Jacqueline

I sit in the Grand Tier, either to the left or right of centre and always front row. Having tried the other tiers and stalls, I find the G.T. is rather like The Three Bears' porridge, not too high or too low but just right. For me anyway. It gives just the right degree of elevation, legroom and general comfort. It is expensive but as I don't go very often now, the extra cost is worth it. I have seen several notable people from the ballet world sitting in the G.T. and choreographers seem to sit there to observe relevant performances. Although I did spot Wayne McGregor in the stalls once. It wasn't anything of his about to start and he left moments before curtain up. Perhaps he had just looked at the programme!

I now gather there were 21 invitees and nobody showed up. The printed story goes on to say that some State Troopers got to hear about it and they went to the boy's house to cheer him up. When asked what he thought when he saw them at the door, the 10 year old said he felt scared and was wondering what they were doing there. Apparently, it is not the first time something like this has happened, that is to say nobody turning up, but it would seem he did enjoy the Troopers' visit. It sounds like one of those stories where there is more to it than meets the eye. Strange.

There was a item on a 'news' programme this morning, about a little lad in America - Arkansas I think - whose mother invited ten other little lads to his birthday party. Unfortunately, not one of them turned up despite having r.s.v.p.'d to the effect they would. What a bummer for him and a bad mannersfest for those invitees. On top of that, I was particularly struck by this little boy's resemblance to Ed Milliband. As if things weren't bad enough with his mother putting him on t.v. to tell the world nobody wanted to go to his party.

I have also refrained from judging this situation and until now, even commenting on it. As the saying goes - there are two sides to every story - and this is one clearly in need of some balance in my opinion. It reminds me a little, of the uproar that ensued when JK and AC left the ROH in what as far as I know, were circumstances never fully explained, but nevertheless, discussed at enormous length on social media. Perhaps we will never know what went on then or now, nor do we need to know. People may have been aggrieved, offended, let down, whatever. They are adults and should be able to sort out such matters, however difficult, without plastering it all over social media. There is, again in my opinion, a place for and great dignity in silence sometimes. I don't think Dame Monica Mason ever uttered so much as a word on the subject in public and I respected her for that.

The Coli website has this Carmen as Andrei Kuznetsov-Vecheslov's 'bold interpretation', containing some adult scenes that may not be suitable for children.

Just been looking at the ticket availability/pricing for 'Her Name Was Carmen' at the Coli in August. A front row seat in the Dress Circle for the Sunday matinee is - in my opinion - a rather whopping £115.00? I would never sit there again, after experiencing the lack of leg room last year. It just seems an awful lot of money to pay for such an uncomfortable seat. Other, cheaper seats are available of course. This production is ringing warning bells for me anyway. I rather hope MAB is right that there may be a short tour in the UK, but if it is just Carmen, I will risk it in a cheaper seat, just to see Irina.

Thanks for the info Janet. I will be interested to see their R&J at Sheffield. Whenever I see Monte Carlo I can't help thinking of the Trocks tho'! I see the info is up on the Lyceum website. Can you tell me who the dancers are in the picture please. Rather difficult in Juliet's case I know.

Quite so. The production I saw by the SPBT has Giselle bouree away from Albrecht at the end, to stand still at the back of the stage, where a piece of treelike scenery descends and supposedly masks her, representing her return to the grave. As I recall, the lighting was such that Giselle was still clearly visible, thus rendering what should be a heart breaking scene, rather less so. I felt that spoilt an otherwise highly commendable production.

Spring is here! I know this because the young-ish man who walks past my house to and from his place of work, has changed his hair do. Today he is sporting a mohican, green on the sides and purple on top. He looks a little like a Scottish thistle, I don't know if it is intentional. He has been walking by for about two years now and I have never seen anyone move so slowly. He carries a can of what I think is some sort of energy drink, otherwise he might not make it at all. Once I was passing him on the pavement and he accepted a lift from his boss, who I know. I wondered if the sudden rush of speed might make his head hurt. His hair will grow from now on, into an asymmetrical shape, rather like Phil Oakey of Human League, only without the high gloss finish. It will go through several colour changes until we reach next spring, when he will have it cut again. He sometimes walks with another young man who is currently sporting what I think is an extremely unfortunate do, short and flesh coloured round the sides and with a top knot/man bun dyed bright pink. I hardly need say what that looks like from a distance. Does he not realise? Should I tell him? I think not.

