La Bayadere - the reason the Memories triple bill seemed so flat - they've all been focusing on this one? What we have here is a lush grand ballet, with no corners cut and an unashamed eye on the spectacular. It also should satisfy those who criticised recent RB opening nights as being unrehearsed and lacking in fluency - spotlight operators aside, it was a great show.

The basic color scheme is gold, with decent lighting when appropriate to make it all sparkle (Rojo's rear was particularly eye-catching in Act 1), generally twinned with deep greens and reds. An ill-advised detour into pink for Act 1 Scene 2 was garish and clashed, but I was never a fan of pink anyway.

Carlos Acosta was magnificent - he is a superb partner, able to present his partner to her best effect, yet possessing a searing stage presence of his own - appropriate for a noble warrior. His solo work is cultured and sylish and his partnering with Rojo is a joy (I admired them in Don Q last year). Nunez completes the main trio with great aplomb; her acting is getting better and better and Stretton will not be able to keep her (or Galeazzi) as a soloist for long, which should raise interesting issues...

The audience seemed particularly taken with Putrov's Bronze Idol and it was indeed well danced. His 'outfit' which seemed to consist mostly of gold, rather than bronze, paint made me smile as I remembered his silver robot cousin performing for money outside in the piazza earlier in the day.

To finish up a very rushed review, I saw Lulu in the Hall, and I believe Ms. Bull and I were alone in the crush room for a second during the curtain calls (told you I rushed!).

A great ballet to take youngsters too (despite an hour-long Act 1) - I can't stand Nutcracker, btw. Oh, for those who sometimes ask - it finished at 10.20.

Natalia Makarova's production (based on her experience of the work with the Kirov) has been serving the RB now since the early 90s as far as I am aware, and is the only one I am familiar with. It is rich with archaic mime gesture - what on earth are they all on about, pointing upwards, downwards, clapping their hands together etc? Frankly, I have never been able to work out what all that carry-on in the Rajah's drawing-room is about - the picture of Solor on the easel, the
confrontation between the Rajah and the High Brahmin, the significance of the veil etc. But never mind, Makarova's production is crammed with gorgeous dancing, and the RB last night did well with it.

Tamara Rojo was Nikiya, Carlos Acosta was Solor and Marinela Nunez was Gamazatti, and it is difficult to imagine a better casting. Rojo's Nikiya lacked some necessary vulnerability and pathos in the role, but more than made up for this with her extraordinary technical control (did I dream than she turned slowly on point in unsuppported arabesque? Probably, but she held some of her balances so long that I can be forgiven this lapse). Acosta was a gracious partner to both Rojo and Nunez, with a pleasing warmth and wit to his performance. His dancing was clean and explosively powerful, as witnessed by the whistling and shouting reaction of the audience. (I do wonder, though, if any male dancer has merely to conclude a series of flying turns with a deep back-bend on his knees to elicit a similar reaction from the audience).

The big surprise was Marienela Nunez. Scarcely out of her teens, this Argentine-born dancer took utter command of the stage as Gamzatti, from her first appearance as the rich and spoilt daughter of the Rajah, to her final one as the betrayed bride. I don't want to get too excited here, but is it possible that RB have at last got a dramatic dancer worthy of the name? Nunez seemed easy and beautiful in her dancing and extraordinarily commanding in her acting, a rare combination, especially in one so young.

The Shades scene went pretty well. There was a slight ragedness in the corps at times, but they pulled together in the end. Only the Kirov can pull off a perfect 'Shades' scene I reckon (and the POB aren't bad either) but this was an excellent RB showing, especially for a first night

Justin Meissner as the Head Fakir put in a note-worthy high-jumping performance, and Ivan Putrov as the Bronze Idol fulfilled all the technical demands of the role without, somehow, stunning us, as the cheeky Kumakawa did some years ago - it's almost a contradiction in terms, but his Bronze Idol was unshowy.

Incidentally, I pulled out an RB programme 'Bayadere' dating back to December 1990, and what a cast that was! Asylmuratova as Nikiya, Guillem as Gamzatti and Mukhamedov as Solor! David Drew was the Rajah then as he was last night, and most surprisingly one of the d'jampe dancers then was Vanessa Palmer and she was one of the d'jampe dancers again last night (she probably won't thank me for pointing this out...)

