Alymer

Beckster, may I suggest that the fact that you found the fairy variations boring and formulaic is a fault of the way they've been taught. Each one should be quite different from all the others. Spring exuberant like buds bursting; Summer sensual and langerous; Autumn blown by gusts of winds with off-balance pirouettes and Winter cold and icy. None of the casts I've seen have conveyed any of this and in the case of Autumn and Winter I suspect that the choreography has even been amended. This, plus the vulgarity of much of the Sisters' business, is what really distresses me about this production. Few people seeing it for the first time could get any idea of what made Ashton so special.

It does exist in video. I bought a copy from the boutique at the Palais Garnier along with a number of other truly fascinating dance videos.

That's a difficult question to answer Alexandra. and one that I've thought a lot about before replying. I've now seen three casts in this production and quite frankly, it would take something very special to make me want to see it again. (I've been amused, incidentally, to see today's virtuosi struggle to get their feet around choreography made for Fonteyn who, as we all know, had no technique!) I would guess the majority of the audience have found these performances enjoyable. It's been put on as a Christmas Show, at prices higher than have ever been charged for regular ballet evenings, and my feeling is that the bulk of the audience has come out to have a pleasant (and expensive) Christmas treat. And that's what they've had. Of course there are regular ballet goers with genuine interest and knowledge, but far, far, fewer than say twenty or thirty years ago. High prices and a Royal Ballet repertory which largely consists of the Petipa/Tchaikovsky classics or MacMillan's full-length works are just some of the factors. My feeling is that if Ashton's ballet's survive in a form that he would recognise and approve, it won't be through the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden. I can't see any signs that they really appreciate his achievement. "A prophet goes without honour in his own country....etc". One only has to look at how his ballets have been re-designed without any feeling for the effect he originally chose. Nor does there seem to be a great deal of interest in calling on the memories of those still around who created the roles or who were coached in them by Ashton (or in the case of de Valois by her), outside a rather small group. Part of the problem lies with the way the ballets were left to individuals, many of whom are now dead and have in turn passed them on. There was talk some years ago of setting up an Ashton Foundation on the lines of the Balanchine foundation. That died an early death largely, I believe, because of individual interests. And the person to whom the bulk of the ballets were left went on record some years ago, saying the majority of those not currently in the repertoire were lost for good. Not very long after that Birmingham Royal Ballet managed to revive what seems to be a very accurate production of Dante Sonata, one of those ballets "lost forever". But the chances to repeating that exercise grow smaller as time goes by and people get older. Should the ballets continue to be performed, even in bastardised versions? I guess on balance the answer is yes, even though they don't give a true picture of Ashton's genius. There's always the hope that someone, one day, will try to return to the original and the ballets will emerge cleaned up, like a painting with at least some of the original brushwork showing. As an afterword, I'd like to say that's it's rather depressing to go around saying "It's not right, it's not well-enough danced" when so many people think everything at the Garden is lovely. You begin to wonder if it's a sign of old age or a negative disposition. I was a little comforted when I talked to somone who had appeared as a Courtier in the original production while still a student. Later she was one of the Stars. She was appalled at the loss of detail.

