Live ballet is a bit of a novelty for me and the opportunity to see a Russian Ballet troupe perform one of the classics of the repertoire close to home was irresistible. I knew I'd like it but I loved it. Such style, grace and elegance and a profusion of colourful costumes and backdrops. It was two hours of sheer enchantment. Ballet in some ways makes less demands on your concentration than other theatre forms, with no text, surtitles or lyrics to focus on.
It did add to the pleasure to see a full house in the Theatre Royal, the second of the day as the matinee had sold out. It was not the usual niche audience that you might see at classical music or a play but very much a main stream audience of young and old, male and female. It was remarkable value for €30. While it would have been wonderful to have live musicians, the sound track was quite good quality and the solo instruments sounded faithful to a live sound.
When the troupe emerged to board their bus to take them on to their next stop, they were transformed from the shimmering stage creatures to what might have passed for a senior school tour group in track suits and puffa jackets. Such is the magic of theatre.
Catch it if you can on tour this week. It finishes in Cork on Sunday.
https://www.kctouring.com/swan-lake-ireland-febmar-2019
I enjoyed Ellie O Byrne's feature on Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake which comes tp Dublin BGET later this week. Read it here https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/culture/changing-their-feathers-male-lead-swan-lake-went-from-controversial-to-iconic-905945.html
Jessica Duchen's music journalism is always interesting and I enjoyed her Swan-Lake themed yarn, Odette as my holiday reading last week. Like the author, the main character is a freelance journalist and I particularly enjoyed Mitzi Fairweather's asides on the travails of a freelance journalist.. https://books.google.ie/books/about/Odette.html?id=GWJ7DwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
