Swan Lake
I’m getting terribly negligent. I started writing a blog about two weeks ago about my week off but never got round to finishing it. My Mum managed to publish what I’d started to write whilst cleaning my laptop keyboard. So I thought I’d talk about a few nice things I’ve been up to in the last month or so.
In the half published blog I mentioned I went to London to see Swan Lake. And I went on my own! It was my second trip to LDN by myself, as I am now in a position where I can comfortably navigate myself around the centre and the tube without the use of a map. Being a big lover of the Black Swan film, it made me interested in the story of Swan Lake. The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden were showing their production of it in April, so temptation got the better of me and I booked myself a ticket. £5 it was, the cheapest ticket available. The most expensive were £300+, and for that you got a seat. My ticket was a STANDING ticket! I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a ticket as I wasn’t sure that the ballet was something I’d enjoy.
So on Saturday April 2nd I caught the train to London Euston. Annoyingly, my usual tube route into the main bulk of the city was closed, so after some shuffling around on the underground I headed straight for Covent Garden. I made my second visit to Lucy in Disguise, Lily Allen’s shop, and I wasn’t the only person in there like I was last time! Her TV show had finished airing that week and it had clearly done her business some good. After some routine visits to my favourite shops I headed into The Royal Opera House. What a building it is! After some exploring I took my ‘position’. I was literally leaning on a bar, with a restricted view of the stage. But, the moment Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ score starting playing, I knew I was going to LOVE it. It brought tears to my eyes, it’s the most delicate piece of music ever. The curtain lifted, and oddly enough a lot of ballet dancing ensued. Eventually the Swan Queen, Odette, was introduced, and I literally could have watched her dance for hours. I was very intrigued as to how they’d end it too, as I think pretty much every production does their own interpretation. This production had both the Prince and Odette jump into the lake, thus killing themselves in order to be together. Awww. It was honestly the best £5 I have ever spent. The Russian Ballet are there in August with their production, and I think I’ll do to that too. But the prices are TREBLE. Obviously I’d be going for the £15 option. But yes, this is one occurance in my life that I have though about a lot, and that usually means I’ve really enjoyed something.
The following week I saw Peter Kay, the tickets for which I’d have for 18 months! He was very good, I wasn’t left disappointed.
