BristolBillyBob

Thanks! Booked.

"Unexpected item in bagging area."

Well, it's been a fortnight since I went to see Prince Of The Pagodas at Birmingham and I've just got the opportunity to get my thoughts down. First thing I'd like to say is that it was genuinely lovely to meet Janet and have a good ol' chin wag with someone who has been a source of great advice and most enjoyable natters over on Twitter since I started following ballet. Hope to see you at more ballets in the future! In essence, I found Prince Of The Pagodas a wonderfully old-school fairytale with genuine magic in places. The casting I saw had Momoko Hirata as Belle, Elisha Willis as Épine and Joseph Caley and The Salamander Prince. I've never seen Momoko before, but she is exactly my kind of dancer. She has a delicate feather-lightness that suggests she's fabricated out of some sort of space-age pliant polystyrene rather than normal flesh and blood. But on top of Momoko's dancing is her trump card - her acting is immaculate. Hers was a deep and nuanced performance; the acting had a depth to it that balanced trepidation and courage in equal measure, something which really fleshed - or polystyrened? - out the character of Belle. She's already shot to the top of my Coppélia and Giselle wish list. The first act took a little while to get going for me (as they often do for me - maybe it's actually me that takes a while to get going?). I wasn't entirely taken with the four kings. The choreography seemed a bit hamstrung by a slight ponderousness in the score, such that the choreography seemed to be champing at the bit - the kings were waiting for the score rather than flowing with it. I also found the King of the West's slightly camp, larger-than-life character entertaining but a touch incongruous with the feel of the rest of the production. The King of the South, played by Tyrone Singleton, was superb though, his physicality suiting the character perfectly. Act II was where this production really took off for me. The production design was sensational, each elemental layer of the voyage to Salamanderland filling the stage with colour and detail. The reuse of the kings and Épine was a masterstroke, creating a surreal fever-dream journey that had echoes almost of the benign trippiness of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. This whole sequence held a real magic to me, the wide-eyed innocence and courage of Momoko's Belle made this Prince seem like a genuinely old-school fairy tale. It was this act that convinced me that this production could become a classic ballet of the kind that families can all enjoy together at Christmas. The Act II pas de quatre with the young brother and sister - the wonderful Natalie Rooney and Cameron-James Bailey - was incredibly moving. The choreography was simply beautiful and beautifully simple. It reminded me of the lovely pas de trois from Northern Ballet's Beauty And The Beast and a few scenes from their Gatsby. It had a very David Nixon feel to it, balancing beautiful steps and effective storytelling. Momoko and Caley created a real bond between them. A few people on here and on professional reviews have discussed the fact that the Act III grand pas de deux between Belle and her reunited brother lacks the passion that would come with a romantic storyline but I found it quite refreshing and the innocence of it genuinely moving. The second half of Act III didn't sit too well with me. It just felt like the direction went a bit AWOL and things kind of drifted a touch. Another reviewer (it might have been on here, so do credit yourself if so!) described it as a lot of score left at the end of the plot, and that's exactly how it felt. Also, there were numerous occasions where it felt like the end of the ballet, including more than one moment that actually looked like a curtain call. It was a small miracle that there weren't members of the audience already in their cars queuing to get out of the Arcadian Car Park twenty minutes before the end. Many seem to find the score to this ballet not to their tastes, but I quite enjoyed it. It has an other-worldly quality where just as you're a bar or two into a fairly standard refrain, an almost atonal note appears out of nowhere, sneakily bundles the melody in a bag when nobody's looking and walks off with it, whistling nonchalantly. And this happens every few seconds. I can quite see how people would find it maddening, but I found it a nice change from the more conventional scores. Variety, spice, life, etc. I know I've commented on the production more than the dancers, that's because I have nothing but love for the dancers, but it's mostly because I think that as a production Prince Of The Pagodas is very close to being a classic for the company. Bintley could well end up being The Man That Saved Pagodas, but it just needs that teeny bit more tweaking. Act III would benefit from either halving in length or having the plot adapted to extend a bit, some of the choreography in Act I could be tightened up. All this being said, though, BRB's Pagodas is already a great show. There's so much more I could write about the beautiful set pieces, Joseph Caley's incredible performance as the Salamander Prince, the amazing costumes for the Prince's cronies, the SEA HORSES! Wow, the sea horses! But for now, I won't bore you any longer than I already have. Bintley's done a cracking job with the ballet, it's a wonderfully fresh feeling old-school fairytale, told beautifully through lovely dancing and stunning production values. An excellent addition to BRB's repertoire.

