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What an amazing performance by Johan tonight in his London debut as James. Truly wonderful. He darted around the stage like a man half his age, and his wonderful Bournonville technique stunned us all by its very lightness of being. Wow, wow, wow. Sarah Lamb wasn't half bad either....a truly ethereal creature.

Whilst I do really enjoy the Insights, I find that £16 for less than two hours is too much for me. I can see two full productions for that price in the standing/cheap seats, so these days I usually give them a miss.

Thanks very much Angela for continuing to keep us informed. Sounds like very varied seasons coming up; interesting that the RB is also doing Onegin next season. Respect!! We look forward to having some reviews of the performances from you!

I enjoyed this double bill very much last night. I love Ballo: the quirky arrangement of steps, the music and the joy the performers brought to the stage made me smile. Nehemiah Kish had the unenviable task of following last season memories of Polunin but this seemed to have inspired him because he gave one of the better performances I've seen from him in London. He looked relaxed and happy, flying on to the stage with vigour and enthusiasm, leaping high in the air and landing securely from his tours. Marianela Nunez is as close to technical perfection as you could hope for. I liked all the soloists although I thought Yuhui Choe particularly stood out.

It is hard to imagine many ballets more different than La Sylphide which followed. The Arts Desk review this morning articulated what I thought about Alina Cojocaru's performance. Her sylph changes from minute to minute: she is alluring, she is tantalising. No wonder Steven McRae forsakes everything to pursue her. His debut as James was a triumph of clarity in mime, detailed characterisation and superb dancing. All the supporting roles were strongly cast and danced : Valentino Zucchetti's Gurn, Emma Maguire's Effie, Kristen McNally's Madge, and the lead Sylphs : Claire Calvert, Beatrix Stix-Brunell and Yasmine Naghdi. Much credit to Johan Kobborg for this gem and a hope that Kevin O'Hare gives him more opportunites to produce ballets for the RB.

Very depressing to see so many empty seats in the house. Go get a ticket !

If the poor cuckoos are smart and not cuckoo they will have migrated south to avoid drowning in the biblical rain we are having here in the UK!!

Janet is right, Alison. That happened to me a couple of weeks ago and I was wondering why I couldn't see anything, then realised I had been logged out due to a computer crash; when I signed back in all was well!!

I wish we could have had Gary Avis as the Widow. Ah well, maybe next time. I'm so glad I was at this performance on Wednesday night; it was wonderful. Like Alison, I also think McRae as toned down recently. Perhaps now that he no longer has competition from Polunin he is bit more relaxed! He is a brilliant technician andI am always delighted to watch him, as long as he doesn't drown the choreography, which I don't think he did here. I think he enhanced it by showing how complicated Ashton's choreography is in Fille, whilst making it look so easy at the same time.

Royal Ballet: please, please, PLEASE release this as a DVD!!

re flowers - you are right - i have never noticed them do so - mind you a flower throw would present logistical problems as the width of pit & depth of stage at Palais Garnier is pretty tremendous - but they do have dibs of the "grand defile" which is one of the most spectacular quarters of an hour in classical ballet (IMO)

Tim, I was really referring to ballerinas being brought bouquets onto the stage; for example, when Darcey Bussell retired she ended up surrounded by flowers on the stage! These are bouquets sent to the stage door by friends, fans and families of the ballerina(s) dancing that night, and an usher presents them to her/them onstage.

And yes....no-one does a grand defile like the POB!!

I interviewed Robert for ballet.co a few years ago and he was absolutely charming, funny and very modest. I only wish I could have seen him more during his career. His taking over the helm at Elmhurst will no doubt mean many excellent new dancers coming through in the years to come, and I wish him the very best of luck with it.

Looks like Clement Crisp in today's FT didn't think much of the costumes either!!

"Why this grotesque court, dressed in the height of modish fatuity by Jean Paul Gaultier and reluctant to wear shoes? Snow White, played as a stalwart and deeply uninteresting girl, wears an unflattering white shift for the larger part of the event without a slipper to her name, save in an apotheosis when she acquires a skeletal crinoline and unbecoming court shoes. Her Prince is, unwisely, in a curious zipped pink body-hugger, with braces."

Thanks, Tim B, for bringing it to our attention and thanks John for posting it up. I notice a distinct lack of flowers.....do the French not have the tradition of giving a dancer flowers on stage? Just curious....

Thanks for that wonderful review, Anjuli. I always admire choreographers who take on a re-make of R&J when it's been done so many times (to death, some might say); I really enjoyed Chris Hampson's for Royal New Zealand Ballet, and I thought Mark Morris's was one of the worst things I'd seen on stage for a long time. How gratifying, therefore, to hear of another successful version. Please keep the reviews coming, Anjuli.

I seem to be the only person in Britain who hasn't watched this series!! The dog looks gorgeous though!

