Beryl H

Last night's was easily the best overall performance I've seen so far, was a bit nervous after Tuesday's but no technical hitches at all, what a difference a day makes, can see why this is the first cast, Thomas Whitehead and Itziar Mendizabal brought much more to the gypsies and fandango, and hurrah for Melissa Hamilton's Dryad Queen, I was getting worried about the dancing of this role. Laura Morera was exciting as Mercedes,( and yes she was a great Kitri years ago) and Ryoichi Hirano brought Espada to life. Actually the whole ballet just looked better, the first act faster and more exuberant, even the toreadors, and the music suddenly sprang to life too, of course Carlos Acosta and Marienela Nunez were perfect in the roles, their warmth and joy came over very well on the screen, and I think they inspired everyone else, I'm so pleased it went well, hope it appears on Blu-Ray soon The only technical thing that looked odd was the rather dull vision scene, when it was so colourful on stage, I could hardly see those big pink flowers.

Oh dear, like aileen I decided to leave after the second act thinking it wouldn't finish til much later, what a wonderful recovery and dancing from Akane Takada though, fingers crossed for tonight at the cinema, at least I can stay to the very end!

I'm going tomorrow and had been looking forward to the Marquez/Campbell partnership very much, but had also wished I was seeing Akane Takada, and now I am, she has danced very strongly in the Kitri's Friend role, so its the best replacement I could have!

Last night was my second viewing and the same cast as Saturday (more or less, Deidre Chapman was the Gypsy/Fandango dancer and Beatriz Stix-Brunell took over in the last act from an injured Elizabeth Harrod). I felt pretty much the same about the production, although I now like the guitar scene around the camp fire, actually enjoyed the gypsy band atmosphere in the music. Don't like the dancer's shouting, sounds contrived and silly, don't mind their clapping though. The first act still needs the most attention I thought, music needs to be faster , the toreadors need to be much more flamboyant, even the streetdancer solo doesn't make the usual impact. The second and third acts are much better though, love the vision scene (but then I always do) and the humour is very well played by everyone. Gorgeous soft white costumes for the Fandango girls. I'm looking forward now to seeing all the different casts, Marquez and Campbell next, sounds great!

Just noticed there's a Culture Show documentary about Sylvie Guillem this Wednesday BBC2 at 10pm til 10.30pm, looks like a new programme.

The Sunday Times magazine has an article about Alina Cojocaru jumping ship (to join the pirates?), could be interesting, haven't read it yet, and a very good review of Don Quixote.

Too much to take in at once but one thing's for sure, Iana Salenko and Steven McRae were breathtaking, really well matched as both have bravura technique but artistry and musicality too, her balances, whether high above Steven's head or alone, were so poised! I like the production mostly, the moving scenery and windmills, the psychedelic vision scene, none of this bothered me, wasn't so keen on the gypsy scene round the camp fire. The music in general sounded odd, not sure about this aspect, some parts sounded better (the gypsy dances really sounded like GYPSY music) others sounded worse, will need to get used to it. The acting roles were marvellous in the evening, Gary Avis and Jonathan Howells as Don Q and Sanco Panza, and Christopher Saunders and Thomas Whitehead as Lorenzo and Gamache, all give the roles more interest than usual, and the hilarious sword fight between Don Q and Gamache is back(remember that from Nureyev's Australian version). I liked Nathalie Harrison as Dulcinea (rather Giselle like) makes more sense of the story, Don Q doesn't just seem an old nutter. I would like to see act 1 speeded up a bit, thought some of the tempi a bit slow (perhaps dancers getting into roles). Lots more to look forward to, so glad I booked to see Steven McRae and Iana Sakenko twice!

I wasn't going to book for many Beauties but I think I'll have to see Choe, Takada and Osipova. Kobayashi has danced Aurora several times before, she is my favourite, but never with Bonelli, she will be be even lovelier!

I noticed the Odeon website had changed recently, although I hate downloading systems onto my computer I had to get Internet 9 a few months ago as BT were threatening that I would be unable to access my E-mails unless I did. I must say a lot of websites do look better with it, but I find the Odeon one irritating to use now.