Thanks, Notts! Glad you enjoyed the review. It was half one in the morning by the time I finished it, so that's my excuse for the quality of the grammar dropping off so dramatically towards the end! I hope you enjoy the show, more so seeing as it's my recommendation that's prompted you to go! I offer no refunds if you hate it, by the way. Looks like you're seeing much the same cast as I did, so I'm sure you'll have an awesome time. The front row seats should be fantastic, especially for Elite Syncopations. Plus, you're guaranteed no Big Bloke (unless it's the conductor).

Brain is slightly tired, so this might be a bit stream-of-consciousness and immensely waffly. What an absolute treat tonight was. I know us ballet fans have a penchant for gushing, but honestly I feel that every single superlative that's going to tumble breathlessly from my fingers will be valid. Before we get started, I'll tell you the phrase, the exact wording that ran through my head, while watching the final piece, Elite Syncopations, tonight. "Whatever it is that Birmingham Royal Ballet has, may they never, ever lose it". I wrote at the end of my RB Giselle review a few weeks ago: "It might be because after two years I've found 'my' company and just have a massive soft spot for everything BRB does," and I think that it's the case. I'll wax lyrical another time, but they just have something that I haven't seen anywhere else, and it was in generous supply tonight. Arriving at the Hippodrome with a first-time ballet-goer in tow ten minutes before the performance after 3 1/2 hours on a deathly slow M5, I didn't really have time to properly get my bearings on Card Game before it started. Unfortunately, this time at the Hippodrome I had a Big Bloke in front of me, slap bang in my vision and he wasn't the slouching type. As I'm 6'1" myself, I guess I'm normally the person ruining the view for the people behind me, but at least I have the common courtesy to slouch like a sulky teenager. Anyway, because of the distraction of Big Bloke, it took a while for me to warm to Card Game, but not a long while. The 'second deal', with the straight flush of hearts was a tour de force of the men of the company. BRB's men are every bit the equals of the women, and it's fantastic to see them shown off like this. The 'third deal' was absolutely dominated by the immensely diminutive (I think her picture in the programme is actually 1:1 scale) Laura Day, whose small stature mattered not one jot - she had such charm and charisma on the stage that I barely even noticed Céline Gittens, one of my favourite dancers. Probably a similar effect to this. It's a lovely part, the two of diamonds, and a lovely scene, but Laura imbued it with real joy. Jamie Bond as the Joker showed immaculate comic timing, and the whole thing was immensely good fun. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue's casting was, for me, the reason why I'd picked this night. Céline Gittens and Tyrone Singleton are an incredible partnership and tonight, yet again, they didn't disappoint. At one point, just the subtlest of looks between them actually gave me a little shiver. Céline was slinky and assured as the Striptease Girl, she seemed to be channeling an 80s diva in a way, maybe it was the Diana Ross hair? Tyrone, in the second half, demonstrated some fantastic tap skills - wasn't expecting that! - and it was great to see him show off his talents away from the partnership (he may do this often, but I think I've only really seen him in PDDs with Céline). I would comment on other aspects of the production, but for me personally it was first and foremost The Gittens And Singleton Show and I couldn't have been happier about that. Elite Syncopations. WOW. I think it's the first time the curtain going up has raised a gasp in the audience. With all the fly curtains and backings removed, the stage just seemed impossibly huge and open. It's almost as though we, the audience, didn't realise how claustrophobic and stifling the accoutrements of the stage normally feel, but now we'd been released from them it was a joyful thing to behold. I'd only seen photos of Elite Syncopations before and I always expected it to feel camp in some way, with its day-glo costumes, but now I've seen it on a stage, I totally get it. It's pure joy. The pushing back of the walls disarms you, it releases you from needing a setting, needing a frame, and allows you to just give yourself over to the pure fun and love of dance as both art and entertainment. Within Elite, there were a few real standouts. Jenna Roberts never disappoints. She has a remarkable quality whereby she seems a tiny bit slight and vulnerable in a way, but at the same time exudes an almost super-human level of confidence. You know how you watch British athletes through your fingers because you always half expect them to balls it up any moment? Not a bit of it with Jenna Roberts. She just imparts to the audience (in a non-arrogant way) 'Trust me, I got this. I know what I'm doing, and I'm damn good at it'. And she is too. And I remember thinking precisely the same thing when I saw her twice in Lyric Pieces. However, the surprise package of the evening (and I hope you'll forgive me for rattling on about Elite Syncopations quite so much) was Yvette Knight. God knows how I've missed her so far in my BRB travels, and I'll be trawling past cast sheets to try and figure out how, but she was AMAZING tonight. Her part in Alaskan Rag requires a the purity and assuredness of dancing to allow the more slapstick elements to work as a counterpoint, and she absolutely nailed it. She has a classical elegance to both her figure and her dancing, but with likeability in droves and yet a effortless deftness of comic touch. In trying to work out how to convey her appeal in text, I thought of Martha Leebolt (NB), Alison McWhinney (ENB) and BRB's own Maureya Lebowitz as comparators if that helps? No, you're right, it probably doesn't. Anyway, speaking of comedy elements, James Barton was spot-on as her opposite number, showing perfect comic timing too. They both seemed to be having so much fun together, and that was utterly infectious to watch - the audience rightly took the roof off at the end of that segment. And I think this sums up why I enjoyed Elite Syncopations so much - the entire company seemed be enjoying themselves as well! I'm still trying to pinpoint what it is that makes BRB so special for me. I suspect it isn't actually just one thing, it could easily be a dozen. But whatever it is, I hope they never, ever lose it.

