Swan Lake: Magical and Bewitching
Since the original Angel Boy and DIL named the newest member of their family Charlotte in honor of my mom, I started thinking about mommy and how much I miss her.
We had so much fun together, whether it was shopping (OBVIOUSLY) or cleaning house together (she made it into a game which is why I’m the crazy person who loves to wash windows), or when we went to the symphony or ballet.
I started ballet when I was eight at the Detroit School of Ballet and continued taking lessons for pretty much my entire life. Oh, I was never as good as Anna Pavlova or Prima Ballerina Margot Fonteyn or Maria Tallchief or any of the primas that I worshiped, but I’m pretty good even though I wasn’t a phenom and I had a less than insane turnout. Here in SoCal I studied with Madame Kaliskis and took a few classes with the California Ballet Company and at USIU. I actually danced until I was seven months pregnant and could no longer move, haha.
My old and well worn pointe shoes…
Link to a previous post about my love for ballet and all things pink. https://enchantedseashells.com/2017/03/03/theres-nothing-like-pink-ballet-shoes/
My love for ballet never waned. Who doesn’t love tulle and toe shoes? Duh.
My mom and I attended many performances. We saw Margot Fonteyn and Maria Tallchief and Rudolf Nureyuv and Galina Ulanova My mom had actually seen Anna Pavlova and the great Nijinsky. As she remembered that magical experience, she said it was as if he defied gravity.
The last famous dancers we saw together were Mikhail Baryshnikov with Natalia Makarova.
One of the final experiences she wanted to share with Angel Boy before she died was front row seats to a local performance of the Nutcracker. Somewhere in a old cardboard box there’s a photo of us. It’s beautiful and so sad at the same time.
Other countries have brought us amazing dancers but no one has done it more consistently than Russia. When I heard that the Russian Ballet Theatre would be in town on September 19 for one performance of Swan Lake, I was so excited. It’s absolutely my favorite ballet and I can’t wait to go! It’s too bad Angel Boy 2.0 isn’t visiting, or I’d continue the lovely tradition that my mom started and introduce him to the world of dance so he could be transported by music, the art of choreographic perfection, and the human body in its purest form.
About the Russian Ballet Theatre:
Russian Ballet Theatre is passionate about producing shows that adorn Russian Ballet traditions in dance, sets and costume making. The new production of Swan Lake, is choreographed by Nadezhda Kalinina (Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro Lirico, Omsk State Music Theatre) who lovingly retouched the oldest St. Petersburg version of the ballet.
Hand-painted sets and over 150 hand-sewn costumes were created by young, accomplished designer Sergei Novikov (Mariinksy Theatre, Omsk State Music Theatre, St. Petersburg State Music Hall) in the tradition of the great masters. SFX makeup by Award-winning Irina Strukova (Crazy Rich Asians,Netflix, HBO) will make ballet devotees feel as though they have seen the beautiful Swan Lakefor the first time!
The Russian Ballet Theatre will donate a portion of ticket sales from its 2019 tour to local public schools through a collaboration with the Plus1 initiative. The ballet is partnering with DonorsChoose.org, an online platform where organizations can choose the school they’re donating to, and $1 per ticket sold will go local teachers in or around each city of the tour. For more information, please visit, www.DonorsChoose.org.
Who wants to join me? This will most definitely be an unforgettable evening.
How many fouettes will we see??? (Insider comment.)
Check the website link to see if the tour comes to your city!
Link to website: https://www.russianballettheatre.com/
Link to tickets: https://my.artcenter.org/single/SYOS.aspx?p=4353
