Coated

Tout story in Independent (didn't see the first mention in amongst all the stories about wine making ) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ticket-touts-are-classic-entrepreneurs-who-should-be-allowed-to-operate-without-interference-says-new-culture-secretary-sajid-javid-9252429.html

It works! Act I is all about the story, a slightly slow start to the ballet with a bear that might need a little rethinking, act II is non-stop dancing (from funny to beautiful) around a gorgeous tree followed by a ship chase, and in case one didn't have enough of either drama or dancing yet, act III packed in all of that, beautiful group scenes (one even appeared to me to have a hint of Bollywood) for the 'wedding scene', familial heartbreak with a reunion with a statue of the dead child behind them (sniff) and a surprisingly forgiving wife. Some the the highlights for me were Zen beating up Ed Watson, Bonelli lurking in a tree, McRae/Lamb pdd (though his costume really didn't work for me...I wanted to take his trousers up for him...), act III group scenes, the tree, Cuthbertson coming back from the dead...and so on and so on. Not sure about the score yet, it occasionally soared beautifully, there were some lovely flute solos, but I didn't 'feel' the music in the first act, seemed a bit generic, though it definitely became more interesting later on. I also think ballet music needs to able to cover up the sound of scene changes, just a piano won't cut it when moving large pieces of scenery. Exceedingly pleased that I have a bunch of tickets for this

At the Insight, they were talking about the need to cut characters to avoid making the story too complex for a ballet, I assumed the Autolycus part was one of the characters to go. Though if there will be ever been a Russian version of the play, I'm sure they'll be tempted to put him back in, Swan Lake joker-style.

Seeing that I accidentally managed to book mainly for the second cast, this is working out nicely for me by evening out how often I get to see each cast. Hoping this is just for a bit more of rehearsal time for the second cast rather than injuries...

I think I have nothing but unmitigated love for this programme, and the awesomeness that is Tamara Rojo for getting something like this off the ground Dust has one of the strongest portrayals of woman in any dance I have seen, it was great to see the dancers move with such power and strength. If I had to nominate a ballet for a feminist bill, this would be it. Khan has a spiritual or mysterious quality that other dancers won't quite be able to portray, so I was very happy to see that the piece worked differently, but still as well when performed by another cast. Really hope this stays in the ENB repertoire. I could do with a shorter 'twitching prologue', but that's a very minor niggle. I always like Scarlett, and No Man's Land was no exception. It could possibly be a little shorter, but I wouldn't know what to cut. I loved the strong sense of story telling, for me it was a ballet about the human cost of war - 'going to war' in battlefields and factories, but more importantly, the anguish of separation and uncertainly. The scene where some of the soldiers return, but one woman searches in vain amongst the faces, to be left behind alone and dancing with the 'memory' of her partner is just heartbreaking, the resulting pdd utterly beautiful. Second Breath was hypnotic with the swaying bodies and spiralling jumps/lifts, and it grew on me with repeat performances. I'm not too keen on the costumes (faux haute couture fatigues with a hint of Regency?) and some of the falling into the arms of other soldiers (described as 'management trust exercises' somewhere on twitter) but I like the overall tone of the piece and the pdd - when I first saw it, Cojacaru was just a wave of emotion flowing off the stage. I can kind of see the reasoning of the inclusion of Firebird, but yes, the bill could have done without it. Saying that, I loved Ksenia Ovsyanick's performance in it, some of the tableaus were visually stunning and the scenes of the firebird being stripped and later of jumping into the cave are quite promising for future work. Though there are no excuses for the Captain / other dude costumes outside of a Schwarzenegger film.

I think I've finally figured out why there were so many injuries. They decided to go for a live bear in the Winter's Tale which led to increased mauling incidents during rehearsals. It's the only thing that makes sense.

Running order was the same as the order for casting on the ENB site No Man's Land (interval) Firebird (6 minutes music interlude) Second Breath (interval) Dust I haven't gathered my thoughts yet beyond 'Must book more tickets' and 'remember to bring change next time to buy a programme' Particularly loved No Man's Land which felt like a classic Scarlett, if there is such a thing (and I can't wait for his first commission of a full lenght ballet on a main stage) and Dust.

Yup, agree with the partnership sparkle between Takada/Muntagirov and was quite happy to see that they've been cast together in Don Q

Despite suffering from SB fatigue and having firmly decided against seeing any more than I'd already booked, I cracked this morning and got a day ticket to the Nunez/Muntagirov performance - money well spent. The more I see of Muntagirov, the more I like him. He and Nunez delivered a performance that was both suave and sweet. More please. Takada and Sambe are a really nice pairing, and like RobertL said, pretty wonderful tonight. One of the things I kept meaning to mention is Elsa Goddard as White Cat - she is just pure feline and quite funny with it. Eric Underwood was replaced in tonight's cast but I lucked out and got to see him dancing up a storm in the Faust rehearsal earlier today (Though didn't recognise him at first with all that hair....)

