Alymer

My distinct impression is that Lilac Garden works better on a small stage Leigh. It was made for the stage of the Mercury, which was about the size of most people's front room, and is full of detail. Nureyev mounted it at the Opera Comique - again a small theatre - and it looked terrific. But he also persuaded Maude Lloyd to come and talk to the dancers about the making of the ballet and she was able to put back a lot of detail which had been lost. It's very much a piece about small, half-hidden gestures I feel, and they get lost on a big stage. I've only seen Fandango a couple of times, many, many years ago, and I found it fascinating. I don't remember it that well, but I do recall that its genesis was a request from Markova to Tudor for a ballet which would help to improve the dancers' footwork. I'd love to see that piece again. It certainly doesn't strike me as music which is obviously danceable. I'll be interested to learn what you thought about Judgement of Paris. And does anyone do Soiree Musicale these days?

Francoise, do you know the dates for the young choreographers evening? I'd be very interested to know that.

Two more casts, and I'm afraid I don't like the production any better. A friend who watched it from a seat in the amphitheatre describe the Prologue as stark - the last impression you want I should think. I was disappointed by the Cojacaru/Stiefel cast. I don't care for ther sky high extensions in this ballet and although her dancing was clean and pretty I didn't get the feeling of a person on stage. Stiefel I think is a really lovely dancer and his Colas in Fille mal Gardee a couple of seasons ago was terrific - really among the best I've seen and that includes Blair (who created the role) and Baryshnikov. But he and Cojacaru didn't seem to have much rapport and, I may be wrong, but I don't think Desiree is the role which shows him to best advantage. His dancing was as good as you would expect, but I've admired him more in other roles. Tamara Rojo danced with a new boy - a first artist (that's I suppose, what used to be Coryphee rank) Thiago Soares. I believe he's very young and he certainly looked very nervous when he walked on stage in the Hunt scene. Born in Brazil according to his biography, he's very dark, not especially tall but with very long legs and long arms which he carries beautifully. I thought he was a very refined and elegant dancer with a beautiful style and plenty of attack and he seemed to be an excellent partner. Certainly he and Rojo went together beautifully and she of the three Auroras I've seen, was outstandingly my favourite. Her dancing was fluent, accurate and assured and she alone seemed to change and grow throughout the three acts culminating in a really gorgeous Grand Pas in Act III. Soares, incidentally, made his debut as Carabosse the night before - surely a first. We've now seen Ivan Putrov as a stylish Bluebird - though he seems to have problems with the tempi - with Jamie Tapper as Florine. Edward Watson has also danced Carrabosse rather well - but Zenaida Yanowsky was pretty good too. She has now danced Lilac Fairy and possibly made more of the role than Nunez, simply by virtue of her height (Nunez is tiny) . Some of the details of the production have now vanished; fireworks and sparklers in the apotheosis, some rather unsuccessful gauzes and a curious set of wings to which the Lilac Fairy was harnessed during the Panorama music. Cupid, however is still there. In replay to wjglavis who wrote; "Her(Makarova's) casting decisions must also reflect the size of the company; Sleeping Beauty calls for lots of dancers." I would say that with a roster of 80 plus dancers, not including guests, 41 of whom are below junior soloist level, the Royal Ballet has lots of dancers, as well as a school to call on. And in a company of this size it seems to me odd that dancers should do one of the Prologue solos and then come on among Aurora's nameless friends. I also wonder why, when you have a good number of boys in the school, it should be two little girls who appear dressed as pages in Act III. However, they're another addition I would happily dispense with as their main function seems to be pick up Red Riding Hood's scattered flowersw and the perform an extraordinarily cute number to the Entrada music before the Grand Pas. I've heard very good reports of Miyako Yoshida's Aurora. Nunez takes the role tonight partnered by Bolle and on Monday its Tapper and Putrov. I'll be interested to hear what other posters think.

