ROH bookings online, it seems I may be in a minority. The two Kaufmann appearances sold out on the day. Now there are a lot of seats available for tomorrow and 100+ for Monday. Box office must be having a terrible time.

Oh my goodness. What a substitution! I always far preferred Viviana to Darcey and her Mayerling with Irek was superb.. Does anyone know why she left?