Summer Stock Sunday - 12

Come along with me for my perfect summer day.

On Saturday I had a day to myself, headed over to Halifax for my acupuncture appointment and got my first shot of a bee all summer while I waited for the bus.














I took the bus to Park Lane to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.














Part of Empire Theatre's ballet series, this is a high definition broadcast of a filmed performance.














Choreographed by George Ballanchine, this version had gorgeous sets and costumes, which were inspired by Victorian fairy paintings like Fairies in a bird's nest by John Anster Fitzgerald.











Production photos by Angela Sterling


















A divertissement in the final act by Louise Nadeau and Olivier Wevers was so beautifully perfect I had shivers. Their pas de deux captured everything about falling in love that can never be put into words. Really special.

Below is a clip from the production which takes place in the fairy realm. Patricia Barker is Titania and Charles Newton her cavalier.
















After the ballet, I grabbed a bite of lunch and watched a Zombie Walk parade by. It lasted quite a while - there must have been a good hundred participants, most of them really getting into it and walking and groaning like zombies.














Then I walked up Spring Garden Road to the Public Gardens to enjoy the very rare hot summer day. It's been foggy/rainy/damp for much of the season.














As usual, there was a wedding party having photos taken. This was a two-bride wedding party! I'm very pleased to say that same-sex marriages are legal here in Nova Scotia.


















I took the bus home, walking part of the way through the wooded greenbelt system that runs throughout Cole Harbour.
















The path brings me to the top of the hill leading to our house. That's it nestled into the trees at the bottom of the hill.

So glad you could share such a perfect summer day with me. For more Summer Stock Sunday, visit Robin at Around the Island.

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.

Thursday Thoughts - 6 - My Internet Footprints

Just as a person's bookshelf will tell a lot about a person, the sites frequented by a person as she surfs the net is also a good snapshot into her inner life. If you look closely, you can find my internet footprints in the February snow.

1 - Art Renewal Center

This is where I find many of the art pieces which appear on my Sidebar Art Gallery - but not all.














2 - Ballet.co

This site salvaged my sanity when my husband and I first moved to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia from Toronto, Ontario ten years ago. I could read reviews of current ballet productions from companies all over the world. And it has a sizeable article archive, too.















3 - Convicts to Australia

This site is one example of web research I love to do for my various works in progress.











4 - Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com

I refer to both of these sites more times than you might suspect...







5 - Empire Theatres

A great site to find out what's on the screens, where and at what times they're playing.












6 - Facebook

This is my Facebook page. Just love Facebook. It keeps me in regular contact with so many of my friends and family members who aren't in hugging distance. Come and find me! I'm listed as Julia Smith.















7 - Internet Movie Database

What would I do without this site? I shudder to think. Although I have a somewhat photographic memory when it comes to remembering actors and where I saw them last, I rely on IMDB constantly when I want to check out an actor, director, etc. and what else they've done.

My favorite part of IMDB is the User Comments section attached to each film. Just love reading other viewers' reactions to films.













8 - Life Paths Animal Totems and Earth Medicine

This isn't the only animal totem site I go to, but it certainly is a comprehensive resource, as long as your totem is covered by this site. Otherwise, I simply Google search the animal in question and go where the results take me.












9 - The National Ballet of Canada

This one's a no-brainer...













10 - Poetry Forms and Terminology

A site I go to when I feel a poem coming on, and need to find a form to give it structure.












11 - The Quote Garden

I love including quotes in my cards to people. This is where I find many of them.












12 - Richard Armitage Online

My favorite fangirl site. I hit GB.net pretty regularly, too.














13 - YouTube

I'm listening to my YouTube playlist right now. Take My Hand, Precious Lord by Elvis, actually.

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