'The Sleeping Beauty' at the Royal Opera House

The autumn season is well underway at the Royal Opera House so it must be time for 'The Sleeping Beauty' which has a special place in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet. It was the production that re-opened the Opera House after the war and has been performed many times. I was lucky enough to see the 910th performance at the Royal Opera House. Like most of the classic ballets, it was choreographed by Marius Petipa and this ballet has music by Tchaikovsky. It also has additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon.

This production is designed to be loved. It has a cast of thousands, loads of pretty period costumes and lots of costume changes, gorgeous music and lovely solo and ensemble dancing. Spectacle from start to finish. What's not to love about it? A story we all know of the princess being cursed and pricking her finger only to be awoken one hundred years later by loves first kiss from her prince and they live happily ever after. There are  adventures aplenty along the way with the evil Carabosse's rat attendants, the fairies and their gifts for the baby princess and, of course, the brave Lilac Fairy who defends our princess from the evil witch.

There are very few slow movements in this ballet, constant movement is the theme and it must be very tough on any ballerina who dances Princess Aurora since she spends so much time on tippy, particularly during the Rose Adagio when she's en pointe for several minutes as four princes try to win her hand. Luckily for us, she meets the right prince 100 years later when he wakes her with a kiss. The princess only appears in Act Two since she's a baby in Act One and the Prince appears in Act Three so it's not too strenuous.

The long third act introduces us to the special guests at the betrothal of our princess and prince, fairytale characters from old stories, like Puss in Boots and Little Red Riding Hood. It may be high end ballet but it's not above having a bit of fun with the production. The amazing leaps of the bluebird, the cat-licking and jumps of the cats and the attacks of the Wolf all add another layer to the ballet, showing it's grounded in deeper, old, folk tales. I admit to loving the felines as they lick themselves and jump and skip every time they take the stage.

If you want to see a classic ballet for the first time then you can do a lot worse than choosing this one. Lasses in tutus and lads in tights, colour and spectacle, everything you think might be in a ballet is in this production. It's gorgeous.

In a late change due to injury our Princess Aurora was the excellent Fumi Kaneko and Prince Florimund was Reece Clarke, the evil Carabosse was Christina Arestis and the heroic Lilac Fairy was danced by Itziar Mendizabal. The licky cats were Leo Dixon and Ashley Dean.  They were all dead fab but it's always good to see Itziar do her stuff, since she is so graceful as well as technically perfect. Well done to Fumi for stepping up with only a couple of days notice, she gave a very impressive performance and is definitely someone to watch.

'The Firebird'/'A Month in the Country'/'Symphony in C' at the Royal Opera House

The latest triple bill of one act ballets at the Royal Opera House was 'The Firebird', 'A Month in the Country' and 'Symphony in C' - spectacle, narrative and pure ballet. What more could you ask for? I like the triple bills by the Royal Ballet since you always get a mix of styles and tempos, something there to suit everyone.

'The Firebird' was created for the Ballet Russe and, as such, is all about spectacle and that's we get. The Firebird flutters around the stage with grace moving to jerky, bird-like movements in her red and gold costume. The story is rather minimal and unlikely but you're not there for the story.

The prince eventually captures the Firebird but frees her as she gives him a magic feather to summon her when he's in trouble. That's just as well because he soon finds himself embattled by the local wizard and his minions so the prince pulls out the feather and, miraculously, there she is, the Firebird swopping round the stage destroying the minions. The prince is then free to marry a princess who was the wizard's prisoner and we get a grand finale with more and more people appearing on stage in lavish costumes as they attend the royal marriage. It's a spectacular scene with so many people walking on stage at the end.

One of the fun things was to see the background of a magical cityscape used in the final scene and recognising it from seeing an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2011 about Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe.

The wonderful Itziar Mendizabal danced the Firebird, Nehemiah Kish danced the prince, Claire Calvert danced the princess and Christopher Saunders was evil as the wizard.

'A Month in the Country' is based on the play by Turgenev and created as a ballet by Frederick Ashton. It's a regular in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet and is an elegant, narrative ballet, telling the story of the residents of the country house, the loves, the boredom, the everyday lives and the special. It was very well done and nicely staged and, after the spectacle of 'The Firebird', nicely changed the tone of the evening with its genteel dancing and muted colours. The lead character of Natalia was danced by a namesake, Natalia Osipova.

