anoushka

Sylvia, I am glad to hear that the production is better in life than on the video-I have only seen the video and had my reservations about it. But I'm really looking forward to going on Friday- its the Cope, Rojo, Tapper, Burn, Nunez, Maloney cast, which should be good. I am especially looking forward to seeing Marianela Nunez and Brian Maloney, so I'll let you how it goes! xx

Here's a link to some newspaper reviews about opening night-most of the reviewers seem to focus on Gong, and the colour of the tutus though! http://www.ballet.co.uk/cgi/reviews_databa...&exact_match=on

It certainly was great to be back at the House after the summer break-Tryst was still lovely to watch, I especially like the patterns the dancers create on the stage (they were very clear from the slips!) and the way the sequences ripple through the lines. Gong was quite interesting to watch-lots of bright colours and fast movement. There were also some bits without music which was different, and the first time it happened I didn't expect it, and looked at the conductor to see what was going on-he was standing with his arms folded waiting for the next bit of music to come in! Oh, and the boys all had earrings on which made them look a bit like pirates! Lastly Carmen-this was my first full run through of it, and I didn't really like it any more than the extract I saw before. It simply looks ugly lot of the time, and some of the costumes are made of the most bizarre fabric! Kind of coloured tin foil! All in all a great evening and I can't wait to see it again on Friday!

It was superb! I think my favourite was the Millepied piece Triple Duet. I wish I could see them all over again already, and I've only just got home! It was great to see the other pieces too, they were all new to me, and I enjoyed them all. The Dowell costumes for 'In The Night' were excellent-I wanted them all! For me, Duo Concertants was probably the ballet I would need to see again the most, I found the way the dancers wandered over to the piano and violinist a bit odd. Polyphonia was also very interesting to watch, espeically as Wheeldon's Tryst is in the Triple Bill again at the Royal in October. I could definatly see some similarities in the pieces. Anyway, thats enough for the middle of the night, it was worth the cold cycle ride home! xx

Drew, I was glad to hear that you got to London for Don Q-did you get to see anything else, Coppelia? I have to confess I saw most of the Don Q casts, and think that Marianela Nunez was probably my favourite-she and Carlos Acosta have such a rappour. I love Carlos' extra flourishes which really puts his stamp on his dancing. But Ivan Putrov is another favourite of mine, and his fake death was very good (though I have seen Johan Kobborg do an equally funny one, but Ivan's Basilio was especially concerned with his cape!) Thankfully, both Nunez and Putrov were made Principles at the end of the season so we will get to see them in a lot more! I hope you get to visit London again for the new season, which should be exciting to watch! Anoushka xx

There are details of BBC 2's new programme on dancers, presented by Deborah Bull, and will feature dancers from the Royal Ballet such as Marianela Nunez, and even Sir Antony Dowell! This is a link to information about it http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/news/1455.html Sorry to anyone in the uS, maybe this will be shown to you guys too, some day! Enjoy xx

In case anyone is interested here is the review from yesterday's Sunday Times, aptly titled "Cloak and Swagger" with reference to Carlos, who was brilliant as Basilio. It focuses on Marianela's Kitri, though they did get the wrong picture of her printed, it was of her being the Street Dancer! I was surprised they got it wrong, surely you can't mistake that black wig!! Enjoy xx (I have copied it here because I'm not sure you can look at reveiws without being a member.) Dance: Cloak and swagger Don Quixote was made for showing off, and the Royal Ballet's dancers don't miss a trick, says Clifford Bishop Don Quixote has historically been more often butchered for its divertissements than presented in its stamping, charging, on-the-hoof entirety, at least in this country. In principle, this is a shame, but as the curtain rises on the Royal Ballet’s full-length version you can’t help but feel your fingers twitching for a handy cleaver. The early signs are uniformly discouraging: the nicotine-stained set, the creaking jokes; the Don who, as his visionary madness increases, starts to look more and more like Baroness Thatcher; and the furry-pated, knob-horned monsters that, during the Don’s first hallucinatory glimpse of Dulcinea, bumble from the chimney like Teletubbies in bondage gear. [the rest of this review was removed by LAW]

Calliope, I think you're right, the politics of the gala belong elsewhere. I also don't think we're in a position to comment upon the colour of dancers o our stage and whether they were home grown or not-we simply do not know about the intake of our national ballet schools and where their graduates go. We should also perhaps be pleased that so many dancers from across the globe want to come and dance here?

