Two Pigeons

I am with Sim on this. I was lucky enough to see the Bolshoi do it in the late 90s and they danced it as though their lives depended on it. They didn't view it as a secondary work. I think it is like those other two less performed gems, Le Corsaire and (my favourite) Raymonda, which are better than they are given credit for. If La Bayadere is danced with sincerity and belief it can still be both awe inspiring and moving. My favourite performance was at the Opera House with Altynai Asylmuratova, Faroukh Ruzimatov and Sylvie Guillem as Gamzatti. That was ballet and drama. Nothing dated or fey about it. I am excited about the idea of BRB dancing it next season. In many ways it makes up for the disappointing programme we have this year all by itself. The rigours of the Kingdom of the Shades should do wonders for the corps de ballet and there are a number of exciting potential casts. Can't wait!

He is great value and an utter joy for an interviewer. You hardly have to ask anything as he just chats away.

I seem to be drowning in notifications that I can still get tickets for this year's BRB Nutcracker season. From this I can only assume that not including it in the subscription package was a mistake, tickets are not selling and they have overpriced them this year.

A really fitting tribute.

Me too!

I can still remember the first time I saw Fonteyn. She was 60 but her sheer magnetism has never left me. I do not dispute that modern ballerinas are more technically gifted and can inspire me with awe but very few of them have moved me as much. Ditto Irek Mukhamedov when he first performed Spartans at the Opera House. Ditto Sibley and Dowell in Cinderella. My first great balletic love was Lesley Collier and I can still see her whizzing through so much of the Ashton repertoire which just doesn't happen so much these days. I am sure some ballerinas these days are the technically better as the Sylph than Eva Evdokimova but they may not be so affecting. Dancers today are stronger in so many respects but that doesn't mean they are better in every aspect of danice and performance. Your first loves remain with you your whole life and as you get more experienced you do realise that technically they may not have been that good but they touched you in a way you cannot recreate. I do not doubt that Mr McRea in Rhapsody is vastly technically advanced to Anthony Dowell. However, slightly soulless virtuosity is not everything and so Mr Dowell is not diminished in my eyes.

Lovely bloke whichever way you judge it.

And Kevin O'Hare

Indeed they did but my point was they should have been included on the cast sheet.

I had assumed it was Marie as her hair was down. Olga and Tatiana being the elder two, 'the big pair' seemed to have their hair up. Either way, I would have loved to know who the dancers were.

No, she didn't. Not least as there were no balls in 1917 due to The Great War. This point has been made by a previous poster. I think Anastasia was only just 17 when she was killed. This is a period and a story I care about. I have no great interest in Anna Anderson but have much in the story of the Romanov family. I could marvel at the dancing and some of the choreography but the aspects of the overall production grated for me.

While this is undoubtedly true i cannot imagine her ever seeing her father flirting with a woman who may have been his mistress but that was over longer before she was born. All this happening at a ball which never took place. They key point is definitely what Deborah Macmillan said when she pointed out that when he took over the RB Macmillan had to find work for the company to do. Had the ballet been a better work (no slight intended on any of the performances here) these things would not jar so much.

P.s. did no one point out to Macmillan that Rasputin had been dead for nearly a year when the revolution started?

Two more thoughts from last night and I apologise if I am just one of several to mention these. The first is that I am really sorry the cast list did not give the names of the other 3 Grand Duchesses, especially Marie who was so prominent in act 3. My second point was that I was staggered by the complexities of the role of Anastasia and I thought, not for the first time, what a truly gifted as a dancer (let alone actress) Lynn Seymour was to have had such a work created on her. I see from the ROH archives that in the initial run of 10 performances she did them all. Her stamina must have been pretty amazing. I was a bit concerned last night that she wasn't going to get a mention but she did in the chat between Viviana and Darcey in the second interval. I say chat, it was mainly Darcey with Viv getting the occasional word in. Could someone please have a quiet word with her and say when you ask a question dear please do listen to the response and not talk over it. She is a lovely person but not right for this function. Last thought, Viviana looked really good. It was great to see her.