Watching an earlier Ashton revival by the Royal Ballet, one of the company's former ballerinas remarked to my husband "Well, the steps are all there but....". And that's pretty much how I feel about this staging of Cinderella. The steps are all there, but the details which gave them their particular flavour; the sharp turns of the head, the backbends, the flicks of the wrist, are hinted at rather than done with any conviction. The season fairies too, seemed to be performing a series of steps (well enough for the most part) rather than a variation which has a form and an individual style. Taste is a very individual thing, I know. Personally I found Toer van Schayk's decors for the ballroom and the apotheosis sober and handsome. His "kitchen" has some imaginative details, but it doesn't make architectural or stylistic sense. However, the decors have little to do with Christine Haworth's costumes which to me, looked as if they had come from a child's dressing up box. Shiny, glittery fabrics, insipid (multi-)colours and the kind of tutu which is as flat as a plate, reveals an expanse of frilly posterier and is paired with cutlet frills round the biceps. The courtiers in the ballroom scene wear a rather fancy version of mid-18th century dress, complete with white wigs. The flapping coats and paniered skirts almost obscured the dancing. The Prince's four friends however, clearly can't afford coats as they appear in waistcoats and (satin) shirt sleeves. Alina Cojacaru and Johan Kobborg danced the official premiere with Anthony Dowell and Wayne Sleep as the Sisters. Cojacaru was lovely at the moments when it's sufficient to give a lovely ballerina performance. What was missing for me was the wit and fun of the role in the first Act and the dreamy mystery of the later scenes. Her footwork isn't quite clean enough for some of the choreography, and she seemed to me to be lagging behind the music at times. Miyako Yoshida in a later performance was a sweet Cinderella, musical and precise, but again without finding any depth to the character. The Prince (no name) is a pretty thankless role. All he has to do is look handsome and wisful and ardent by turns, partner beautifully and perform his one variation. Kobberg did this as efficiently as you would imagine, but it's not the thing he does best. Yoshida was partnered by yet another of the Royal Ballet's new recruits, Federico Bonelli. He seems to be a nice clean dancer, but he didn't give much hint as to personality. One thing which seems to have been expunged completely is the relationship between the Prince and the Jester which was always a significant element in early productions. It began to be overlooked from the time that Tetsuyo Kumakawa took over the role, but now it's completely gone and the character is well on the way to becoming a Soviet-style irritant. He also has quite the worst costume, including a hat like a scarlet motorcyle helmet. Jose Martin did the steps especially well I thought. As to the Sisters. I thought Wayne Sleep had the beginnings of an interpretation. Dowell I really disliked; cold, spiteful, almost malevolant; nothing like Helpmann who played the role as an egotistical monster. Cruelty was accidental rather than deliberate. Thiago Soares in that role began to be interesting in the second Act with an individual take on the character, and I thought he worked well with Tim Matiakis in the Ashton part. Incidentally, the Bonaparte/Wellington quartet in the ballroom scene has now become so vulgar as hardly to be borne. Off-colour jokes which can be permitted to a pair of elderly theatrical geniuses are best left to them. When I was leaving the theatre after the official first night I found myself standing in the cloakroom queue behind one of the company's former stars, long since retired. Someone asked how he had found the performance; "not as bad as I expected" was the answer. Quite. PS A friend who was at the ballet's premiere in 1948 insists that every single role was better danced then than it was this time around.

I saw the same cast as Jane at the official first night and am due to see a second performance tomorrow, so I'll try to post something after that.

I deliberately avoided the Oaks/Edur partnership. I find the edge has gone from his dancing and he relies a little too much on his good looks and smile. It's as if he has started to believe all the nice things written about him. There was a time though when he probably was the best classical male dancer in the UK - his last performance with Birmingham Royal Ballet as Oberon in The Dream was memorable. She I find a nice dancer, but not in the same class as he was at his best and more suited to demi-charactere or soubrette roles. I agree with Jane about Corder's Cinderella. There are more steps than you can shake a stick at and the evening seems endless. The ballets of his that I've enjoyed most are either pure dance works (for which he has a real gift) or short pieces with an underlying theme or mood. Problem is that companies and theatre managements demand stories. I saw the Glurdjidze/Gruzdeyev pairing; very much on form with lovely dancing and really committed performances from both. I'm sory mbjerk caught them on an off night. He really is quite special and a real tribute to Vaganova schooling. She is quite simply a charmer with plenty of technique to back it up. But I think the most impressive thing about this company is how these dancers, coming from a wide variety of backgrounds have been welded into a real company and how you can watch them grow progress from season to season. That I think is a big tribute to the ballet staff, David Wall in particular - and of course to Matz Skoog for giving them opportunities.

Slipped into the advance publicity for the Edinburgh Festival in 2004 is a programme of ballets by Antony Tudor. No more details - no ballets named and no company. Does anyone have any idea which company it might be - certainly couldn't be any of the UK companies as Mr Tudor is very poorly represented in their repertoires. So I guess it must by a US company as it's a very long time since the Paris Opera did any of his work and I can't think of any other European company which could put on an entire programme.

Silvy asked about Merrill Ashley's Aurora with the Royal Ballet. At this distance it's hard to give a detailed answer but I guess you would have to say she danced it like she would a Balanchine ballet; big bold and beautiful. Set that beside the Royal Ballet's dancers at a time when they still retained some vestiges of the old company style and she just looked as if she had zoomed in from another planet. They didn't speak the same language. Curiously, Gelsey Kirkland blended into that production almost too perfectly. She reminded you of what the company had lost or thrown away.

