While there are lots of positive and obvious reasons for watching dance videos, I believe that there is at least one significant downside too. Of course everybody has free will and this is not intended to be particularly hectoring (heaven forbid)... but hopefully it will stir up some brain cells and perhaps give some readers pause for thought.

It's common to say we live in an "anything on demand" age. Increasingly we can have things when we want them and waiting is seen as very old and fuzzy duddy. It's now possible to see practically any ballet you want, when you want. It might be an old cast or different in some way, but essentially it's true and what joy there is in seeing something that you otherwise could not. Some of the old performances of classics are really interesting (good or bad as may be the case).

My main reservation about video is that it can unthinkingly rob you of the full joy of seeing a new ballet live. I remember taking a friends little girl to see Nutcracker and Fille mal gardee and one of the pleasures of it was the obvious delight of seeing something live and for the very first time. She came out transfixed and hooked, whereas I don't really know of anybody seeing ballet video and it changing their lives in some revelatory manner (I'm sure we will now get a flurry of posts on this now!).

Recently I saw Pacific Northwest Ballet in Balanchine's Midsummer Nights Dream. New company, new ballet, new way of seeing a choreographer. What's more I had not a heard a thing about it. Total virgin territory ... and how lovely it was to see it unfold this way and that and not have a clue as to what might come next. And how pleasant to stumble across the second act pdd. What joy and a joy I think that would have been much less special if I'd seen videos of it first.

A few years ago I remember introducing somebody to ballet and after a year or two Still Life at the Penguin Cafe was scheduled to return after after a bit of absence. I remember enthusiastically telling them they just had to, had to, go.

Of course no amount of words prepare you for it and afterwards they came out beaming, and ecstatic... we are even talking moist eyes. I've never seen anybody quite so animated and happy after seeing a performance. To me being moved is what ballet is all about and to be moved in such a way on a first ballet sighting is something incredibly special.

What threw this into sharp relief was seeing another friend and talking about BRB bringing Penguin back this season and saying excitedly - "Oh that will be a delight for you, you haven't seen it yet". "Oh yes I have - on video" was the rapid reply. And it's a reply you hear more and more. Boy, what I would give to be seeing Penguin live and for the very first time again.

Perhaps this is an age thing and videos having come along later in life for me, I don't perhaps factor them in the same way as those born with the things.

Having said all that I'm going to finish with my own recent video revelation (and thus shoot myself totally in the foot!). It came courtesy of a Japanese friend who send me a video of the grand opening of the new National Theatre in Tokyo on the 25th October 1997. The ballet was Sleeping Beauty and it was given by the new National Theatre Ballet company. The performance was lead by Miyako Yoshida and Teddy Kumakawa - who were both what you would expect in their roles. The quality of the soloists were also particularly high technically - kirov level perhaps. But the stupendous bit was the corps. I've never seen a corps so utterly together. it's what I have always wanted from a corps... absolute precision and perfect timing.

It certainly set me thinking about the number of Japanese dancers that are being trained and who regularly appear in the top roles at various end of year school shows. And here on video I could see the grand result in the creation of a brand new company. More significantly I think I saw a key performance at the start of what will make a Japanese company one of the worlds leading companies within a decade or two.

I've drifted, but I guess that's what watching a video can do for you. If nothing else if I have prompted some reflection and discussion than that's great.