Beryl H

Funnily enought at the Saturday evening performance an announcement was made that the first interval would only be 25 minutes, I wondered if people had complained, more likely the orchestra wanted to pack up at 9.30pm I liked The Lesson as an opener, which was a complete contrast and longer, I don't mind short evenings as long as they are just that, not short ballets and long intervals, 25 minutes is long enough!

I've had a horrible afternoon at the bottom of my garden trying to cut down giant thorns and weeds, although it was sweltering I had to wear trousers, anorak and gloves to protect myself!

Who danced Madge last night? I'm seeing this cast tomorrow, glad to hear Alexander Campbell danced Gurn, he was good on Monday in a very brief solo. I saw the first 2 performances (can't understand why this ballet doesn't sell, I love it) both were excellent, hard to believe it was Steven McRae's debut, and Alina Cojocaru must be the perfect Sylphide, good dancing from Valentino Zuchetti as Gurn too, the RB have lots of Bournonville men, the role of James also suited Dawid Trzensimiech on Tuesday, exciting fast light dancing and touching acting, he showed lots of confidence, looks the part too, quite Danish! Very sad to think this is Tamara Rojo's last leading role in a full-length ballet, she is both capricious and moving as the Sylphide. I usually prefer Madge to be danced by a woman but on Tuesday I must say Gary Avis gave a magnificent performance! This must be a perfect production of this ballet, what a masterpiece it is, not a step or gesture is wasted, Johan Kobborg has done a wonderful job, I wish the BBC or someone would film it, especially the one and only Cojocaru/Kobborg performance in June.

There were no actual running times in the programme but from memory: Spitfire 15m Town 20m Interval of 20m Country 25m Interval of 20 m Galop Infernal 30m Total running time about 2h 10m

This programme is at SW next week but I was able to see it nearer home and at a theatre that was really suited to slightly smaller scale works, the Theatre Royal in Brighton, it produced a wonderful atmosphere last night. I saw the TV show at Christmas that included extracts from all 3 works and wanted to see them complete, they are so witty, inventive and sexy, almost revue like although Town and Country has a serious side too. The music is a marvellous mix of classical and songs from the past, my favourite piece of all was Christopher Marney dancing a "merman" to La Mer (the song not Debussy) in The Infernal Galop, but there are so many things to enjoy!

Saw Snow White last night, it was actually reading an article about the costumes that made me want to see it, plus the mostly good reviews, and I managed to get a ticket online. I did wonder if I would like it and will agree that the costume for Snow White didn't seem appropriate for such an innocent character, it lacked modesty to say the least, but overall thought the ballet was a mix of some boring passages (mainly as it used whole movements of Mahler symphonies), and some very powerful moments indeed. The costumes in the main were striking, also the designs, it made a very dark impact, didn't realise just how unpleasant the original tale was, (thanks to the excellent programme notes from Graham Watts) I can remember the Disney film and this was a long way off, since this was the point I would have to say it was a success, just hope there weren't too many children at the matinee!

Yes, I don't think I have even seen that pose ending the Black Swan PDD, and I certainly agree that it would be nice to see the original ending of Giselle,not sure if I have even seen it but I know about it, I prefer the original musical ending too instead of the quiet one we are used to.

I love the first scene in Red Shoes where everyone rushes up the stone stairs to get a front row seat, things were never that chaotic for me but I do remember them, it's all so sedate now, riding up what has been called the "most expensive escalator ride in town".

I often sit in row J of the amphi at the ROH and must say I would be lost without my mini-binoculars, it's a wonderful view of the whole stage from there and I always think classical ballet looks best from above, especially the corps de ballet, but for pdd and solo's I like to use about x5 or x8, that way I get the best of both worlds! As to etiquette, it's not usually people who use opera glasses/binoculars that annoy me, but people who can't sit still and especially sit forward all the time.

Carlos Acosta's name guarantees a sellout even if he only dances a small role in a triple bill, so clever of the RB to invite him to produce a ballet which has been troublesome in the past, the Bolshoi and Mariinsky versions seem to be perfect, so I hope he doesn't change too much, any chance to see this colourful and exciting ballet is good though

I've finally managed to get into it, thought I'd try an early morning attempt and it worked, takes a lot of getting used to, only after reading Bluebird's post was I able to see the top amphi seats, still I'm happier than I was last night!

The ROH website will be shutting down from 3pm to 11pm today for maintenance.

I don't think it is fair to the Super Friends, why coudn't they have made sure the system was working properly and postponed the booking dates until it was!

If you liked Sergei Vikharev's reconstructions of La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia, this new DVD/BluRay of Raymonda is a treat, as well as being the first modern recording of this ballet. Vikharev has reinstated the original story, choreography and mime sequences, and looks very opulent, if old-fashioned, some of the costumes are hard to take, especially the men's, but I found if fascinating. La Scala are really stretched and need all their dancers and students plus some extras I imagine, but they all do very well, there are some lovely dances for children. Olesia Novikova and Friedermann Vogel are Raymonda and Jean de Brienne, she has 6 solo's and 3 pdd, including a series of 30 entrechats landing on pointe, never seen that before!

