Balletfanp

Oh, I wish you hadn't said that! I can't book until tomorrow morning!

Well, that has been amply confirmed here!

For goodness sake. I'm not surprised he responded in the way he did. What silly questions. Sounds like she is interviewing him for a teenybop magazine!

Well, I for one enjoyed Melissa's performance in Faun, and I wish her well in Dresden - no doubt she will gain a lot of valuable experience there. It would be interesting to know from people who weren't impressed by Faun where they were sitting. I was in the second row of the stalls, and to me it seemed very atmospheric, dreamlike and tense, but it occurs to me that it's quite a subtle piece that might not transmit as well towards the back of an auditorium, whoever performs it. Just a thought. I would love to see it again.

I really love Faun. I saw the whole thing on YouTube a while ago now (I think it was with Herve Moreau). Sadly it seems to have been taken down a few months ago, more's the pity. But it made me really want to see it live, and I wasn't disappointed. I love the almost dreamlike quality of it, and the building tension and undercurrent of passion. Personally I enjoyed Hamilton's performance very much, and thought she and Muntagirov captured those undercurrents of physical attraction extremely well.

Faun was definitely the highlight and you're right Aileen, it is an odd piece, but in a good way! And I was thinking that it must be incredibly difficult to keep up that whole "looking in a mirror" thing all the way through - I don't think I could do it; it must be all too easy to find your eyes dropping to the audience, for instance. Perhaps that's why it's only 11 minutes long.

I was at today's matinee - my first experience of a mixed bill so an interesting afternoon. Not helped by a man sat next to me wearing really strong aftershave that smelt like something my granny would have worn - a very old fashioned scent with top notes oddly reminiscent of tom-cat. Then a lady a couple of seats to my right kept having a coughing fit, then fumbling noisily in her bag for cough sweets, so the aftershave was overlaid by the heady whiff of cherry menthol. Not a good combination - it's a wonder I didn't pass out.... Anyway - gripes aside - I found it a mixed bag. First up, Afternoon of a Faun with Muntagirov and Hamilton. This I loved - they performed it sublimely, and the passionate undercurrents were palpable. I was wishing it was longer than 11 minutes long but then realised that as I was holding my breath for most of it I would probably have died if it was longer! Hamilton was lovely and Muntagirov's incredible quality of movement made it breathtakingly beautiful to watch. Both sensual and innocent. Big pat on the back for both of them. In the night - lovely to watch. The best couple for me were Lamb and Bonelli. Lovely dancing from both and they danced with great feeling. Kobayashi and Hristov danced well, but I felt they had zero chemistry so it felt a bit flat. Marquez was just lovely; wonderful dancing, expressive and emotional. I had never seen Pennefather before and he danced well but I didn't feel he was giving much back to Marquez emotion-wise, so it felt a bit one-sided. (By the way, did anyone else notice Marquez clop Pennefather across the head with her leg when he was kneeling? Poor guy...) On to Song of the Earth. Opinions seem to be polarised on this ballet and I can understand why. For me, it was a bit of a curate's egg. When it started I found myself not entirely pleased at the prospect of a whole hour of it. However, it did improve on me as it went on, although it was a bit up and down. It got much better towards the end and by the time the last song was reached I was hooked. I think the problem was that the music and singing were wonderful, but I didn't feel the choreography lived up to them a lot of the time. The singers were fantastic. Laura Morera, with whom I was hugely impressed in Fille, delivered another fab performance, moving and technically accomplished. Watson was of course incredibly good, and other standouts for me were Yuhui Choe and Alexander Campbell. Kish, another one I had never seen dance before, didn't blow me away but put in a solid performance, as did the rest of the cast. And of course I must put in a good word for the two singers, who were fantastic and sang with great feeling that added hugely to the overall performance. All my own opinions of course so feel free to disagree!

I've seen a few rather derogatory mentions of Muntagirov on there (one describes him as "unexpressive" - really??). It does make you wonder what they are looking for in a dancer.

Interesting. Many years ago (more than I care to think!) I used to do festivals. I did very well at them, but ultimately didn't get into White Lodge when I auditioned, and didn't really mind too much as I didn't actually want to do it for a living, if I'm honest, although my mum was keen. However, I used to compete against another child who I don't remember doing all that well in the festivals I was at. The name? Kevin O'Hare.... So tell your daughter not to worry - I'm sure she will have the last laugh!

Another small thing I enjoyed was her fabulously lacklustre butter churning!

