Mary

Very sorry to have missed this especially my favourite Romanian and Danish dancers dancing that marvellous English choreography- er...am I missing something about the title?

I agree Rojo's Swans was very enjoyable and informative - managing to work on several levels for different audiences. I would have liked to see the male dancers credited, and would have very much liked to see some footage of Cojocaru's interpretation which I certainly remember as a favourite ( with Kobborg). The musical analyis was very interesting. I know dancers love the music- no wonder- and one RB dancer once told me he stood in the wings to listen to the prelude and get in the mood, which Rojo also said.

I find that the more I learn about a work the more I enjoy it. There is a structure, there are layers of meaning, there are patterns. The music of SB is wonderful and the way it works with the dance is endlessly interesting, for example the way the battle between good and evil fairies is portrayed. Ballet can have strong narrative that is very pleasurable - but often narrative is not the main point.

Saw Lamb and Mc Rae-Saturday evening-she was radiant, is the only word and he was just incredible. The best male dancing I have seen on the ROH stage I think. I agree with earlier posters that they have a fine partnership. The grand pdd was a treat. I was a bit less impressed by the Lilac Fairy. Everything else was good.

The 50 second clip on the BBC website is magical and very teasing. Many thanks , this series looks great. Yes, one day there will be an amazing free online resource where we can simply click, sort by a company/ballet/production/dancer and watch clips of everything with attached information and reviews..sort of ballet forum cubed in technicolour. After all, not long ago, there was no youtube and no ballet forum, think of it.

There is an interesting review of the triple bill in this weeks' Times Lit Supplement. Judith Flanders, writing about Rhapsody, finds that there is noone currently at RB who has a "virtuoso technique...gobbles up space..brutally demands attention"..."there is a dearth of dazzle". ...whereas we all seem to agree that that describes McRae really well...whether we strongly admire his performances or not! Strange. I do not see how anyone can possibly think this, having seen McRae. On the subject of work choreographed for the RB in recent years I can think of one NOT still performed that might perhaps also be mentioned in the Bonkers Ballet thread- C Bruce's Hendrix ballet in which I remember seeing- did I?- Yanowsky..Rojo..and ..?? in hippy wigs cavorting to- big mistake this- Hendrix numbers performed by Nigel Kennedy- (that was the crucial mistake). I really enjoyed it at the time... What is lacking in most recent pieces is pleasure and fun. Discuss?

Thanks for a fascinating thread. My mother took me to The Two Pigeons at ROH.(It must have been with something else??) Quite an unusual introduction. Then Nureyev in Sleeping Beauty- I was 7 or 8 and awestruck. Still have the programme somewhere. Fell in love with ballet at that- the floral decorations, the leaps. There was a long gap then I went to Royal Ballet Big Top as a student and the flame was reignited-I sat in the front row, I think with my mouth wide open the whole way through which must have been a delightful sight for the dancers who were about 2 feet away .It was wonderful. How important it is to tour. I knew I had to go again asap and as soon as I got a job started buying ROH tickets and never looked back.

I certainly agree with him about McRae. Some people find McRae almost-too over powering? too much? I don't quite know. I am just stunned by his brilliance. I like to think I first 'spotted' him as Squirrel Nutkin! He was brilliant even in a huge squirrel costume. Good spotting on my part I like to think...!

I was at the Saturday evening performance. Rhapsody is a favourite of mine and I agree with posters above that this was a moving perfomance with,once again, high standards of dancing from everyone in it. It was good to see Zucchetti again, and Choe was a perfectly Ashtonian dancer with elegance and grace suited to the role. I love the backdrops. Gloria is a fairly sombre piece and the audience did not seem too taken with it I thought; it has occurred to me before that it is a less successful Requiem. The costumes do rather get in the way. But I still find it powerful. Acosta was very good. I posted of his Giselle that I do not always find him dramatically convincing. But in Gloria he danced expressively rather than with his usual flamboyance. We are going to really miss this great dancer when he goes. The McGregor situation was certainly a shock. I was not entirely looking forward to seeing more of his work, but certainly interested- and it is a shame to have missed the one chance to see this which might have changed my mind about his work-.but many people were very seriously disappointed. I agree with all those who find it unacceptable that the RB should put itself in the position of having to cancel at no notice one third of the evening.Many think that a triple bill in which there is almost more interval than dance is already periously close to bad value ( though I don't agree as I like long periods to reflect on what I've seen and have some wine) But to only have 2 short pieces- realy is rather absurd when you consider how many people have travelled to get there and all the work that goes into running each evening's show in the house. It is also absurd when they have so many fine dancers all of whom would be glad of a billing, not to use them in alternative casts. As company choreographer is it not his job to choreograph for them? Perahps I don't understand how these things work. I am tempted to take up the offer of compensation especially as this was a birthday treat pair of posh tickets-..- £64 eac-h for about an hour's perfomance? Hmm. Money back would give me a nice amphi seat ... I feel a bit mean doing so, as I do want to support the RB, which I love, and I am sure we all agree we wish the dancers nothing but well. But perhaps they should re think the Mc Gregor policy.

