For my part I also find it a rather long ballet and all the scene changes and story telling action gives more than ample time for such thoughts to do their work. On the other hand it is a strong story, there is the magnificent music and, this week at least, at Sadler's Wells there was a new company to be seen - Norwegian National Ballet (NNB).

This is a first visit of NNB to these shores. 50-60 strong they naturally feature a mix of nationalities - as well as Norwegian dancers of course. Overall there was great diversity of height and size and some of the boys were the largest I've ever seen and certainly would not look out of place in Mark Morris's company for example...

The other thing that rapidly hit were the designs (by Nadine Baylis) and the quality of fabrics and materials used. I think the costumes were quite the finest I've seen and looked so good in their muted and chalky colours. However the set looked odd at first, with everything heavily marbled, which is just something you would not see in an Italian Renaissance town square. However it doubles and moves neatly to become this or that interior and here the colours and marbling made more sense. As the night wore on it seemed to matter less and the cleverness of many of the scene changes impressed.

But what of the choreography? Well... Michael Corder, who did Cinderella for ENB and is doing a full length piece for the Royal Ballet in 2002, clearly has a strong dramatic and theatrical sense and I found several elements of the story were better told than by MacMillan - the way the Act 1 sword fight much more slowly evolves from a brawl and also how they seize their swords back after the Prince of Verona has done his bit for peace for example. But he still puts in too much (his Cinderella for ENB similarly felt too long) and to go head-to-head with MacMillan on a pas de deux, and win, is very tricky. Not impossible - one has to be believe - but not possible in this Romeo and Juliet. Don't get me wrong, none of it is particularly bad, just that we have been force-fed MacMillan and you need some different angle to break his spell over the piece.

Michael Corder's Romeo and Juliet for Norwegian National Ballet
Photograph supplied by NNB and uncredited

The different angle may have been the soloists and senior artists of NNB (they don't have the rank of Principal), but they proved a mixed bunch. For the most part I was in despair at the end of the first act with neither Richard Suttie's Romeo or Beatrix Balazs' Juliet rally packing much believable punch. Mercutio, the size of Teddy Kumakawa, came with lots of attitude but regrettably little technique and Paris looked like he had been above the tree line, or in the company of Elks, for a a few years too long. Only Tybalt (excellent), Benvolio, Juliet's nurse and the various parents all looked and acted appropriately and were plausible. They and also the corps who knew how to animate but not dominate a crowd scene.

As the night wore on I warmed to Balazs, who seemed far more comfortable in playing a Juliet with so many problems around her. Technically she was strong: a lovely long jump. She is though a tall ballerina and that is no advantage in the role. Richard Suttie, Royal Ballet School trained, was tall, strong and able, though he is not naturally dramatic and I would have liked to see a far more authoritative portrayal. But he didn't need to try I suppose - Paris was played almost as a simpleton.

Hard to give a balanced view on NNB. One suspects that the repertoire was more about box office than showcasing the company - as was patently the case with San Francisco Ballet who crammed 17 works into their recent week at Sadler's. I hope NNB come again - I hope nearly all companies come again - but that next time they have the funding to show a wider repertoire and one with less emotional baggage for UK audiences.