I'm suffering from the same problem at the moment, although in my case it's a result of Taekwon-do as opposed to ballet! Advice given by doctor: to refrain from attending classes for at least 3-4 weeks and to rest as much as possible. Of course, complete rest is impossible (one has to walk, life must go on!) but he suggested gel insoles to help cushion the feet when walking and to absorb shock.

Sending virtual hugs. What a horrible thing to have to live with in your own home. Time to get support now and I hope it all gets sorted.

This is going way too far. You should report him to the police anyway.

I must admit I thought the same. Having seen Fille a couple of times now, and having got to know all the things going on in it, I found myself being a bit irritated by the camera focussing in on someone's face, and knowing that by doing that they were missing something elsewhere. At one point, I seem to remember them missing a large chunk of one of Alain's solos by doing that! Still, anyone who had never seen it wouldn't know what they were missing, so I expect they were perfectly happy!

Thanks, me too! I will be booking as soon as humanly possible!

Personally, I think it would be nice to see a DVD/live stream of a performance with some different artists - much as they are all good, there does seem to be a bit of a bias towards Osipova, Acosta, Nunez etc. I feel that the RB should be exposing some of their other dancers too. I see that the R&J being streamed is the one with Lamb and Pennefather, which is perhaps a good sign. I hope so - I would have loved the Morera/Muntagirov cast to have been the chosen performance (much as I enjoyed the one shown), and I'm glad that they are showing some of the mixed bills, which will hopefully give others a chance to be seen.

Thanks Mummykool, yes it does. As it happens, one has now dropped out so I'll only need three tickets now which makes it a bit easier!

Hi. I'm thinking of becoming a Friend in time for the new season. I will be wanting to book for myself and a few others to see The Nutcracker in January, but I've just noticed on the ROH website that although one can book up to four tickets, they may restrict it to fewer in certain performances. This could make things a little awkward. Has anyone experienced this happening? I guess I want to get an idea of how likely it is to happen.

Sorry, the first bit should have come out as a quote from the previous post and didn't!

This is the second time I've seen him attempting to demolish the scenery - in a previous performance, a cart wheel got caught in the gateway when exiting the farmyard. In Peregrine's defence, I suspect the person leading him didn't quite allow enough turning room for the cart... Well, I suspect when they joined the Royal Ballet, none of the dancers expected "horse handling" to be a desirable extra on their CV! )

Maybe he'll grow on me - I'm open to being convinced. And tonight Peregrine the Pony lived up to his "naughty" appellation by walking the cart into the drop cloth and dragging it along - then keeping going in rather too much of a hurry....and going....thought he wasn't going to stop at all!

Well, I was a bit of an "Osi-sceptic" - I think largely because of all the hype, and the fact that I wasn't totally sold on her in Swan Lake, but just back from the cinema and I have to say I'm converted. In roles like this anyway. I thought she was absolutely wonderful. What footwork! And what lovely characterisation! I'm afraid I can never really warm to McRae though, and missed Vadim's more sensitive portrayal of Colas (and dare I say it, better dancing?? McRae was undoubtably very good, but lacks finesse to my mind). I guess it's a matter of taste, and I have no wish to offend McRae fans! But all in all, wonderful!

Oh, and I agree about Whitehead. Tuckett I found hilarious, whereas Whitehead raised a smile but no more. The clog dance shenanigans with all the slipping and sliding looked carefully rehearsed (it is, of course!), but with Tuckett it all seemed spontaneous, as well as chaotic and a bit dangerous - as it should be! With his perfect facial expressions and comic timing he made a wonderful Simone. Whitehead didn't quite do it for me

I was also there. Muntagirov was as delightful as ever but I agree they weren't an ideal partnership both with the height difference (although technically they both made little of it) or chemistry-wise. They weren't bad together, just that they didn't have the spark I saw on opening night between Muntagirov and Morera. I enjoyed Marquez very much though and thought she was a lovely Lise. She did give Muntagirov a big spontaneous kiss at the curtain call so she must have been happy enough with how it went! And there were moments where they were really lovely together, such as when he comforted her after her embarrassment over the "When we are married" mime. In all fairness, as well, he was only announced as her replacement Colas a couple of weeks ago, and he has been doing galas elsewhere during that time. They must have had very limited time to rehearse together, and it's not even as if they have danced together before. All things considered, a really good performance.

He said in an interview only a couple of days ago that he found that solo challenging because his long legs didn't allow him much room!. I must admit when I saw it last week I was holding my breath a bit.