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I saw 2 Gala performances by Royal Ballet in Beijing on May 4 & 5. The first one was fine but the dancers seemed a little bit tired. Sylvie did a wonderful Grand Pax Classique, but I think she was more brilliant when she did the same piece with Manuel Legris about 10 years ago in Tokyo. Igor Zelensky appeared in Swan Lake Act2 with Darcey as his Odette and acted very well (if only they did an Act 3!). But it seemed to me that his jumps and turns in Corsaire PDD lacked his usual power. Darcey suffered more. She nearly failed to pass her fouetee while trying to do some triples, but her experience helped her a lot that she managed to pretend as if nothing had happened.

Miyako was pretty good in Diana and Actaeon PDD but the focus of the show was her partner Carlos Acosta. Ballet students applauded and screamed at his every jump and turn. (By the way, my sister talked with Miyako at an after show party. Miyako said she was very tired and would like to take a few days off in Japan right after the tour).

The cast for the second Gala was slightly different from the first one: Swan Lake Act 2 was performed by Miyako/ Sansom this time (actually, I had expected that Sylvie would do it). Dancers worked even harder in the presence of Chinese top leader.

Sylvie looked very great in her Grand Pax Classique.The audience astonished by her incredible technical ability, especially her long hold Pointe ECARTE (178 degrees I think). Darcey/ Igor did the Corsaire PDD only (what a pity). Darcey didn't risk her triples and passed her fouetee safely this time. But I guess it must have been a hard time for Igor. Because he had to bear the big pressure put by Carlos Acosta who had danced earlier and got lots of applause with his jumps and turns. Thanks God, Igor did a nice job and got big applause as well (but I feel as if he did it too hard that he occasionally had difficulty in controlling himself).

The company is going to Shanghai and give 7 performances, including 3 Mal Gardee (on 7,8,9 May) and 4 R & Js (by Sylvie/Cope, Darcey/ Igor and Miyako/ Sansom from May 11). I called the Shanghai Grand Theater last night. The guy who answered the phone told me the tickets for the performances are ranging between 100RMB to 500RMB, cheaper than Beijing price. I think the new Shanghai Grand Theater is a nice place to watch ballet and its back stage rooms must be much cleaner and better. And I do believe the orchestra in Shanghai must be more familiar with the score (Shanghai Ballet did a production of R&J last October). So I guess the dancers will feel more comfortable when dancing on the stage (I don't think the stage is designed mainly for ballet though).

Just for reference.
(and thank you very much. Ed)