I have waited over 30 years to see the whole work, having seen act 3 with Lesley Collier and Genesia Rosato. My impressions were - Wonderful committed performances by the cast Lovely frocks Act 3 has changed a lot What load of inaccurate historical tosh in Act 2 Darcey should not be allowed to do interviews (but then I always think that) I will happily not see it for another 30 years Not Macmillan's finest work

I am not sure it would hold up that well these days Alice. Like you I have very happy memories of it but I think expectations and the company have moved on since then.

This is a very interesting question. The only living choreographer I can comment on is David Bintley who I would say does have a very wide range of interests over the arts and was mentored to an extent by both Ashton and de Valois in his earlier days. He was able to produce very popular narrative ballets such as The Snow Queen pretty early on. I am not saying that this was a great work but it was well liked by audiences on tour and very easy to follow. I cannot comment on The Swan of Tuonela as it was just before my time. Edward II is an acquired taste but I think most audiences could find something to enjoy in both Hobson's Choice and Far From the Madding Crowd, both of which benefited enormously from their commissioned scores by Paul Reade. For my money things have gone a bit downhill since then. Sylvia is fine if you just take it as an exercise in classical ballet danced to an established, luscious score but it is no great shakes really. Ditto Aladdin if you view it as merely a pantomime on points. I didn't see the revised Cyrano or most recently The Tempest. On the whole I think his narrative ballets are pretty easy to follow and generally very well designed. They are always danced to the hilt by his company but the reverse side is that his choice of music is not always that memorable or even danceable and the lighting seems to be odder and darker with every production. I think he is a good case of great early promise but has never quite fulfilled it. I would say now that the productions tend to exceed the choreography in most cases. I don't have the answer to FLOSS's question but then I doubt anyone has these days. I do wonder if choreographers are so rare these days that no one feels able to stand up to them and point out where they are going wrong. People quibble about the failings in a work like Onegin but I would so I would so love to see other ballets of that calibre produced these days.

I am pretty certain I read somewhere that Sky Arts are recording the Khan Giselle. Cannot see the BBC duplicating the effort.

Hear, hear bridiem . Like you I am an admirer of DB and much of his work. I am also very grateful to him for so much that he has achieved as a director. I really do not wish for his body of work, especially his earlier pieces, to be devalued because he has attempted too much in these later years.

Excellent posting by Bruce. just one small point. Hobson's Choicecwas originally in two acts. Never that I remember it being just one. I think it was choreographed this way so that it could follow Theme and Variations during its first run.

I think the problem with David Bintley in recent years is that he seems to have replaced quality with quantity. This is probably the flip side of directing a company which is overflowing with talent but subject to diminishing resources. I also find some of his specially commissioned scores hard to listen to (let alone dance) and sometimes are just too long for his invention. There are works of his which I just love and would wish to see more often. Examples of these would be Tombeaux, Galanteries and Hobson's Choice. However, along the way there have been too many potboilers like Take 5 and Orpheus. I don't like to disagree with Janet as BRB fans should stick together but I don't necessarily agree that he has created several full Length masterpieces. He has created several very worthy pieces of entertainment, pretty much always distinguished with excellent design, but I wouldn't call them masterpieces. La Fille Mal Gardee is a masterpiece, works like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Far From the Madding Crowd just aren't. I do not wish to appear disrespectful of Mr Bintley when I say this as I feel we are very lucky to have him as a director in the classic Royal Ballet heritage mould. However, I feel that in general his earlier work is superior to his later and I am really sorry that Paul Reade died so young.

I am really sorry that no DVD exists of Sylvie Guillem as Manon (provided it was directed properly). I hold my memory of her performances in this role as amongst the finest I ever saw. That would be a real marriage of great interpreter and true star.

BRB did bring their Nutcracker to London in the early days of its production when they put it on at the Lyceum. However, given the costs of doing this I cannot see the exercise being repeated in the current climate. Also, they tend to perform it in Birmingham in the run up to Christmas when it gives way to the annual panto. This is something else which is unlikely to change. The very first year it was produced the first night was around December 29th or 30th and there was no panto that year. Just proving that you cannot please everyone the Nutcracker was a huge success from day 1 but there was a lot of local moaning that there was no panto that year. If you feel like splashing out and can come to Brum, maybe see a double show and stay overnight in a local hotel I am sure you really will enjoy it.

I think it is debatable that Ms Rojo would have been allowed anything like the freedom of action had she taken over the RB as she enjoys at ENB.

Thank you for drawing this to our attention. I really enjoyed it.