I think that there is a general lack of Ashton in the company at the moment, not only with this couple....the exception being Marianela. Maybe it was something to do with the seats indeed (I was up in the amphi) but I have strong binoculars and watched Ludovico carefully, and he just didn't move me at all. I didn't notice that Roberta couldn't manage the choreography; in which parts? From where I was sitting, she seemed to manage fine, although she isn't a Nela or an Alina technically (but who is besides Nela and Alina?!). Her balances were strong and confident, her footwork was good and their pdd were lovely. I loved her characterisation throughout. Anyway, to each their own....how boring if we all had the same perceptions!

Agree with Anna; it was a joyous, fizzing and very funny evening; everything worked perfectly, Naughty Peregrine behaved himself, the bum lift seemed to last forever, there were no ribbon or scenery mishaps and the dancing and characterisation were wonderful. The only place where Anna and I diverge is Ludo's Alain; he didn't have the pathos that in my view Alain should have, and didn't move me at all. His was more a purely comic version, which to me misses the point. Very well danced by him, though, and my niggle is but a small one for an evening that I hope can be repeated next week for everyone watching in cinemas; I am very lucky that I will be there again and I can't wait.

I agree with Anna....I would definitely take them, Marieve. I use them all the time, even when I'm standing in the stalls circle. They are good strong ones, and afford me close-up views of the dancers' faces which I would not be able to see without them. This is very important to me at certain parts of various ballets, for example when Romeo and Juliet first set eyes on each other, and watching the interaction between Lise and Widow Simone during many points of Fille, and checking out what is going on the crowd scenes of MacMillan's story ballets. I could go on, but I hope you get the picture! No-one has ever complained to me about using them in more than 35 years of going to the ROH. Enjoy the performance, and welcome to the forum; please let us know your impressions once you have been.

Oooo that sounds so lovely and romantic! Thank you for telling us about this experience, and Stirrups, thanks so much for your information on the performance. This for me is one of the joys of modern technology; that we can learn about companies that we might never even have heard of. I watched Ian's clip above of their performance of Zorba the Greek and really enjoyed it. Great to see a Turkish company doing a Greek story! The two lead men are very good, too! Please keep your reviews coming when you can; we really appreciate hearing about companies who don't necessarily get much exposure outside their own countries.

Brian and Yuhui did one performance of Fille two or three years ago on an Easter Monday; I didn't go away that weekend so that I could see them. They were wonderful even in that first performance and really were a lovely partnership. Soon thereafter Brian got his second very bad injury in three years, which unfortunately seems to have scuppered his progression through the ranks thus far. I hope he stays injury-free so that he can finally get the promotion he merits; I'm sure he would have been a First Soloist a good while ago if it hadn't been for his two lengthy absences from the stage. Kevin O'Hare, please take note!! I hope that we will see more of him and Yuhui (preferably together) next season.

Interesting how out of sync Mr Crisp is with just about every other review I've read!! I unfortunately missed this production so can't comment, but in reply to another thread where the influence of critics was being discussed.....if I'd only read CC's I would have stayed at home and saved my money; if I hadn't read his and had just read the praiseful ones I'd have run along to SW. This is why I'm never influenced by critics; we get such wildly veering opinions that I wouldn't know which one I'd relate to, so I just go along to things that look like they might appeal to me!

Awwww thanks to you, Pat, for such a lovely post. It's so good to know that you all appreciate, and derive so much from, this forum. We always appreciated ballet.co very much which is why we were passionate about trying to continue having a forum where we can all share our passion for dance. We are taking one step at a time in these early stages, but as long as we have people like you and the many others who post up and make the forum the vibrant place that it is, we should do ok!! Please spread the word; the more who join, the better it will be long-term.

Jackie....thanks for seconding, too!!

I agree with Dave....could definitely see McRae as Basilio.

Welcome to BalletcoForum, Gill. So glad to see you post up, and so glad that the infectious joy of Fille has got to you, too. No matter what the weather, or what is going on in life, whenever I come out of seeing a performance of it I'm smiling and feeling joyful. A real tonic.

Hello Anneliese...lovely to see you back here with us! Laura and Ric are indeed lovely in these roles, but I have to wait until their second performance to see them! I saw Johan and Alina tonight....very good they were, too! But for me, Carlos and Nela have the edge over them based on their performance on Friday night!

Well, I just got back from seeing this, and it was fabulous! Having seen the JDF/Natalie Dessay original production twice, I was wondering how anyone could fill those regiment's boots, but Colin Lee and Patrizia Ciofi filled them very well indeed. She sang this difficult coloratura role with panache and just the right comic touch, and Lee threw out those nine famous high Cs with confidence, making it look and sound so easy, and with a lovely clarity of tone and sonority of voice. Ann Widdecombe was, well, Ann Widdecombe.....and it was so funny to see her doing something so different. Good for her; whatever one may have thought of her politics, the gal's got guts...and she did a very good turn onstage, too! They even found jokes for her to say about the Olympics, Cornish pasties and Strictly Come Dancing. This was my second, albeit different, Fille in less than 24 hours, and this made me marvel and smile just as much as the other one did! Highly recommended if you can get a ticket.

Same here Ian which is why I posted it here instead....