I agree re Sweet Violets, that I do not feel drawn to a ballet based on ideas about men who enjoy the gruesome murder of women - but that might be just me.

What an interesting detailed review thank you Terpsichore. I would so much like to have seen it. In particular I am intrigued by the Zucchetti-Sambe piece having just enjoyed so much seeing them dance together in the pas de six in Giselle. Is Zucchetti choreographing anything for RB I wonder? It looks as if I shall be seeing him again in the RB triple bill on Saturday- looking forward!

Surprised noone has mentioned Raven Girl!

I agree. But I liked the costumes, which were lavish. Lantratov was beautiful. So wand- slim and elegant. The whole presentation was excellent- none of the dumbing down of some other live broadcasts. Ms Novikova asked the questions a reasonably informed audience would want to ask, and how amazing to conduct interviews and explain dance, music and the background to the ballet, in three languages with all the activity going on around her. The interview with David Hallberg made me contemplate going to see Marco Spada- though it was ironic that this seemed to be the sort of rather loony ballet being satirised in Lost Illusions!

Thank you I forgot to say I too rated Zuchetti very highly, he has great liveliness and presence-he also looks as if he is really enjoying himself. -and I also agree that I preferred this Nunez/Soares performance to the Osipova /Acosta excellent as that was ( so it takes all sorts!) Acosta is a delight to watch as a dancer but I have never believed in him in any dramatic role. That may well be something lacking in me not him, as I know many do.

I agree: a lovely, elegant performance from Nunez and Soares-whose long arms and panther like jumps are always a pleasure, -and I thought the corps at today's matinee were absolutely superb. They seem to me better than I have seen them for years. Tight, precise, and especially dramatically very effective, as others have said, in Act 2. What did others think?

Fairly normal events in any such organisation,- really desperate journalism raking over old coals trying to start up a negative story.....

This reminds me that I miss Kobborg /Cojocaru very much- but how lucky I was to see them in all their best roles (Midsummer Night's Dream-most beautiful perhaps of them all).He was the finest actor of all the male dancers I have seen and I am sure he still is. She was the most exquisite Giselle ( and Juliet and..and..) I do agree. Their partnership=pure poetry, Joyful memories!

What a shame and it makes me determined to go. Perhaps we should all take someone along (having said that PoP is perhaps not ideal for a beginner) People don't realise what they are missing.

For "mad" perhaps read-"driven to distraction" -she has what we now call a nervous breakdown- the excess of her emotion temporarily deprives her of normal reason... Not an uncommon situation -? Ballet-like opera- is really all about life and that's why we cry? Albrecht just has to react which is always difficult to make interesting. I agree with Don Q fan that McRae was far the most moving.

I thought the matinee today was danced with conviction by the whole company and that Mc Rae was excellent. Such a graceful dancer and although he is known for technical fireworks, with good reason, he can also act sensiitvely.The ending was especially moving. Looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks.

Yes I agree. The Matthew Bourne was fun, ( and often visually pleasurable and imaginative) but somehow unsatisfying,- too many predictable and obvious /modish features like the naughty nightclub,vampires, 'anyone for tennis' scene-and not enough good, sharp dancing- so for me the juxtaposition with RB Don Quixote really emphasised the joy of watching good ballet.The quality of dancing just sang through - and so made me forget the - all right, admittedly rather weird lilac dresses!

Enjoyed watching Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty followed by Don Quixote- what a nice Christmas treat. S.B was fun though I could have done without some of the tackier parts ( oh please, not vampires). I liked the park bench rose adagio pas de deux- and many other very imaginative and expressive moments. But then the real thing... Marienela Nunez beyond praise in Don Q in my humble opinion. The whole piece seemed to work-well paced, full of life, happy- some superb and a lot of excellent dancing; I found myself wondering why there had been moans about the windmill/lilac dresses etc. ? A good choice for TV, surely bound to appeal widely and perhaps find some new audiences for ballet.

Indeed Bruce, and I am glad there is room for all, but your comment made me think, and recall the American literary critic Margaret Fuller's dictum that a good critic "should teach us to love wisely what we before loved well" Probably most of us would like to have seen many more performances/dancers/interpretations than we have been able to see, and it is always good to hear the views of someone who has been able to see a very large number of the best of everything (lucky soul!)

Starts by complaining that things ain't what they used to be............(didn't Mr Acosta say that too) and by the end he has acidentally ended up reminding us all how interesting and varied the company is and why we keep going to see them!

I am sure many of us were moved to tears by Diamonds today. Nunez was indeed very fine, Soares was at his most panther-like, landing from big leaps with incredible softness. Rubies was amazing-Mc Rae's now signature extreme spinning at its best. Lamb/McRae is an excellent partnership: they are well matched physically and seem to strike sparks from one another. It's Emeralds I always find hardest to like but not today-it was danced with more convincing expressiveness than I have seen before. I agree with David-ballet heaven.