The auditorium looks almost identical to before - a cursory look would lead you to conclude that the place had had a good spring clean and some new paint. Looking more closely you start to spot loads of detail changes - it's a bit like one of those competition in which you spot the differences between two very nearly identical pictures.

The entrances are arranged rather differently, the rake on the stalls is now much more noticeable and looking at the stage the wings now seem far less cramped. And the seats, in the stalls at least, all have air conditioning grills underneath them.

The main place to congregate in the intervals seems to be the Floral Hall where there are bars and food counters. The Amphitheatre also seems to have a long bar. The Floral Hall is a nice space, though it's not as long as I thought it might me. And with London arts' greatest all out in force it was heaving!

There's a great temptation of course to think that the £200M+ has been spent on the bits the audience use, but of course the reality is that the majority has been spent on the infrastructure you need to support such an orchestra and opera and ballet companies.

I was also intrigued that the National Lottery was broadcast from the Linbury Studio Theatre while we were there and yet those who were there for RB would have had no idea that anything else was going on elsewhere. All very slick I think.

The rep was originally to be a preview of the International Choreographers programme that will be unveiled properly in December. But the problems with the stage, or whatever, has caused them to change to a slightly more conventional gala approach - though still with lots of international choreographers..

The running order was:

Still Life at the Penquin Cafe excerpt. Martin Harvey took the Philip Broomhead role as the Southern Cape Zebra. Always enjoy it. The dancers looked thin and trimmer possibly - or was this the lighting?

Barber Violin Concerto by Peter Martins for Bussell and Burley. Nice to see Darcey in a new party piece. The only thing I really remember of this is that Burley is a big chap!

L'apres-midi d'un Faune. Bejart and his man thing to Debussy. The dancer was Octavio Stanley - I believe from Bejart's own company. Very muscular and steady as a rock, he impressed everybody and this piece noticeably got much more applause than did Darcey.

Cry Baby Kreisler by Matthew Hart closed out the first part of the programme. Wildor and Cope had fun - great fun and it was good to see Cope looking very fit and well.

AFter the interval Colin Southgate and Chris Smith said perhaps a few too many words.

Puirt-a-Beul. The Tuckett piece to Celtic mouth music. I normally love this but the lack of set, large stage and bad sound system (it's all recorded rather than played live) meant that much of its innocent charm was lost. Yohei Sasaki impressed again - so neat, mannered, precise and musical. He is also a good and considerate partner.

The Dream pdd. Wildor and Sansom looking divine of course.

Junk Man pdd from Known by Heart by Twyla Tharp. I almost thought this has the feel of a William Forsythe piece. Danced with attack and attitude by Susan Jaffe and Ethan Stiefel. Stiefel is guesting some more with RB and looked a handy bloke to have. But he didn't register with me in the same way as Kobborg did when we saw him on the last Dance Bites tour.

Balcony pdd from Romeo and Juliet. Yoshida and Cope. Probably the best dancing of the night for me (The Bejart running a close second). Their height difference is of no consequence and he moved her round like a feather. I hope we see them dance together more.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude by William Forsythe. Nice if odd tutu costumes by Stephen Galloway. They seemed to be made of discs of foam. Bull, Benjamin and Revie were accompanied by Kobborg and Victor Alvarez. It seemed more ballet than perhaps I'm used to with Forsythe. Need to see this again. The 'find' was Alvarez who has only just joined the company as a First Soloist and yet seemed Principal material. Kobborg impressed again (even if he did fall over).

Nice to see the Covent Garden stage back in action!