Is this the third ballet I’ve been to in my life? (Giselle and Romeo and Juliet are the others. Plus something on stage in a school.)

This was absolutely wonderful. Everything was a delight: dancing, costumes, scenery, set transformations. The storyline is flaky, particularly after the interval – but who cares when it is so entertaining? It’s a pantomime for grown-ups.

I noticed that the average audience age was a lot lower than for an opera. Not surprising really since it’s a magical crowd-pleaser for everyone. In the foyer I found myself in a copse of incredibly slender and upright girls; I later learned that Elmhurst Ballet School had come out en masse to see it.