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Thanks for that very interesting post, Ivy. Please keep them coming.

Thank goodness. I hope she is ok

How amazing that he completed Act 1 under these circumstances, not betraying his pain either physically or facially. There wasn't even a wince when he sustained the injury. What a pro. I hope he is better by Friday so that he and Natalia can dance their longed-for performance. I am sure she is hurting as much as he is.

So do I, and not only at the RB! 🙂

From the BBC news website today. They are still suggesting Ashleigh took a taxi from Reading to Marble Arch.... Missing teenager Ashleigh Fair 'in London CCTV sighting' Former Royal Ballet pupil Ashleigh Fair was last seen leaving a Reading hospital without any shoes.

Why didn't someone in the wings tell him he still had his trackies on?! I notice he took them off for his curtain call! 😛

Yes it worked, thanks! A great effort considering they aren't professional dancers. They have worked hard and it shows. Well done them!

Thanks for that, TWL. It looks very good. Sadly, the cygnets video is blocked 'for copyright reasons.'.

Thanks Terpsichore.....for once I wholeheartedly agree with Debra Craine!

Someone mentioned higher up the thread the 2nd act lift. I also loved it. Whether it was a 'safety' lift, or whether that's how Natalia would have done it anyway, I don't know, but....it worked beautifully. The way Matthew slowly turned around with her aloft above his head was just lovely. It really made it seem as if she were hovering over him, protecting him. Loved loved loved it.

It was announced on the ROH site just after 1.00. No reason given....

Such a shame about David Hallberg because I thought their Act 1 was sensational and was fully expecting an incredibly emotional Act 2. I so hope we get to see it next week. A wonderful performance from Matthew Ball in such circumstances. His dancing and acting were of the highest calibre. Nothing to do with the dancers, but I couldn't feel the full emotion at the end because they hadn't had the chance to build up the relationship in Act 1. If we can't see David Hallberg next week (and I so hope we can) Matthew Ball will be a worthy replacement. He is a real jewel in the RB crown. Let's not forget Miss Osipova in all this; she had been so looking forward to dancing with Hallberg in this ballet on this stage, and she found herself having to change partner right in the middle of it. Her disappointment didn't show at all...she turned in a stunning performance and thoroughly deserved the loud and warm applause she received. And I loved how she pushed Ball forward to take a bow and applauded him. Tonight she showed once again not only what a superb Giselle she is, but also her generosity of spirit and her professionalism. Huge respect and congratulations to her.

Great review Anna, thank you. I also love this cast!

Yes I always notice that too.....

Sorry but I don't understand your question. We are discussing Russian ballets on this thread.....started by you!! And what is SW? Giselle hasn't even been mentioned on this thread.....

Richard, we do have a thread called "RB 2018/19 Wish List", which isn't quite the same as saying for certain what the new season will bring, but it DOES have much discussion about what we would LIKE it to bring! So have a look, and do add to it if you want to. Here is the link:

As always, thanks so much for this, Anna. I saw Ivan the Terrible when the Bolshoi came to NYC in about 1975, I think it was. I was so impressed with it (as with Spartacus, which was our first viewing of it during that same visit), and have never seen it since. I would love to one day, and see how either it (or I!) has stood the test of time!

Ashley Dean?

A few years ago I went to a concert of a local London 'symphony orchestra.' They were pretty dire, but tried hard. The conductor was quite unpopular, and took himself way too seriously. At this concert, someone applauded at the end of the first movement of a symphony, instead of waiting until the end. The conductor turned around and gave this poor woman such a filthy glare that a few of us started giggling. He turned back to face the orchestra, but someone's stifled giggle turned into a snort, which made others start. He then stood there, silently, not moving, and the more he did nothing, the more we giggled. We could see some of the orchestra trying to avoid even cracking a smile. It was like being in primary school all over again. Or like the scene in the film Life of Brian when the Roman soldiers are trying not to laugh. Eventually the concert started again....but I wish it hadn't!!

With a couple of people mentioning getting the giggles during some over-enthusiastic flower-throwing in Giselle, and technical mishaps during Sleeping Beauty, I thought it would be fun to start a thread on the subject. Who has had a fit of the giggles during a ballet performance? Or an opera? Or play? Concert? What/who made you laugh? Over to you!

Yes, I'm afraid I had a little giggle with that one!!

I watched Giselle from the wings a couple of weeks ago and there is a stagehand standing there waiting to catch the thrown flowers. The one on our side missed so they thudded to the floor. She smiled and said 'we almost always miss' ! We were laughing and saying that we were pleased Myrthe wasn't Tierney Heap otherwise we would have all risked getting knocked out by a flower!! The other thing I didn't realise is that the bells that ring for midnight and dawn are situated right there in the wings, not the orchestra, so twice times 12 rings of the bell was very loud to the ear!!

I am a bit worried that Osipova didn't dance....or was that change implemented a while ago? I've been looking forward to Thursday for months so I hope she is okay!

I saw this production on the evening of Saturday 17th February. There were bits of it I really liked, but I was quite disappointed on the whole. I am delighted that, with the demise of D'Oyly Carte, someone is keeping the G&S flag flying and the heritage alive, but I hope it doesn't continue in this vein. We were sitting in the balcony and, like Geoff, couldn't hear anything. I couldn't hear any of the talking, and even much of the singing was muffled and we really had to strain to hear. Couldn't they have provided a couple of mics for those of us in the higher levels?! It didn't help that we were sitting just in front of a large group of students who must have been from the same musical theatre school as one of those on stage, and they guffawed very loudly any time anyone moved. It was very offputting, and I heard someone complaining to the usher about it during the interval. I am always very pleased to see young people enjoying these types of things, but that was a bit exaggerated! I also thought that many of the jokes were like those you'd find in a bad am dram company. Very obvious, and some quite smutty, and totally unnecessary, although it seems that that is what the audiences expect and appreciate these days. There was a pantomime horse that came on the stage at one point, and I whispered to my hubby "I bet you anything that horse poops on the floor." Right on cue, that's just what the horse did. Hysterical laughter all round. Why? For me, G&S are so very witty and clever and satirical: you don't need to add smutty jokes and gags to make them interesting or relevant to today . Although there was much to enjoy here, the experience as a whole kind of depressed me. I wish it had been like Pirates of Penzance last year; I loved it and came out feeling happy and uplifted.

Best of luck Emma! Sounds wonderful; please keep us posted.