The final ballet was 'Symphony in C', a series of movements of pure ballet, not trying to tell any story, rather, just enjoying the sight and power of movement for its own sake. I loved the energetic dancing and the synchronised sections, especially when the stage was flooded by ballerinas in white tutus, creating an astonishing spectacle. There were a lot more ballerinas than male dancers who created a nice balance in their black tights and tunics.

The excitement mounted for me as more and more dancers joined the stage, groups of dancers coming together and separating, different movements and complex synchronised dancing. It was breathtaking. As the ballet advanced the stage was flooded with ballerinas in white tutus and it was a splendid sight, watching them create patterns on the stage and then breaking away before coming back to gather in synchronised perfection. I loved it! Another successful evening of very different ballets from the Royal Ballet.

'Romeo and Juliet' at the Royal Opera House

Kenneth MacMillan's 'Romeo and Juliet' is a staple in the programme of the Royal Ballet and it's rather special to me. I saw Steven McRae and Iana Selenko dance the title roles three years ago and that production made me finally 'get' ballet and fall in love with it. O yes, it's that personal to me. I saw the John Cranko version of 'Romeo and Juliet', choreographed a few years before MacMillan's, when I was in Boston last year danced by the Boston Ballet at the Boston Opera House and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I prefer the MacMillan version.

The ballet is back in the programme for this years' season at the Royal Opera House so, naturally, I bought tickets. Steven McRae was due to dance the title role again but sadly injured his knee so our lovers were Akane Takada as Juliet and Ryoichi Hirano as Romeo. I've seen Akane dance in 'Manon', 'Mayerling' and as the swan in last summer's glorious version of 'Swan Lake' and seen Ryiochi dance in 'Nutcracker' and in 'Frankenstein'. They both have excellent track records. There aren't any production photos of them dancing the current roles, unfortunately.

We all know the story. Romeo Montague is a lad about town, stirring up trouble with the rival house of Capulet and hanging out with the Happy Strumpets in the marketplace, and then, after blagging their way into a Capulet masked ball to show off Juliet they see each other and fall in love. That starts the tragedy - how can the young lovers from rival houses possibly marry? They marry in secret and share one night of love before Romeo must run and hide since he killed Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, in revenge for the cousin killing Romeo's best friend, Mercutio. Juliet's parents press her to marry the hapless Paris so she feigns committing suicide. And Romeo, ah if only he'd waited another few minutes.

It's a tale of love and joy and tragedy and along the way we meet other characters in Verona. We meet Mercutio, Romeo's best mate and great sword-fencer. We see the Montague (white tights) and Capulet (red tights) gangs sword-fencing in the marketplace and end up with a pile of dead bodies so that the Prince of Verona has to intervene to stop them. This is proper fencing too, fully choreographed of course, but it's very exciting to see all the lads slashing at each other and jumping and bouncing all over the place! Sadly Mercutio and Tybalt also fence later in the ballet and Mercutio is slain, stabbed in the back by Tybalt so Romeo takes swift revenge.

We also meet the Happy Strumpets - the cast list rather casually calls them 'Three Harlots' but I prefer my name for the three lasses. Lead strumpet was a surprise to me - Itziar Mendezibal! I've seen Itziar dance several times, always with so much grace and poise and she was fabulous as Paulina in 'The Winters' Tale' a couple of years ago so it was lovely to see her in a more knock-about role teasing Romeo and the others with her undoubted charms. Romeo is no longer interested after he's met Juliet but I'm pleased he knew the Strumpets.

There is a gorgeous range of dancing in this ballet, from the energetic sword fencing scenes to the joyous pas de deux of the love scenes and our leads did themselves proud. Akane was great as Juliet, so elegant and graceful, moving from being the child at the start of the ballet to the poised young women of later scenes. Ryoichi also did great dancing, spurring on his comrades in trouble-making and worshipping Juliet. But, for me, Steven and Iana remain the definitive lovers - Akane didn't quite capture the child at the start and Ryoichi didn't have the same level of characterisation as Steven (but, to be fair, he didn't have the same time to practice the role). I also really liked James Hay as a very bouncy Mercutio and Bennet Gartside as Tybalt. It's a masterful ballet and a great production and odd to realise that this was MacMillan's first full length ballet - he was truly inspired when he choreographed it!

