A Night At The Ballet

It's not that often I do something that involves culture that doesn't include yoghurt. Attending the ballet is on my list of things to do but, being honest, it is quite some way down the list. Still, the missus is keen on the arts and you have to look after your woman. I had asked her to go to see the Bolshoi when they were in town before but she thought it was too expensive. So when the Australian Ballet Company announced that they were coming to do a few performances at The Burswood Theatre we jumped at the opportunity. It constituted a 12th wedding anniversary present also.

Having just returned from South Australia the previous morning the body clock was still running a few hours ahead. When I arrived home from work the rest of the family was ready to go. We went to a local restaurant for dinner first and then The Boy realised that we should have brought the binoculars. I had time to return home to fetch them. By the time we arrived at the Burswood Resort there was a great deal of traffic searching for parking spaces. All the free car parks were taken by this stage. It was a slow procession past the boom gate to collect a ticket but we made it with plenty of time.

Bugger. No cameras allowed. It would have been nice to take a couple of photos. Never mind. Man, The Burswood Theatre must hold at least 1,000 seats. The orchestra was warming up as we took our seats. It was interesting to watch those that considered themselves part of the higher society, the ladies with their evening gowns and young ladies who were obviously doing ballet walk into the theatre to take their seats. The woman next to me who came with her mother refused to make eye contact or say hello. Snob. We had a group of ladies behind us and one of them was very talkative. She had attended John Farnham's concert earlier in the week and would be going to a book launch on Monday. She'd also seen Swan Lake twice before. What economic crisis?

The first scene was quite long, The Boy managed to stay awake for the first 45 minutes (jet lag is a terrible thing), with some nice dancing. It was disappointing that the dancers didn't manage to dance in rhythm too well. I'd have to say that the timing of dancers on So You Think You Can Dance is better. But when the ballerinas stand on their toes it is amazing. And they are so flexible and quite graceful. The male dancers are asked to perform such strange routines. Oh, well. I guess that's ballet.

I got the feeling that apart from the stars the rest of the performers were just filling in. A bit. There was a noticeable difference in abilities. The lady behind us thought that it wasn't a very good production. Even stranger, one of the three leads injured herself and had to be substituted. This was slightly confusing but would have been moreso had not an announcer informed us from the stage. At least it happened prior to the start of the third part and we didn't see the injury.

The orchestra was brilliant. I didn't hear any incorrect notes and the music by Tchaichovsky was great. They performed very well and thoroughly deserved their applause.

Only three encores so the dancers obviously weren't full of themselves. Quite enjoyable night and performance.

Then came the time to leave. What a mess. Huge lines for only a couple of parking payment machines. And you pretty much had to have the right change. Which I didn't. It took more than half an hour to pay for my ticket and I was lucky that I was able to leave the car park within 10 minutes. I could still see some people that were driving out as I was lined up for a ticket. Earlier I had jokingly said that our line was moving faster than the traffic and it was true. Meant that we didn't get home until half past 11.

Might leave it for a couple of years before going again but it was worth seeing.