My husband is taking me to the theatre tonight. You might call it a date! I’m excited because the last date we went on (a grown up date, anyway) was January, when we went to see Scottish Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker.
Tonight’s show is a gritty drama, so not quite the same as the Scottish Ballet, but The Nutcracker definitely held a few dramas of its own. It’s an odd story, one that sees a father give his children a toy soldier in the form of a nutcracker for Christmas, which they proceed to fight over. In particular, his daughter is rather taken by the nutcracker, which turns out to be a prince in disguise. Throw in a nasty governess and some scary mouse masks and you’ve got rather an odd love story but one which has you riveted to your seat from start to finish.
I had never been to the ballet before, although it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. So I was over the moon to be invited to go to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre to see the Scottish Ballet perform and, despite falling in the street beforehand (damn you, snowy January), my experience of going to the ballet exceeded my expectations.
Ballet has always intrigued me, not only because of the magical, whimsical way in which the dancers move and the emotional, tear-jerking music (Tchaikovsky is truly sensational) but for the sheer dedication of the dancers, who give up their bodies to ballet and commit their minds to the art. Ballet dancers dedicate their lives to the dance and watching them move around the stage so gracefully and yet so powerfully confirmed my thoughts that they are people to be greatly admired.
The Scottish Ballet introduced me to ballet and I’ll always be thankful for that. I won’t ever forget the way I felt when the curtain lifted and the orchestra and dancers began to tell the story of The Nutcracker. It was a feeling of pure exhilaration which will stay with me forever. As will my new found love of ballet.
Tonight though, it’s a story of gang life and knife crime… Who said romance was dead?
If you fancy seeing the Scottish Ballet, check their site for what’s on. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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