Swan Lake

[Frecossais]

I went to a production of this ballet by the Moscow City Ballet at a local theatre last week. I loved it. Beautiful music and a feast of colour and movement for the eyes and ears. The principal ballerina was magnificent, glided across the stage, ruffled her feathers and spread her wings as if she was a real swan. I felt I was looking at someone very gifted in her field.

My only reservation has nothing to do with the quality of the ballet, but I think it would have been enhanced by being put on in a bigger theatre, especially for the music to soar rather than hang rather heavily in the smallish space.

That said, it was an uplifting experience, no straining to hear words delivered by mumbling actors, just the slight shuffling sound of shoes on the stage and the so familiar music.

Do you like ballet?

[idun]

And I went to see the Nutcracker yesterday. Russian National Ballet of whereever. Lovely, and there was an orchestra, which there was not when I saw the Bolshoi in France, and all in all the Bolshoi was very disappointing.

Trouble was one dancer, she was the Corporal Jones. Eyes darting everywhere to see what the others were doing and mimicking a fraction of a second behind. Best she had been at the back I think, not the front.

The male and female principal dancers were wonderful. I'm still hankering after seeing Steven McRae though.

[EmilyA]

I love ballet and go whenever I can. I danced until I was 40 and would love to go to adult ballet classes, but have never seen them offered in France.

[cooperlola]

We have tickets for Saturday.  Ballet is one of our (my and Mr C's) great passions and we so rarely get to see a full orchestra in the provinces.   Happily it's at Antares, LM's basketball stadium (I think the local team is pretty good and won the French championship a couple of years ago so it's a massive place) so should overcome the problems you encountered.  Last time we saw a ballet "in the round" was Romeo and Juliet at the Albert Hall about 20 years ago.  Quite marvelous being almost able to touch the dancers.  We haven't been for at least a year so it'll be a real treat.  Glad it's good.  I just hope I can sit still for long enough without getting a stitch![:-))]

[Frecossais]

Take a cushion on Saturday, and I hope it's wonderful.

I used to read a comic for girls called School Friend when I was young, and I adored the ballet stories. I remember once they showed the best shaped foot for being a ballerina, and it was that the first three toes were roughly about the same length, as mine were. I was ecstatic, but I never had a lesson and never became a ballerina though at home I twirled and leapt around for all I was worth.

[EmilyA]

There was a lovely documentary just after Christmas on, I think, Arte about "les petits rats de l'opera" i.e. the equivalent of the Royal Ballet School. Very interesting about how they checked every meal to see that the students ate enough and how they dealt with injuries. There was also one about one of the principal dancers Aurelie Dupont covering the years when she had her first baby.