The tale of a Swan and her Prince...

On Saturday my boy and I went to Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall  to watch Moscow City Ballet's version of the ever-enchanting Swan Lake (we were very lucky to have been given tickets as a Christmas present). I'm not sure how many times I've seen this ballet now - the more times the merrier I say! - but it was the boys first time seeing one live and he very much enjoyed it, which makes me a very happy girly (lots of visits to the ballet in the future)!

It is such a beautiful tale and the performance was stunning - the lady who played Odette was particularly wonderful - and the costumes, as ever, were gloriously sumptuous (quite the feast for our eyes). We were only 3 rows back so it was very easy to get lost in the story; I got to hear the sound of their pointe-shoes brush the floor, which I adore, plus see the dancers off stage, watching the story unfold and waiting to go back on and perform.

Swan Lake has been a favourite of mine ever since I was small. I used to read my copy of this beautiful illustrated book  - narrated by the glorious Margot Fonteyn - all the time. Finding it online prompted a waterfall of memories that whisked me back to my childhood; memories of when I used to sit up at night and spend my time lingering over the illustrations, whilst imagining myself dancing among its pages. I had thought maybe one day I would have danced it on stage, however, that particular dream didn't come true. But hey, that's what our imaginations are for!

How beautiful are these illustrations of the story? It's so nice when I come across something that evokes memories of childhood, especially when that something is related to ballet. I myself danced it for 6 years and it made up a huge part of who I am. Watching a performance such as the one this weekend stirs up the most wonderful feelings inside of me and, although at times I have felt sad and wished ballet was something I could have continued on with, having it be a part of my past means I have something quite wonderful to look back on and reminisce about.

Just to show how much of an inspiration Swan Lake is (or its bad-ass sister Black Swan) I thought I'd post a little 2011 flashback pic when I dressed as the latter for a birthday party. Never far from my heart.

I was also super-excited this weekend to sit down and watch a film I've wanted to since it's release a couple of years ago - Terence Malick's 'The Tree of Life'. My excitement was short-lived, however, because I just couldn't warm to the film's ideas or its characters (and surely its needed that I either do one or the other?!). Although visually stunning it lacks a certain something that I still can't quite put my finger on it. The characters felt a little 2D, which is odd when you think about the emotions needed to pull off the storyline (I won't spoil it by telling you what this is, although I'd think my whinge about it is enough to put you off trying to find out for yourself!) I'm no expert, but I believe a film is more enjoyable when the audience feels a connection with one, or more, of the characters. For me, at least, lack of connection means my lack of interest.

Has anyone else seen this film or been to the theatre recently? I'm off to the theatre again this weekend, this time to see my favourite Shakespeare play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'! I look forward to telling you all about it.