Absolutely agree. Their PDDs that I saw in Two Step (Take Five) and Faster have been completely mesmerising. And thanks for the heads-up, Tony - you've whetted my appetite even more. One thing I do note from the Birmingham Hippodrome website is that for tonight (when the tickets are cheaper) it's barely half-full, and for later nights probably only 1/3, if that. Having done amateur dramatics, I know how disheartening it feels to play to what can feel like an empty house. I just hope the dancers don't feel too disappointed, because those of us who are there certainly don't enjoy it any less!

Just thought I'd start a thread for this. Mostly because I'm jolly excited about seeing it tonight! Céline Gittens, Maureya Lebowitz and Elisha Willis are all on the cast list for this evening's show so I have an ever-so-slight suspicion it's going to be brilliant.

Tyrone Singleton and Céline Gittens at BRB have really stood out for me. Their 'Two Step' in Take Five was mesmerising (the lighting really added to the mood, but the linked video is a good taster) as was their PDD during Faster. Their casting in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is the main reason why I've booked for the date I did on BRB's upcoming triple bill!

Ew. Horrible grammar in my last post. Apologies - must be the excitement! Can I not delete or edit it after a period of time?

Saw the news, cracked out the credit card out and immediately booked for her farewell performance! As a relatively new fan I still haven't seen Daria dance, so to be able to catch her at her very final show feels like it'll be very special - there was no way on earth I was missing her! I'll probably end up kicking myself for not seeing her over the last two years!

50% off ENB Le Corsaire, Manchester - 11-15 Feb 2014 "£19 -- 'Gorgeous' English National Ballet Show, 50% Off - This offer saves 50% on tickets to English National Ballet's production of "Le Corsaire" -- called "visually gorgeous" by The Observer -- at Manchester's Palace Theatre." http://www.travelzoo.com/uk/local-deals/Manchester/Entertainment/100214?tz_adid=1678448 See? Told you Travelzoo were worth keeping an eye on!

£18 -- Premium Ticket & Drink: Rambert Dance in Woking - 6, 7, 8 Feb. Travelzoo have this offer at the moment. In general, I find Travelzoo's Entertainment Deals pages well worth bookmarking as they often have deals for Northern Ballet, BRB and Sadler's Wells shows. They also carried a 1/3 off offer (I think) for top priced seats at RB's Onegin at the ROH a while back. The offers frequently appear quite late, only a few days before, but it's great for a spontaneous last minute jaunt to the ballet.

All very interesting indeed. It seems a bit tit-for-tat at the moment between ENB and RB doesn't it? Personally, I just think it's great that all these world-class dancers are coming to/staying in the UK! I can go and watch some of the best dancers in the world, all within two hours drive of my front door. That's freakin' awesome.

It was brilliant. The horse, Crystal, trotted calmly onto stage looking all magnificent and regal. I'd been prepared for her appearance as I'd seen her talked about on Twitter, but those who hadn't had advance warning let out an audible gasp of approval. Just as I was thinking "Huh, that's weird. Don't horses normally only stick their tails up in the air like that when they're about to...", Crystal made her audacious bid to steal the scene. I felt quite bad for Céline Gittens and Marion Tait who were busy at the front having a good ol' natter through the medium of ballet mime, but literally no one was paying them any attention at all - all eyes were firmly fixed upon both Crystal's helpful attempt to add authenticity to the village scene and the feet of any poor dancer whose choreography took them within a metre of the danger zone. After a few minutes, one of the corps came on with a giant shovel to clear the problem as inconspicuously as possible, to the relief no doubt of all the dancers. So it all ended fairly innocuously in the end. At the time I presumed it was probably just the call of nature at a particularly inopportune moment, or perhaps the effect of stage fright. Now, however, I have some reason to believe it might have been a deliberate move on Crystal's part. I've just noticed she does't get a credit on the cast sheet.