Yes, I think that's it. I see Albrecht as having form as a flirt and Bathilde has a good idea of what she is getting in more ways than one. She might roll her eyes as if to say this is how the courtly game is played and she will go with the flow if she wants to maintain her position. Giselle is no threat to her and dallying with the peasants is just something to be tolerated. Until it all goes tragically awry. At that point, it is a matter of damage limitation and how to get out of there as quickly as possible. Nothing to do with us, they seem to be saying as they leave the scene in an unseemly rush.

Once seen never forgotten, Miss Piggy as Odette with Nureyev. Then there's that scene in the sauna where she invites him to remove his towel and they start singing. It is either very funny or simply excruciating, depending on your point of view. I can't remember how to do a link but it's all right there on Youtube.

As it seems a dvd of Marianela and Vadim's Giselle is not on the horizon, for anyone considering making a purchase and who doesn't know, Marianela is Myrtha in the Kobborg/Cojocaru dvd. Thoroughly recommended!

Yes, travelling any distance on public transport on Sunday is a nightmare. The first coach out of this town is an hour later than other days, so if the performance is an early starter, you have no chance. Trains, tubes, buses are all subject to maintenance, cancellation and alteration due to some event. I have travelled to London on a few Sundays and they have all been hellish. It would have to be something absolutely unmissable for me to do it again, particularly having to go to work on Monday. I don't know what it is like in other countries but inconveniencing the paying public here seems to be an art form in itself. I realise sometimes it is unavoidable but much of the time it seems to be for the most trivial of reasons.

If they remind you of a fabulous holiday in 1998, that's more retro chic than naff!

I have had the same thought haha! Isn't smoked salmon the height of naffness nowadays anyway? It always amazes me to see it still dished up as some sort of exotic delicacy. My first visit to the ROH in 2008, after a long gap, coincided with a very warm evening. There was an overpowering smell of smoked salmon all over the place. I had this vision of cling film being removed from 1000s of the dreaded sandwiches in readiness for the visiting hordes. The smell even permeated the auditorium. I did complain about it to the catering department and suggested that there must be a less pungent alternative. Anything but fish of any kind. I can't remember the response but I had to email them twice before I got one. I don't know what kind of champagne is served but I recall thinking the extra cost of a 'superseat' is not worth it. They are not even the best seats in my opinion. I have also seen plenty of folks eating and drinking their own s.s.s's and champagne on the terrace. Can you still get that sort of thing through customs now they seem to be checking bags more carefully?

I have read the above comments and I think I get now, why the performance I saw didn't come across to me. I just don't think it works if Giselle and Albrecht are in love almost from the off, or if he is portrayed as being in any way serious about her. She is a naive, gullible young girl, unused to flirtatious male attention. She is instantly flattered and drawn in. Albrecht is a privileged young man, used to getting his own way although fully aware of the conventions of his position. Although he is attracted to her, he is or should be, if the mime is to make any sense, clearly toying with her as he runs through his repertoire of practiced charm. It is all a game to him and a diversion from the tedium of a restricted court life. When his party returns and we see their double take at his peasant 'get up', followed by laughter, we know he is going to drop Giselle like a stone, and he does so in a callous manner, which again to my eyes, makes a nonsense of the mime if up to then his behaviour has suggested that he truly loves her.This would be his chance to declare his love and renounce court life, but of course he is not going to do that. The second act should be a battle between Giselle and Myrtha over Albrecht's fate. Giselle truly loves him and has forgiven him. Although she realises that his ardour was not quite what it seemed, she is not vengeful and doesn't want him to die for his deception. I like the idea of an almost wistful Myrtha, as she watches Giselle trying to protect the 'prey', perhaps recalling her own love and what it was like to feel something other than bitterness. There is some scope for the way Myrtha is played, but as I said, I do think Giselle needs to be a naive and gullible young girl and Albrecht needs to be a careless, although not heartless cad for the story to work and make sense, as much as any ballet makes sense. Act ll surely contains some of, if not the most exquisite and moving choreography and music in existence. If you can believe that it is about love, forgiveness, redemption etc, it should tug at your heartstrings. She does all she can to save his life and he finally begins to understand what he has done and as he walks away from her grave, clutching the flower she has left him, you should feel that he is really thinking about what has happened, not just about himself. I didn't get any of that last Thursday. I have since watched - if I may mention them again - my Kobborg/Cojocaru dvd and I get those feelings in waves as I did when I saw them at the theatre. It's all in the way of the telling I suppose. I understand each dancer brings their own interpretation to any role,but there are elements of what is quite a straightforward story, that just don't work as they should if that interpretation is given too much room. In my very humble opinion, I would like the RB to perhaps decide on a way of presenting this ballet when it returns, so that while it is still allowed to breathe, the different approaches do not interrupt the narrative, to the extent that it just doesn't make sense.

