Don Q Fan

^^ I hope they tour FFTMC as well!

Just saw Raymonda - with Maria Alexandrova and Ruslan Skvortsov and it was fabulous. Beautiful dancing , costumes and sets the whole thing was sumptuous. I really like Maria Alexandrova so was more than happy to see her in the role of Raymonda. It was a really good transmission no hiccups and good shots of the important bits. The music was glorious.

I am looking foward now the live screening of The Pharoah's Daughter on 25 November!

I can but echo the above reviews I saw the matinee and it was FABULOUS. Nothing else needs saying!

How charming! It was obviously a lovely surprise to Myriam - congrats to her!

Super news to finally hear Ekaterina has been promoted - congrats to her

If it is true that Sergei has returned to Russia then I say good for him - he has been away from his family and homeland from a young age and I think he should spend time closer to family and home. There must have been some emotional effect on him being away from his family for so long and I for one hope he now settles for a time in Russia and can catch up on relationships with his family and friends in Russia.

It's a few days since I logged in to ROH website but I tried to find a synopsis - nightmare - ended up using the ABT website instead!

That's a shame - I have always enjoyed this production - maybe a proscenium arch theatre is better? I was surprised to see it on at RAH.

I think this is the version Staatsballett Berlin do - it has been very successful there the last few years with other ballets being replaced by repeat performances! Just seeing the costumes alone has put me off seeing it. Agree SWs is awful!

I think the current Bolshoi version is a very tough act to follow - it is certainly my favourite.

I covet the username of Don Q fan! I go to, or buy the DVD for, as many versions as I can. Unfortunately I was knee deep in toddlers in 2001 and couldn't see the RB one so I would welcome a new RB version. Thank you for posting

Hurrah I'm not the only fan then!! Don Q is great isn't it - such a happy ballet it has it all imho.

This is an exciting development - I do hope it is good! I shall watch with great interest and just hope I can get a ticket - unlike when Alice first came out!! I'll be gutted if I can't get one. Thanks for letting us know!

Of course it is on in Paris in July - M.Matthias Heymann - etoile - makes a super Colas (or anything for that matter) if he is cast

I agree!

OK, I'll start off with a brief report.....just to say that Fille last night was absolutely lovely. It was everything it should be; sparkling, joyous, rustic, touching and beautifully danced and interpreted by all involved. Marianela Nunez is one of the few dancers left who really understands and lives Ashton's choreographic style, and she is a joy to watch. Her natural smile, coming from deep down within her, beams right up to the amphitheatre and lights up her wonderful interpretation of Ashton's difficult steps. Carlos Acosta, although no longer at the peak of his physical abilities, still gave an excellent interpretation of Colas; this is one of his better acting roles, and he and Marianela complement each other very well. They both have a natural gift for comedy, and fed off each other all night. Their pdd were very touching and really embodied the joy and daring of young love. Will Tuckett was a very funny Widow Simone and hit just the right balance between trying to discipline Lise and being a sweet, doting mother. This is a role where one could easily go way over the top and turn it into parody, but this doesn't happen with the renditions I've seen at the RB. With a very touching performance of Alain by Jonathan Howells and the cast being on very happy form, it felt like the sun was shining on a wet and chilly London night.

Have to agree 100% with Sim's comments. It was a joy from start to finish and probably the best performance I have ever seen of Fille by any company. They were on sparkling form on Friday worth every penny. I went to the stage door as well - one little boy who was rather tired had everyone in bulk of laughter when Marianela finally arrived after about 45 minutes by asking her in a loud voice "why did you take so long?" Marianela took it all in her stride, she was lovely with the children there and said she'd be quicker next time LOL! Marianela was suffering with a cold but all credit to her she carried on and anyway she said Fille is such a happy ballet - I agree!

An interesting development. I too like Tamara as a dancer and am looking forward to her in La Sylphide - really looking forward to seeing her dance with ENB = way cheaper than Royal Ballet!!!!!!!!

The Staats Ballett Berlin 2012/13 Schedule has been announced - finally!!

http://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/de_DE/calendar

Sadly no La Esmerelda which I really wanted to see again, but Onegin and La Bayadere feature on back to back evenings so that is good!

Thanks for the tip off al though I have my tickets already, but to expand:-

This applies to the Wednesday evening performances only of BRB's Far From The Madding Crowd and The Summer Celebration

Quote promo code HIPPODROME2012.

As you say there are lots of other performances available by other companies as well. See the website.

Getting my avatar pic on was a faff too! Like JMcN I ended up using Gravatar not that I wanted to. Now it seems the photo has transferred to some of my other blog posts!

Any I love the shoes in your Avatar!

Yes Aileen, Daria did dance in the evening performance. I saw her just before this, by which time she could laugh about her tumble in the afternoon. Luckily she did not hurt herself but was just rather shocked to find herself on the floor after that wonderful series of pirouettes and didn't quite know how she got there!

Oh thank goodness for that I really thought Daria had injured herself after she did not take her individual curtain call and had disappeared on the final curtain raise on the whole company.

It was a fantastic afternoon's ballet and well worth £10!!! Suite en Blanc is now a must see again for me loved it to bits! I would dearly have loved to see more of Train Blue it was SO short! Based on that performance, I think that Nathan Young would make a brilliant job of Le Bourgeois as well. I saw Vadim for the first time yesterday and really liked him in everything he did - he was great and seems so at ease with it all - I like his height as well, it was perfect for Apollo and SenB can't wait to see more of him. ENB have a gem of dancer there for sure.

Greta photos Dave - and following the reviews above I can't wait for tomorrow now!!

I decided that I would only go to see the ENB Prog 2 if I could get a cheap ticket - so I hung on and on and on then bingo this week got the £10 deal after googling for cheap ENB tickets! Well chuffed to get my first ever bargain ticket. That is offset however by the horrendous train fare from up north! However if I had paid full price earlier I['d have got a cheaper train ticket so it is probably quits for me but it is nice to feel I got a bargain of a sort! Looking forward to seeing it now as everyone seems to like this programme.

I think that ROH fills up better because tourists tend to go there as it has more kudos to see the "Royal" Ballet at the "Royal" Opera House. At Alice the other night I think I heard as many foreign language speakers as I did English.

Vadim is definitely in the 2 Saturday performances of Prog 2

Thank you for the info am hoping for the Sat mat will have a look.

I'm hoping there may be some ticket offers as there do seem rather a lot of unsold stalls seats - can anyone in London/area keep an eye out in the usual papers just in case please? I never seem to be able to take advantage of offers!

Did you get any reply from them?

Yes got it today! But as above it is on the website now.