zxDaveM

pink champagne, surely! ;-)

Many of us agree Barry - and have commented as much, earlier in the thread. It also annoys many of us, that if there is no dancing whilst music being played, the music ignored and talked over (e.g. during Sleeping Beauty between acts)

with you all the way on that - try photographing them!! :-(

He wasn't the other day - his partner (marianela Nunez) was, so there wasn't time to rehearse with a new partner.

its an "extraordinary world" - and Elsa Goddard and Leticia Stock look fabulous! We saw this at the cinema showing of Nutcracker the other week - it was certainly eye-catching, and attention grabbing I thought. The previous one had a few dancers throwing reams of paper out of filing cabinets making the office look very untidy! Don't believe its meant to be an advert for a particular piece (opera or ballet) - just to catch your eye and make you possibly investigate.

yes, the coughing was astounding - you'd think people that ill would stay at home... It seemed the only cure was louder music. As for rustling open cough sweets - surely this can be done at points when applause would cover your noise? Out of idle curiosity - is it compulsory to cough and hack in the gaps between movements in classical music concerts? It usually seems like it!!

Thanks Sim - and yes, it was lovely to have Mara back on stage. And thanks Anjuli - glad you liked them too

Here are a few sample photos from the General rehearsal (and yes, it was an open 'Friends' rehearsal). Royal Ballet - Firebird, with Mara Galeazzi as the Firebird and Edward Watson as Ivan Tsarevich © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Royal Ballet - cast of 'In the Night' © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Royal Ballet - Raymonda (Act 3) - grand pas dancers © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set on Flickr - Royal Ballet's Firebird mixed bill Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind Permission of the Royal Opera House

I'd feel too sorry for the people having to work on Christmas day....

if left to my own devices, it would be red wine and chocolate.... with an aperitif of a fine real ale

from ENB, I like Laurent Liotardo's (sp?) photographs, as well as Daria's. And from RB, Andre Uspenski is producing lots of great photos. Johan Persson does lots of production photos for RB (amongst others), as does Bill Cooper of course, who is also an ex-dancer I think.

Yes, the one down near Ikea off Purley Way. It wasn't that busy full stop, being a Thursday. its only 10mins walk away for me! :-)

its a dream - as no time passes at the midnight hour, and everything is drawn from what she sees at the party - the cake is the land of sweets, the national characters appeared with St nicholas, the hero was the Nutcracker doll..... but then, there is the necklace!!!! So WAS it a dream??? :-) :-)

oh - and spotted Sir Peter Wright himself in the Stalls at half time - and when he sat down, his head was just still visible at the bottom of the screen! :-)

forgot to say - Steven McRae was absolutely spot on last night in my opinion. Superb performance. And also forgot to say - getting home after the show in about 10mins, was also a bonus!

Cinema show – really enjoyed the cinema experience of watching Nutcracker from the ROH on Thursday. Although its not quite the same as actually being there, it was much more ‘involving’ than I had expected. The close ups were dazzlingly superb – and yet not too many of them that you lost the sense of the dancing. The wider shots were a little murky at times, due to the sepia tones of the lighting. We had a starter of some behind the scenes snippets – morning class, Christopher Carr taking the first full studio rehearsal, Steven/Roberta rehearsing the pdd, and Gary Avis (and a ‘poetic’ voiceover’) explaining the plot. Disappointingly, the cinema I was in was only about 1/3rd full, and they didn’t remember to pass out the cast sheet until near the end of the interval. During the interval, we had some more snippets from Gary about the plot – and how some of the theatrical ‘tricks’ were done. Gary Avis drove along the story in his customary vivacious style as Drosselmeyer – he always manages to add that little bit extra. Meaghan Grace Hinkis was an adorable Clara, all wide-eyed excitement and nifty footwork in her dancing. Her party partner, James Hay, was a wistful, yearning - yet utterly elegant foil. As usual the battle between soldiers and mice was a mix of fierce competiveness, and twee cuteness, all played with convincing sincerity by all involved. The Hans-Peter (an ever elegant Ricardo Cervera) and Clara pdd, never fails to move me – before the highlight of Act 1 for me – the Snowflakes of the Corps de Ballet. Bouquets all round! A new development that I’d either not noticed before (and I can’t be THAT unobservant), was Drosselmeyer driving in the first few flakes and flurries, bedore the corps completely take over the stage. Act2 I love – the opening appearance of SPF and her prince, with the corps ‘flowers’, the former Nutcracker’s mime of the battle and how he came to be saved, and most of the diverts. Particularly enjoyed Laura Morera as the Rose Fairy, and Melissa Hamilton in the Arabian (phew!!). The swirly Mirlitons are always a joy, and it was particularly nice to see Akane Takada back on stage. Could have done with more close-ups on all the Mirlitons though, we hardly saw them! The overall response from the crowd in my cinema seemed very positive from what I overheard, though did overhear the old chestnut about ticket prices. I suppose for an equivalent view to that of your cinema seat, the ticket would be quite expensive, but then, not as expensive as seeing say Madonna, from about 200+ yards away…

indeed - suddenly makes a MacMillan triple bill of My Brother, My Sisters, Has Hermanas and the Judas Tree seem like a 'nice triple bill for Christmas'...

that's reassuring to hear...

Thanks Mijosh - please pass back our collective best wishes to Thiago, hoping he'll be fit and well and back on stage soon

My fave Clara too! Not that there any I don't like!! Enjoyed Ms Hinkis' spirited performance too - and looking forward to Francesca Hayward and the lovely Leane Cope, amongst others. Thanks all, for the kind words on the photos - its an unbridled joy for me taking, and processing them, but its nice to hear that others like them too!

Some photos from the Friends (General) rehearsal Saturday. The lead couples are dancing different evenings though... Royal Ballet - Nutcracker: The Christmas Angel (Yasmine Naghdi) © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Royal Ballet - Nutcracker: Alexander Campbell and Emma-Jane Maguire © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Royal Ballet - Nutcracker: Federico Bonelli and Laura Morera © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set on Flickr - Royal Ballet's Nutcracker with Morera/Bonelli cast Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind Permission of the Royal Opera House

Thanks BBB - my paste failed when copying the link by the looks of it :-( (and I can't now edit it to correct it)

...and here are some photos from the opening night cast (designated as first time only/Sun readers performance; they will also be the cast beamed worldwide for cinema audiences on Dec 13th). I love the ballet, and especially this production, so doubt I'll ever tire of it! Royal Ballet - Nutcracker: Gary Avis does his magic, as Drosselmeyer © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Royal Ballet - Nutcracker: The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince (Roberta Marquez & Steven McRae) © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Royal Ballet - Nutcracker: Roberta Marquez as the Sugar Plum Fairy © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set on Flickr - Royal Ballet's Nutcracker lead, and cinema, cast Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind Permission of the Royal Opera House

only the generic stuff: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/xmas12/

The BBC website in the 'press' section, isn't featuring anything ballet related - so if anything does turn up, I reckon it will be a repeat. If it was new, I'm sure they'd at least mention it. So - Nutcracker after the Queen's speech on Beeb2, would be my wager...