'Divertimento No 15' reviews 'Jardi Tancat' reviews recent PNWB reviews more Lynette Halewood reviews

Still a mystery why the mixed bill sold so poorly. There wasn't much publicity - I did see one poster for Silver Lining which mentions a mixed bill in small letters, but doesn't say what it contained. And there were no special offers from Sadlers either - it didn't seem to get pushed hard. But it still sold much worse than say, Houston Ballet's mixed bill last year. The only thing I can suggest is a certain sense of London emptying out already - the tubes seem quieter now, and there's a sense of holidays starting.

The Balanchine (Divertimento No 15) was very pleasing to watch, even if the dancers appeared a little nervous and uncertain to begin with. A very handsome piece. The audience in general seemed to prefer the Duarto piece (Jardi Tancat), or perhaps it was just a question of them getting warmed up.

I don't think you should do the Corsaire pas de trois unless you can absolutely nail it - unless you have, say, a Carlos Acosta handy who can really stun the audience. I don't think the PNB cast were quite on top of it with the Ali, for example having plenty of force but not much smoothness or control. Kaori Nakamura has some interesting party pieces in her fouttees ( some doubles, great varieties of speed, some done with a completely straight leg.

Martin's choreography for Fearful Symmetries is full of energy (and energetically delivered by the cast). But it does get repetitive, and I found myself thinking that I prefered Ashley Page's version. One of the dancers in this - I think it's Jonathan Poretta - really caught the eye.