nottsballetlover

Agreed Don Q. Just one 2 pm Saturday matinee for both Onegin and Manon , unless I am mistaken. Oh well, if tickets fail me for these, there are trains at 6 am from where I live for the 12.30 starts.....But then buses where I live don't run that early. I will have to walk 3 miles to station. Oh well, such is loving ballet - I will do anything!!!!

Oh joy - Manon and Onegin!

Sounds fabulous! Glad I have a ticket for Sadlers.

I also recorded La Bayadere on Friday. Yes, the Sky logo in top corner is annoying but I can live with it! Just great to see this wonderful ballet production on Sky TV, which I pay for principally in the hope of getting stuff shown like this. Seriously, Sky Arts was my main reason to have Sky installed and for me, overall, it has proved good and value for money for me!

Full UK tour venues/dates now available for Edward Scissorhands: http://www.new-adventures.net/productions/scissorhands/venue_tour

Matthew Bourne's New Adventures have announced they are re staging Edward Scissorhands later this year. Details on their website here: http://www.new-adventures.net/latest_news/edward_scissorhands_returns Great news - I loved it when I first saw it! Tickets go on sale for Sadlers tomorrow (Friday 14 March) and also for Nottingham in January 2015. I assume it will tour the country.

Another great performance tonight in my home town. Chris Trenfield and Liam Mower playing Swan/Stranger and Prince: both superb. The company have been touring the show for several months now and you would think they would be tired but no; the whole cast were as fresh, vibrant and utterly sensational as ever. Interesting news from the Nottingham theatre foyer today. They were advertising Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands - apparently coming to Nottingham in January 2015, tickets on sale this Friday. I cannot put this on the news section as I can find no press release on the New Adventures website. It indicates that they will be touring this as a revival production next season?? For me, this is fantastic news. Swan Lake is my Bourne tops of course but if I had to chose a next best, it would be Edward Scissorhands. I saw it when it first toured a few years ago and absolutely loved it. So I'm very very excited it will be back!

Manon and Onegin I really hope for!

I saw yesterday's matinee of Prince of the Pagodas in Birmingham yesterday and it was a really enjoyable ballet overall with a lot to like. It did not have me in tears of utter joy, as BRB's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue reduced me to last Saturday afternoon, but there was plenty fabulous choreography danced by a superb cast all round. It was Hirata and Dingman dancing Belle and Salamander, with Elisha Willis as the evil stepmother. All danced wonderfully well with a great supporting cast of the 4 kings and the remaining fantastical creatures etc. I loved the costumes, sets and lighting - they looked stunning from the front circle. Huge amount of smoke though, which must have been tough for the performers, as it reached the circle making a lot of the audience splutter! I loved Britten's Balinese gamelan inspired score and the section in the ballet where they have the Balinese ladies took me right back to a holiday a few years ago in Bali, where I went to see a show of Balinese dancing. Bintley very cleverly mixes the 2 forms of dance - ballet and traditional Balinese, to excellent effect. Anyway, fine performances, what a company on top form right now. I agree with Bruce above though that there was something a bit 'odd' about a final classical PDD of 2 siblings, rather than 2 lovers....Not sure that worked for me!

Saw the triple bill at the Hippodrome and loved every minute - by far the best triple I've ever attended! I enjoyed all 3 pieces but like others above, I have to rave about Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton were utterly mesmerizing and so sensual!! I actually had tears of pure joy streaming down my cheeks at the end, which is rare indeed - I felt so overwhelmed by happiness! Wonderful display of dancing and fabulous dancers in both Card Game and Elite Syncopations, all were just fantastic. On the subject of the Alaskan Rag - I thought Callie Roberts and Tzu-Chao Chou did it wonderfully, full of humour. It prompted me to go back to Wayne Sleep's autobiography and read what he said about the work's creation (on him). He said MacMillan 'had the brilliant wheeze of partnering me with the tallest girl in the company - Vergie Derman. On her pointes she towered a foot over me'. I wonder if a recording of the original cast survives as he says it was televised?

Oh, I'm very sure I will love it! Will post my thoughts on my return.

What a wonderful review BristolBillyBob! After reading it, I immediately went online and booked a ticket for the Saturday matinee and unbelievably got a front row stalls seat! I can't wait now....! Then it's back to Brum for Prince of the Pagodas the following Saturday. I only realised how wonderful BRB are after they came to Nottingham last year for the first time (with a fabulous triple bill) and also discovered how easy it is for me to get to Birmingham Hippodrome. They are back in Nottingham this June with Fille but tickets are not selling well at all, which is a real pity as they may rethink future visits to Nottingham......

