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I found Johan Kobborg's production of "La Sylphide" very likeable, and despite the rationalising "spin" he gave to certain characters and incidents in his interview with Jane, what comes across is pretty traditional and can be interpreted as one pleases. He has done a remarkable job in teaching the choreography, mime and style to the company in such a short space of time, all the more so since the company received no Bournonville classes. Nevertheless the end result is that the ballet is given with the right romantic flavour although wih an RB rather than Danish accent: but is this any bad thing? One thing I did notice was that not all the dancers appear to have absorbed the Bournonville style to the same extent. This was particularly evident in th divertissement in act II, where the placement of arms and ports de bras varied between individual dancers, some looking "spot-on" Bournonville, while others looked as if they might have been in a Petipa ballet. But,no doubt, details like this will be corrected when the company has had a few more performances.

Regarding individual performances, I found Alina Cojocaru's Sylphide quite enchanting both in her happy and sadder moments, and her death scene was genuinely moving. Even in this part she is still given to quite high extensions - but so are the Danes these days - and I do wish she could wear quieter shoes. Ivan Putrov's James tends to be rather dreamy and byronic. Definitely a gentleman farmer rather than a "horny-handed son of toil", in which respect Jose Martin as Gurn made an effective contrast. Putrov's dancing was top class, with excellent elevation and clean beats and impeccably extended feet and Martin also performed well in his solo. I was also impressed by Iohna Loots as Effie. She must be quite glad to be portraying a real person rather than a pet dog or sacrificial goat, and gave a well rounded portrayal of the character with some particularly clear mime. As the leading Sylph in the act II divertissement Belinda Hatley really shone, and gave us some wonderfully stylish dancing, really floating through her solo. A strong candidate for the principal role I would say.

Finally, we were lucky to have Sorella Englund as Madge, certainly a magisterial performance (please forgive the pun) and one that will be a hard act to follow. Kobborg insists that Madge is not a witch, but I have to disagree. Of course she is not a witch in the Disney cartoon style, like the witch in "Snow White" who used to terrify me as a small child, but she is very much the sort of person who would be suspected of witchcraft in more superstitious times. Such people were old women living on their own, perhaps with a pet cat,and doing a bit of fortune telling and gathering of herbs etc. No doubt they were quite harmless and never dabbled in satanism or the black arts, but people suspected that they did. In act II Madge comes much closer to the conventional idea of a witch, brewing potions in a cauldron in the forest with companions for all the world like the "Weird Sisters" in Macbeth. She also appears to have more power over James in this act.As for the scarf, I remain convinced that it is poisoned. The idea of a poisoned garment is one that occurs in legend and goes back to classical antiquity. Anyone brought up on the Greek and Roman classics - and most educated people were in the early 19th century - would immediately see the parallel with the Shirt of Nessus, a point that was made in one of the articles in the ROH programme.

As a whole, the company seemed to be in good form and the big ensemble number, the reel, in act I was danced with great verve. It was nice to see the children from White lodge in this and they acquitted themselves well, especially the leading little girl, Julia Roscoe, who was most sympathetically partnered by Jose Martin.

At the end the applause was warm, but not superenthusiastic and it was disappointing to see that the house was not completely full and to hear that sales for these programmes have not been good, hence the special offers reported elsewhere on this site. The only review I have seen so far, Sarah Frater in the Standard, devotes some six column inches to "The Lesson" and dismisses "La Sylphide" in one and a half remarking that in Cojocaru and Putrov Kobborg had picked the wrong cast. Let's hope that there is more appreciation in other quarters and that word gets around that this is a programme not to be missed.