It certainly is a strange world Lolly! I must say it has been very interesting to read all about the gala and people's points of view before adding mine! I was at the gala, and really enjoyed it-I am certainly a big fan of the Queen and felt the gala was a fantastic tribute to her and her reign. I also appreciated the choice of ballet, I got to see a couple of things I missed the first time around (Wow to the Vertiginous Thrill, and Hmm? to Carmen for me!) and also to reaquaint myself with things I'd seen before. I alsways think the problem with such occasions as galas is you could always argue that one thing was more suitable than another because there is such a wealth of material to choose from! I prefer to ge with the choice and get down to reallly enjoying myself! As to the pricing, I can see its caused some consternation but I have to admit that when I got my form through i was really pleased with the pricing structure chosen. I know the top prices are a lot- but then only people who can afford it will pay that-and the money is supporting such a good cause. There was still plenty of scope for the lower price bands for those of us who don't earn thousands, not to mention the free seats in the Clore, Linbury and outside. Overall, for me at least an extremely enjoyable night out witht he bonus of the dancers going outside to the piazza. xx

Hi Sylvia-I thought Martin Harvey was going to do Mercutio, thats the info on the website-however in the programme it doesn't have a note saying 'Cervera replaces Harvey' so maybe it was a mix up on the website? I asked the Box Office, but they didn't know any different?

Did anyone go and see Romeo and Juliet by the Royal Ballet? It was opening night last night, and it was fantastic! For anyone who didn't get to go, the cast was: Roberto Bolle, Darcey Bussell, Ricardo Cervera, Ivan Putov, William Tuckett as, Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Benvolio and Tybalt repesctively. Roberto and Darcey were heartbreaking together, and brought tears to my eyes more than once. Ivan Putrov was also magnificent as Benvolio, and worked very well with Ricardo's Mercutio. Together they framed Romeo beautifully in their pas de trois. William Tuckett was also good as Tybalt, he was wonderfully stern, (especially with Juliet when he realises she likes Romeo) and was very good at the sword fighting. Overall, a brilliant night, and I have to go again! Is anyone else going to see any of the other casts?

Dear Sonja, I am in Auckland at the moment, and went to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet in their production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Anyway, I found their website for you: http://www.nzballet.org.nz It has details of their current season, and bookings, but unfortunatly there doesn't appear to be anything on when you are there in May-not sure why, it jumps from April to June? Sorry I don't have better news for you, : ( If I find any other ballet being advertised I'll let you know, (I'm here until April 9th), love anoushka XX

Hi Syvia- I won't see any other casts because I'm leaving to travel the world for 6 months on Sunday, and I really wish i could now! I really enjoyed the performance and thought Nunez and Stepanek were amazing- Johannes in particular because I've only ever seen him in 'cheeky boy' roles rather than more serious ones. He showed such depth of feeling and I was nearly in tears at his despair with Olga, before the duel. I hadn't seen Nathan Coppen before, and I wasn't that struck by him, but maybe that was because I was totally carried away by Johannes!! The performance as a whole was very well done, I though the corps were excellent in the ensemble dances, I especially liked the ball scene. I certainly reccomend this production to anyone!!

Hiya Mashinka! Thinking about Street Car, I can see what you mean about the intense relationships-I might read it again though to remind myself. I would definatly like to see some more of De Frutos' work. xx

Did anyone else go and see Javier de Frutos' world premiere of The Misty Frontier? It was in the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal last night? The work was created because of a meeting between George Balanchine and Tennessee Williams in 1945- I was able to pick out the Balanchine influences, but I haven't read enough of Williams The lighting was very creative-I like the silhouettes created by backlighting the dancers and there was also interesting use of sound with the dance, and creating symbols with dance too. Javier de Frutos was in the production along with Marianela Nunez, Martin Harvey, Emily Low, Ernst Meisner, Nicole Ransley and Jose Maria Tirado. I though Marianela Nunez and Martin Harvey were both excellent, both on their own and together-when they had real sparkle in their eyes! It was also lovely to see so many members of the Royal Ballet Company in the audience watching their friends. Anyway, if you get the chance to see any of De Frutos' work, then do, its worth seeing. If any of you did see it, I'd love to hear what you thought, love anoushka

Wow! Its sounds very exciting- I'm going tonight to see the Tapper/Coppen/Nunez/Tuckett cast with Johannas Stepanek replacing Rupert Pennefather, so I'll let you guys know how it goes-I can't wait!!

I must say, the first time I saw the Kirov perform, I wasn't expecting them to stop and bow after each piece of dancing they did! It seemed to disrupt the whole flow of the balley- and also broke the spell of the other world on stage, when they stepped out and bowed! The more I've seen them, the more used to it I've got, but I am quite content with the usual curtain calls at the end of a performance!!

I must say, the first time I saw the Kirov perform, I wasn't expecting them to stop and bow after each piece of dancing they did! It seemed to disrupt the whole flow of the balley- and also broke the spell of the other world on stage, when they stepped out and bowed! The more I've seen them, the more used to it I've got, but I am quite content with the usual curtain calls at the end of a performance!!

I hadn't seen Angel dance until he was in one of the Royal Ballet's public classes- it was great to see him showing off the the other boys; who could jump the highest, turn the most etc! Great stuff! I know he danced in Don Q, so he will have got the practice those turns a lot!

Hi, I am going to see the Royal Ballet's new production of Onegin next week- there have been some mixed reviews about it. Has anyone seen other productions of this balley, and did you like it? Also, do you think I would benefit from reading Pushkin's poem first? Thanks for your help!