I suspect that the Coquette in the Gipin/Fonteyn cast for Night Shadow was Margot Miklosy - at least that's my recollection. I think there were two or three performances at what used to be Wyndham's Theatre in St Martin's Lane. Donald Albery was managing the company at that time, and his father, Bronson Albery, either owned or managed the theatre at that time hence the company was able to appear there when there was a gap between plays. The third generation of the Albery family, Ian, was manager of Sadler's Wells theatre immediately prior to and during its rebuilding. He it was who has finally established the Wells as such an important dance house in London. (Sorry. I've wandered way off topic)

Well, we had our first glimpse of the Royal Ballet's new Sleeping Beauty last night in Natalia Makarova's production with designs by Luisa Spinatelli. It's Makarova's first attempt at producing this classic and I guess anyone who does this for the Royal Ballet has quite a task, given the company's long history of involvement with this particular work. Effectively she has re-staged the old Sergeev Kirov production with some emendations and additions. The first is the introduction of a Cupid who begins and ends the ballet and makes an appearance in the Vision Scene. I can't say that this is a change which wins my heart, for me it's all too cute. In fact, the entire beginning, with groups of children skipping after 'heralds on horseback going to the palace' was something I could have done without. Said heralds, pulled along on stone horses reminded me all too vividly of the Commendatore from Don Giovanni wearing a red nose. The Prologue probably differs most from the version Royal Ballet audiences are familar with and to my recollection it's virtually identical with the Sergeev version. And for me this is the greatest loss. We saw from the reconstructed version the Kirov brought to Covent Garden just how close the De Valois/Sergueff was to the original, and I find Petipa's choroegraphy, in the balabilee especially, so much richer, more varied and original than Sergeev's version. The Ashton garland dance has, of course, been scrapped and we have the version familiar from the Kirov, complete with children. There is no transformation at the end of Act I, we simply see the courtiers falling asleep. There are some changes in the Hunt scene. No longer does the Prince (given his old name of Desiree) walk on stage and immediately score a bullseye in the arrow shooting contest. We have two dances for the hunt and one pair of Watteauesque peasants. The Vision scene seems to follow Sergeev's version and Desiree has the opportunity to practise a few jumps between the exit of the Dryads and the reappearance of the Lilac Fairy. Follows a somewhat confused journey through the sleeping wood and the discovery of Aurora, but instead of the Lilac Fairy suggesting to the Prince that a kiss will awaken Aurora, that task is left to Cupid. The last act follows the usual pattern. For the first time we have Cinderella and Prince Fortune, with new choreography by Makarova. We also have a pair of pages who perform a little number to the entrada for the grand pas. But neither Carabosse or the Lilac Fairy make it to the party. The latter materialises out of a vase of lilacs at the back of the stage for the apotheosis, and then Cupid strikes a cute little pose to signal that the evening is over. On the whole I like Spinatelli's costumes - light, simple in outline but with some attractive details. Curiously, Aurora's tutus are the least attractive and in the hunt scene the Prince enters in his shirt sleeves and wearing a small cloak, which looks sloppy to my eyes. The Lilac Fairy is given a long dress for this Act, which looks dangerously like a nightdress and negligee. And in the prologue, it's hard to distinguish her from her attendants because their tutus are identical in colour. Prize for the worst costume though goes to Aurora's wedding dress - a really dowdy number which called to my mind a remark attributed to one of the men in the company; "Margot dressed at Dior and St Laurent while ....... dresses at Neil Cunningham." Who he you may well ask. I can't comment about the sets - the stage management was more than usually awful and the lighting so dim that one couldn't really see the effect from the stalls. Bussell and Bolle danced the leads - she was replaced in the coda of the grand pas by Marianella Nunez who had been dancing Lilac Fairy, so presumably all was not well with her performance throughout the evening. Bolle was his usual self; nice looking, a decent partner, beautiful arched feet, a modest jump and a reasonable technique. But he's so turned in that he can never achieve a beautiful classic line. Kobberg and Cojacaru were Bluebird and Florine. He looked really good in the costume - to my mind most Bluebird's dont. But he and the conductor clearly had very different ideas about the tempi for his variation. A nice, classical Bluebird, better than we usually get but on this occasion lacking in excitement. Cojacaru was accurate and musical. I could have done without the exaggerated extensions and the "look Ma, I'm dancing" manner, but that may well have been what was asked for. It was interesting to see that soloists at senior level were cast, not just for the fairy variations and the fairytale characters, but also as Aurora's friends in Act I. How long will this continue I wonder, and what does it say about the standard of the company.

