Balletfanp

I would love to see Morera win!

I've just seen a photo on Instagram of Hirano in that make-up/outfit, and with your comment in mind nearly spat my coffee across the room!

He also stood in for one performance of Fille to partner Marquez - they were pretty good together although the height difference was marked.

Yes, that is the moment that sticks with me too. I was already a bit tearful because of the emotion they were both showing, but that nearly did for me! Had to fight hard not to embarrass myself by breaking into loud sobs... The expression on his face....! I am just relaxing after having been lucky enough to attend the Insight evening "In conversation with Vadim Muntagirov". Well, he may be a shy person but it didn't show; he seemed relaxed, talkative, very honest, funny - he has a great sense of humour! A really charming young man - even if he did keep talking about "getting older" at the age of 25! It didn't really emerge why the Royal Ballet didn't take him initially, and I'm afraid I was too self conscious to ask. But it was a really entertaining evening. They showed a clip of him dancing Colas - does anyone know the best contact at the ROH to ask them to put it on YouTube? I don't think it is there already, although the other clips they showed are.

Oh dear. The reviews aren't good - for Carmen at least; although they are generally complimentary about the rest of the bill. The best of them appears to be on the lines of "brave attempt", which is a bit damned with faint praise.... Those are the Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, Evening Standard and the Stage. There may be others I have missed.

It's the same for Giselle - it says Filming on both the 31st March and 6th April, which was why I checked. The advertised cinema screening is 6th April and they confirmed that that was still the case. I would email them to check; they got back to me fairly quickly.

I noticed a similar thing with Giselle. When I emailed the ROH to check they said that the advertised date for the cinema screening was correct, but that filming was taking place "for another reason" on the other date listed. Maybe this is something similar.

Ditto, Sim!

I will be there. I'll let you know if he sheds any light on this discussion!

You're probably right Bill. At the end of the day we will never know what exactly happened unless the people involved choose to tell us, which I doubt! I'm just glad that things worked out the way they did and that Vadim gained the success he deserved. And - we might have lost him to the Bolshoi and never had a chance to enjoy his dancing regularly here in the UK!

Regarding Muntagirov, it has been rumoured (and this seems to be borne out by what Wayne Eagling has said in interviews) that Monica Mason didn't take him into the Royal Ballet because he was perceived as being too shy. She must have been kicking herself a couple of years later . Having said that, I agree with the comment above that it worked out far better for him when he joined ENB. Had he been taken into the Royal Ballet, with that "shy" perception hanging over him, chances are he would have been sidelined into the Corps and never given a chance to prove himself. Wayne Eagling really seemed to recognise and nurture his talent, giving him Principal roles early on so that he could develop and prove that he was up to the job - and how! And of course, he had Daria... Incidentally, in her autobiography (a great read), the chapter where she describes how she and Vadim were thrown together is interesting - it certainly wasn't the halcyon ideal partnership from the start that I had imagined! His shyness caused problems until she managed to coax him out of his shell.

Please forgive the typos; evidently I'm still too tired to type accurately!

Slightly belated review of Lamb and Muntagirov on Thursday - had a long tiring day yesterday and didn't feel up to writing anything when I got home. I didn't see their previous performance so am unable to compare the two, but comments overheard from people who had seen both suggested that this performance was better. I loved it. Muntagirov seemed relaxed and confident, and I thought Sarah Lamb danced better than in her cinema relay performance. To me, they really gelled as a partnership in the same way as they did in Manon, and both gave a heartrending performance. Vadim was a delightful Romeo - again, the charm shines through - and of course his dancing was just beautiful; flawless, effortless and exuberant. I always feel, when watching him dance, that he has almost forgotten the audience, and is dancing from sheer love of dancing - and for me, that is part of what makes him a beautiful dancer rather than just a very very good one. His leaps always amaze me; there were points where he almost appeared to hang in the air like a paper plane before landing. Sarah Lamb was an equally charming Juliet, both child-like and passionate. Again, I love her dancing and she has beautiful lines to match Vadim's. She appeared completely vulnerable, yet feisty enough to defy her parents. Some said of their previous performance that the tomb scene wasn't dramatic enough; if that was the case they had evidently turned it up a notch because I found it both chilling and incredibly tragic and emotional. The audience was completely quiet during it, I noticed, no forgetting, coughing etc. - they appeared transfixed before bursting into huge and well-deserved applause. Some other thoughts. I very much enjoyed Soares's truculent Tybalt. Thuggish and menacing! I liked Zucchetti's Mercutio but I don't think it quite matched Campbell's portrayal. However, I though James Hay made a lovely and very convincing Benvolio. I really love the moment in the ball scene when the Dance of the Knights is drawing to a close - the contrast between the movement of the dancers in the middle, and the stillness of Romeo and Juliet at opposite sides of the stage, just staring enraptured at each other. I find it effective and moving. The Act 2 sword Romeo / Tybalt sword fight - my goodness, they really went for it with a vengeance! I was worried someone was really going to get hurt! Someone said in an earlier post, I seem to remember, that when Romeo kills Paris in the tomb, it seems a bit wanton and as though Romeo has turned into a homicidal maniac. However it was clear when Muntagirov and Edmonds acted the scene that it was in self defence when Paris lunges at him. There was a moment of horror where Romeo realises "Oh, no, I've killed yet another person!", before his attention is dragged back to Juliet. They acted it very well. I loved the moment when Romeo is with Friar Laurence waiting for Juliet to arrive, and Vadim nervously tugged at his doublet and smoothed it down, to make sure he was tidy for his intended! A small thing, but very endearing and probably exactly what would actually happen in that situation. Sorry for rambling on a bit....

