Saturday September 28th 2024 wife and I attended Alice's adventures in wonderland at the Royal…read moreOpera House. Purchased months in advance two tickets two upper stalls otherwise known as the nosebleed balcony area with head on view of the stage. The web site showed us the view of the stage from each of the seats we were considering. Very lavishly decorated building, with beautiful interior and lovely curtains with royal emblem. In the United States this would be the equivalent of having a company sponsored logo on the curtains. Very hot inside with huge crowds . Wife had to check in her coat for 3 GBP or $3.30. Easy to find the women's restroom as there were the longest lines although the men's restroom far away had their own lines. They didn't charge for use of the bathrooms as our $100 tickets covered that. These upper upper balcony seats had no armrests, so they could squeeze in more seats. Fortunately I was seated next to a normal size lady and not an NFL guard size man, so no fighting for elbow room. Cost us about $100 for each ticket, and there were at least 20 rows behind us. Bring binoculars, as we sat at least 200 feet from the stage. To my surprise I enjoyed the play as I'm not usually too crazy about ballet. But this was a ballet story and easily understandable and easy to follow spectacular dancing cinematography and costume design. . Very expensive production with all those extras. Afterwards walked around the upper stories area with views of the cafe below and outside views of Covent gardens. Very spectacular even if we didn't buy the outrageously overpriced ice cream and other sundaies let alone the 15GBP cocktails.

Exquisite venue to enjoy some of the worlds best ballet, musicians and opera signers. Must see if…read morevisiting London.

A chance to dress up in a ball gown, sip champagne whilst sitting beside a picturesque lake in the…read moregrounds of a stately home, enjoying the summer sun, and that's before the performance even started! A birthday treat, I was bought tickets to go to Glyndebourne to the opera. None of us had ever been to the opera before, but thought since you should experience it at least once, you might as well do it properly. Not only did we get to enjoy listening to our first operatic performance (and it is very good), we also revelled in the chance to enjoy a luxury picnic (purchased by us in advance), whilst enjoying the last rays of summer sun. Well worth a visit - for the sheer experience if nothing else

Glyndebourne is a glorious treat - see an opera or concert in stylish surroundings, dress up (if…read moreyou want to), bring your own food & wine and picnic in the beautiful gardens or dine at their restaurants and drink champagne at their bars. It can be as pricey or as cheap an event as you want because there is so much flexibility. During the summer season opera tickets can be expensive - but for a treat worth shelling out for. Highly recommended.

I just did a course here with Kay she's a lovely teacher and is good at teaching technique. You do…read morea ballet warm up then poling and there's absolutely nothing hoochie about it great if you want to learn the graceful dance elements of this sport.

If you are a ballet fan, this is a must. If you are a contemporary dance fan, this is a must. If…read moreyou love Tchaikovsky, again, a must. This incredible piece of contemporary ballet often appears at Christmas time and is worth a visit if you can get tickets. Based on the original Swan Lake story but with some very obvious changes (no tutus and more importantly male swans!! ;) ) and using the original music by Tchaikovsky but arranged in a different order to the classical production, Matthew Bourne has once again re-imagined the tale of a royal who gets turned into a Swan and transposes it to tell the story of a Prince who has a strong desire to make his own choices, to be free, but it trapped by the ideals of his mother. This desire manifests itself in the image of a beautiful swan and he is brought from a pit of despair up into the embrace of the swan where he finally realises what he wants for himself and his life. This is the basics of the story and in honour of Matthew Bourne, he is said to not believe in offering exact scenarios and wants the audience to interpret the scenarios and scenes he has created for themselves, so I will refrain from adding too much more of the plot but I can tell you that what Matthew Bourne has done is brought an archaic fairy tale of good and evil, a swan princess that gets turned into a swan as a curse by an evil entity, and given us a modern interpretation and possibly commentary on the reaction of society towards freedom of choice and, and this is just my own conclusion and not an official opinion in any way, but society's reaction to homosexuality. The switch of female swans to male swans completely changes the dynamic of the famous swan themes in the music of the ballet, and creates a very strong image of these majestic male swans who can be both graceful but savage as you will see as the story progresses. Matthew Bourne really does encapsulate the movements of a swan in his choreography. Certain things which I hadn't picked up on before were the use of swans landing on water. And the dancers arms are always wings or heads so there is never any use of actual hands. Just thinking about the piece again really brings back some incredible imagery. Bourne also uses many other dance forms in the piece, a mock ballet in the first act uses the traditional ballet style but heightens it, almost in a caricature of that traditional form. We see Jazz and modern dance in the club scene and then at the ball, as with traditional ballet when various soloists get cameos and show off their skills, we see use of flamenco, ballroom and other national dances. So, if any of this whets your appetite for modern dance, a production that speaks volumes of the choices that we make as humans, the oppression and the freedom that we all desire, and a majestic interpretation of some of the most famous classical musical in history, then this is the production for you. Swan Lake is still playing at Sadler's Wells until the end of the month, so catch it when you can. xyz