Both translations of the lyrics of Les Noces which I have are "who goes against the strong wall of stone to break it (down)". I think there is a quite clear double meaning here. With regard to the Bride weeping I wonder if rather too much isn't made of this. A sleeve note by Stravinsky himself on one recording: "The bride weeps in the first scene, not necessarily because of real sorrow at her prospective loss of virginity, but because, ritualistically, she must weep." I'm sure I also recall in a very early Royal Ballet programme not for Noces that much the same quote was printed with the addition of the words "even if she is looking forward....., even if they already have........" Life may have been hard but not all marriages were unhappy surely. Interestingly, the tradtion of the bride weeping as she leaves home for the church still persists. I remember seeing a photograph in the National Geographic magazine a few years ago of a Romanian or Bulgarian girl in white micro-mini dress and veil clinging to her mother and crying on the steps of her old home. The caption explained that this was all part of the wedding ceremonies.

With regard to the pre-Petipa Giselle; I watched last night a video about Serge Peretti; The last Italian. It's a fascinating document with all kinds of treasures, but in it he is shown teaching Nicolas Le Riche one of Albrecht's variations from Act II in the version he knew pre- Sergeev. So, I think it not impossible that Zambelli too would have known at least some of the choreography.

Jane Ivor Guest reproduces this picture in his biography of Virginia Zucchi. According to him Zucchi is on Cecchetti's right and Fornaroli is between them. Pierina Legnani he describes as 'third from right' and Celi as 'third from left'. Could Zambelli be the woman immediately on Cecchetti's left and slightly behind him?

It was a most beautiful tribute to the man who really set the agenda which took the company finally to world-class status and has kept it there, even ten years after his death. The Defile is an amazing event and I don't think anyone who sees it can fail to be moved by the sight of the entire ensemble presenting itself to the audience in this formal, structured, fashion. It's entertaining to see just how the Etoiles, (the only dancers allowed to salute the audience directly), choose do this; ie the quick run or the stately promenade. It's also interesting to see who has the biggest group of fans. Three of the Etoiles Invitees (Guerin, Loudieres and Platel) joined the Defile, Mme Platel appearing last among the women by virtue of her date of nomination. And you wonder how the new girls and boys must feel with all that weight of history behind them. I remember seeing Patrick Dupond just after his nomination. This time it was Clairmarie Osta. With the exception of Black Swan, none of the pas de deux were given with variations. Eric Vu An presumeably stepped in at the very last minute to partner Pujol in the Don Q pas de deux, which was altogether a bit subdued I thought. Unlike Francoise, I was really rather impressed with Carbone in the Romeo and Juliet extract and Maurin was magical as ever in this role. (Nureyev once remarked that in some ways she reminded him of Ulanova). Platel in her Raymonda variation,did the almost impossible, filling that vast stage with no decor, no supporting dancers, just by the strength and style of her dancing. Osta was enchanting in the Nutcracker pas, and I loved Loudieres and Jean Guillaume Bart in Cinderella. She looked wonderful - the height of chic and it really is the most enchanting and ingeneous number. Romance on a revolving stool. But the highlight for me in this part of the programme was the Bejart Wayfarer pas de deux, originally made for Nureyev and Paolo Bortoluzzi. I belive Bejart has withdrawn this from performance but allowed it to be staged again this one time. Hilaire (in the Nureyev) role and Legris danced it so well and with such conviction that you couldn't fail to be moved, especially by the ending. I was in tears as was, I suspect a large part of the audience and indeed, Bejart himself was clearly visibly moved when I saw him in the second interval. Marguerite and Armand went down a storm, even though Le Riche had to simplify some of the choreography because of his injury. Anthony Dowell was making his debut at the Palais Garnier as Papa, but I didn't think his was quite right. He's physically too small apart from anything else and the mustache makes him look cross rather than stern. I overheard somone in the audience remark that it was 'a very English ballet'. I'm not sure what that means. But needless to say Guillem was ecstatically received, and with reason. I should mention also that Wayfarer benefited from really beautiful singing by Dietrich Henschel and Kadar Belarbi in the 'ballet du cour' style Bach Suite also had an excellent musical accompaniment from Christophe Coin on cello. Really, really impressive though was Nureyev's choreography for the Polacca from Swan Lake Act I. A truly virtuoso number for 16 men, brilliantly danced by a cast entirely made up from dancers of Suject rank and below. Frankly, some famous companies would have difficulty casting it with principals. I'm not a fan of Agnes Letestu and Jose Martinez, but the Black Swan displayed their strengths probably better than anything else on the programme. Then finally the Kingdom of the Shades with Bart and Isabelle Guerin, who was looking somewhat off-form. Of the three shade I liked the newly promoted Melanie Hurel. Natalie Aubin danced well but without distinction and I though the lovely and talented Eleonora Abbagnato failed to get the measure of her variation. The female corps de ballet, whose tribute this really was, rose to the occasion maginificently - all 32 of them. It was a wonderful evening, and I don't imagine anyone who was there will forget it in a hurry. Rudolf would have approved. Incidentally, the programme is a fascinating book with a detailed chronolgy of his links with the company, some moving personal tributes and a good selection of photographs. Well worth having if you can manage French.