I do love this lush production, most especially the effectively exotic backdrop for the wedding scene, where you feel as if you are on the huge the balcony of a very rich man's house. The costumes too are suitably extravagent, but oh, please can somebody do something about the corps boys get-up in that wedding scene? They are just plain daft, what with something that looks like a bra top with a short skirt and little pointy hats which seem deliberately designed to be unflattering.

As I got back to my seat for the final act, I discovered that the blonde woman sitting next to me was none other than Marianela Nunez's mum, who had flown from Argentina especially for the occasion. She didn't speak any English, but there was no disguising her pride and excitement. I learned that Marianela was one of four children, that she had been dancing since she was three years old and there was no history of dancing at all in the family. On last night's showing, the lady must have thought her long journey well worth the effort.

Darcey was super throughout. The basket-of-flowers solo, in particular, was a revelation with its intense emotion and fluidity of movement. Writing about Darcey makes me reach for my Thesaurus and then throw it away in disgust; well, I can only say that she was flexible, more flexible, and then a lot more flexible than that. Darcey doesn't just stretch...she s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s! (Unfortunate, then, that the snake seemed to have disappeared from the flower basket.) And she was terrific, too, in the Kingdom of the Shades. A beautiful job. (She and Carlos did have a problem, however, with the conductor, who was going too fast. Why are there ballet conductors around who STILL haven't learned to LOOK at the dancers??!?)

Carlos did a wonderful job too. What a partner he is! (Yes, he and Darcey did have the odd problem - how could they not with so little time to rehearse? But you would never have guessed that he hadn't ever partnered her before.) And his solos....WOW. That last one was amazing - and included a jump I've never seen before - when are we going to get a slow motion replay to study in the intervals! (Just kidding.) This was an emotional partnership - lots of chemistry - and he and Darcey looked very well together.

I thought Marianela did a great job, too - her third act solo was particularly fine - and her characterization is well developed (I was impressed with the maturity of her mime scene).

The corps de ballet deserves special mention. Their work in act 1 was very good indeed - much better, I thought, than the standard produced 10 years ago. And the Shades scene was close to being excellent (not a word I use very often). Friends told me they'd glimpsed a few wobbles, but I didn't see any wobbles at all, myself.

Other soloists deserving praise were Jaimie Tapper and Ivan Putrov.

The applause at the end was ecstatic, with tons of bravos and some big bouquets of flowers.

At the stage door, we asked Ivan Putrov about his Bronze Idol make-up (bet he gets asked that a lot) and he said it takes them half an hour to spray it on (and then he can't warm up before he goes on stage) but it only takes about 10 minutes to remove. So now you know.

A beautiful and fascinating evening. What did everyone else think?

One question for you all - last time this warhorse came out there was unanimous condemnation of the d'jampe dance (whatever that is). How was it this time?

Alison, I've was told on Monday that it's Leanne who's slightly injured and that her performances were questionable but from your observations I'm, she was ok?

I wasn't especially impressed during my very first look at La Baydere on Monday. I found many parts of the choreography and music, particularly for the corps, really poor in Act I. I can't remember the last time I'd felt so indifferent to ballet. Things of course improved on a huge scale when Carlos, Tamara or Marianela were dancing, the music for their solos I adored. I'm so delighted that Tamara and Carlos were cast together. I think extra sparks fly when they're dancing and yep, their performances were as fiery and passionate as I've come to expect. (I'll be very curious to see how Ethan Stiefel matches up in March.) I loved Carlos' panache - not just any dancer can look so at home in a silly turban. I was especially delighted by Nunez. She looks gorgeous in gold, conveying the haughtiness of youth and authority of a princess. Her dancing exuded so much confidence. She was spectacular and I have to say actually outshone Tamara.

The Shades scene was breathtaking at times. The moment when the first shade appears seemingly out of nowhere was unexpected and completely magical. I had an excellent view from the front of the amphitheatre and I've never expected the RB to corps to have the uniformity of POB or the Kirov so I'll just leave it there. The three shades were lovely, special mention for Tapper. Tamara was in her element in this act, beautiful, ghostly with impeccable technique. She executed those horribly difficult turns in arabesque with no problem at all. Carlos' solos were of course fantastic and had the audience in uproar.

