Myddle

I thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon - I don't know if it was me or because the cameras were there but I kept noticing lots of little gestures and characterisations from the dancers that I haven't noticed before. I thought the leads were utterly convincing - another thing I noticed for the first time was Yasmine's very deep breathe when she "awakes" in the tomb - excellent. I saw them 4 years ago and was blown away then and was equally enthralled today. My only niggle is that I kept thinking to myself "wouldn't it be great if Matthew Ball could be duplicated so I could see his Tybalt and his Romeo on the stage at the same time" - hard to believe that the fun loving, ardent lover of today was the same nasty, entitled Tybalt of the other week! Hats off to the whole ensemble - I left the ROH with a smile on my face!

I booked to see Swan Lake this afternoon because I wanted to see Yasmine Naghdi dance Odette/Odile and I thought her dancing thrilling - unlike the production, which left me feeling rather underwhelmed. I thought about why I was unmoved by this Swan Lake (which usually elicits the exact opposite emotion from me) on my cycle ride home and I put it down to two things - the relative absence of the Prince as a character and the utter lack of catharsis at the end. I don't quite understand the need for the Prologue - it explains the "how" but not the "why" Rothbart turns her into a swan (unless I've missed something and if so I am ready to be enlightened!). I don't understand the enlarged role for Benno - although I thought Benjamin Ella was superb. Why didn't the Prince dance with his sisters in Act I and III and through his dancing convey his loneliness/sense of being trapped in his courtly role/unwillingness to wed etc. By deflecting the attention from him to Benno the Prince became less well drawn/less known to the audience and thus less able to elicit sympathy - he became a cypher rather than a character. I don't understand Rothbart's role (again I may well have missed something and if so please enlighten me!). Why does deceiving the Prince vis a vis Odette/Odile mean he can usurp the crown? Why expose his deceit to the Prince when he could have simply married Odile to the Prince and wielded power through her? Rothbart may have condemned Odette, but when the dust had settled why wouldn't the Queen have demanded her crown back? Why wouldn't the Prince have said "oy, give the crown back?" On reflection the story now seems somehow confused, which is surprising as the actual production initially appeared to be rather clear and seemed to move along at a crisp pace. The other reason for my sense of disappointment is the lack of catharsis at the end. The music is literally screaming "resolution - it can be happy or sad - but there is a resolution going on here" as it moves from the minor to the major. The music suits a "they kill Rothbart and live happily ever after" resolution or, and I think more satisfying, a "they both die and are joined together eternally in death" resolution. Instead we were left with onstage action that failed to match the heights denoted by the music which was wonderfully played. I left the ROH feeling rather cheated - I did not identify, there was no cleansing or purging of my emotions - in short there was no catharsis. So, all in all an enjoyable enough afternoon, but one that could have been so much more expansive if the inherent tragedy of Swan Lake had been fully realised.

Giselle is not my favourite ballet and I don't usually book for it, but I decided to see Naghdi and Ball after seeing them in Romeo and Juliet and I am very glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and found it curiously moving - although that could have been partly induced by the tears of the woman sitting next to me! I found their synchronicity breathtaking; they both seemed to float at one point. I thought they acted well and conveyed the heartache of the situation in a very direct, moving and clear manner. I cannot wait to see them dance together again - shame about Swan Lake!

Sylvie Guillem & Jonathon Cope in Romeo and Juliet Sylvie Guillem & Jonathon Cope in Romeo and Juliet Gloria Yasmine Nagdi and Matthew Ball in Romeo and Juliet Belinda Hatley in Les Noces The Christmas tree growing scene in The Nutcracker - gets me every time! Requiem The conclusion of BRB's Carmina Burana