No, Estelle, the technical level of the dancers was superb. To see 'Ameriques' in the Varese programme with all the male etoiles ws just mind-blowing, and at that level there was considerable artistry. Perhaps less so in the lower ranks. I remember being fascinated by the female corps de ballet in Giselle, Act II - each with a different make-up, hairstyle variant and her own idea of how she should dance. I'm exagerating a bit, but believe me, there was little uniformity - and I'm not talking cookie cutter. They were all different recipies The reason why it was difficult to get major or even second rank choreographers to work with the company was that the dancers were undisciplined, at senior levels used to getting their own way, and generally prone to playing politics and calling strikes. I heard from one chorographer who worked with the company a year or so later that when he came to set a variation on one of the male etoiles he gave him the first phrase only to be told "No, I don't do that step. These are the steps I like to do (naming them) and I like to do them in (such and such) order, but you can vary that a little if you wish." And the dancer in question had a superb technique so it wasn't a matter of age or ability. (No, before you ask, it wasn't Denard). There were also a lot of regulations to do with rank in the company which restricted the way choroeographers could work. When Hightower came in as director, one of her conditions was that the ballet should give seasons at the Theatre des Champs Elysees because her intention was to 'keep them too busy dancing to play politics'.

Heavens, this is quite frightening because going through that list I realise that I saw the majority of those productions - and this in the days before the Channel Tunnel. One thing I would say about that repertory is that Rolf Lieberman had a great deal to do with it - especially the Balanchine and Robbins works. He and Mr B had a good personal relationship. For instance, the origin of Chaconne lies with Lieberman's production of Orpheus and Euridice in Hamburg - which he later did in Paris as his first opera production and which, to my absolute fury, I was unable to see. Imagine; the ballet took place at the end of the opera, the curtain between the stage and the Foyer de la Danse went up during the final chorus and the dancers moved through the singers to begin this beautiful ballet, led by Ghislane Thesmar and Michael Denard - so blonde, so beautiful, so gifted. Lieberman was also important in negotiating with the Ravel estate for music rights for NYCB's Ravel festival I was told. So, I think that Franchetti was a director de la danse with a great deal of guidance from above. For instance, the Varese evening and the Cunningham creation I'm sure were the idea of M Lieberman and M Gall, who was his assistant in charge of the ballet. You might be interested to know that for both of those performances we sat in a half-empty Palais Garnier. Likewise for Violette Verdy's performance of the Giselle production. Musically, the Varese was one of the most fabulous evenings I've ever had in the theatre and the dancers were equally amazing. Problem was the choreography was was at best, second rate since at that time the house had such a bad reputation that no half-way decent choreographer wanted to work there. Obviously, with Balanchine and Robbins it was a bit different..... As a teacher, Franchetti was very popular both in France ane at the Royal Ballet. The only thing I know about his teaching is a comment from another french teacher, Rene Bon, who said that, for professionals, Franchetti was ideal, since he always gave them combinations which made them look good and helped to build confidence and this was important if you had to go on stage and give a performance that evening.