Act III - Ivan Putrov I enjoyed immensely. The corps I did not. That dire music again. The pas de trois between Nikiya, Solor and Gamzatti was very cleverly done and extraordinarily beautiful to watch. I'd been marvelling over the lightness of Alina in the rehearsal but Tamara was just as wonderful. I'd been wondering how they'd manage to make the whole temple collapse and I was very impressed at how effective and scary it all was. And of course the finale where Nikiya leads Solor through all the clouds into the afterlife or whatever it is brought a lump to my throat. Regardless of my misgivings about various aspects of the ballet I clapped until my hands hurt.

The production really is beautiful, especially the sets (agree that it's much too cramped in some places though) and the girls costumes. I adore every one of Nikiya and Gamzatti's outfits! The guys on the otherhand, I felt very sorry for. Could more unflattering costumes have been picked? And I agree about the lighting, especially in the first scene. I had a decent seat in the in the rehearsal and could barely make out their faces. I really thought my sight was going until the next scene when it was all bright and cheery again.

All in all, a nice evening. Worth seeing my favourites in but I'm not going to see all the casts just for the sake of comparing different interpretations.

Interesting you say that. Someone who saw both the Monday and Tuesday performances commented that they thought there was more spark between Carlos and Darcey than Carlos and Tamara which really surprised me!

And now you've surprised me! But I'm definitely looking forward to next week's matinee now.

I've never really noticed the "sparks flying" between Acosta and Rojo on the admittedly few occasions I've seen them dance together - possibly I was expecting more than was realistic. I think that's partly why I booked for Stiefel, to see how that would work. I have to say, I'm surprised that Carlos hasn't been cast with Darcey before - I'd have thought he was strong/tall enough for her.

My father, who came along, saw this with Nureyev and Fonteyn, said that this performance was quite the best thing that he had ever seen - that really is saying something!

Hope everyone else who was lucky enough to see this enjoyed it as much as me. The only downside was seeing all those bare stomached girls - it made me horribly envious!

Dare I ask where you were sitting - or rather where Makarova was sitting? I managed to get her autograph at the stage door (but was too awe-struck to think of a thing to say) and agree that she looked absolutely wonderful.

I have only ever used this message board a few times before to post a few topics , but i read all the messages posted on each subject avidly with great interest.

I am always impressed by the standard and quality of the writing ( along with the depth of knowledge ) by most of the contributers to this message board and to be honest this has slightly put myself off in leaving a review , as i may not be up to your usual high standard, but i have now decided to throw caution to the wind and start to contribute to the reviews of the recent performances of La Bayadere i have attended.

Remember this is my first attempt,so please be kind :>

Having being lucky enough to see three performances so far of La Bayadere with, Acosta/ Rojo , Acosta / Bussell and last night's pairing of Cojocaru / Corella I would just like to say how much i have enjoyed all the performances, not just the performances of the central characters but the performance of the company as a whole.

Unlike some of you who contribute regulary I am no technical expert when it comes to the dancing , but i know what pleases my eye , and i think all round praise needs to be given to the company for their efforts.

On Tuesday and at last nights performance the corp in the Shades scene were as one, all in magnificent unison.

M Nunenz was a revealation on Monday and Tuesday as Gamzatti, her acting was superb , menacing , aloof , but dazzlingly beautiful, how could Solor turn down a ravishing beauty such as her.

At last night performance Mara Galeazzi was even more menacing with her acting , those eyes of hers speak volumes as to what she is thinking and scheming in her mind, but just on a personnal level i did not think she and Corella were well suited together when dancing.

Being in the Balcony for last nights performance i viewed a lot of the action through my binoculars and at one point I noticed Angel grimmace his face in pain when lifting Mara , and throughout the rest of the performance he was not his usual smilling self( i know it not a role that requirs him to be his smiling usual self as in Don Quixote ),and from that point he looked to be in some discomfort when partnering either of the two female leads. I hope he has not hurt himself. Even when it came to his solos (which were of his usual breath taking high quality ) he seemed to be putting a lot more effort into them than usual.Hope fully i may be wrong about him hurting himself.

I have been extremely lucky to see Cojocara an many occasions at the ROH , and she never fails to amaze me with her dancing and acting . She totally encapsulates herself in every role that she undertakes and i have not seen her give even one luke warm performance , all are of the highest quality. Everything that she is given to dance she shines in , like a star.