Sounds really good! I'll be at the Birmingham hippo matinee on 1 March. Great tip Janet about getting there early!!

Also was at live relay in Nottingham. Osipova was superb, indescribably sublime. Gasping at her technique and acting. Acosta well matched with her - lovely partnering and emotion between the 2. Rest of cast fabulous. Reeling, won't be able to sleep.......

Gosh - I just went out this evening to see live RB Giselle and I come back home to this. Can't take it all in...... Pleased that Vadim will be dancing with RB - wish him well and hope to see him dance there soon.

The 8 week run of Swan Lake at Sadlers ends today. I was really lucky and got a front row stalls for the matinee yesterday (a return I assume, as it was totally sold out). 3rd performance so far for me in this run and the best so far - just keeps getting better and better. The whole cast is now dancing so harmoniously (including the harmonious hissing!) with fabulous precision and interaction. The supporting roles of Queen, Girlfriend and Secretary are brilliantly performed. Yesterday afternoon, it was Jonathan Ollivier and Sam Archer as Swan/Prince respectively. Lucky lucky me. What a fabulous partnership. So emotional to watch. I actually started crying in the opening 2 minutes......Sam Archer played the Prince in such a complex way that he shows a huge spectrum of emotions and you are watching this character just fall apart and be tortured into both love and insanity by The Swan and the Stranger. It was heartbreaking to watch. Ollivier meanwhile was incredible and indescribably superb - so swanlike as The Swan and so devastatingly sensual and mean as The Stranger. Next show - Nottingham in March!! Unless I magic more tickets.....

Thanks for reminding me about the film Nijinsky - I have just dug out my DVD of this and will watch it today! Children of Theatre Street (fabulous documentary) is currently available on youtube in full: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCDdghVl40A

Well, I just feel so privileged to have seen so many wonderful ballets this year. 2013 has been a perfect ballet year for me. Previously, I've had financial or personal issues that have made it difficult for me to attend as many performances as I'd wanted to. Life gets in the way sometimes. But this year has been very good to me so I'm thankful for that. I've been able to attend more performances in 2013 than I have in many a year. 2013 has been a truly special year for me as a ballet lover. I have 2 real highlights. First is Ed Watson and Mara Galeazzi in Mayerling. It was so emotional I was shaking for 24 hours and would not speak to anyone for 48 hours. I just wanted to be left alone with that performance in my soul. The second was Alina Cojacaru and Jason Reilly in Onegin. This was scheduled to be danced by Kobborg and I was devastated when he was injured. But the minute Reilly walked on stage, I knew I was seeing something so special, so moving. They were beyond words together in this. But that;s pinning it down. I could go on......... Wow what a year. How very special.

Heavens - this topic has moved on so fast I've lost track! I have a feeling my first Mayerling was Eagling/Ferri. Really I'm talking 25 years ago watching RB with some exceptional dancers. I saw Eagling several times back in the 80s and he was superb - beautiful line and great acting. And Ferri at RB was phenomenal - the one I saw most and loved. Well, I will have to dig out the old programmes from cupboard under stairs to confirm what I in fact saw.....

Really lovely interview - thanks for posting Janet!

Oh Meunier, how can I come close to the beautiful prose you express your review above in? Wonderful words indeed. I'm going to say it my simple way: Jewels this afternoon was a total joy for me. Dazzling, shiny and glorious. I won't even pick anyone out - this felt like a company statement of wow, we rock. Just fabulous,

I've just been to matinee of RB Jewels. I went because I knew it would be an absolute showcase of the incredible talent the RB have. So it was - so many gifted dazzling jewels of dancers I will single nobody out. The company is in transition - some leading dancers have moved on but to say it is 'under- starred' is unfair. New stars and partnerships are emerging. Based on Jewels today, they have an abundance of starry jewels.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a wonderful day!

In my life, the first amazing Juliet I saw and fell in love with was Alessanra Ferri. Osipova really is equal or more to her - just beyond words, so special.

They have an orchestra for Sadlers - see my review above! I think this may be completely new but not sure. Matthew Bourne himself tweeted on 4 December '1st performance with live music'. Not sure if he meant first this run or first ever. Can anyone else remember if they have previously seen Swan Lake with live orchestra in previous runs? I just can't remember. Agree with Janet though - taped music does not detract in this particular production.