Sylvia, I was very interested in what Monica Mason had to say, but I'm amazed by her comment that the ballerina role in Scenes de Ballet is suited to "very small and compact dancers". I don't know if you ever saw Fonteyn but although she wasn't very tall, I don't think that description "very small and compact" could ever have been applied to her. Incidentally, the second cast was Moira Shearer, who in those days was considered to be on the tall side while the third cast ballerina was Beryl Gray, who is tall by any standards. Nor do I imagine Sibley would thank Monica for that description. But I could imagine Guillem, who is tall, being wonderful in the role. However, she chose to dance Masha in Winter Dreams, and very interesting it was too. I find it fascinating to watch her in a role I know well with another dancer. She brings such intelligence to her dancing and her technique is so strong and clean that you clearly see steps that previously got lost, or were scrambled through in the general melee. And still her dancing is always fluent and musical. She's not just performing 'steps'; every one is there for a purpose so that you get a dramatic whole with logic and coherence. And before you ask, there were no excessively high extensions. I find Le Riche one of the most fascinating male dancers around today. Not that he's necessarily the best technician - although you don't get to be an Etoile in Paris without being pretty gifted in that department - it's his tremendous theatricality. He seems to take on an extra dimension when he's on stage so that even sitting still on a chair with his back to the audience he draws your eyes. In the big 'Farewell' duet which was the starting point of the ballet, he doesn't have the knock down, drag out passion that Mukhamedov brought to the piece, but it's totally convincing as Vershinin in Chekov's play, and all the more interesting for that. I have a feeling that something may have gone wrong in the very last moments (from my seat I couldn't see all the stage) as his last diagonal seemed a little off and he seemed to be keeping his weight off his right foot during the curtain calls. I hope he'll be OK for Monday in Paris. Jane Burn was the Irina - very nice indeed her only problem being that Tamara Rojo was so very good in the other cast. Isabel McMeekan was Olga - again a nice performance but she's perhaps too young and pretty to be totally believable. Despite all those good performances at 52 minutes, for me the piece is far, far too long and lacks a proper structure. As my husband put it; it's a divertissement.

I was very happy to see Scenes de Ballet back in the repertoire, but I couldn't say it was particularly well danced. It's a curious piece, unlike any other Ashton ballet I can think of, but beautiful. However, it demands a great deal of chic and style from the female corps de ballet and these are qualities sadly lacking in today's Royal Ballet dancers. It also requires epaulment - which Ashton himself once remarked 'must be a lost art'. They performed the steps nicely enough, but I longed to see the beautiful young women of the Paris Opera in those elegant hats and jewellery. The idea of having two tall and two short supporting men seems to have been abandoned. All four were short. Amazingly, they all performed their tours en l'air rather better than Kobborg, who was definitely doing one and a half, and generally seemed to be having an off night. But I think in this piece he is at a disavantage being small and slight. It needs a big man - as was Somes. Cojacaru danced very prettily, but both she and Kobborg were playing to much to the audience and for me this is a piece where the dancers dance and the audience is allowed to watch - you don't throw winsome smiles in every direction. And I think you need a real ballerina to dance the variation and gifted and lovely as she is, I don't think Cojacaru is there yet. I'm not a fan of Winter Dreams which is essentially a series of solos, pas de deux and dances for small groups of characters from Three Sisters. It's over-long at 52 minutes and I generally find myself in sympathy with Mandelstaum who apparently remarked 'give them three tickets to Moscow and the play would be over at the end of Act I'. It can have moments though, but last night was pretty flat. Tamara Rojo made something of her role as Irina, but Bussell dancing with Inaki Urlezaga was rather muted. Beautiful, big, light jetes though. He I thought totally miscast. Urlezaga was substituting for an injured Jonathon Cope, so this may well have affected Bussell's performance. I shall be interested to see what Guilleme and Nicolas LeRiche make of the roles on Friday. I always think of Sinfonetta as run, jump and yearn and IMHO it gives everything it's got in the first couple of performances you see. However it's a big crowd pleaser and it should make the dancers move. Rojo and Marianella Nunez in the two principal women's roles were fine and among the men I liked Ivan Putrov and Thomas Whitehead, though it was rather alarming to see that Zenaida Yanowksy actually jumped higher than her partner. However, to me it seemed as if most of the dancers, men and women, were trying to dance the piece in that nice, neat Royal Ballet style, which just doesn't go with Kylian (who incidentally rated the longest bio I've ever seen in a Royal Ballet programme). If Stretton's idea in bringing in this piece was to make the dancers really move, an aim with which I can sympathise, then so far it hasn't succeeded. Curiously, Scenes de Ballet, the oldest ballet on the programme, looked by far the most modern. Who says you need to move on from pure classical technique.