I'm sad to say I didn't see Ashton's three act Sylvia. I did however see the truncated version which was given just 12 performances in the 67/68 season. It was essentially Acts I and III run together in a single act and if this is the version the Royal Ballet is proposing, then it's a very poor tribute. Most of the narrative is missing and what little logic the story had has gone. It wasn't well received at the time and I was told by a friend (now dead) who was close to Ashton at the time, that Sir Frederick was not at all happy with it. The three act version was given a few years earlier by the touring section of the Royal Ballet and was certainly notated (at least in part) at that time. Among those who danced the leading roles in that revival were Doreen Wells and Christopher Gable and Melissa Hayden partnered by Flemming Flint. How I wish I'd seen it.

Casting I can't recall without a shudder includes Suzanne Farrell in Flower Festival pas de deux (partnered I seem to think by Sean Lavery) Adam Luders in William Tell pas de deux - those shorts! those legs! Merrill Ashley as Aurora or, come to that, Monica Mason as Aurora Nureyev as the Red Knight in Checkmate Patrick Dupond as Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty ....I could go on and on. But consider this one, which just might have happened; Farell and Jorge Donn as the central couple in Symphonic Variations.

Monotones II came first, made for a gala, then MonotonesI, and I belive at one time Ashton thought of adding a third trio which could/would have featured Park. Adding to what Alexandra said about the original cast for Monotones II, with Dowell and Mead you had the two most classical men in the company matched with Lorraine, who as well as being very flexible, was a dancer with a soft, feminine style. Nowadays, the Royal Ballet simply casts a women with long legs and two men of roughly matching height, classical or not. Incidentally, Nureyev was a great admirer of Lorraine's dancing. He insisted on having her as a partner on a number of occasions, even, once, when she had left the main company and joined the touring section.

Very, very late I'm keeping my promise to write something about the Kirov. Unexpectedly I saw the first performance of Corsaire as well as the second night when Miss Vishneva graced us with her high extensions and brilliant smiles. On that first night I thought the company looked extremely tired and somewhat overwhelmed by their schedule of performances. Shishov was a rather tentative Conrad - immeasurably better the second night, Zakharova was straqining so much she became positively grotesque at moments and while Sarafanov as Ali and Korsakov as Lankadem performed their variations beautifully, neither of them made much effect. It was only little Irina Golub as an odalisque who really brought life to the performance for me. Beautiful,, musical, seemingly effortless dancing,; like a bird singing. Things had settled by the second performance - presumably everyone had enjoyed a decent night's sleep without any early calls. This was the only time I saw Zelensky all season. I felt he's now outgrown the role of Ali. He's too much the leading man to be anyone's slave and I wonder he doesn't move across to dance Conrad. I was also sorry that his spectacular variation consisted mainly of 'trick' steps. I remember when he could bring the house down simply by performing the choreography as set. The highlight of the season for me was Bayadere and I should say here that it was far more interesting having read what other people had posted here about the production, in particular what Doug wrote. I saw all three casts and enjoyed the production more every time I saw it. For me the ballet gained hugely, the structure was clear, there was logic to the story and to the sequence of dances. Moments when you said to yourself "I wonder why he/she does that?" became obvious. And was I glad to see the back of the Golden God. I think we had the entire production with the exception of one dance in the second act. There is a group of women in the procession with golden headdresses and yellow skirts who did nothing but process and I guess they must have some kind of number. Going back to what Doug wrote about the Shades, as far as I couold tell they do exactly the same version as always. The one exception was that Pavlenko's final entrance was very like what he described as being in the notation .... jump into arabesque, rond de jambe en l'air. All the other Nikya's did the standard Kirov version. Of the ballerinas I probably liked Pavlenko best; very pure, sincere dancing and the poor girl had just risen from her sick bed. But all had something to offer. Likewise all the Solor's; Fadeyev I think gave the best all round performance, Sarafanov danced exquistly and acted well - but he does look about 12 years old which is something of a disadvantage. Kolb is not a dancer I particularly care for but his dancing was all you could wish for, his acting very detailed and his agonized run across the stage after Nikya's shade in Act 3 was mind-blowing. But to sum up, To mention other casts and other roles would take all night and endless space, so I'll just say that most were good, some excellent. I didn't see the 'Noces' programme, and on the whole I'm glad. I first saw that with Beriosova as the bride and Dowell as one of the leaders of the festivities, and I suspect it would be hard for anything to match that. I did though, enjoy the Contrasts programme or at least some of it. Serenade was fine with Sologub, Golub and Gumerova partnered by Korsuntsev and Baranov, both gentlemen somewhat outclassed by the ladies I thought. Rite, I originally saw with Joffrey some 15 years ago. I didn't believe in it then and I found it still less credible this time around. Etudes though, was great. It's a ballet I love and although the Kirov is still finding its way around the piece, rather like driving a new car - nothing's quite easy and natural yet, I thought they did it proud. It was especially good to see the men of the corps de ballet getting a chance to show off their technique on stage. Zakharova was great in the ballerina role - less good perhaps in the Romantic section which I find a bit of a bore anyway. And as for Fadeyev and Sarafanov, well perhaps they weren't quite Bruhn and Flindt, but you'd travel a long way to see better. Fadeyev's turns were sensational and I think it will be a long time before I see anything more exhilarating, precise and beautiful than Sarafanov in the last sequence of beaten steps. Really terrific. I hope the company keeps performing it. Finally, I have to say just how awful the sightlines are at Covent Garden. I sat in the stalls, stalls circle side, balcony side and towards the centre, and never had a view without an obstruction. And I'm reasonably tall. Frankly, they should have pulled the place down and built a decent theatre.

