Tuesday 8 November 2011

It's always a surprise going to a Royal Ballet rehearsal because you never know what they'll be rehearsing until you get there.
But you know that it will be amazing. (So fascinating to watch that I'd sooner go to a rehearsal than a performance.)
Last time I went, it was the fight scenes from Romeo and Juliet.
But last night it was something new. When a principal ballerina like Laura Morera says that she gets goose-bumps working with a 24-year-old choreographer, you know you are watching something special. (You can listen to Liam Scarlett at 1.06 on the video.)
There were only three seats left when I bought my ticket so I was lucky to be sitting right at the front. Where I could watch the articulation of every muscle in a ballerina's back. Laura Morera and her partner Ricardo Cervera, on whom Asphodel Meadows was partly created, dance together as if they are moving as one bio-organism.
Imagine turning a couture gown inside out and seeing the structure inside ... that was what it was like. It's like holding a ballet in your hand and unfolding its layers, its musicality, its intelligence.
It was one of those evenings when you realise that you were privileged to be there. For the price of a cinema seat.

4 comments:

Mystica said...

You learn something everyday. I never knew you could get tickets for rehearsals. Good to know.
Thanks

mary said...

They don't have many open rehearsals, Mystica, and tickets tend to go fast - though I was very lucky and only booked this a few days ago.

Darlene said...

I've only been to the ballet twice. The second time we were front row smack dab in the centre. Hearing the dancers' shoes on the floor and watching muscles move added a whole other dimension to the performance for me. I loved it! And what a super idea to sell tickets to a rehearsal!

mary said...

This was fascinating, Darlene, as the choreographer was talking us through it.