Three different Nutcrackers this year which is more than enough. First up was Mathew Bourne's version which as usual, puts an ingenious spin on the story, setting it in a Victorian orphanage run by the cruel Dr. Dross. The happy ending comes when Clara manages to escape through the window with the Nutcracker Prince - another orphan. Again as usual with Bourne, terrific design, some entertaining twists to the plot and no real choreography at all. Very committed performances though, from all his dancers. English National Ballet's new production I thought tremendous fun. I saw two performances and enjoyed it still more the second time. Designs are by the cartoonist Gerald Scarfe and he has transformed all the adult characters at the party in Act I into his own style. Grandpa wears a kilt with holly sprigged boxers underneath, and despite his walking frame chases avidly after his girlfriend - a Miss V Agra. Fritz and his friend are horrid little boys in combat trousers and t-shirts while Clara is a pretty pre-teen with red hair worn with bangs and a bob, rather like Scarfe's wife the actress Jane Asher. Choreography is by Christopher Hampson who has just left the company where he was a dancer for some years to work as a freelance choreographer. Mostly I think it works pretty well, although it isn't what you expect from your conventional Nutcracker. His female snowflakes and male Jack Frosts, emerge from a large refrigerator stocked with Hoffman Beer, etc. The quartet of Chinese dancers arrive in a little van marked 'take away', the Arabian dance is a Hommage A Roland Petit and has a sinuous lady in all over tights and a trailing sarong, surrounded by a group of boys with blue ostrich feather fans. The biggest single weakness comes with the grand pas for sugar plum and the Nutcracker prince. He has rechoreographed this, and it's just not as good as Ivanov. One nice thing about this production though was that all the dancers seemed to be enjoying it. The kids all around me were having a great time, I suspect bright colours and faintly rude jokes are popular with little people. One little girl in party dress and tiara told me it was 'wonderful'. Last up was the Royal Ballet version which I have seen every season it's been given since it was premiered. Then it had the benefit of using as much of the Ivanov choreography as could be re-staged. Most of this has now been dropped. Peter Wright has tinkered with it on each occasion it's been staged and in my view it's now just a muddle - for instance you have both angels and a magician driving the action. Surely you can have one or the other but not both. Part of the problem lies with the design. The party scene is probably the most authentic reconstruction of a bourgeois german household in the 1820's you are ever likely to see, but as a stage picture, it's dull. The snowflake wigs and costumes are a dreary grey and manage to make all the girls look dumpy, and when you combine this with uninspired choreography and lackluster dancing.....well, struggle to keep awake. Act II is suposedly set in a Piece Montee made from icing. This means an elaborate washed out pastel set with lots of heavy decoration, costumes in the same wishy washy creams and pinks, and everyone in unflattering blond wigs. At least the sugar plum cavalier's costume has been changed slightly, cut up at the front to look like a jacket. With the original design it was all too clear with some more mature gentlemen, that he was dressed as a Christmas Cracker! I saw Rojo as Sugar Plum, who despite the awful wig and ornate costume managed to give both the pas de deux and her variation form and style, phrasing beautifully and adding just the right amount of ornamentation. She was partnered by Inaki Urlezaga - dancer who has never impressed me, and this wasn't the occasion which changed my mind. I've forgotten the name of the dancer who did Clara, perhaps just as well. Ivan Putrov was the Nutcracker. I suppose the most outstanding thing about his performance was the way he had got round the blond wig rule by spraying his luxuriant dark curls with a great deal of gold hair spray. He was lively when he joined in the Russian dance, but I think he's a dancer who will need very careful schooling and casting if he's to realise his potential. Altogether a dull, and expensive, evening.

I'm planning to go Leigh and have been assured that I have a ticket, although it's not yet in my hot little hand. It should be quite an evening.

