Busy, Busy, Busy

I've got a busy weekend.

Tonight, after an extremely challenging week at work, I had a dress rehearsal for tomorrow's choir concert. It went the way dress rehearsals generally should go - not so super fabulous that we won't be paying close attention to all the spots that sounded shaky tonight. It's a strange-but-true thing - a really great dress rehearsal usually results in a flat performance.

Tomorrow morning I'll be hopping on the bus and heading for Spring Garden Road, to have an afternoon at the ballet courtesy of Empire Theatres and Opus Arte Ballet in HD.

I've had this picture as my screen saver at work all month, waiting until tomorrow:










It's the Kingdom of the Shades sequence from La Bayadere, where the entire corps shows us what its made of.

"The shades (usually thirty two of them) enter down a zigzag ramp coming down the back of the stage. They take two steps into an arabesque in plié, then two steps to pose in tendue derriere (the pose shown.) This short phrase of movement brings all of the shades on stage in single file. They zigzag down the ramp, then continue down the stage. The lead dancer has to repeat the phrase an incredible number of times, with the same leg every time." - Ballet Encyclopedia

"Like a patient drillmaster, original choreographer Marius Petipa opens the piece with a single, two-phrase theme in adagio tempo, repeated over and over until all the dancers have filed onto the stage. Petipa gives it a long time to creep under our skins. The choreography is considered to be the first expression of grand scale symphonism in dance. The subject of The Kingdom of the Shades is not really death, although everybody in this scene except the hero is dead. It's Elysian bliss, and its setting is eternity. The long slow repeated-arabesque sequence creates the impression of a grand crescendo that seems to annihilate all time." - Wikipedia















Ooo! I can't wait! Especially since Cuban wonder Carlos Acosta will be dancing, as well as Marianela Nuñez and Tamara Rojo.











After the ballet, it's hurry-scurry home, get changed and drive my husband and me to my choir concert, where he'll watch from the audience.














This was taken at the last concert in February, by my cousin's wife, Heather. Saturday's performance starts at 7:30 at Grace United Church, 70 King Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

And then Sunday I'll head out to have lunch with the writers, and afterwards I'll be giving the workshop at our monthly Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada meeting. It's called A Date With Creativity.

So what are you up to this weekend?









Nikki says Hey! I hope your choir concert goes really well! Hope you enjoy the Ballet too!

Akelamalu says Wow Julia, you have got a busy weekend ahead and an exciting one to boot!

Dorte H says Good luck to you with concert and everything - and remember to take care of yourself.

Through the Opera Glasses - 2 - La Fille Mal Gardee - 2009 Blog Improvement Project - 3 - Bloggy Bingo

Welcome to the second posting of my new arts feature, Through the Opera Glasses. Today I have a review for the HD broadcast of La Fille Mal Gardee, a comic ballet performed by the Royal Ballet of England and shown at select Empire Cinemas across Canada, for one matinee only.


I am eternally grateful to Empire Theatres for starting this program. Having had the pinch-me-am-I-dreaming pleasure of working at a performing arts theatre in Toronto for eight years, I miss the access I once had to world-class ballet and opera.

And since I am a confessed ballet freak, it was a very, very long eight years after I left that job until Empire Theatres offered this fine arts program.












My mom remembered seeing La Fille Mal Gardee on one of her trips to see my sister and me when we lived in Toronto, so she joined me this past Saturday for the matinee. The ballet tells the story of young lovers Lise and Colas, who determine to outwit her mother. She plans to marry her daughter to the son of the local vinyard owner, but the townsfolk conspire with the lovers to ensure that true happiness wins out over a financial match.

Colas is danced by Cuban sensation Carlos Acosta. In the dance world, national companies are filled with residents from all over the world. Exquisite talent does not recognize borders. The particular style of each company attracts specific dancers who embody that style, and Carlos Acosta's magnificent technique fits beautifully into England's Royal Ballet Company.

Here's a variation from Act I that showcases his breathtaking virility, height and flawless technique.












The theme of 'ties' abounds in Sir Frederick Ashton's charming choreography. Ribbons are used to great effect to join the many relationships in this rural setting: family ties, romantic ties and the ties of the townsfolk to one another.










In the first act pas de deux (or dance for two, one of the main choreographic forms used in ballet,) Lise and Colas entwine themselves in the ribbon she left for him as a love token. They end up creating a cat's cradle after several intricate steps.

Osbert Lancaster’s original 1960 designs echoed the ties theme, mirroring the crisscrosses of the cat's cradle by having front-lacing bodices for Lise in all three costumes. The windows of Lise's home also have an X design, and the townsfolk gather in Act II to form a maypole dance.

