Missfrankiecat

I totally agree with your first sentence. A whole performance constitutes much more than simply performing the steps correctly. And everyone makes mistakes occasionally - part of a great dancer's judgment is knowing when to push and when it is necessary to adapt to mitigate a clearly visible mistake or fall. But ultimately ballet is a technical art and an ability to perform the steps as choreographed is the baseline of a principal dancer for me. So I can't go along with the theory that performing 32 fouettés isn't integral to dancing Odile, so that an interpretation which doesn't contain those steps is as valid as one which does. Of course, I'm talking about dancers who regularly substitute easier choreography in classics, not someone dealing with the odd 'bad day at the office'.

I was too far away to see Brandt's face but she was travelling quite a bit from the outset on the fouettés and I thought from her head movement she had lost it quite early on - better, of course, to pull out into simple turns than fall and a lot of people aren't any the wiser. I didn't feel nearly as alarmed with Fumi - she wasn't quite 'on' the music but I didn't ever fear she was going to come a cropper. You are right - it's easy to forget how fiendishly difficult these moves are

I wasn't keen on his new hairdo either!!

Skylar Brandt did not do the full fouetté sequence - she replaced part of the music with chaine turns. Misty Copeland gets roasted when she does that sort of thing.

She is often at Covent Garden - I've seen her multiple times for one production. She is still a very pretty woman and obviously a huge ballet fan. I love the novels of Anthony Trollope and always visualise her as Lady Glencora from the Palliser series (who she played in the BBC adaptation).

The 'award' section was rather bizarre. To be fair, they had warned with an earlier announcement that some awards would be presented at the end but when they were it was all a bit haphazard. As far as I could hear, all the awards were for 'special achievement' - ie the same thing and I don't think many, if any, in the audience understood what the award represented. There were some awkward gaps, when it felt like the presenter didn't know what was happening. I saw Olga Smirnova in conversation with Vadim during all this, with some smiling shrugs from him - I expect she wondered what on earth was going on.

Wonderful evening although I feel a little sated with my impressions of a number of pieces that were new to me and will come back when I have had the chance to mull over. I will say I was very charmed by the youngsters Antonio Casalinho and Margarita Fernandes dancing Esmeralda with amazing drive and technical ability for their ages; Dutch ballet have some real stars - I loved Riho Sakamoto and Constantine Allen, who really convinced as a pairing; and I wish Taming of the Shrew (on the evidence of the taste we got of it tonight) was in the repertoire of an English company. Melissa Hamilton is a class act. Many thanks to @FionaM without whom I would not have had such a good view. Shocked to see so many empty seats, especially in the stalls.

You have expressed that exactly as I feel too @Richard LH. [The endings were they both die are beyond dismal!]. What I particularly loved about Marienela's interpretation on opening night was the feeling I had that the ending was pre-figured by her Odette's character, which was much stronger, angrier even, from the outset than she is usually played, already struggling to find an escape. She melted in the gaze of Sigfried's love but there was always a sense she was ready to take action herself if push came to shove. Obviously, the lighting issues on opening night slightly marred this glorious catharsis (or illustrated an unusually speedy resurrection!) but the Scarlett ending did finally make total sense to me. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the other Odette/Odile's to see how they act it.

To be honest, now that I have committed to going, I'm quite happy to be surprised about who is dancing. I will be very happy to see Vadim twice though with those partners. Looking forward to see Bleuenn Battistoni too.

Oh my!

Just finished watching on YouTube slightly behind time and it has really whetted my appetite for this programme. I agree with the comments about how special it is that this generation of dancers still can have an almost direct contact with MacMillan's intention via the generation he created these works on. [I thought the same when I saw Muntagirov being coached by Sir Anthony Dowell in Ashton's Blessed Spirits just before lockdown]. Watching Ed Watson working with Marcelino Sambe was extraordinary - the movements must be so jarring for bodies used to classical technique. I know they are all incredibly fit but I wonder if the injury level in MacMillan works is higher than others?

I would echo what @Sim@LinMMand @Linnzi5 have recently written about the Manon run. I would not usually dream of seeing 4 casts in the same production over a matter of a few weeks, but can honestly say each of the different casts completely transported me on the night: I noticed different nuances and appreciated slightly different interpretations of the roles. Such high standards from all taking part. Overall I too had no favourite cast, but I will say Osipova and Campbell's interpretations of Manon and Lescauts' interactions made me reflect more about their sibling relationship and how central it might be to the plot. Their acting really made me think about a back story to their characters. Quite an achievement to layer that on such superb dancing. This thread has also been a rich source of information and insight into the other performances I missed, so thanks to all who have contributed.