If you want to try out seeing a full ballet you could do a lot worse than choose this one. It's playing until June and will be broadcast live to cinemas on 11 June - try it? You never know, you might actually like it!

'Les Patineurs'/'Winter Dreams'/'The Concert' at the Royal Opera House

A lovely pre-Christmas treat was to see a triple bill by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House: a delightful and fun 'Les Patineurs', the serious 'Winter Dreams', and the cheeky and funny 'The Concert'. I wonder who gets to decide on which ballets to include in triple bills? I like them because you get to see different ballets and styles of dancing and you might see something you'd never knowingly buy a ticket to see. This particular triple bill was definitely worth seeing.

'Les Patineurs' is about ice-skaters and is set on an iced over pond in the woods with skaters appearing and disappearing among the trees. There's no particular story to it, just loads of dancing and occasionally falling on their bums (which happens when skating). There was some lovely dancing, sometimes in groups and other times duets or solos, with lots to enjoy. There was a lot of energy and fun to see, with the dancers feigning slipping and falling as you would on ice. I loved the consistency of the dancers and their skating movements which they kept going throughout, even when they came forward for bows after particularly fancy movements.

The second ballet was longer and far more serious since 'Winter Dreams' is based on Chekov's 'Three Sisters'. It looked far more technical and precise than the first ballet, slower and more intricate as the dancers held poses and slow transitions. For me, this was more about appreciating the performance rather than loving it and getting carried away with it. Lucky for me it featured two of my favourite dancers in the effortlessly graceful Itziar Mendizabal and Sarah Lamb, both of whom are always worth seeing.

The third ballet was 'The Concert' which was out and out fun! A comedy ballet (if there is such a thing) with the dancers demonstrating the comic side of the art form. The dancers are the audience at a piano recital and come on stage in ones and twos carrying their fold-out chairs to place themselves around the stage. Then one starts dancing and encourages the others out of their chairs and we're off and running with the pianist still playing (as well as the orchestra in the pit).

I particularly liked the section where the ballerinas were carried on by the male dancers as if they were shop dummies in various poses and end up lumped together in a pile in the centre of the stage from which they spring to life in perfect formation. Or do they? At least one of the dancers was always out of synch with the others - if they moved left then she moved right, until she noticed her error and moved back. Such a simple device but it was incredibly funny and had even me chuckling out loud. It struck me that this is what must happen on occasion in early rehearsals and it had that smack of authenticity to it, but is here played for laughs. Well done lasses!

It was a great triple bill that worked very well: the delightful whimsy of the ice-skaters, the change of pace and tone for the serious 'Winter Dreams' and then the sheer fun or 'The Concert'. Well done Royal Ballet, a lovely pre-Christmas treat!

'The Winter's Tale' - Royal Ballet Rehearsal at the Royal Opera House

I went to see a rehearsal of 'The Winter's Tale' by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, my first rehearsal so I wasn't too sure what to expect. What we got was a full run through of the ballet in full costume and with a full orchestra. The only difference from a 'real' performance was that the orchestra were in civvies (including the conductor), the bar was shut and there were no ice cream sellers (that I saw). Other than that, wow!

I saw 'The Winter's Tale' a couple of years ago and was delighted with Itziar Mendizabal dancing Paulina so I was very excited to be seeing her dance that role again in the rehearsal. She is the epitome of grace and strength and is a wonder to watch.

It was great to see that moment when jealousy emerges when Hermione places Leontes' hand onto her pregnant belly as well as Polixenes' hand, his great friend and the action stops except for Leontes dancing around his wife and friend as the jealousy takes hold. That moment is so powerful in dance. Thiago Soares danced Leontes and Marianela Nunez danced an impressive Hermione. But it's Itziar who won the day with her graceful lines and movement and it's Itziar who closed the performance being the last left on stage as the curtains closed.

I'm looking forward to more rehearsals now!