I gather that in this formation the NIA can seat 3,000 people, though some of them would have a pretty distant view. I would guess that at both performances I attended the house was between two thirds and three quarters full. And yes, despite the lack of cross dressing and Freudian sub-text, the audience really enjoyed this production. This was especially true at the matinee where there were a couple of big school parties who hissed Carabosse enthusiastically. I think that these dancers realise that making the audience interested in what you are doing is as important as achieving a perfect double pirouette. Of 13 principals, seven trained at the Royal Ballet Upper school, although I think that Chi Cao (who incidentally won the gold medal at Varna while still in the corps de ballet) may only have done one year there. One interesting new development is that Elmhurst, an independent school which trains dancers from age 11 upwards, is moving to Birmingham. The school already has links with BRB and I would guess that these will strengthen still further, giving the company effectively its own school.

Birmingham Royal Ballet has revived its production of Sleeping Beauty for a run at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham - a sports stadium that converts remakably well into a theatre. Production is by Peter Wright, first shown in 1984. It has very handsome designs by Philip Prowse. I saw two casts. First, Asta Bazeviciute, (trained in Minsk) partnered by Andrew Murphy. She's new to the company this season and I thought she made a lovely Aurora. She's tall, with really nice legs and feet and (generally) beautiful line. I liked the way she showed the stylistic changes in the choreography; bright and appealing in ActI, romantic and yearning in the Vision Scene and real ballerina grandeur for the last Act. She seems to have technique to spare. My only cavil would be that occasionally her ports de bras were not as good as they might be. Murphy isn't really the kind of dancer for Florimund, but he's a good enough artist to make something worthwhile of every role he's given. Another newcommer, Michael Revie who has been dancing with the Zurich ballet also danced Florimund. Very stylish, and he made more dramatic sense of all the running around and generalised yearning in Act II than I've seen for many a long year. Nice clean dancing, the only problem is that he's barely tall enough to partner tiny Rachael Peppin, who was a sweet, bright Aurora. I thought the company was dancing to a really good standard, and I just don't understand remarks in the press about these dancers being unable to dance the classics. Two nice Bluebirds; Robert Parker (very classical) and Andy Rietschel, partnered respectively by Nao Sakuma - a lovely, expressive little Japanese dancer and Elisha Willis, who is so new she doesn't even make it onto the company list. Special mention too for the company glamour girl, Monica Zamora, who was a stunning Carabosse in a wonderful black gown and headdress. Lilac Fairy (a walking around role and also very good) was another Spaniard, Silvia Jimenez,so presumably they were able to hiss insults at each other in their native language.

I've seen the Legats' pas de trois danced by Kirov dancers as part of a divertissment programme some years ago and remember the 'mirror image'choreogrqaphy for the men very well. Don't remember the music at all though. But according to Horst Koegler, the complete ballet "with Hassreiter's choreography more or less intact", has frequently been revived in Vienna and was filmed for Austrian tv in 1971. Was that the film shown at the Kennedy Centre?

I seem to remember the same thing happening in London once, but on that occasion it was Mr Bournonville who was the no-show.

