Swan Lake!!!

Today started as a regular kind of day, well worse actually since it was my first day back at the hospital after a three-day weekend. That’s always tough. I got some papers signed that I needed signed, I had my rice paper rolls with sweet chilli sauce for lunch, I even got to do caffeine meds for a baby. I had arranged to meet Jess (from Oklahoma) after work at the McCafé (a McDonald’s that is just a café and sells no burgers or fries – just salads and cakes and coffee and sandwiches – odd really) so we could head into town and find something to do. We went to Cadman’s Cottage, one of the first houses built in Sydney, and then to the art museum but didn’t make it past the reception area as they were closing (what museum closes at 5pm, I mean, come on). We didn’t want to head home so we walked out to the Opera House to see what was playing and to inquire about last minute tickets for Swan Lake. We were told to come back one hour later (one hour before the show) and ask again. We got a delicious dinner at the Opera House and went back where we were told that we were still 30 minutes early, but that we could stand in line over by that wall. I think he was mainly trying to get rid of us. We were trying not to get too hopeful, and we just thought we would head home if there weren’t any tickets, we could always try again another day. More people were sent to stand in line behind us, and sure enough, a woman came over and said there were two tickets available, did we want them? So $121 AUD later we were seated in Row S, seats 37 and 38. The seats were perfect, just a tiny bit off center, and two-thirds of the way back. Perfect! The show was performed by the Australian Ballet and starred Rachel Rawlins as Odette and Yosvani Ramos as Prince Siegfried. The synopsis:
”On the evening before her wedding, the apprehensive young maiden, Odette, wandered the palace and became doubtful of her betrothed Prince Siegfried’s love. After the wedding Odette, so very much in love with her new husband, realised it was a certain Baroness who really owned his heart. Already fragile, Odette became so distressed that by royal command she was committed to a sanatorium. With her spirit broken, Odette could only find escape in a frozen dream where swan-like maidens, much like herself, would calm her fevered mind and where, for a brief time, it seemed as Siegfried loved her alone. Some months later, Odette left the white loneliness of the sanatorium to seek and reclaim her husband, now fully under the sway of the Baroness. Having appeared uninvited at an evening party given by the Baroness, Odette’s calm beauty and confident purity of spirit caused Siegfried to fall deeply in love with her. The jealous Baroness attempted to have Odette returned to the sanatorium, but before she could be seized, Odette fled into the night. Siegfried then discovered the terrified Odette near the lake and for a short time the couple were united in ecstatic embrace. But even as she lay in the arms of her husband, Odette know there would be no peace for her ever-troubled mind and she was only to find ultimate release in the depths of the dark lake of swans. For the rest of his life, Prince Siegfried never loved again, but mourned ever his lost Odette.”

It was one of the best things I’ve ever experienced. To see that many dancers moving so powerfully and gracefully across the stage, leaping, jumping and lifting each other… Moving so quickly from one side of the stage in a few massive bounds, only to stop abruptly and transition into a slow turn, it was amazing. The men jumped so incredibly high, the women were tossed all over the stage, and the music was great. The second act was my favourite; it’s where Odette first meets the other swans and becomes serene again after going mad. There must have been 25 ballerinas portraying swans and they were all dressed in these white costumes, dancing so beautifully that swans themselves couldn’t have done it more gracefully. People were really into it, too, and just to add to the feeling of authenticity there were men in the crowd yelling “Bravo!” after solos. There were two intermissions, during which you could walk all over the Opera House and look out over the bridge and the water with all the skyscrapers lit and the ferries sailing in and out of the cove. I had been so worried that I wouldn’t get to see anything at the Opera House because time is quickly running out, but now I can say I saw the Australian Ballet perform Swan Lake at the Sydney Opera House. Not bad! The program says they are going to take the show to Europe this fall, so I might try to see it again when it comes around in October.