'Anastasia' at The Royal Opera House

On Monday evening we went to The Royal Opera House to see the latest Royal Ballet production, Kenneth MacMillan's 'Anastasia'. Something I like about the programmes and cast lists at the Royal Opera House is that they tell you how many performances there have been of a particular show so I can tell you that was the 69th performance at the Royal Opera House of this ballet since it was first created. So there you go.

'Anastasia' is about the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Anna, the woman who emerged after the First World War to claim that she was the daughter who had somehow survived the war and revolution. MacMillan choreographed the ballet in 1971 before DNA tests proved there was no link between Anna and the Romanov family so the ballet presumes that Anna might actually be Grand Duchess Anastasia. And what a powerful ballet it is.

It was a bit of a surprise to enter the Amphitheatre and not see the plush red curtains covering the stage - instead there was a giant, grainy, black and white photo of the Romanov family with Rasputin photoshopped into it on one side - Tsar, Tsarina, four daughters and one son. I'd forgotten about the mad monk who stalks menacingly through portions of the ballet like a malevolent spirit (and who Anastasia is obviously wary of). It was quite poignant to see this photo of the Romanovs below the royal crest of the Royal Opera House with all the royal houses of Europe having links in some way. The original photo is included in the programme without Rasputin photoshopped in (he's at the top right in this photo).

The first act is a tale of youthful joy, a family outing on a steamer with attentive crew and limitless possibilities. The daughters all dance and tease the officers and Anastasia is the centre of attention. She and her sisters dance with the handsome, young officers while other officers leap from the side of the ship to have a swim in the sea. Happy, care-free times, times to look back on and smile. And then the Tsar receives the message that war has been declared on Germany. Yes, it's 1914 and dark times are coming.

The second act takes place in 1917 and is more stately, more sedate, lacking the joy of the pre-war years. Russia has been at war for three years and the world has changed. We see Anastasia'a coming out ball at which the Tsar has invited his favourite ballerina and her partner to perform and we get a great entertainment section. This act is interrupted by a great sequence at the front of the stage of the revolutionaries preparing for insurrection and then we see them invading the palace and setting it alight (with flames on the tops of some walls, looking very realistic).

The third act is Anna - or Anastasia? - in a mental institution reliving memories of her family, of the revolution, of Rasputin. Are they memories or are they made up from what she's been told or read? Other than a hospital bed the stage was empty with Anna dancing her madness with various memories appearing now and then to dance with her or torment her. This was very absorbing to watch, very intense and driven, and was the longest act with the dancer playing Anna being on stage the entire time. It doesn't try to resolve the conundrum of whether Anna is Anastasia but it offers glimpses and possibilities.

Our Anastasia was Lauren Cuthbertson and her mother, Tsarina Alexandra was the wonderful Itziar Mendizabal who I've seen before in 'Giselle' and 'The Winter's Tale' - her performance confirms her as the queen of grace and precision in my eyes. Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae were the excellent dancers in the second act. Lauren Cuthbertson was also Anna in the painful third act, the woman who may or may not be the real Anastasia. She was on stage for the entire time with so much stamina and energy that she deserved all the flowers she got when it was time for the bows.

This is an excellent production and deserves to be seen by everyone who can make it. Have an imagination, have a soul and you can't fail to like it and be drawn in by it. I was.

'Frankenstein' at the Royal Opera House

Last week we went to see the brand new full-length ballet 'Frankenstein' by Liam Scarlett, performed by the Royal Ballet. I've never seen any of his work before so this was an introduction. Rather than use the popular version of the Frankenstein story as shown in the films, this ballet goes back to the source material of Mary Shelley's book and takes its story from there. It takes a few liberties with purist story but it can't show the whole story and that's what makes the plot work.

The ballet opens with a child finding a new home with the Frankenstein's and growing up in that house with Victor, dancing all over the place it seems. The day comes for Victor to go to university to become a doctor like his father when his mother dies giving birth to his younger brother. Before he goes he pledges to marry Elizabeth. At the university he's a serious scholar, determined to find a way to prolong, and even create, life. The professor shows his students the power of electricity to re-animate an arm but Victor takes it one step forward and, in a spectacular scene, brings a corpse back to life and the Creature is made!

