Beryl H

I've seen it twice and am equally confused in Machina as to what the relationship is between the robot and the dancers, the programme says the robot is Diana and she starts off at ease,then becomes agitated when she notices the dancers, but to me there are two things going on at the same time, the smaller robot with antler in the National Gallery exhibition works much better, the robot in the ballet just becomes another object to ignore, like LED figures and video screens. Some beautiful choreography though. Trespass is probably the only ballet that could be given on it's own, there is a wonderful languid atmosphere, I really couldn't see the join between Marriott and Wheeldon, marvellous pdd's for Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Nehemiah Kish, and the acrobatic one for Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae. Still a confusion as to who is Diana, some say Sarah Lamb and others Melissa Hamilton, suppose it doesn't matter, these is a mood ballet. What a welcome burst of colour from Chris Ofili for D and A, I hope the RB ask him to design again, think the idea of having 3 versions of the pdd is a mistake and robs the ballet of a strong central one, also the ballet does look old-fashioned, not exactly cutting-edge, compared to the other two. The collaboration worked amazingly well though, after all it's not everyday you see ballet costumes, designs and films in the National Gallery!

I'm most excited that Valeri Hristov will dance Onegin with Sarah Lamb, but lots of dream casting!

I think it had to be someone really special to make up for the loss of Tamara Rojo, especially at the start of the season, I thought it may have been a Cuban dancer but am thrilled it's Natalia Osipova!

On Monday I noticed a picture of Images of Love in the amphi gallery, that's one by Kenneth macMillan I would like to see, I remember Edward Watson dancing an extract at the Nureyev Gala.

I love that expression, think I may use it in the future!

The amphitheatre ones are rows S and T, in the middle and fairly cheap, if you're used to sitting this high up and have binoculars they are fine, not restricted. No experience of the others, stalls circle I believe.

Wonderful photos as always Dave! In the afternoon I went to the exhibition, fascinating to see it before going to the ballet, as there were rooms devoted to 6 costumes, design models and films, and a rehearsal film, shortly there will a ballet film to be shown in the small cinema too, presumably taken from the live relay. The installations were good too, very theatrical but not much lighting to get around by. With so many artists involved there was a lot to take in, Machina and Trespass are plotless whereas Diana and Actaeon is a straighforward telling of the myth, I would like to hear what others think, I was a bit baffled by Machina, but wonderful music, part sounding Elizabethan and part modern, and some intense, moving pdd for the 4 leading dancers. Trespass has evocative designs and (after reading the programme) plays on the theme of voyeurism, I thought it slightly similar to Sensorium, Melissa Hamilton is Diana but couldn't work out any other characters, again some beautiful and tricky pdd. Diana and Actaeon has very colourful but more traditional designs and choreography, didn't like Diana's orange bodysuit and wig(on show at the National) but liked Actaeon's dual costumes, Chris Offili got a huge cheer at the end deservedly, coming after the other 2 ballets this one did feel more old-fashioned, but easier to follow. I wonder if it is intended as a one-off or for future performances? Certainly looking forward to seeing it again, hope it will be regarded as a huge success!

Thanks for the above posts, I have checked my forthcoming events and the ticket is listed at the end, never use this normally.

I booked a ticket on 10th July in the afternoon and have never received a confirmation, I E-mailed them and have been told the order has completed, so just await the ticket in the post now.

The National Gallery exhibition sounds interesting, if it's not too crowded I may see it on Saturday and get a preview of the costumes and scenery, also get in the right mood before the evening performance.

One of the things I like about the reconstructed Scala production is the mime sequence for the White Lady when she descends from her pedestal and leads Raymonda into the garden for the vision scene, in fact the whole story is made clear when the mime is restored, another moment is the adagio when Jean de Brienne appears in full Crusader costume and presents his sword to Raymonda, who then dances with it before stabbing it into the floor, completely dotty but charming!

Some casting has come up on the ROH website for Titian 2012, same for all performances, Benjamin, Rojo, Acosta, Watson, Stix-Brunell, Lamb, Hamilton

That sounds promising, they usually get released on DVD/Blu-Ray and are very good quality. I've always wanted the Bolshoi or Mariinsky to dance La Sylphide in London but they never do.

Looks like I didn't need to book the 27th to see the Beatriz Stix-Brunell cast as I will now see them tomorrow, want to go both times as I have something else on the 27th, and a rail ticket for tomorrow plus a better seat! Actually I wonder if it will change again next week.

It sounds a wonderful programme, considering the work that went into it I wonder if more non-gala performances could be repeated in the Linbury.

Today's Times has an interview with Wayne McGregor who is involved with Big Dance 2012, also some information about his work on Titian 2012 and a picture of Carlos Acosta who will be dancing in it with Edward Watson and Leanne Benjamin.

Janet, you've made me just book another ticket, looked at the Globe calendar and I can get to the matinee on 27 June, when I have a ticket for Prince of the Pagodas in the evening!

I was thinking on Tuesday how nice it was to see Jose Martin in a decent role, how ironic, I didn't stay for the later curtain calls, hope to see him dancing again soon!

Good news first, anyone can book tickets for non-period 1 at the same time, no waiting room, straight in at 10am, and the system holds your previous payment details so that is quick. The bad news is that sometimes I got the seating plan up after clicking on and sometimes I didn't, had to try again, that happened many times, plus 1 performance was not amphi bookable so I had to rethink, ran out of time and had to make 2 separate bookings, whole think took 45 minutes. It would have been okay without that time limit, when I went back in lots of amphi seats gone, especially anything that included the name "Acosta", E-mail confirmation has not appeared but apparently it may take 24 hours!

Yes, pity she didn't name the person who said so (think I have sussed out who he was), also there was a picture of Margot Fonteyn's family home in Ealing which is for sale, and a not so good review for Prince of the Pagodas!

These photos might put people off buying seats, some of the views are terrible! On a good note I can now get the whole amphi up now minus the slips so will be able to click on any seat straight away, should save time on Tuesday, still dreading it though, presumably there is no waiting room any more?

Flawless also danced with Kylie Minogue at the Jubilee Concert on Monday.

From seeing just one performance on Saturday I think this streamlined production really works, when I saw the running times of 37, 26 and 29 minutes I was worried it might have been cut too drastically but all my favourites dances remain intact, there are still baffling moments, and as it's shorter the Prince does keep changing from Salamander and back a lot, but hopefully it will now get more performances, am certainly looking forward to seeing different casts although I thought the first one was outstanding.

Whilst browsing the Coliseum website I found this Maris Liepa Gala - London Coliseum - organised by Andris Liepa Sunday 29th July 5pm Dancers include Farukh Ruzimatov, Ilze Liepa. Dmitri Gudanov, Andrei Batalov, Vladimir Sckllryov and Ekaterina Osmolkina Pas de deux and solo's including Corsaire, Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Pique Dame, Cinderella, Harlequinade More details are on the website

Many thanks Dave, I was there last night, these pictures capture the atmosphere, especially the one where Tamara finally gets a small bouquet