Back from London! Swan Lake was SO. PRETTY. OMG. It was a very traditional production, and the sets and costumes were amaaaaaaazing. They went back to some of the choreography from 1895, when it was first sort of standardized, which meant a bunch of children got added to the swan maidens, making thirty-six of them onstage at one point in the second act. And I practically imploded during Odile's 32 fouettes. That was awesome.
Although I have to say, I didn't understand the story at all until we bought a program after the show. We never quite figured out who the evil owl/von Rothbart was, and it came as a big surprise to learn that Odette and Siegfried die at the end. (The leaping off what was essentially a stepladder and going by on a swan boat didn't quite communicate the whole death thing, I have to say, although probably I should've known beforehand, since it is Russian.)
We had a bit of an adventure getting to our seats. Our section was the only one not labeled,a nd ushers kept telling us to go different ways, until finally we figured out out at about 7:29 and thirty seconds. Oy. Covent Garden is beautiful, and has the best nosebleed seats in the world, but it needs better signage.
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We went to see Star Wars tonight for Ellen's birthday. Oof. ( Blech )
Although I have to say, I didn't understand the story at all until we bought a program after the show. We never quite figured out who the evil owl/von Rothbart was, and it came as a big surprise to learn that Odette and Siegfried die at the end. (The leaping off what was essentially a stepladder and going by on a swan boat didn't quite communicate the whole death thing, I have to say, although probably I should've known beforehand, since it is Russian.)
We had a bit of an adventure getting to our seats. Our section was the only one not labeled,a nd ushers kept telling us to go different ways, until finally we figured out out at about 7:29 and thirty seconds. Oy. Covent Garden is beautiful, and has the best nosebleed seats in the world, but it needs better signage.
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We went to see Star Wars tonight for Ellen's birthday. Oof. ( Blech )
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