i had only seen miyako yoshida once before in forsythe's 'the vertiginous thrill of exactitude' and hadn't been very impressed HOWEVER last night as swanilda i thought she was magnificent ..she seems to effortlessly connect with an audience and gave one of those performances where you realize that you have had a fixed smile on your face all evening !...she simply didnt put a foot wrong all night ..yohei sasaki looked supremely confident from the moment he stepped on stage and there was a really nice natural chemistry to their partnership ..the whole company looked much fresher and energetic than i have seen them since their return from australia .. i enjoyed it so much that i will be booking tickets for thursday nights performance with hatley and putrov .
ps natasha oughtred just seems to shine in any role ..i am certain that she is destined for real stardom !

I am delighted to hear you have become a Yoshida fan. She is such an under-valued asset at the Royal Ballet. I hope you get to see her in La Fille Mal Gardee, Giselle or as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. She is wonderful in all these roles.

It's a shame we haven't seen much of Yohei Sasaki lately and it's good to hear he is so good in Coppelia. I am going to see these two on Friday and I'm looking forward to it even more now.

Yoshida is just brilliant. First a flawless performance in Don Q last week and now perfect comedy in Coppelia last night. She really lit up the stage from the start last night and all her solos were so well executed. Her portrayal of Coppelia coming to life still has me in stiches.

Sasaki has very impressive jumps but his turns do need some work. His solo in the Pas de deux was going really well until he made it abundantly clear to the audience that his turns were not that good and his prepartion time was very long. As a result his finish was rather wobbly. His partnering also seemed a little shaky by the end but that could just have been the angle at which I was watching! A couple more seasons and he could be very good.

The company really seemed to enjoy themselves last night and as a result the performance was very entertaining. The only slight criticism is the solos of Aurora (Mara Galeazzi) and Prayer (Leira Ortueta). Techincally they were goo, but performance wise I felt that they were really lacking. There was no artistry in either performance and as it goes those two solos are not really that exciting, and they made it seem like a having a tooth pulled!!

Really enjoyable evening otherwise.

I totally agree -I think she is a fabulous dancer and I'm only sorry that she has not been cast in more roles this year. Her Swan Lake is really a spinetingling thing to see - I am not ashamed to say that I've been in tears every time I've seen her in it.

I really really hope she is in the cast for Sleeping Beauty next year.

I did initially wonder why she was cast with Sasaki rather than perhaps Putrov, given that last year Sasaki danced the ballet with Belinda Hatley whereas Putrov had already partnered her this year, but I thought they went well together - 2 dancers, neither of whom, it would appear, would have any concept of the word "flashy" in relation to their dancing even if you were to hit them both over the head with it! A thoroughly enjoyable night, even for a ballet I'm not so fond of, and what a change in the company from last week's rather dispiriting Don Quixote! I could scarcely believe it was the same one. Perhaps it had something to do with Barry Wordsworth's conducting (and the RB Sinfonia's playing) of the score as well.

PS: Come to think of it, I'm still wondering why Jane Burn was thrown on for the first night with Kobborg when if they needed a replacement Swanilda at least Hatley had danced it before. And who's responsible for all these people, critics included, claiming that Hatley's making her debut in the role on Thursday?!

I have being introducing my PA to ballet (innocently I assure you) and I recomended Coppelia to her with Yoshida.

She had some interesting opinions on the various dancers in a Performance of La Bayadere I took her to see.

When she comes in tommorrow I will let you know what she thinks about these various dancers

- it will be interesting to hear from a novice because her opinion will not be effected by having favorite dancers and another biases which will alway creep in after seeing so many ballets!! A fresh set of eyes in other words!

I agree totally! I remember very clearly the first time I saw Yoshida - she impressed me in the Bluebird pas de deux, in a Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet "Sleeping Beauty". Little did I think then how many wonderful performances of hers I would enjoy.

While she was still with SWRB, I thought she excelled particularly in "Theme and Variations" and it's a pity we haven't had any opportunities to see her in that recently.

Others have singled out her debut in Don Quixote with Kumakawa, which was also stunning - more recently, she sparkled in the pas de deux from that ballet, on Sir Anthony Dowell's last night with the Royal Ballet last year.

In Giselle and La Fille Mal Gardee with Mukhamedov she was wonderful too - I hope we get to see her in some new roles as well as repeating some of these.

Her performances with Mukhamedov were stunning and in particular her Fille over Christmas '98/99 with him had me in tears of joy. Like Cojocaru, she doesn't do facial histrionics - she acts with her dancing. Her precision is Mozartian - the last movement of the Jupiter is the closest emotional equivalent I can think of to Yoshida as Lise. In many ways Durante's time off from the RB was a gift to Yoshida as she and Mukhamedov really made a lovely couple on stage. Her Juliet was heartbreakingly vulnerable too.

Have you got the message yet, Mr. Stretton? Purity of intent and technique allied to musicality and feeling makes a truly great artist.

(am I beginning to sound like Katherine? I missed out the phrase circus tricks )

So would I.

The tour started in Bath on 1/2 March 1999. It was a fair-sized company (39 dancers), complete with a 20-strong orchestra led by Vassilev and conducted by Andrea Quinn. The dancers included Peter Abegglen, Leanne Benjamin, Jane Burn, Jonathan Cope, Christina McDermott, Johann Koborg, Nicola Roberts, Bruce Sansom.....etc, as well as those already mentioned in our posts.

Yes, it was an exceptionally luxurious pairing; he's tall enough to partner a tallest ballerina and she's light enough to dance with any inexperienced dancer. Both must be an ideal partner in great demand, very reliable and considerate.

But I wish Stretton could stop taking advantage of her goodness and casting her just to train junior dancers. The casting for the whole season and the Jubilee Gala was indefensibly unfair. She never fails us whoever a partner or a conductor is. Considering her age and contribution to the company, however, she deserves to show us her very best and more frequently. I shuddered to think that she had been originally cast as Kitri only * once * on weekday matinee.

Auntie

Well, I have only seen them dance together on TV and only twice at that... but if you compare the sugar plum pdd on the RB video with the one on the BRB video you'll see a marked difference in the quality of partnering and it isn't the Cope/Yoshida performance that is the better. He's still doing that teetering to catch her if she wobbles kind of thing rather than taking his - and her - technique as read and cherishing her IMO. But that's only one example so if they're usually better that's good.

Auntie

I have to say though that JC has in general left me absolutely cold... although he was vg indeed, quite a revelation to me, as Belaiev in Month in the Country last year. Maybe he only shines with certain partners?

I agree. But Cope was replacing injured Kobborg then. Also I heard both Cope and Yoshida were shocked on the stage by the unbelievably slow tempo, though they handled it professionally of course. I remember several baller.coers complained about the conductor. Didn't he lose his job abruptly?