The Kirov Vivandiere I have seen, both live and on tape with Pankova, seems much simplified in contrast to the version Anne Guest set for the Royal Ballet touring company some years ago and the version Lacotte mounted for the Opera many years before that. Patrice Bart, now one of the Opera's balletmasters, danced the male role. He was considered at the time to be one of the company's virtuosi, and certainly had what Volkova once described to me as the ideal Bournonville physique. But anyway, the effect was sensational, far more intricate and exciting than anything I've seen subsequently. Incidentally, it was given at the smaller Salle Favart rather than on the vast stage of the Palais Garnier and I suspect that helped it. I've also seen Patrice Bart in Konservatoriet with Festival (now English National)- again many, many years ago. I think that version was staged by Brenaa, but it might have been Mona Vangsae. But anyway, the point is you could clearly see the links between the French and Danish schools. Bart took to it as if he was born to dance Bournoville, although he was still obviously a French, rather than a Danish dancer. But that type pf physique and dancing is largely out of fashion these days and it's greatly to our loss.

Well, Mel asked the question so I'll reply that in John Neumier's version she's a girl who seems to be looking to find herself. I saw it at the premiere and was hugely disappointed. Revisiting it, the ballet is less of a muddle, but I still don't like it, although I've very much admired some of Neumier's other work. But here I think he is out of sympathy with the story although he writes that he admires the music. He's gone back to Tasso, ignoring the admitedly old-fashioned libretto of the original ballet and tried to give the piece a "contemporary/universal" gloss. So we have Sylvia in a chic red velvet evening dress "becoming aware of her femininity" with the aid of a male corps de ballet in black tie and tails, headed by Eros, who has suddenly bcome Orion. And at the end of the piece, dressed in a smart New Look suit, she rediscovers Aminta, only to go off, carrying her suitcase, with an anonymous gent in a tweed suit. To be fair, because of a strike, at last Friday's performance the ballet was given in a single decor and with very basic lighting. What saved it were the dancers; Manuel Legris as Aminta, Nicolas LeRiche as Eros/Orion, Delphine Moussin as Diana, the very, very, talented and promising Elenora Abagnato as Sylvia and Wilfried Romoli as Endymion. Just to watch them walk across the stage is sheer pleasure, and Neumier does give them a bit more than that to do. But for me, Neumier's ballet doesn't work, so I hope the whispers that the Ashton version may be revived prove to be true. Otherwise I'll just have to keep on driving my neighbours insane playing the recording of the score over and over, very loudly.

Well, I'm going to screw up my courage and admit that I was in Paris over the weekend before Christmas with a group of long-time dance watching friends and we thoroughly enjoyed Saturday night's performance of Paquita with the Osta/Bart cast. Despite the disparity in height (and I'm surprised to learn that Bart is 6ft 2in) they gave no hint that there were any problems in partnering. More importantly to my mind, they played beautifully to each other and the mime sequences were lively and compelling. The choreography is certainly fraught with difficulties, but both dancers sailed through them. One of our party - a former Royal Ballet principal and a pupil of Volkova - was quite overcome by the overall technical strength of the compay and especially the clean, accurate footwork. My view of what Lacotte has attempted in this, and his other Romantic Era stagings, is not pastiche Bournonville but a return to the style of Mazillier and St Leon. (I'm excluding his version of La Sylphide where he has uncovered a lot of original sources and genuinely tried a re-construction. He's written at length about this) For instance, his use of the corps de ballet is quite different to anything in any Bournonville ballet I've ever seen. And the choreography of the variations is far more intricate than Bournonville. Briefly, what he is attempting is a re-construction of the French rather than the Danish school and in one of his books Lacotte makes the point that at the time he was working Bournonville was not considered in France to be among the first rank of choreographers. We may, and probably do, think differently, but in Paris they are trying to recapture their own heritage, not copy someone else's. Of the two Inigo's I saw I was really impressed by Yann Saiz. I thought his dancing was clean and strong and his mime clear and expressive. Karl Paquette at the Sunday matinee was vastly inferior to my way of thinking. But the best mime surely came from Jean-Marie Didiere as the villanous Governor. He's one of the older dancers in the company, I've always found him interesting whatever he did, but he seems to have blossomed into one of the finest mime artists around today. Someone who can make the Rajah in Bayadere into a major character without indulging in histrionics has got to be good! I saw Herve Courtain in the pas de trois with Hurel and Kudo. He, I found really impressive. Big jump, nice line, good arms and well stretched feet. Both women were nice. Kudo is a dancer I greatly admire, but personally, I think she's at the right level in the company. If they still divided Sujets into two levels, then she'd certainly be Grande Sujet, but I don't see her as a principal. Sunday's pas de trois was Nolwenn Daniel, Muriel Zusperreguy and Emanual Thibault. Not much to chose between the women but M. Thibualt did everything M. Courtain had done with the exception that his jumps were bigger and softer and his feet and arms still more beautiful. Remember a quality called beauty of line? He has it in spades? If I looked hard for something to criticise, I might say his hands were a little elaborate, but very stylish. The big difference between the Saturday Evening and Sunday Matinee performances was the principal cast. On Saturday Osta and Bart really animated the stage and kept the ballet alive and moving. At no time did I experience any feeling that the action could advantageously be moved on more quickly except for a final waltz in the ballroom scene while Osta was changing into her tutu for the grand pas. Not the case on Sunday when we had a pair of etoiles, Agnes Letestu and Jose Martinez. She is tall with long legs which clearly makes for difficulties with this style of choreography, but I was amazed by the sloppy footwork and the token mime. He seemed to be trying harder, but altogether it was a pretty pallid performance, which seemed to affect the rest of the cast. I found myself looking at my watch more than once, wondering whether I would get to Laduree in time to by a box of macaroons to take home. Even in the grand pas, where Letestu might have been expected to shine, I didn't find her outstanding, although she looks better in the tutu than Osta. Bart was every bit as good as Martinez to my mind. However, the couple clearly have a huge fan club which cheered them hysterically and shot dirty looks at two of my friends who were found to be wanting in their display of enthusiasm for the pair. Elisabeth Maurin was due to m ake her debut as Paquita on Christmas day. A dancer I greatly admire and due to retire shortly, I wish I could have been there to see her.

