Floored: what's afoot at the Royal Ballet? At the first of two intervals, Kevin O'Hare, the director of the Royal Ballet, appeared to tell the audience there would be a longer than normal break before the third act, to allow adjustments to be made to the stage. The ballet, an adaptation of an episode in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, takes place across three acts; the first is set in Barcelona, the second in a woodland, before a return to the city setting. For the Royal Ballet production, different flooring had been prepared to depict the changing scenery. The performance began on a linoleum floor painted to give the visual effect of cobbles. Then, for the second act, another surface, green, to represent a forest floor, is rolled on top. This is then removed, returning the stage to "cobbles" for the final scenes. Although the products involved were no different from those used in countless productions, from early rehearsals dancers had complained of difficulties caused by the surface. On some occasions, they found it too slippery, on others too sticky. Attempts were made to correct the problem, with the linoleum scoured with a variety of abrasive pads and a specialist non-slip product applied. For the green surface, this seemed to do the trick. But problems persisted on the "cobbles," despite fresh rounds of scrubbing and more coatings of non-slip product. On the first-night gala performance on September 30, Marianela Nunez, the Argentine ballerina in the lead role, fell awkwardly, to gasps from the audience. This was followed by other, minor slips by members of the corps de ballet - the group of dancers who back the soloists - leading to the cobble-effect surface being withdrawn earlier this month. But at the start of last week, the decision was taken to try it once more. Wednesday's performance was to be filmed and broadcast live in around 1,000 cinemas across the world and the producers wanted the set to be exactly as it was intended to be. Following yet more treatment on the surface and another rehearsal on Monday, the "cobbled" floor was given the approval of the dancers and directors. But within minutes of the next performance, on Tuesday night, the problems had resurfaced in dramatic style with Takada's trips. The performer had not been due to start in the role for another week, but had to start her run early after another dancer, Roberta Marquez suffered an injury - unrelated to the floor. The second interval was extended while the green flooring was removed and another, plain, grey linoleum was laid on top of the offending cobble design. The new surface had to be cleaned with water and dried, before the performers returned. As for the cobbles, there are currently no plans to use the flooring. But exactly why it proved so difficult for performers is mystifying the company. A spokesman said: "We would like to use it in the long term, but if we can't make dancers dance on it, then we can't use it. It is a bit mystifying why this one is so problematic. We've had this type of painted floor for countless other performances, without any difficulties.