I should just mention that I'm a relatively new ballet fan. Even though I've packed a lot of ballet-going into my two years of being a fan so far, I'm still very much a newbie and don't often review things. So be gentle. Anyway, yesterday was my first trip up the M4 to see RB! I had the day to kill in the capital so I took advantage of the £12 tour of the ROH, which was incredible! Ended up catching Christopher Wheeldon rehearsing/creating for A Winter's Tale. I could've stayed watching that all day (the tour guide, Simon, let us stay and watch for 20 minutes I think, thankfully). Even just warming up, the dancers were stood around casually, then would suddenly, nonchalantly, just launch into some of the most beautiful and graceful shapes possible by a human just on a whim to get warmed up or practice the steps. It's quite startling to see up close, and separated from the pomp and grandeur of a full on-stage ballet it had its own special magic. It was unforgettable and I urge anyone in London for the day to book on a tour. Possibly the best £12 I've ever spent on my ballet interest. Oh, and I walked past Carlos Acosta but only noticed it was him as I was walking out the door at the end of the corridor so I didn't get the chance to say hello or take my photo with him to wind up my friend Katerina who's a massive Carlos fan. Bugger. Onto the performance in the evening, it was the Lamb/McRae cast, with McRae filling in for Pennefather. As I'm still relatively new to ballet, could someone enlighten me whether they are likely to have done much rehearsal together, or would they have rehearsed only with their scheduled partners? Just curious... Lamb & McRae seemed to be very well suited to each other, with McRae particularly strong in the role and emoting beautifully, particularly during the madness scene. He represented the desperate realisation of what he'd done to Giselle wonderfully. Elsewhere, McRae's dancing was excellent. His leaps were strong without coming across like he was made of rubber, an impression that I've had with other acclaimed male dancers. I've only ever seen Giselle once before, and that was at BRB. Nao Sakuma took the role and she was incredible, emoted spectacularly and made Giselle believable and three-dimensional. For me, and I'm not sure how much this view was shaped by the fact I knew it was her debut in the role, it seemed like Lamb had captured the role very well but had yet to stamp her name on it and make it 100% her own. She was very sweet, but I would've liked to have seen just a hint more Coppelia-esque playfulness in her interpretation in the first act to make her Giselle a bit more rounded. However, the minute the madness scene kicked off, Lamb was all over it. She nailed the transition and her other-worldliness meant that the audience could actually plot the transformation into the Wili-Giselle second by second. And in the second act Lamb was exceptional, her lovely arms arcing into strange ethereal shapes that added to the spookiness of a great second act. At the end of the act 2 PDD, you could've heard a pin drop. On Mars. The corps were insanely tight in this, too. Confronted by the regimented ranks of the RB (who I think numbered more than the entire dancing membership of Northern Ballet at one point), I'd have been as terrified as Hilarion! They were bang-on with everything and an absolute credit to the company. Pacing-wise, I had a few issues. Especially in Act 2, there were a few bits that felt rushed and taken at a fair lick just for technical showing-off's sake, and a few places that felt a bit too laconic. But that might just be the choreography. Like I say, it's only my second Giselle! Here's the funny thing, though. Enjoyable though RB's Giselle was, I found myself fondly reminiscing about the one I saw in Birmingham. It might be because theirs was the first time I saw Giselle. It might be because Nao Sakuma was simply awesome in it. It might be because after two years I've found 'my' company and just have a massive soft spot for everything BRB does. Or it might be because the Brum version had a real life horse in it who did a giant poo on the stage within five seconds of appearing. I just don't know.

Heh. Ultimately, as long as she stays in the country I'll be happy! :-)

Absolutely agree 100%! She's rapidly become one of my favourite dancers. I'm seriously debating writing to David Bintley and suggesting BRB poach her straight into the upper ranks. She'd be a really good fit in that company, I reckon.

