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It took about 3 minutes to get accustomed to what was fully going on in act one, there were so many wonderful things going on & I loved the elegance of the Velasquez(?) ladies with their more traditional steps contrasted with the modernism of the beige leotards looking forward to act 2. I also liked the St Sebastian figure & the 2 men dressed in black, one of whom was recent RBS graduate Christopher Hill. As the programme notes make clear its impossible to catch everything that happening on stage, but I was surprised by how much good choreography there was & how clearly Forsythe's ideas came across. The sets were also effective & the lighting also made a very strong impact.

I struggled with the Agnes figure as performed by Helen Pickett as I found her somewhat irritating, but the text was laugh out loud funny & still absolutely relevant to todays world which you can't say of every ballet created in 1988.

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated was absolutely ravishing in its performance mainly due to the stunning performance by Aki Saito the Flander's leading principal. She's a tiny looking Japanese lady & she seemed to be off in her own parallel universe finding absolute nuggets of gold in the choreography. She's also physically gifted & has a marvellous classical technique that at first I didn't think would be suited to Fosythe's dance, but I happily admit I was wrong. In fact I couldn't recall ever having seen a Japanese dancer in any Forsythe works by any of the companies I've seen. She proved just how wrong type casting can be & very much put her own stamp on her part (very different to Sylvie Guillem or Darcey Bussell, but equally arresting). I was also struck by how naturally the Flanders dancers really danced the choreography compared to the Mariinsky's recent visit & that the style was so fluid. No strain & no jerky attempts to get their bodies doing things that they clearly aren't comfortable doing, the Flanders dancers made the Fosythe steps look absolutely natural, but very exciting.

As a whole this section made me realise what a wonderful neo-classical choreographer Forsythe was in the 1980's. His variety of steps & the ease with which he manipulated duets, trios of dancers around the stage was apparent & I'm sure there was more than a hint of a Balanchine influence. I find it fascinating that such a talented man then opted to move in such a different direction to where he is today & they type of performances that his own company now performs.

I will draw a veil over the La Maison de Mezzo-Prezzo as I wasn't keen on it (mainly due to Helen Pickett's delivery which wasn't overly clear where I was sitting). I get the point of it that its about the commercialisation of culture etc in modern society, but Forsythe's way of getting his point across left me cold. Again though some of the political commentary was spot on & I liked the reference to "having spent last weeks wages on this weeks theatre tickets" were apt as well as the Sarah Palin gag about sending her back over the bridge to nowhere...

I'm torn as to whether ITMSE or Bongo Bongo Nageela Mr Pnut Goes to the Big Top was my favourite. Dressed in English school uniform (black skirts, ties, white shirts & bobbed wigs - for both the men & women) we were treated to a remarkable finale. Againest a bare black full Sadlers Wells stage Forsythe delivered what can only be descibed as a full company work with apologies to Nijinska's Les Noces, MacMillan's Rite of Spring, Nijinsky's L'apres Midi d'une faune, Britney Spear's Oops I did it again.... Its sounds mad & it is, but it works & is unusually powerful. The men of the company seemed to especially enjoy themselves throughout & I was impressed that the 3 cabaret-like singers were drawn from within the company.

Altogether it was an exhilarating night that was a wonderful reminder at just how entertaining good Forsythe pieces can be. Its one of the best £24 tickets I've had in ages & I feel sorry for anyone who missed it. We also had a giggle on the bus listening to some of the other punters take on what we had all seen & there were some weird views (clearly from people that hadn't bought the programme & read the explanatory note!!!)

RBFlanders are a very good company & they thoroughly deserved the amazing curtain call they got. When they return I would highly recommend seeing them.