Realising what he's done, Victor flees back to his family home in a deep depression without realising that his creation has followed him and is hiding in the woods around the family home. Victor and the Creature meet and Victor rejects him. That's it for the Creature, rejection by his creator is more than he could bear so he takes revenge and kills, well, almost everyone. Finally, Victor and the Creature have a dance off and Victor isn't strong enough and commits suicide. The ballet ends with the Creature walking to the back of the stage dragging his creator's body behind him as the family home burns.

I really enjoyed this production, only the fifth time the ballet has been performed at Covent Garden. The story-telling was excellent, a nice flowing narrative, the costumes and staging were good and the music seemed to be just right, helping the flow of the story without getting in the way. My only slight criticism is that the choreography wasn't always as big, bold and dynamic as it could have been, such as the final dance between Victor and the Creature. Something a bit more athletic and vigorous would have suited the moment better. In any case, I liked Tristan Dyer as Victor, Sarah Lamb as Elizabeth and Ryoichi Hirano as the Creature. It was lovely to see Itziar Mendizabal as the Frankensteins' housekeeper but she didn't get much dancing, mainly stern striding and pointing.

'The Winter's Tale' at The Royal Opera House

Last week I went to see a stunning performance of 'The Winter's Tale' by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. This is my third production of 'The Winter's Tale' in five months (Kenneth Branagh's version followed by the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse production) so I am very familiar with the story of jealousy and reconciliation, a jealousy that emerges from nowhere and destroys people and families. But how would Christopher Wheeldon and the Royal Ballet tell this story? How do you dance jealousy?

The production starts with an energetic and joyful prelude, showing the three protagonists as younger versions of themselves, dancing up a storm before moving to the present day when the boys are kings and Hermione is a queen. Leontes and Hermione have one son and another child is on the way as Hermione dances with her prominent baby bump. Polixenes of Bohemia is, again, a guest and enjoying dancing with his two friends when Leontes starts having suspicions that his wife and friend are lovers and we see his mad jealousy as they dance in the garden of statues and we see through is eyes. That is all the proof he needs and he fights his old friend and arrests his wife on grounds of treason. You know the rest - Hermione gives birth and appears to die while the infant is sent away to die on a foreign shore but is rescued by a shepherd and grows up to fall in love with the prince who just happens to be Politeness' son and they flee back to Sicilia for the big reveal.

The story is relatively straight-forward in that respect but it's underpinned by the nature of kingship, the evils of jealousy and loss, love and reconciliation. But it's how they get there that's fascinating in this production with some great stage effects and plot twists. I loved the 'silkwork' that brought the bear at the end of the first act to life in terrifying form, I loved the sea chases as the young lovers flee to Sicilia and I loved the tree. O yes, what a marvellous tree at the centre of the stage for the celebrations in Bohemia where we have Florizel and Perdita dancing their youthful love. It was a lovely change from the formality of the first half with the natural scene and vivid costumes, the young people dancing and celebrating while the few old folks watched on.

Florizel and Perdita take most of the dancing but are often joined by their young friends, showing off and showing their skills, an elaborate courtship dance.

After a sea chase the young couple seek sanctuary with Leontes and, unlike in the play, we see the big reveal that Perdita is actually his daughter when Paulina recognises that a piece of jewellery she wears was her mothers that she had hidden in the baby's basket when she was taken away. But there is another reveal when Pauline shows Leontes the statue of Hermione and her dead son but, magically, Hermione is still alive and dances a stately forgiveness of her stupid husband. She finally meets her daughter and leaves the stage with just Leontes and Pauline. Leontes touches the statue of his son to see if he will come alive too...

This is a marvellous re-telling of the old tale of winter in the heart, magically re-invented by Christopher Wheeldon and the Royal Ballet. It's a new ballet first performed in 2014 and this was the 15th ever stage performance (it said so on the cast list). The dancers were, of course, marvellous, but I must single out Itziar Mendizabal as the brave Paulina who was the epitome of grace on that stage, every movement building on her character and story and a joy to behold. I'm so pleased I saw her Paulina. Also great praise for Marianela Nunez as Hermione and Bennet Gartside as the wretched Leontes. Vadim Muntagirov and Beatriz Stix- Brunell were also lovely as our young lovers Florizel and Perdita.