She has palpable star quality. I always notice her.

@lady emily and @Rob S heartfelt thanks for sharing your video and photos. Although I was there, it has been lovely to wake up this morning and re-live the warm farewell to Alex - with much better detail than the myopic peering I had to do from up in the god's last night! Like others, I feel so fortunate to have enjoyed watching Alex dance and listen to him talk over the years and to be there for the final fling last night. It was a joy to see the company publicly celebrating a fantastic talent, well-realised in a successful dancing career, and an obviously loved friend and colleague. I found the white rose presenting procession of leading ladies very moving, along with Vadim's bear-hug and non-assisted lift, and the presence of Lesley Collier. Alex's "hour long" speech was typically articulate and well-judged (despite the obvious emotion); it is easy to imagine that his skill set contains many qualities which will see him do well in leadership roles in the future. I probably haven't seen him dance as many times as others here and it seems almost trite to pick my favourite performance as Hans Peter with Frankie Hayward as Clara in Nutcracker, but to me they were the most perfectly wholesome and sincere personification of every little ballerina's dream.

It all feels a bit understated up here in the gods of the amphitheatre-I am feeling mournful

She will miss him a lot. I've seen them live a few times but I most think of them as a dance couple in a BBC film about preparations for the Nutcracker - Frankie's first Sugar Plum - and Alex was so calm, kind and supportive of her, like a big brother (of the best kind!). Along with the serene Lesley Collier coaching and grand-fatherly Sir Peter Wright looking on, it was a wonderful antidote to the stories of poisonous behind the scenes ballet relationships peddled in some films of the time.

Well, I'm not getting much work done this afternoon researching these fascinating facts but it The London Ballet Circle "In Conversation with Cesar Corrales" in 2021 records this from the(taller than he looks!) horse's mouth. "Linda said: “ You were actually quite small here for 15.” He responded: “ Yes, I was a slow grower. I thought I was going to be very, very short. I was very sad about my height as I was always the shortest in class. Mum decided to take me to a doctor because I was getting nervous about my height. They actually had a prediction that I was going to be 5ft 5 inches which is super, super short. Luckily it didn’t turn out that way. I’m 5ft 11 inches. I’m a good size.” Mind you, I'm often amazed at 5'4" me looking eye to eye at men who claim they are 6'.

I hear you. I aways think of Corrales as being relatively short. I've found the article (it was the Telegraph last Oct, not a women's mag but it was a fashion shoot!). Here's what was said about heights: "I’m curious to know how she and her 27-year-old Cuban-Canadian beau navigate the pressures of living and working together? ‘Well, you know, I don’t think we dance together as much as we could, because actually it all depends on heights.’ (Corrales is 5ft 11in, Frankie 5ft 2in.) ‘Some real-life ballet couples end up dancing with each other all the time. I think we dance together for just the right amount, so that we can enjoy what we do, but it’s not all season long!’ " I'd link but I have the idea we're not supposed to on here.

Posts starting on Instagram now from colleagues etc . Vadim is missing his dressing room buddy and having a final giggle in class. Claire is showing a lovely montage of photos from the years.

Quite. Re Francesca Hayward dancing with Cesar, I seem to recall reading an article relatively recently (when she was preparing for The Limit) in a women's/fashion mag where she was asked about dancing with her boyfriend and said they enjoyed dancing together some but not all of the time. She also said height was a factor because she claimed he is a lot taller than her (!) and so sometimes it was better to be paired with a partner nearer her height.

Maybe send her a message to get a move on next time in Act 2 - we've all got trains to catch after all!

I watched him quite a lot on Wednesday due to our position in the SC and he definitely had an eye on the dancers .

@Lesley If Swan Princess doesn't want the balcony ticket, I would be interested.

I thought this tempo was a deliberate choice - Kessells watched her very closely - because it shows off Nunez' phenomenal control and balance, her ability to 'float' in transitional movements and, interpretively, was conveying the labour of Odette's anguished imprisonment in swan form. Of course, this pace is a lot harder for less technically gifted dancers to follow.

I wasn't there last night but some colleagues were. They loved the production (3/4 hadn't seen the Liam Scarlett version before) and thought the swan corps was sensational. Much love for Benno and Von Rothart and the national dances. Some disappointment with Cesar and the partnership with Mayara, I'm afraid. Probably the same issues as above although it was really that they 'looked awkward as a couple when they danced together' that they described. But overall a good evening was had!