I saw Giselle last Thursday and am sorry to say found it disappointing. I know that I will be in a minority,possibly even all alone here, but for me it just never really took off. I was very much looking forward to the performance and I can't really put my finger on why it didn't move me, perhaps it is over familiarity with the story and the memory of Kobborg/Cojocaru. The tale unfolded as expected, although I found the mime rather leaden and repetitive this time. I also thought that Hilarion was under powered to the point where his character became almost insignificant, despite the pivotal role he plays in events. Nunez and Muntagirov danced beautifully and special mention to Hayward and Naghdi, two obvious principals of the hopefully near future. Act Two picked up a little and Hilarion seemed more animated, but his death was not particularly involving, as he had seemed so colourless in the first act. The Wilis were in sync and Mendizabal was quite an effective Myrtha. The dancing was very lovely, with very few fluffs but again, it just didn't move me. I just can't as I said, put my finger on why. The presence of cameras didn't bother me where I was sitting and the audience seemed to be on good behaviour. I had a good seat, with an uninterrupted view. All the components were in place for a good time. It just didn't happen for me. I may go along and see it at the cinema. Having read Sim's review and comments about the detail of expression as seen through her binoculars, I think I would benefit from the close ups of a cinema showing. It certainly helped with The Winter's Tale.

Just home after a long and boring drive up the M23, M25, M11, A1 etc etc, I was temporarily amused and distracted somewhere along the way, by a road sign indicating a crematorium off to the left. A few feet further on there was another sign saying No Dumping.

I think Gary's holding that fish the wrong way up!

Your question about audience nudity is interesting though. We are all in it together after all. Although some of us are more in it than others. I don't think I would give up my clothes at reception. Or could we get to our seats before whipping everything off. We could strip off while hiding under a towel like Brits on the beach. I don't fancy sitting next to a 'man spread' though. I am sure there are people out there who would go for being a naked audience. Imagine the selfie outbreak!

I agree that nudity is almost always a distraction in a production that is perhaps not very good. Then again, some productions oblige the dancers to wear such ugly and revealing costumes, they may as well be naked. I would prefer they weren't though. I have only seen one such dance performance, the name of which eludes me but it was at Sadler's Wells. The female took her top off for no obvious reason, while the male remained fully clothed. Her bare breasts added nothing to the proceedings apart from waking a few people up. We seem to have such a mixed up attitude towards nudity in this country. So many things are sexualized now, nudity is everywhere, all the time. Where do I live? you might say. We can't make up our minds whether we are amused, embarrassed or just plain bored by the lack of imagination of it all. For me, even the most honed human body generally looks better clothed and dance/ballet is definitely enhanced by an beautifully designed costume.

It was part of a triple bill matinee in November 2011, sandwiched between Asphodal Meadows and Gloria.

I usually enjoy Ashton but I loathed Enigma Variations. It seemed to go on and on and I was praying for it to end. As others have said, sometimes it is just a matter of personal mood, casting etc. The performance I saw included a male RB dancer in a leading role, who has been described as displaying all the expression of someone who is wondering where they left their keys and I recall a review of that performance saying that it did seem uninvolving and emotionless, so it wasn't just me. I try and keep an open mind but I would never want to see this again. An hour or so of my life I will never get back etc. Another production I found bafflingly awful was Eonnagata. There may have been an interesting idea in there somewhere, but it was completely overwhelmed by its ego and alleged cleverness, not to mention what must have been the massive costs of staging at the expense of coherent story telling and half decent, memorable choreography. Unfortunately, this approach is hardly unusual now.

Some great suggestions, thank you all. I do like the idea of a river trip, haven't done that for years. I think nice day = river, not so nice = bus. I will look into the cable car idea as well. Do you mean the London Eye? I am so used to the whole day being a rush, with two aims in mind - getting to the theatre on time and then back to the coach station, it will be nice to slow down a bit and take in my surroundings Edited to say I just googled the cable car, sounds good and not too expensive. I had never even heard of it!! I must get out more !

Mmm, I find it depends what else they wear with it ! I can't find any pictures either but there are loads of Nureyev's dos over the years, from a tidy short back and sides in his youth to the more relaxed 60s styles, the bouffant years and so on. There are also some of him not wearing even so much as a hairnet,glittery or otherwise. I was shocked and appalled ! Moving along, I remember the Diaghilev tribute at the ROH in 2009. One of the pieces was Tamar, danced by Irma Nioradze and Ilya Kuznetsov. It was very strange, garishly costumed and seemed to consist mostly of Ilya constantly flicking his freshly washed hair. Annoying.