Swan Lake

After finishing a take-home exam of two 750-word essays, I ‘rewarded’ myself with a ticket to the Ballet! ^^

Well, it’s a celebration of a lot of things, really :)

This time it was the Swan Lake ! When I knew they were bringing Swan Lake to Melbourne I was just hoping that I’d get to watch it. Praise God the performance schedule and my exam schedule allows me to :)

I felt like dressing up so I put a dress and a pair of boots on, with this fancy-ish jacket :) All black, reflecting Melbourne’s couture.

I arrived in the State Theatre at around 1.15pm. I then collected my ticket, and headed straight to my seat. I think it was similar to my Sleeping Beauty seat, but this time I’m on stage left. Honestly I couldn’t see 1/8 of the stage left, but it’s okay, I guess. It was what I paid for :)

The infamous red curtain awaited as I took my seat. The orchestra was starting to get ready, and at 1:31 pm, the show began.

I began squealing inside like a little girl.

The story opened with the Prince recalling the death of his father, and how his life had since been under the control of the Chancellor. Then the first Act began. It was the preparation for the Prince’s birthday ball. To be honest, I think the spent too much time in this first Act. I was getting sleepy, even though all the performances were incredible. I was asking, where is the swan?

The second Act followed: the Prince went to the lake, where he saw Odette. This was where the fun began. There were some incredible sequences, including the Pas-de-quatre, and intimate moment between the two leads.

After a short intermission, the third Act began. We were back within the glam of the palace wall, in the ball. And this was where Rothbart and Odile came. The black swan pieces were shown here, and it was incredible! But the tragedy happened. The Prince gave his heart for the wrong girl. Act four followed after a short orchestra piece, where we returned to the wood, and saw how the story was resolved.

I LOVE THE MUSIC! The songs were iconic, and It took me back to so many things. First of all, to watching Barbie’s Swan Lake! Oh my. I need to watch that movie again. It also took me back to watching the Black Swan. The orchestra did an incredible job today. It was beautiful, thank you.

I love love love the corps de ballet as well! When they were dancing as the swans, wow. Simply incredible. The precision, the choreography, and how they transitioned from one pose to another. They flowed with ease. They were elegant, and not selfish. They made the show for me, really :)

The Swan Queen also deserved an applause. She really reminded me of swans :)

The set pieces were not as lavish as Sleeping Beauty. In fact I was expecting more. I think the simplicity had gone over the board. I wanted to see more of the lake, instead of something far in the background. And the screen with the projected swan and Rothbart kind of worked and didn’t work.

But aside from the Act 1, I love love love it!!

It was a dream come true to watch the Pas-de-Quatre, the black swan coda, the ending – which was confusing and super short, but quite satisfactory, I guess?; listening to how the iconic music pieces brought the story came to life. Ugh. I want to watch it again!!

I love how this show has some really festive moments, but the heart of the story lies in the simplicity and the calm, intimate moments. Remembering what I’ve seen gives me chill.

To those of you who were wondering if you should go and watch it, why not give it a go? It might not be ‘the best show you’ve ever seen’, but it was not as bad as the reviews that I read :p

Thank you, Australian Ballet! Thank you for such a lovely show!

Now back to studying, and counting down ;)

CHEERS!

-*^^*-