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First things first: was this a good performance of Romeo and Juliet - one as good as would happen on stage at the Opera House? An emphatic yes, despite the enormously wide thrust stage and inability to fly in or meaningfully change the sets. Some good lighting helped set the mood and the dancers looked well-adjusted to the change of scale. Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta led the performance and while on the tube going there many seemed to be talking about him - like Darcey Bussell his is a name to break through to the broader public. And while we know Acosta is getting towards the end of his career (at this level) he did not disappoint as the smitten lad with an honest, uncomplicated heart. Sergei Polunin (Benvolio and nicely doubling on the Mandolin dance) reminded us of the thrill of a big jumper with huge promise. Gary Avis (Prince of Verona) and Elizabeth McGorian (Lady Capulet) both showed why it's not all about dancing and McGorian's ground-thrashing hurt at the death of Tybalt (Thiago Soares - matinee idol nasty) is one of the great RB cameo moments. But for all that excellence it was Tamara Rojo's night and I hope that people recall her name as readily as Acosta's when they are going to future performances.

Rojo is known to dig deep into character roles and her face and demeanour can register a thousand subtleties. Hers is not a mindless Juliet but a Juliet who sees the huge problems and still goes with the dictates of the heart. And we saw it all writ large on huge screens above the live action - screens that really drew you in. The BalletBoyz directed these images (and also created the much-admired and rather arty scene change videos) and I can't recall seeing dance for TV or on the Big Screen Relays really displaying quite such intimate shots. Although we nominally had a great seat, about half way down the stadium's base area but up above the stage on the side, we nearly all found ourselves concentrating on the screens so magnetic were they. But they were not perfect and sometimes lost the action or, as in the big sword fights, it was best to see the big picture below. The screens could also perhaps show too much and the fake kissing of Romeo and Juliet could look hammy compared to a Hollywood big-screen smacker. All up though, bring on the big screens, though I suspect if you were a long way back then even they looked small - easily sorted with more screens.

There is an alternative way of handling the O2 space - doing a production in the round, like English National Ballet with their hugely successful Swan Lake at the Albert Hall. But going that way requires much retooling of work or even brand-new productions and the joy of the RB/O2 approach is that much of the repertoire can be 'easily' adapted. Something else that worked well was the orchestra and the sound we got. They were sited between the dancers and the screens above in a dimly-lit glazed box, though you could see Barry Wordsworth very much stirring them up to give an overall "Prokofiev on steroids" feel with excellent amplification. That and the piercing lights generate huge spectacle in their own right.

The O2 Arena experience is very non-Royal-Opera-House. It started over 10 minutes late and streams of late-comers were being admitted (cough, splutter) and as in cinemas popcorn, big drinks etc were in abundance. It's the unstuffy culture of the O2 (and other stadiums) and silly to get huffy about it really. As management gurus often say; you can't expect anything to change if you keep doing the same thing and going to the O2 is taking ballet to another audience and on their terms largely. Come the end, a lot of that audience seemed very happy about the night and it should encourage RB to do more and longer runs, not just at the O2 either. Bravo to RB, Raymond Gubbay and the O2.