Important news for people watching Bourne's Sleeping Beauty! Matthew Bourne has just tweeted the following: https://twitter.com/Mattbourne1/status/413618196584099840

Just a quick note that BBC have launched new HD versions of more of their channels, so if you're planning on setting your V+/Sky+/VHS/Betamax for anything on BBC Four, do remember that there's now an HD version. Channel numbers are here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/posts/CBBC-HD-CBeebies-HD-BBC-Three-HD-BBC-Four-HD-and-BBC-News-HD-to-launch-on-Tuesday-10-December-2013

I thought it might be worth flagging it up here in case people hadn't seen. Full story on the Beeb: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25197504

CONTAINS SPOILERS (What's the etiquette about this for ballet? ) Just got back from a lovely evening at the Hippodrome in Bristol! I'm going to keep my comments short for two reasons; firstly, I started the day with a mini hangover and so I'm looking forward to going back to bed, and secondly because I'm off to see it again tomorrow (I won competition tickets for tonight but bought tomorrow) so I'll try and report back with my casting comparisons tomorrow. This is also the first time I've tried to 'review' a ballet, so apologies if I make a mess of it. So, I largely agree with Sue's comments from Oxford, as I think the casts were similar. The star of the show tonight was, by a fair distance, Yonah Acosta. Easily the biggest cheer of the night both after the act II fireworks and at the curtain call. Deservedly so, too, as he owned the stage with charisma and perfectly measured power and physicality. As a relative newbie to ballet, I've only seen ENB twice before. Theirs was the first Swan Lake I saw, and I came away from that feeling the same about Fernanda Oliveira (O/O) as I did tonight, namely that she has undoubted technical ability and is a beautiful dancer, but I'd like to see her inject some more personality into her performances. Tomorrow I'll be seeing Alina in the same part, so it'll be interesting for me as a newcomer to see how much this is possible! And Nancy Osbaldston? She is just a delightful sugar cube of a dancer, and magnetic whenever she's on stage. It's hard to put my finger on precisely why, but her dancing is just so completely enjoyable to watch. Deserved winner of the ENB Emerging Dancer award, even though her fellow finalist Alison McWhinney as the Lilac Fairy in their Sleeping Beauty is one of my favourite ballet memories so far. There really is an embarrassment of riches in the lower ranks of ENB! The choreography, for me, took a little while to get going, and Act I could've started with a bit more of a bang for me, but after the first interval everything came alive, and as well as the showpiece sections for the men, the bedroom PDD was lovely, accompanied by a stunning set and a beautiful costume for Medora. Finally, the production values were top-notch. The sets, sparkly costumes and lighting were fantastic. And the shipwreck scene at the end was magnificent! All-in-all a great night, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Alina can do with her Medora tomorrow.

I'm with you on the vertigo! I think I'd find even just the normal amphitheatre seats a bit of a struggle. I was reminded, though, of this article I found in the Guardian. It was the description she gives that put me off the idea of the slips. Sounds terrifying for someone like me who finds standing on a chair to change a bulb a bit of a challenge.

Thank you all SO much for your replies. It was really kind of you, and you've all given me a real flavour of what to look for. It's not often I'll get to go and see RB, this might be a bit of a one-off, and in the end I decided that I didn't want to sacrifice too much in my seats from either a distance or a central-location point of view. And I figured that pretty much whoever I saw would be probably be pretty awesome. So I had a nose around at the other castings and found some great seats centrally in the stalls for the 20th January performance with Sarah Lamb and Rupert Pennefather. I saw Sarah Lamb in the Alice cinema broadcast and the more I thought about it, the more I thought she'd actually be pretty brilliant as Giselle, particularly in act one, and I've heard great things about Rupert Pennefather. Plus, I think I'm right in saying it's Lamb's debut in the role, at least with RB (although I'm open to correction on that), so that could be interesting too. ...So I plumped for those tickets in the end! It's fair to say I'm excited! Thank you all again, and I'm going to have a nose around the ROH with your advice in mind so I know what I'm doing for future booking! And I'll report back on the 21st with my thoughts. Have a great day all.

Thanks so much everyone for your tips! I'm erring towards row K because of the whole 'being in the thick of it' angle. As it's my first time there, it'd be nice to appreciate the building and atmosphere fully too. Another quick question about the side stalls, because it's hard to tell from the website photos... Exactly *how* off to one side is it? Can you still see the full back of the stage, or will I be missing a small triangle of the stage? From the photos, I'd guess it's in line with the side of the stage, which would be fine...

Hi all. I'm finally getting to go and see the Royal Ballet for the first time, and my favourite ballet Giselle to boot! Exciting! Could someone give me a quick bit of guidance on seats, please? The performance I'm looking at is: http://www.roh.org.uk/events/22989/tickets (When I met Darcey at a book signing, I asked her who the 'next' Darcey Bussell was, and she said Lauren, so that decided the cast for me!) Generally, I like to be quite close to the stage, but the person I'm taking isn't hugely tall and so I'm worried that if we pick stalls seats she might get stuck behind someone tall and not enjoy it so much. The two pairs of seats I'm considering are Orchestra Stalls K29/K30 (because as they're only two rows back from the exit, there might be fewer people in front of us) or Stalls Circle B49/B50. Any help massively appreciated! Booking later today. Thanks, Alex.