I got a pleasant shock when the paper dropped through my door this morning, quite a good 3 star review too, says it just needs smoothing out, I was surprised the critics were at the Gala.

Some more casting is on the ROH website, mostly the character roles, but Espada is either Hristov or Hirano and Mercedes either Mendizabal or Morera so far, more to come including Dryad Queen and Cupid.

I think another Canadian Principal for the RB would be good, Jason Reilly for Onegin, Rudolf, de Grieux etc. I'm moderately excited about Matthew Golding, he created a huge buzz dancing Solor, an obvious choice for the classics as he combines good partnering with exceptional technique, he won't be too overshadowed by Natalia Osipova.

No surprise the Osipova/Acosta Giselle tickets were selling quickly, I kept adding one to the basket only to get a message saying it was gone, this happened a few times, also not much left for Hansel, but everything else was easy (I only book for amphi seats not standing).

Yes, Nehemiah Kish does look like a younger Ralph Fiennes, and I always thought Cindy Jourdain looked like a younger Madonna.

The make-up department do a fantastic job of hiding them, on the Ashton Celebration BluRay you can see one on his hand in the rehearsal film, but it's invisible during the actual performance.

I booked to see the Made in Germany programme yesterday as I suddenly realised how exciting it might be, the short video on the SW website certainly looks good.

Many thanks to you both, I now know which date or dates to book for, good to see Le Jeune Homme is complete with the original sets, I like Remanso and the male pdd from Proust too. The Coliseum website has just changed, it looks more modern.

Do the "Kings" programmes have full scenery, Le Jeune Homme et la Morte wouldn't be the same without the final transformation scene, although it creates a long interval? I didn't realise Ivan Vasiliev wasn't dancing all performances, suppose he will do the opening night? Prices are very high so am glad I haven't booked yet.

I'm pleased for Steven McRae to have 3 exciting new partners, Evgenia Obratsova should be wonderful as Juliet, she was a tragic Nikiya recently, never heard of Iana Salenko before but they would appear to be a golden couple, just wish I had been able to buy a ticket for the amphi on 18th October, lucky Students!

I think the RB strongly favours the tall, danseur noble type of male principal with good partnering over charisma and technique,rightly or wrongly I don't know, but it would be good to balance it up a bit, apart from Carlos Acosta who will be a strong enough partner for Natalia Osipova? Steven McRae is an exception, he can do everything, I think he is an excellent danseur noble when required.

I think there is a difference between Principal and Star (or Etoile, thank goodness the RB doesn't have this, think of the arguments), they have recently lost world-class Stars such as Cojocaru, Kobborg, Rojo and Polunin, and gained one, Osipova, so yes I think they are under-starred, especially on the male side. The Bolshoi seems to have a wonderful number of soloists that look destined to become Principals, compared to the RB.

I found a DVD I had yesterday of about 20 minutes from the film shown in the Youtube clip, I presume the whole ballet was recorded in 1953, it's not a stage production as it includes armies marching through fields, but is so interesting, another girl runs into the Royal Palace with the flag (to the music used for Jeanne) but is shot by a Royalist, so there is a female death in the original, not the same one as in Ratmansky's. I too would love to see the Mikahilovsky version, but would like to see another dancer as well as Vasiliev in the role. Personally I think Vasiliev should be signed up quickly by the RB before he gets snapped up by another Director, perhaps as guest artist, I've found he only shows off in Don Quixote and Flames of Paris, which is appropriate. He was serious when I saw him in Petruschka, Spartacus, Corsaire and Ashton's Romeo and Juliet.

Those front row Upper Circle never go on sale online, as they have legroom restrictions, likewise the Balcony, very irritating. Funnily enough for the Carlos Acosta shows, they suddenly put them online for all performances and I bought one, wasn't too bad spacewise, but not for the very tall!

I've just read that Thursday was only Olga Smirnova's second performance in Swan Lake, that is amazing, I had no idea, thought she had danced it several times already, this was from Luke Jenning's review.