Beryl H

Another great triple bill at the ROH, and a surprise appearance from Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell at the end of The Dream, looking very happy (there's an interesting video of the scherzo on the ROH website, with Anthony Dowell and Wayne Sleep I think, wonder if the whole ballet was filmed?). It was good to see Roberta Marquez and Steven McRae together again, also Paul Kay, looking forward to seeing Osipova and Golding very much. I loved Connectome too, I was watching the dancers through opera glasses and obviously missed much of the changing designs but what I saw was beautiful, the ballet had the same dreamy sensual quality that I liked in Sensorium and Trespass, the music, lighting, high tech designs and of course the choreography all combined to produce a work of real quality, again looking forward to seeing the second cast. The Concert is funny even when you know the jokes, after just seeing Serenade I loved the bit where the Young Man has to partner Lauren Cuthbertson with her hair falling wildly everywhere, that pdd and the ensemble for the out of step girls are my favourites, lovely parody of ballet and the audience too!

Guess what, the Balcony is now open, tickets £15 - £29.

I'm happy with Giselle on it's own now, if another work was given at the ROH it would probably be very short followed by a 30 minute interval, so no thanks, nice to be able to stay to the end and see all the curtain calls for a change.

The Mariinsky running times are showing, Romeo and Juliet 3.10 minutes, Swan Lake 2.55 minutes, Apollo/MND 3.10 minutes, Firebird triple 2.25 minutes and Cinderella 2.40 minutes. Think they might be extended a little as some of the intervals are only 20 minutes long and I can't imagine the Mariinsky keeping to that. I knew the Apollo programme would be long, it's very generous and the one I'm looking forward to the most.

Steven McRae replaces Federico Bonelli in The Dream on June 10th and 13th, this repeats what happened before when he ended up dancing nearly all the performances, he's really good though

I HATED Maths and came bottom of the class in every exam we had, it was a good-natured joke that I would, as for Latin I don't think my secondary modern school knew it existed, the general choice available for us jobwise was to become a nurse, a typist, or a shop assistant, I think Terpsichore made a valid point somewhere in all this

I had a bad feeling that Carlos Acosta would retire at the end of 2015, in Song of the Earth, so I'm relieved he has 2 more seasons ahead, Carmen sounds the right ballet for him to do

The casting for The Concert is on the ROH website although not under News, there are 2 main casts with slight differences in the second cast.

Booking is now open for the Russian Seasons triple bill of Petruschka, Les Sylphides and Polovtsian Dances at the London Coliseum, it follows Le Coq d'Or and is on for Friday 11th July and Saturday 12th matinee and evening. The next week Swan Lake is on from Tuesday 15th to Saturday 19th July, with "international guest artists", there is also mention of the Gala but no date or booking yet. The Balcony is open for all performances.

I went to the NPG on Wednesday, this sounds fascinating although I can't imagine there's much space for dancers, certainly not in the War Portraits rooms (which includes a painting by Walter Sickert), but on level 1 there was a huge painting of war officers, there would be space there. Can't go myself but I would be interested if anyone does go.

This triple bill was unusual in that I like every ballet very much, doesn't happen often, couldn't have been more diverse and interesting. Serenade isn't my most favourite Balanchine, but really enjoyed last night, Melissa Hamilton looked a natural for it, glad she has lighter hair again, I love the last movement with the girls' long hair flowing, Ryoichi Hirano coped very well with all the partnering as usual. It would have been a good idea to print a synopsis of Sweet Violets on the cast list as they did for The Winter's Tale, but the problem is what is the synopsis? it has no narrative although the characters existed in real life in different times and situations (not sure about Marie), more like Walter Sickert's fantasies, the ballet has definite flaws but I find it fascinating, very clever how it conjures up such an atmospheric mood of Victorian London, the designs in particular. The RB put so much into these dramatic ballets, must mention Sarah Lamb who really threw herself into the role of Marie, and Lauren Cuthbertson who took over the role Alina Cojocaru danced. DGV is the perfect end ballet after all the drama, great music, not sure what it all represents, Natalia Osipova and Edward Watson really looked good together again, looking forward to seeing them in Connectome, due to all the injuries some dancers were given a lot to do last night, I'm sure they were exhausted but didn't show it.

I think the ROH is allowed to re-sell Hochhauser shows if the performance is a complete sell out, unlike their usual rules where they will try if they have sold all the tickets for the same price as yours. It's never easy to find these rules in print though.

This might help, I've been doing some sleuthing and this programme is on the Stanislavsky Theatre's website, as part of the tour, and the programme is Carmen, Passo, and Facada, with the San Jose Ballet. They start at Costa Mesa in July, then the Stanislavsky, then the Coliseum.

I certainly remember sitting up in the Balcony for NYCB as it was expensive, didn't realise tickets were £35 though, it had a strange benefit as between the Saturday matinee and evening I went to Harrods and bought a marvellous pair of opera glasses, what a difference in the evening, think it was the last night! Terrible shame about the small audiences. As for expected offers, this is so unfair to the poor people who pay the full price, I always think this and is one of the reasons I am trying to keep away from the Coliseum as much as I can!

I imagine this is the first time the cheapest seats at the Coliseum are £39 for ballet, when they closed the Balcony for BRB there were £17.50 seats available in the Upper Circle.