As ever, the staging was wonderful, as were the costumes, lighting and music. The music was by Joby Talbot, designer was Bob Crowley and the magnificent silk effects (for the bear and sea chase) were by Basil Twist. This really is a marvellous and magical production and I'm so tempted to go back again if I can get tickets... See this production if you can - you might think you don't like ballet but this could well change your mind.

'Giselle' at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

I was lucky enough to get front row seats in the Amphitheatre of the Royal Opera House to see the Royal Ballet's latest production of 'Giselle' a couple of weeks ago. It was most marvellous and is definitely the springiest, jumpiest ballet I've seen so far. Those dancers just couldn't keep both feet on the ground.

'Giselle' is a tale of love and loss, of mistakes and their consequences. It moves from the down to earth rustic setting of the everyday world to nightmare and the supernatural. It's all in there as the story progresses through some amazing dance, sets and lighting.

Our tale opens with young Count Albrecht coming to the village in the forest to see his beloved Giselle on the last day of harvest and the first tinges of autumn are in the leaves. Albrecht is pretending to be an ordinary villager rather the nobility as he tries to leave the stresses of court life behind. He has found a pure and simple love in Giselle and her first dance when she comes out of the cottage is one of youthful joy as she leaps around the stage and joins her beloved. Ah, how beautiful and right. But Hilarion, the woodsman, also courts Giselle and her mother prefers that match but Giselle loves her Count.

It starts to go wrong when the Counts guests and his noble fiancee pass through the village on a hunting trip and the fiancee rests in Giselle's cottage. It's only when the Count returns that he is unmasked and his secret is exposed. Giselle can' believe that her beloved is already promised to another and this sends her over the edge into madness and she kills herself. The first act ends with joy and life turned to madness and death, the villages grieving and the young Count distraught that his beloved is now dead.

The second half is grimmer and takes place at the side of Giselle's grave in the dark of her first night dead. The lighting was terrific in these scenes, creating an other-worldliness of spooky magic for the scene to play itself out. Giselle is dead and buried but these woods are haunted by the Wilis, the spirits of women who have been jilted before reaching the alter and, if they find a man in their woods, they will make him dance to his death.  Martha, the Queen of the Wilis, comes to claim the spirit of our heroine.

We catch glimpses of the Wilis in their white veils and dresses as they flit between the trees and then they finally emerge en masse, all 26 of them, led by their Queen, and this is a marvellous and spectacular sight! 27 ballerina's dancing together, synchronised movements and then going up on tippy-toes - such glory! Martha leading them in their dance of righteous retribution. They find Hilarion and force him to dance to his death, but when they come across the Count it's a different story since Giselle rises, not to join them, but to save her beloved and that's just what she does, challenging Myrtha and her Wilis to protect her Count. She keeps them away for just long enough for the first light of dawn to penetrate the forest and he is safe. But she is still a shade and returns to her grave, leaving her beloved safe and distraught.

The haughty Myrtha is defeated by a young ski of a girl and you can see that in their dancing, with Myrtha always straight and firm while Giselle is more fluid and lithe, a young girl against an ancient spirit. So much beauty on that stage - how on earth do they do it?

One of my favourite moments was when Giselle and the Count were dancing with Myrtha looking on from the side, ramrod straight and unmoving. And suddenly she goes up on pointe and in tiny steps moves to her left to exit the stage, arms and torso still, legs hardly moving, but her feet taking tiny steps to move her off stage. That was a wow-and-a-half moment!

So many amazing dancers and artists created this ballet originally choreographed by Marius Petipa with music by Adolphe Adam. This was the 571st performance by the Royal Ballet over the years and I know so since it's printed on the cast list. Giselle was first performed in 1841 in Paris and the first performance by the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in 1946 featuring Margot Fontayne. So it has a grand history.

My Giselle was Marianela Nunez with Vadim Muntagirov as Albrecht and Itziar Mendizabal as the haughty Myrtha. Those images of them dancing with the massed troops of Wilis will stay with me for a long time.