Here's the first act pas de deux with the lovers delighting in their irresistable connection to one another.



Lise is danced by Argentinian marvel Marianela Nunez. She has a lively, flirtatious rapport with Carlos Acosta, and matches his bravura dancing with strength and fireworks of her own. Yet she never loses a delicacy that is somehow never at odds with her power.

She absolutely shines in this wedding pas de deux from Act III.



If you live in or near one of these Canadian cities, I invite you to join me later this month for Manon:

Bolton, Ontario - Empire 7 Cinemas

Burlington, Ontario - Empire Showcase 6 Cinemas

Calgary, Alberta - Empire Studio 10 Macleod Trail

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - Empire Studio 8

Edmonton, Alberta - Empire City Centre 9 Cinemas

Fredericton, New Brunswick - Empire Studio 10 Regent Mall

Halifax, Nova Scotia - Empire 8 Park Lane

Kingston, Ontario - Empire Capitol 7 Cinemas

Kitchner, Ontario - Empire Studio 12 Gateway Park

London, Ontario - Empire Wellington 8 Cinemas

Mississauga, Ontario - Empire Studio 10 at Square One

Moncton, New Brunswick - Empire 8 Trinity Drive

North Vancouver, British Columbia - Empire Esplanade 6 Cinemas

North York, Ontario - Empire Empress Walk 10 Cinemas

Ottawa, Ontario - Empire 7 Cinema

Richmond Hill, Ontario - Empire Elgin Mills 10 Cinemas

Saint John, New Brunswick - Empire Studio 10

St. Catharines, Ontario - Empire Studio 8 Pen Centre

St. John's, Newfoundland - Empire Studio 12

Sydney, Nova Scotia - Empire Studio 10

Vancouver, British Columbia - Empire Granville 7 Cinemas

Victoria, British Columbia - Empire Capitol 6 Cinemas

Winnipeg, Manitoba - Empire Grant Park 8 Cinemas



Painting - In the Box - Mary Cassatt


Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness has suggested the following change-ups for those of us participating in her year-long challenge:

"1 - A Link Post - share a series of links your readers might find interesting * Here's a list of sites I frequent on the web. *
2 - A Short Post - less than 200 words * This redirect post pointing the way to my missmakeamovie post clocks in at 19 words. *
3 - A List Post - simple as it sounds, a list of some sort * My list of tins pictures for Dorte H fits this one. *
* A second list post: My Favorite Female Film Characters From the Past Ten Years *
4 - An Opinion Post - take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
5 - A Poll or Question Post - post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
6 - A How-To Post - You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
7 - A Long Post - more than 700 words
8 - A Review Post - self-explanatory, I think. * Scroll back up to the top of this post for a review of the HD broadcast of the ballet La Fille Mal Gardee at Empire Theatres across Canada, this past Jan. 31st. *
9 - A Definition Post - show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
10 - FREE SPACE - a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)" * My Second Blogiversary post is a once-a-year extravaganza, so I'll count that as my free space. *

We've got a two-week time frame to give these posts a try. The gauntlet has been thrown. I shall meet you at dawn.

Off to the Ballet Tomorrow - Won't You Join Me?

This picture has been my screensaver at work for the past month, as I've waited and waited for tomorrow to arrive. I'll be going to the ballet, courtesy of Empire Theatres and their Opus Arte in HD program.


If you live in Canada, the major cities host an HD broadcast of the ballet at the movie theatre, at 1:00 pm local time.

In Halifax, Nova Scotia it's at Park Lane
In Moncton, New Brunswick it's at the Empire 8 Trinity Drive
In London, Ontario it's at the Empire Wellington 8 Cinemas
In Mississauga, Ontario it's at the Empire Studio 10 at Square One
In North York, Ontario it's at the Empire Empress Walk 10 Cinemas
In Richmond Hill, Ontario it's at the Empire Elgin Mills 10 Cinemas

For other locations across Canada click here.










The ballet tells the story of country sweethearts Lise and Colas resisting the attempts of her mother to marry her off to a wealthy suitor. It's a light-hearted comic ballet that celebrates rural life while featuring complicated pieces like the ribbon dance (harking back to May pole celebrations.)

I'll have a review of this ballet posted for my arts feature, Through the Opera Glasses this coming Tuesday. You can check out my previous posts featuring the broadcasts of these ballets through the Opus Arte Empire Theatres program:

Giselle

Don Quixote

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

Romeo and Juliet