As in Don Quixote, her and Corella were perfectably matched and judging by the bravos and applause the audience seemed to love them

I honestly believe that at only 21 , Alina is a true star and will be one of the greats ballerinas of our time.I know that she has yet to dance her first Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake at Covent Garden but judging by her performances so far she has so much still to offer . We are so lucky to be seeing her perform with the Royal Ballet, and long may we do so.

I will even go as far to stick my neck out here and put her on a par with the divinely ravishing Altynai Asylmuratova when she was 21 .Now I know that will ruffle a few peoples feathers but what do other contributers think of Alina , is she destined to be one of the true greats or am i wishfull thinking.

If you take into account her age , the quality of her dancing, her actiing capabilities , to me it all adds up.

What do you all think , perhaps we should open a new thread about Alina, as i suppose this is about La Bayadere.

Just as a side note, at last nights performance floweres were thrown onto the stage from the top tier at the side.

I know there is a girl who sometimes organises this and various people contribute funds to help buy the flowers, does any one know the e mail of the person who buys the floweres ????? , and secondly what is the criteria for this type of occasion .I would like to contribute some money for when this type of occasion happens agian.

Thank You

David

I was there last night - right at the very back of the Amphi so also dependent on binocs. Alina is incredible - words fail me, some of her movements are so beautiful I am breathless. I thought Angel started off looking very happy and the smile was there in the first pdd with Alina but he did get serious - perhaps the plot called for it. Act II left me less impressed than I remember from the early days with this production - I'm sure with Tucker and Brind et al in those three variations were much higher voltage - or was last night's music just slower? Or does my memory deceive me? I thought Tapper, Yanowski (beautiful as always) Morrea were very good but not breathtaking. I did think Mara was stunning and very scarey. Only thing I think could be added would be more sense of Solor falling in love - Angel seemed to be rather wooden but perhaps if he was injured he was distracted and perhaps with more performances he and Alina will get more feeling - their dancing I would not fault. I agree David that the company looked great - no wobbles in Act 2 - lots of good character acting from Page, Rosato and Drew and the corps too. Gosh, I dislike the Fakirs and would cut some of the padding if I could - its a long night.

The Amphi was full of students - I think from RBS - hence the screams - the ROH sounded more like a concert with teen idols with rapturous screams for everyone on stage. Nice and unstuffy I thought.

I have organised flower throws in the past, usually for someones debut or last performance. For a while, Wayne Eagling and Wendy Ellis were given an "annual Fille" and they got a flower throw for that one year - it was fun! And there used to be "Flower Ray" who did beautiful bouquets for the dancers, and he was adept at throwing the at their feet - he had is favourites and he could pick them out to get flowers. I miss it! Sometimes the ballet association will organise a flower throw and ask for donations - sometimes when we did it people heard by the grapevine and contributed. I thought Alina and Ivan too were very gracious in acknowledging the flower throw - I don't like it when dancers ignore the flowers cause they are not cheap and it takes a lot of effort to do one. But both Alina and Ivan picked up flowers and acknowledged them. The person doing the throw did include everyone not just Alina - though I am sure it was for her debut. I predict many more flower throws - perhaps it would be good to have a bigger kitty and if someone would like to own up I'd love to know for the future.

All in all, a wonderful way to spend Friday evening. I'm looking forward to seeing Carlos and Rojo now and look forward to hearing other opinions.

Oh,Tortie ! You put it so striking ! I'm still a bit a novice on technical things, but I love the atmosphere on this board and you really don't need to feel intimidated. It's the ideal way to 'let off some steam' if there is no-one you can talk to about a performance !

...please, Rachel and Tortie, let's hear if you are planning another flowerthrow...(in the naive supposition that the dancers aren't reading this !)...it sounds exciting

Viviane - thanks for the encouragement - but it was a LONG time ago that I arranged a flower throw. It takes more energy and spare time than I have. Spring is a great time for flower throws cause you can get daffodils cheaply - though the sap can be difficult. I would have thought ANY Alina debut and many of her performances worthy of a flower throw. Carlos would be another candidate - he definitely makes me want to throw daffodils!

"but I love the atmosphere on this board"

Me too. It is lovely to read other people's ideas, thoughts and to share the joy we get from watching the ballet. It is not something you can share in much detail with non-ballet going friends - they just don't get it.

I look forward to hearing views on other casts - did Rojo/Acosta partnership work again?