As stated in another review (for the London Coliseum), we had been to London many-a-times so this…read moretime, getting the chance to come during the Christmas time, we wanted to do some 'festive' things. And there is no better way to celebrate Christmas festivities than to see The Nutcracker. So, crossing my fingers, I was hoping for a coincidence and searched to see if there were any productions of The Nutcracker in London during the time we would be in London. And...YAY! The English National Ballet would be putting on a production of The Nutcracker! Excitedly, I bought me and the hubs 2 tickets to go in mid-December. We didn't get anything too pricey - some balcony seats. I was worried we wouldn't be able to see much. However, to my lovely surprise, the view was absolutely fine from where we were. We trotted our way down to the London Coliseum and found ourselves in an oh-so-gorgeous theater. So beautiful! Our night started off just right, with good tickets for a decent price and a decent view, and a gorgeous theater. Our night was made even better by the gorgeous ballerinas jeté-ing and pas de bourrée-ing across the stage. The costumes and set design surely set the night (what with the lil wheelie shoes to make it seem like they were ice-skating across a wonderful lil pond?!). Sure, my review may be a tad biased. Heck, I love everything and anything to do with ballet and especially The Nutcracker. But, if I told you the hubby even liked it, would that mean something? A big Thank You to the English National Ballet for a wonderful night!

WHAT. Adult Ballet Classes WHERE. Markova House, 39 Jay…read moreMews, London SW7 2ES. WHY. If you love Ballet, perhaps did it when you were younger or simply admire the art and want to try it yourself, here is an amazing opportunity to learn with the English National Ballet in South Kensington. You can sign up for a reasonable term price and be taught by professional ENB instructors in their spacious studios. They are widely popular classes for the people who do know about them, so you have to sign up quickly when the classes open up spaces online to secure your spot. I was fortunate to secure a spot in a couple classes for the Fall Term starting the second week in October of last year. Marvelous. Emily Rose Reeder

Book Cheap London Theatre Tickets to all West End Theatre and London Shows plus Theatre Packages &…read moreSpecial Offers with no hidden fees. http://www.lovetheatre.com/

I have been meaning to write this since Valentine's day last year. We have been going to Jean's…read morerestaurant in Paris (our favourite place to eat) for so many years I can't remember (yes I promise to write a review on that one too) and then discovered that his son Maximilien had opened this place. Spoke to him on the phone & booked Its small and cosy...not quite as crammed in as Paris. Its not cheap. BUT, habitues of GdT Paris will immediately recognise the décor, menus, wine and just about everything else there. The food is excellent, both quality & quantity, no nouvelle cuisine this...the service attentive...its noisy & bustling. Great fun, very enjoyable. I will write up GdT P re food and experience etc another day I understand from talking to Jean last month that they have opened another in Knightsbridge Green...to be checked out!

I went here with my girlfriend when we just moved in together and it had just opened so, good…read moreharmony there! :-) I absolutely loved this restaurant in every way. The service was extremely attentive, without being overbearing and even managed to be friendly despite its polished and upscale veneer. Ordered the Piece of Beef, and despite its humble name, it was a ridiculously awesome dish. Not much to it, but it was just...a perfect piece of beef filet. The wine list was top notch and please order a dessert. Highly recommended!