I'm not aware that Mercutio has ever been given the Mandolin solo to dance at the ROH. I agree with Cargill that it would seem out of character. Curiously, these days it generally seems to be danced by a small dancer, whereas originally the casts tended to be both tall and small men. As to the harlot - I do hope not!

Oh, we had dancing on different levels and I particularly liked the winged, and seemingly demented harpists sitting on the third level. I also admired the men's striped, gold fringed bloomers. But alas, no elephants. Incidentally, Darkness was translated in the Paris programme as Obscurantism - a great name I thought.

La Scala actually performed Excelsior at the Paris Opera last year. I saw two performances and it was Extraordinary! Wonderful effects - terrible modern additions to the chorography - but a highly entertaining performance. And one interesting historical footnote - I noticed that in the 'ballet of the nations' the flags used date back to the period of the original production, so many of them no longer exist.

I once saw a programme for a mixed bill which included Les Sylphides. The theatre management had evidently been given the company cast sheet as after the Waltz, Mazurka, etc dancers were listed the two demi solists were identified as 'Miseries'!

I promised to post something about this programme which was given early in May, but I've been really busy. However, I do think it deserves a mention so better late than never. There were just six performances of this triple bill which consisted of a new ballet by David Bintley, Ashton's Scenes de Ballet and MacMillan's Song of the Earth. The Bintley was a creation to Glazunov's Les Saisons. It had lovely designs - sets by Peter J Davison and costumes Charles Quiggins. The backdrop was plain with panels which dropped in to represent the changing seasons. The costumes were really attractive, especially the women's tutus. If anyone is familiar with Cecily Barker's Flower Fairy illustrations, it will give you an idea. Bintley follows Glazunov's libretto, so you start with variations for Winter, Frost, Ice (who skids into splits at the end of her solo)Hail and Snow, follwed by a Spring pas de deux. Then comes Summer - another duet with a female corps of cornflowers and poppies and finally Autumn - lots of jumping for the men - a final balabilee and then we're back to where we started with Winter. It's just nice classical choreography, varied, interesting and reasonably challenging. I thought the final section could have been trimmed - there was a rather dull adagio for Winter and a group of men - but on the whole I really enjoyed it and was sorry that I could only catch one performance. It received very indifferent notices - lack of originallity was a general criticism. But I don't think Bintley was trying to do anything more than make a varied and enjoyable classical divertissment and in that, he succeeded. But that's not enough for our critics who appear to believe that the wheel must be reinvented with every new work. I hesitate to suggest that there might be a prejudice against new classical, non-narrative works. It's also tough for any new work to stand alongside the other two items on the programme. In Scenes de Ballet I thought the corps looked considerably better than the last time the piece was danced. But for me, Cojacaru and Kobborg lack the stature to be ideal as the leading couple and there is no sense of the mystery, apparent in both choreography and music, in the way she dances her variation. Song of the Earth had a terrific performance from Rojo, Cope and especially, Acosta. They were probably the best Royal Ballet cast I've seen. All in all, a great evening and I should add, programmed by the departed Ross Stretton, so we should thank him for that.

I confess I don't go to see that Romeo and Juliet (or most others) these days, so I can't comment on recent casts or on the present level of acting. I did see the film of the original cast when it was shown at the NFT in January and was really impressed by both the dancing and the restrained but totally convincing playing of most of the characters. But, two things have always puzzled me about MacMillan's production. Firstly, what is Rosaline doing promenading around Verona in the middle of the night, attended only by a manservant, and why does she walk all the way down a flight of steps only to turn and climb up them again. It's not likely she's been to Mass or surely she would have a maidservant and a prayerbook. She's received in polite society, so she's presumeably not a whore. And why the pointless stairclimbing? The other concerns the infamous harlots. Last time I saw the ballet they all peered over Romeo's shoulder to see the letter from Juliet? Should we assume an unusually high standard of literacy in renaissence Verona?

Mel, I guess there is probably a great deal of truth in what you say about Polovtsian Dances. But with regard to Miss Fokine and the Dying Swan, I think one has to give some weight to Markova's anti Isabelle views. She was, after all, taught the solo by Fokine himself, so might be supposed to know something about it. This all took place prior to a Kirov season in London some years ago and I seem to remember that Lopatkina agreed to give one performance of the "Isabelle" version, and then went back to the one she knew. The other ballerinas refused outright.

francoise, thank you for that. I'll mark the dates and hope to make it to one of the performances.