There is an article in today's Sunday Times where Tamara Rojo gives her views on the pressure on female dancers to be ultra thin, perhaps as the wish of others including choreographers, she is so down to earth, good for her, she really may help to popularise ballet.

I had to miss Carbon Life as it looked like a late finish again, plus transport problems, please don't tell me it finished 10.30 sharp! Polyphonia didn't have quite the same impact as on Tuesday although I thought Yasmine Naghdi and James Hay danced beautifully in their pdd, I rather missed Leanne Benjamin and Nehemiah Kish as the other couple, Dawid Trzensimiech and Samantha Raine looked good. I sympathise with people who are perplexed with the plot in Sweet Violets but I think it's more of a fantasy in the mind of Walter Sickert ballet than a narrative one, it moves suddenly from 1907 to 1888 without warning! I agree with the critics who say that the role of Sickert is too detached and could have more dancing, Bennet Gartside was especially good in the scene with Leanne Cope (who was pitiful and heartbreaking as Annie) and at the end with Laura Morera and Alexander Campbell, it makes a very powerful ending, still think the designs are magnificent and contribute much to the atmosphere, also the music was well chosen.

Can't find this info anywhere else but apologies if it is: La Sylphide June 7 Johan Kobborg replaces Sergei Polunin La Sylphide June 15 Dawid Trzensimiech replaces Sergei Polunin Sarah Lamb still dancing the Sylphide

My first short reaction to this triple bill is that Polyphonia is the best Wheeldon ballet I've seen so far , Sweet Violets is very dramatic and atmospheric with a strong start and ending (similar pdd and settings) and marvellous designs that looked like art installations in themselves, the stage/audience one was brilliant, and the last bedroom scene (there must have been an optical illusion or how else did Alina Cojocaru run up the walls?) very scary, I felt truly shocked afterwards, and Carbon Life is a disappointment, too much going on without any effect, I kept watching the singers and musicians instead of the dancers. Looking forward to seeing the second cast and the first cast again next week, I'll probably have changed my mind too!

It may have been the POB, there is a DVD available of them dancing it, I believe it dates back to the 1990's, the other ballet on the DVD is Three Cornered Hat, it's called "Picasso and Dance" and there is also a documentary. I often watch Train Bleu, it's not as good as Les Biches but very similar in theme. I would like to see the RB revive Les Biches too.

I managed to get a ticket for Alice yesterday, Beatriz Stix-Brunell was captivating as Alice, she has a light willowy style with beautiful arm movements, endless possibilities for her, also liked Nehemiah Kish who was a marvellous partner for her. Only really went to see her but found myself liking Alice a little bit more this time round, didn't mind the extra 20 minute interval as it gave a break from the hectic pace for the audience as well as for Alice! As a result there's not much ballet dancing until act 2, Alice's solo, Caterpillar (Fernando Montano excellent), waltz, then an extended pdd for Alice and Jack, much needed, and beautifully danced. Act 3 passes quickly, the garden scene, Rose Adage (am I the only person not to really find this funny?) and trial scene, until one of the best moments, the collapse of the playing cards and whole court, the journey back throught the rabbit hole, and the epilogue which is charming and nostalgic, a moment of stillness at the end of a hectic and too manic ballet. The audience adored it though, including lots of children on Easter holidays, and I'm so glad I saw Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Nehemiah Kish, on an off-chance!

I thought the matinee was one of the best performances I have been to for a while, Vadim Muntagirove has matured a lot in the last few months, he was superlative all afternoon, in Apollo (his debut) then Mazurka and pdd, and the solo's in the coda, and he was still dancing in the evening, the Train Bleu solo and partnering Daria again! Lovely performances too from Begona Cao in Apollo, Dmitri Gruzydev in Apollo, Ksenia Ovsyenick looking very chic and French in Suite, from everyone really, the matinee was especially memorable for confirming what a huge, huge talent Vadim has, and a pleasant personality to go with it, ENB have done so well in nurturing him.

"Truncated" is a very good word to use for Nutcracker which I saw at Christmas, the running time was only about 1 hour 20 minutes I think, this is more like a Matthew Bourne production, only Clara danced on pointe and there was no grand pas de deux, the music was used as an epilogue for The Dreamer and a Woman in White, choreography was modern, do you get the picture? the audience at Christmas didn't I'm sure the production will be boosted for the Coliseum, and Alban Lendorf is dancing in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty , which I haven't seen, plus Irek Mukhamedov, I got the impression that the trilogy has pyschological understones about Tchaikovsky which also might be worth seeing.