This is looking like an expensive season for me I'm quite happy that Woolf is not a science based full lenght production, it'll be interesting to see where he takes it. I'm hoping he doesn't go a similar route as Katie Mitchell did with Waves at the NT (experimentation can be great, but concepts shouldn't overpower the entire performance). Really looking forward to Manon, Onegin, Fille and some of the triple bills

Lets not be too harsh on people who would like to see a Principle replaced with another Principle. That's not exactly an unreasonable wish, and doesn't need to be construed as a criticism of Ms Choe. If no other principles are available, then that's potluck, but I would like to be given the opportunity to exchange my ticket if the next replacement were Choe again since I'd end up seeing her 4 times altogether. I might not be an ardent Choe fan, but wouldn't want to see anyone 4 times in SB. Perhaps they could cycle through all of the recent debutants if Osipova needs to stay off....and use their original debut partners to avoid overwhelming Mr Golding with too many ballerinas (his dancing is fine, but his facial expressions stir me to gleeful giggles which lead to sudden coughing fits when I attempt to not laugh aloud in the middle of a romantic pdd) I'm a little peeved that Patrons were informed and allowed to exchange, but that's the service money buys you. Must buy lottery ticket... They don't need to sent out O'Hare to announce last minute changes (apart from anything, he might not be available himself) but I agree that it seems discourteous to make a big fanfare about Osipova's indisposition, but barely mention Soares's last minute replacement. Kaspar Holten recently send in someone who looked like a junior member of staff to announce a replacement for a significant supporting role in Don Giovanni, so perhaps the RB could take a leaf out of his book and send the next available RB staff to make an announcement if one of the 'billed' roles needs to be replaced.

Despite getting somewhat lost in the first act (This was my first Pagodas, and I hadn't read the synopsis...), I really enjoyed the Prince of Pagodas. The music and dancing did not always work together marvellously, but it really hit its stride in the second act, where the movements of the elements suited Britten's music to a T. I probably had a permanent grin on my face throughout the second act, I loved the seahorses and other creatures and their slightly otherworldly movements that worked beautifully with the ebbs and crescendos of the music. The group scenes were beautifully danced and I was impressed how cohesive the company looked and hope that the RB can get back to that level of 'overall' performance when all the dancers who are currently off come back onto the roster. Kevin O'Hare and Christopher Wheeldon were in the audience when I saw it on Wednesday - hope the marvellous set design for Pagodas and choreography for the 'elements' will give them great ideas for future RB productions. Back for a second helping tonight

Choe delivered a good performance under the circumstances and obviously has nerves of steel. I think the heckling is a little overstated, particularly on twitter. There were a couple of rather amusing shouts for Kevin O'Hare to speak up, and one actual heckle in an audience of 2000+. Not exactly a wave of hostility going towards the performer stepping in last minute, and the audience as usual cheered the entrance of the substitute as encouragement. Her arms and fast footwork were as usually very good, and her fishdives were some of the best I've seen in this run. There were a few wobbly feet during the rose adagio and her facial expressions that others found charming came across as startling from up close - she has the power to transmit emotion to the back of the amphi, but not to nuance it. I think she is a lovely dancer, but I am not sure it was a performance worth promoting her to Principle for.

Someone types a lot faster than me There was quite a bit of irate voices at the box office, not very nice for them...

Kevin O'Hare announced that Osipova fell on her back during rehearsal and was taken to hospital. While nothing is broken (phew), she sustained soft tissue damage that "won't heal overnight"

I should learn to not ever buy an expensive tickets based on casting. Would have liked it if the ROH had send an email about the change (tends to happen for opera more often than not) so instead of skipping around happily all day thinking I'll see Osipova I could have spent my time finding someone who hasn't seen one too many SBs already to receive a free ticket. Too late now

....I dream that too!

I thought Zucchetti really made Vestris come alive in Men in Motion, and it was his acting and comedic timing that pulled in the audience.

I saw 2 performances of KoD, one with Vasiliev and one with Bolle in Jeune Homme. I don't regret paying money for it (it was worth it for Vasiliev's JH alone), but would not buy expensive tickets for this in future unless I hear that the programming has massively improved. In reality, this was probably the only way for me to see some of the performers on Stage and I can appreciate the show for that. KoD left me feeling that I'd love to see them all in their 'natural habitat', but not in Vestris or old Duato pieces. They should take the lead from of Men in Motion and commission pieces for the show instead of scouring the attic for choreography with no ladies in it. Or just invite a couple of ladies along so they can perform any role they deem suited to their talent regardless of their partner's gender. At the end of the day, endless solos become quite boring, no matter how well performed

Phew - I had booked tickets before they released casting info and ended up with a nice mix of performers

I might cut down on Caviar and Natural Gas if pushed, but on Russian ballet or performers? Nyet.

The cheaper tickets seem to be gone for the Marinsky, with a handful of standing tickets left for Swan Lake only but there were plenty of £38 and up tickets left late last night. There are a few little blocks (not the greatest seats) that seemed to be taken for all performances, maybe they are held back for another booking period? The ROH triple bills seemed to have SC nearly completely booked, wouldn't want to have to try getting seats for those in public booking

Never sat in the balcony, Upper Circle is pretty good despite a narrow bar for row A in the view line, but I wouldn't want to sit in the middle of the very very long row. Theatremonkey might be your best bet to figure out which seats you want to book http://www.theatremonkey.com/BARBICANMAINbooking.htm

It was definitely worth watching for Lucia Lacarra, and the Munich version would win the Outrageous Hats award by a mile. Impressed with the quality of the free live stream, bravo Munich.

All was well in fairyland today at the matinee. Kobayashi made a surprisingly sweet Aurora with beautiful, rock-solid balances. Seriously, she looked like she could comfortably balance on a pin's head and smile cheerfully at the same time. After her Myrtha I wasn't overly keen on today's casting, now I'm rather looking forward to my second ticket for that cast. I was pretty impressed at the way she portrayed Aurora as cheerful, happy and innocent without veering anywhere near coy. I thought the prologue fairies had settled in a little, and a couple of them looked quite confident on stage, particularly liked Romany Padjak today. To me the company looked more cohesive today than when I saw them before the break, though I think it's fair to say that there is still room for improvement.