I thought the Royal Danish Nutcracker had been choreographed by Ratmansky who recently did Cinderella at the Marinsky. I've seen an extract from that and another pas de deux that he did. Those costumes look weird, But Ratmansky is a serious choreographer, whether or not one likes his work. He was the guy who pulled out of the Kirov Nutcracker over disagreements with the designer, who insisted on putting the snowflakes into black! Perhaps this was a reaction.

Yes, of course you are correct Marc. I was writing from memory and it's a long time since I saw that production. So. presumably, Makarova simply expanded the dance and gave it to the bayaderes rather than to Solor's faithful follower. But I still think it's interesting that in either form it should contain such clear elements of a traditional dance from the Indian sub-continent. Shows what a tireless little researcher M. Petitpa was I guess.

Does the new/old version still include the number for the bayaderes carrying lights? And if so where? Makarova puts it in Act 1V and Nureyev in Act 111 just before the Shades scene. I can't remember where it comes in the Bolshoi/Grigorovich production or the Kirov version we've seen in London. I'm particularly curious about this because thirty or more years ago, long before I ever saw anything from La Bayadere, I went to a charity dance recital given by the diplomatic corps in London. There were all kinds of numbers from Malaysian dances for men to a Japanese wife who did a traditional springtime solo with a giant branch of wisteria. But what I especially remember is that ladies from the then High Commission for Pakistan performed a traditional dance, largely circular in pattern, each one carrying a dish containing lighted candles in each hand. Sound familiar?

rg's point about different variations for different ballerinas has a great deal of substance I imagine. I remember being told that when the young Markova began to learn Swan Lake Grigoriev asked her which variation she preferred: Legnani's or Kchessinska's; both 'authentic'. But the reason for the choice of Corsaire variation on that disc is quite simply that it was the one Galina Samsova danced.

Curiously, when the Bolshoi appeared at Drury Lane Theatre in London a couple of summers ago it was noticeable that you couldn't hear the women's shoes at all. A contrast to the Kirov at Covent Garden who, with the honourable exception of Janna Ayupova, almost drowned out the orchestra. Does the acoustic of the theatre perhaps have something to do with it?

In all this discussion about nationality, should I perhaps mention that Monica Mason is South African, born in Johannesburg.

It is also perhaps worth pointing out that in the past former Royal Ballet dancers who have moved to direct other companies have received severe criticism for staging too many pieces from the Royal repertory. Both Alexander Grant in Canada and Brenda Last in Norway found this. It's quite a delicate balancing act pleasing purely local audiences. Ashton must have received his worst-ever notices in Norway!