I'm trying to watch on a coach with no wifi - OK if we're in an area with 4G but it all goes to pot with 3G Keeps cutting out just when I'm interested in something - it will have to be catch up for me!

Hahahaha! And on the basis of that, you'd have to kill off Colas in Fille too, which would dampen the mood of the ballet somewhat....

I always felt that poor old Paris got a bit of a rough deal! And one of the things that always gets me is that there is no attempt to explain why Romeo never gets Friar Lawrence's message explaining that Juliet isn't really dead! It's explained in the synopsis but there's no hint of it in the ballet itself. It might be quite difficult to do, I suppose.

True, Aileen, and I take your point, but speaking personally, it would take a really terrible performance to make me leave at the end of the first Act, and given the cast I would find that hard to believe. But maybe I'm wrong. And of course everyone is entitled to an opinion but all these posts are just that - individual opinions - and what doesn't do it for one person may be the best performance ever for someone else.

I'm glad you wrote that review, Nevsky - I haven't yet seen Lamb/Muntagirov (Thursday is my turn), so have been withholding comment, but I have to say that the negative reviews above were contradicted by many comments in the social media, which were in general very complimentary about them. Having seen the cinema relay on Tuesday, and seeing her live on several occasions, I don't find Sarah Lamb at all cool/cold - except where the role demands it. I guess it shows how different people see different things. However, I find it rather unfair that a performance can be dismissed after one act, and if I were a dancer reading that about my own performance, would feel quite dismayed. After all, regardless of anyone's opinions, a lot of hard work goes into these performances, and seeing that (who knows who reads this forum?) would be soul destroying. I won't be returning my tickets for Thursday - wouldn't, whoever was dancing - as I like to make up my own mind about a performance.

I have just invested in a spider repellent spray and will be dousing the house in it shortly, following a spectacular "fail" in trying to remove a huge spider the other night. I have a spider catcher thingy (it's a clear plastic pyramid on the end of a pole that you put over the spider, with a sliding door that you can then allow to fall shut, or close it manually). However, when I saw this spider I had serious doubts as to whether the catcher was big enough to go over it! Anyway, I managed (with much shuddering) to trap it, then walked gingerly towards the door. I suddenly noticed it wasn't quite shut, and in my panic turned it the wrong way; out fell the spider - on my foot!! - expletives may have been used - and the damned thing legged it across the hall to hide in a pile of my son's shoes under the hall table. As far as I know it is still there - I had had enough spider hunting for one night! But I am, of course, now paranoid, and expecting to meet it around every corner....I can't bring myself to kill them though. Interesting about the total unreasoning lack of logic with true phobias - I used to work with a woman who had a button phobia! She couldn't wear anything with buttons.

Ditto for Muntagirov. He never seems to put a foot wrong (hope I haven't jinxed him by saying that), plus he always looks so graceful and elegant - that arabesque!

I thought Sarah Lamb was just perfect, certainly not too sophisticated as Juliet, just very youthful and moving. I can't really warm to Steven McRae but I will concede that he played Romeo very well and of course his dancing was superb. And a shout out for Alexander Campbell and Gary Avis - both excellent. Really looking forward to seeing Lamb with Muntagirov next week - of course I wasn't anticipating seeing her twice, but I have no problem with that! And can't wait to see Vadim as Romeo again.

But she made an excellent Alice - not a role requiring sophistication. She came across as very girlish and playful in that, I thought.

I can appreciate the disappointment, but I feel a bit sorry for Vadim, with people returning tickets because his partner has been changed. It's as if there is no point in the performance without Osipova, and it's not worth bothering to see him with anyone else! After all, he is well worth watching just on his own merit. And Sarah Lamb and he made a wonderful partnership in Manon. I too was looking forward to seeing him with Osipova, and admit to some disappointment on that score, but c'est la vie.... I'm happy to be seeing him because I know he will be fantastic, having also seen him with Klimentova in R&J last year.

Perhaps they felt it might be too much for Hayward given it's her debut this time, and after all it would be another three performances for her - although I admit I would like to see it. Having said that, I saw Lamb/Muntagirov together in Manon and thought they were wonderful together.

I saw this streamed and really enjoyed it. Particularly impressed with Alexander Campbell; it looks like he will be a wonderful Mercutio.