I wrote down the casting and there appear to be some changes now, i.e. Alina Somova dances Juliet on Thursday 31st July and Olga Esina on Wednesday 30th July, they have swapped (with their partners), M and A is now TBC, and Alina Somova dances in Apollo on Saturday 9th August evening instead of Oxana Skorik. There might be others, my list wasn't complete, just the leads. I presume we can swap one Mariinsky ticket for another, have been able to in previous years, I particularly wanted to see Diana Vishneva in M and A.

The Mariinsky R and J to be shown at the ROH runs for 3 hours 30 minutes according to their website.

Don't know if it was the cinema's fault but the technical qualities of the transmission were not brilliant, act 1 seemed to be mostly in gloom whereas at the ROH it was very well lit, I missed the sculptural quality that it had live, but a wonderful chance to see the dancers close up, especially Edward Watson (it was good to see him in rehearsal looking relaxed and normal, makes me realise just what a great actor he is, Christopher Wheeldon said he thought of him first and then came up with the role of Leontes). Lauren Cuthbertson looked so beautiful and serene. Likewise the big stage effects lacked the excitement I felt seeing them live, again the stage seemed too dark, they definitely look better from above, and the bear of course, there's a lot to be said for the view from the amphi! The camera did catch Steven McRae's solo in act 2 better than I have been able to though!

I've booked for the cinema too, the chance to see it close up, in comfort, and able to stay until the transmission stops is too good to miss! Saw last night's, wonderful performances from Lauren Cuthbertson and Edward Watson, especially the last pdd, Edward Watson's expressive pliant body contrasts perfectly with Lauren Cuthbertson's cooler, purer style, after all he is the penitent one. Also noticed the solo for Hermione towards the end of act one more, it takes quite a few viewings to take it all in, it seems to get better each time though

I had a good afternoon on Wednesday walking around Kensington Gardens, both the Serpentine Galleries are free and it's a nice walk to Kensington Palace, the garden looks lovely and you can see where Wills and Kate live! If you've never been inside it's very interesting. If you like fashion exhibitions, there are 2 on at the moment, Italian Fashion at the V and A, and Jean Paul Gaultier at the Barbican, neither are free, the Theatre Galleries at the V and A have several ballet related objects and a small exhibition on Shakespeare at the moment.

Saw the first and second act last night, I imagine Bennet Gartside and Marianela Nunez were very dramatic in the final pdd. Am beginning to gather more opinions and think this is a huge improvement from Alice and Cinderella, it is the more mature Wheeldon that I had hoped for, although of course it is a more serious subject. I like some of the music, the drum dances for Polixenes have a great period feel, and the flute music for Perdita's solo and first pdd is very evocative, what I miss most are some soaring melodies, can't remember any yet. The first act seems to be mostly solo's and I like them, the double death scene is also very well done, Joe Parker is so sweet, it really is Leontes' ballet though, Hermione doesn't get much dancing. Act 2 looked better the second time, Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Vadim Muntagirov are so young and charming and are beautifully matched in every way. Luca Acri danced the boisterous solo very well, actually the men came off better in general, Bennet Gartside, Valeri Hristov, Vadim Muntagirov and Luca Acri all made more of an impression than the women. Looking forward to more performances and seeing the last act again when I can nip out easily at the end, can't remember much from one viewing except the statue pdd . The timings of the acts are strange, definitely think the first could be cut a little, the audience did get restless last night. Bear looked good again, saw his paws as well as face! As others have said, I hope on-stage bands and dancers shouting aren't going to be the next thing in ballet! .

I need to see this ballet a few more times before making too many comments as there is so much to take in, but after last night's performance from mid amphi I though the design, lighting, and special effects were superb and went off without a hitch, the bit with the bear was okay from above, very menacing sounds from the orchestra and huge billowing silk drapes created danger, but could only just see a bear's head painted on them for a second (looked more like a wolf). I have a DVD of the RSC and something very similar was done there so not entirely new to me, but having a dancer in a bearsuit would just encourage laughter. I had a few problems with the music and was slightly disappointed with the second act after reading all the fabulous reviews, there was some beautiful dancing in there but not easy to follow a solo or pdd through to the end, dancers seemed to vanish into the wings, but I think that's the intention. The final scene with the statue is very sombre and moving, and so well danced by Lauren Cuthbertson and Edward Watson. I didn't think he overacted but I was sitting high up.

The Times' Debra Craine has given 5 stars and a totally positive review, just noting that a few tweaks are required.

To be honest, if I were you I would pay the supplement for a later coach, you are actually worse off in the afternoon than late at night with regard to buses due to the traffic, but the 11 does seem to be more frequent now and is the new type bus, and it does stop right at the coach station, definitely the most stress free journey.I find the quickest way is to exit the Opera House by the shop, nip down to the Strand, cross the road at the bottom of Southampton Street at the lights, walk towards Trafalgar Square to the bus stop opposite the Adelphi Theatre, if the 11 isn't due you can walk to the Embankment tube.

Just noticed the cast change for Saturday, that's a disappointment although I have booked to see the second cast again, the running time is increasing too, it's now 2h 55m, hope it stops at 3hours.