Bussell suffered a foot injury

Darcy Bussell was forced to withdraw from the first night of the Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty on Saturday with a foot injury. The British press reviewed the performance.

The Daily Telegraph

Both too much and too little is going on, and the dancing often gets lost. It is then to Bussell's enormous credit that even though she looked uneasy at times, she produced a radiant Rose Adage, and a grand pas de deux of such absolute secure grandeur that it was impossible to believe she was in so much pain that she had to be replaced.

The Independent

Bussell's variations, including the famous Rose Adagio balances, came off nicely, if unexcitingly. And she may not have brought enough contrast between the early, gauche Aurora and the grandly formal bride, but she had a good-natured directness that was always appealing.

The Times

Telling a traditional fairytale badly, it would seem. Beauty celebrates the triumph of love over the forces of darkness. But Makarova's staging, for all its spectacle, is dramatically shapeless and emotionally flat. Where is the radiant elation that is Beauty?

The Guardian

The production's integrity of purpose survives the weaknesses. Even though the dancers looked fairly jittery on Saturday (Beauty is the company's sacred text, and this was a high profile premi�re) there are sea changes in many of their performances that promise well for the future. Makarova makes her dancers think about what they are doing, and her audiences think about what they are seeing. That's value for money.