Of the three Choreographics evenings to date I thought this was the best, with all the pieces feeling buffed-up, thought about and nobody making a huge wrong turn.
Author - Bruce Marriott
The King Dances is a man's ballet - it has to be said a very pretty man's ballet with gorgeous designs by Katrina Lindsay.
...Traces has been going now since 2006 and the audience seemed happy enough no matter how depressed I was at times.
Ruth Brill's Matryoshka showed a lot of sense and maturity I thought - she clearly thinks about entertaining the audience.
It was only when I worked with Mats Ek that I understood who I was as a dancer.
Les Rendezvous is 21 minutes of classical movement perfection, but Alexander Whitley comes surprisingly close to besting it with his 20-minute more modern take on ballet - Kin.
So how did it go with the young audience? Answer, jolly well...
Days after BBC Young Dancer made its first successful appearance on TV people are still talking about it...
Good to see Northern Ballet back at the Royal Opera House with a mixed bill of 5 new and old works, rather different to the full evening dramatic ballets with which they tour the nation.
We don't give stars but if we did this would get 5. Not to be missed.
David Bintley is celebrating 20 years as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet. Time for a good long natter...
...a quartet of fifteen-minute pieces tagged 'work in progress' and which Anda Winters, the Print Room artistic director, says they look to carry on developing. I hope this comes off; it will be an interesting exercise to track.
The Jean-Christophe Maillot Romeo and Juliet, last week given its UK premiere by Northern Ballet, is a strange thing.
All up, another win for Ballet Black - a strong double bill of consequence and contrast preceded by a short amuse-bouche.
I'm a sucker for a children's show. The audience are just as demanding as grownups but there is the additional frisson of not knowing what they will get up to if excited... or just bored stiff.
If the brand new works were something of a disappointment then Crystal Pite's A Picture of You Falling, created on her own company dancers in 2008, was the outstanding hit.
...we really are short-changed in not seeing these dancers more regularly.
... what a Nutcracker Scottish Ballet now have - focused on the joy of children, the delight of dance and the wonder of magic and great design.
...a show that is all about simply feeling good and being part of an event rather than just a spectator.
...from the off we all knew it was a worthy gift (to Birmingham) and 24 years on it's still routinely called the best by all who have seen a few.