A Very Pleasant Surprise
Thursday, June 22
The ballet was a very pleasant surprise. We walked over at about 5:40 - it was a lovely balmy evening - very casually dressed, and arrived about 10 minutes later. We found our seats easily and sat down in the first row, Seats 31 and 32, about 10 seats off the center aisle. They were perfect seats (well, they could have been on the center aisle - then they would have been perfect!). The orchestra pit is not partially under the stage as it is in the U.S., but instead begins at the edge of the stage. So it is quite deep and the first row was quite a distance from the stage - far enough back so that you could see the feet of the dancers. Also there was plenty of leg room for Ed, but it looks like there is plenty of legroom everywhere in this theater. The seats are more erect than the seats we are used to in the West, but extremely comfortable because they are shaped well and come up a little higher than our usual seats, giving more back support.
A young woman came in and had a ticket for one of our seats!! She was very nice and just sat in the seat next to us, which was empty, but a little further from the center. (When I examined my ticket later that night I realized that the woman at the box office had inadvertently given me tickets for July 23, not July 21, although she definitely knew I wanted tickets for that night's performance of Giselle!) It turns out that this woman was born in Kharkiv, but has been living in Israel for the past 15 years - she is 28, a consultant at a cosmetic surgery center in Tel Aviv, and speaks 4 languages. Her English was excellent (although she didn't think so - the Ukrainians never think they speak as well as I think they do). So, she said, she was a "tourist" and, like us, this was her first time at the Opera House. We would have invited her to have a bite of dinner with us under ordinary circumstances, but tonight we had eaten quickly at home before the ballet (even though it started at 6 p.m.) because Ed had learned just that afternoon that he had to address the judges of Kharkiv the next morning at 11 a.m., and he would have to prepare after the performance!!
Sitting on the other side of us was a woman with her two young sons - they were adorable, and they had a basket of flowers that I assumed would be given to the dancers after the performance. In fact, there were many people, not just in the first row, who had brought flowers. I was wondering how anyone, even those in the front, would be able to throw them hard enough to reach the stage. There were also lots of kids in the theater and the place was practically full, which I was very pleased to see. Four dollars a ticket may be nothing to us, but it is definitely something to these people.
Ed had bought a program (it was 1 HVA - 20 cents) and I could see that a ballerina named V. Markova was dancing the part of Giselle. Before the performance started, a man in a tuxedo came out with a microphone, and Ed and I both thought - uh oh, this can't be good. He went on and on, and no one groaned or anything, so we were beginning to wonder what was going on. I definitely heard him say "Markova," so I thought she was probably unable to dance. But it turns out that she was celebrating her 35th anniversary of dancing on this stage. (I was hoping she started dancing there when she was about 5 years old, or it would be a very hard stretch to imagine her as the love sick young Giselle!) The man left the stage, the conductor came out, and the performance began.
And quite a good performance it was too! Markova turns out to be a fabulous actress(absolutely essential for this role), and looked a little like Jennifer Jones in her 40's. The scenery was adequate, if a little worn, but the first thing I noticed was how old and worn the toe shoes were. This must be a very poor company. Maybe I can do something to help them - they really are quite good. I'm not sure whether there was something wrong with Markova's left foot (it looked like she couldn't point it properly) or whether the shoes were just so dirty that I couldn't see her point! But in any case, she was a very emotive Giselle. I wasn't as happy with Albrecht who was sort of short and stocky - he had HUGE legs, and his calves looked liked they had coconuts stuffed into them. The guy who played his servant was so fey as to be distracting, and the costumes of the peasant men were very unfortunate orange Peter Pan looking things that just made them look like goofballs (but I have seen much worse in the U.S., that's for sure). The first act of Giselle isn't much to write home about as far as dance goes, but it was certainly very moving because the acting was so good.
The second act was another story altogether. It was wonderful. Marta, Queen of the Willies was as good as I've ever seen (and I've seen some greats - like Cynthia Gregory), the Willies were all in sync and lovely to look at. The costumes looked fresher than those in the first act, and Albrecht was wearing black tights now so he didn't look quite so bad. And he turned out to be a really good dancer. All in all, I really enjoyed it - and the audience was fabulous - not a peep out of them, not even the little kids. One little girl in our row got very excited about the pirouettes and exclaimed out loud. Her mother immediately shushed her, and she put her hands over her mouth showing that she hadn't meant to do such a bad thing - the emotion of the moment had just made her forget herself!
As soon as the curtain came down the audience started applauding rhythmically - the corps and soloists all took their bows, and then the most extraordinary thing happened. Adults and children started lining up on the side of the stage with their flowers - there were at least 20 or 25 people lined up - and then they went on stage one by one to deliver their flowers and get a kiss from Markova! The two little boys sitting next to me were among them - one of them took the flowers over and got his kiss, but his brother hadn't gone with him, and now he had no flowers. He kept going towards the ballerina, and then back to the side, at a loss as to what to do. Poor thing - he really wanted his kiss, but he had no flowers to give.
After this a woman came on stage with a microphone (she looked like a ballet mistress) and said some things about Markova too. I don't know whether the size of the audience and the flower ceremony were a result of this celebration for Markova, or whether this is what always happens at the ballet here, but I'll find out next Thursday because, after last night's experience, I went over today and bought 2 tickets (in the same seats) for Swan Lake on July 29. I also bought tickets for Tosca (these are in the 8th row, so they only cost $3) for July 25. I have a feeling the opera won't be as good as the ballet, but we'll see.
It was really hot out today, so I went home after my brief outing with Belle to buy the ballet and opera tickets. After an hour or so I was ready to go out again and decided to go to the train station to see how much first class sleeper tickets to Moscow would cost if I bought them directly at the station. The Russian travel agent had emailed me that the cost through them would be $121 per person, plus a $60 delivery charge. I walked to the metro down Pushkinskya, instead of Sumskaya, and discovered another really nice market where I can get more provisions. Shortly after that I passed the Synagogue. I knew there was one around here somewhere, but I didn't know exactly where. I'll have to try and go in soon. I also found a really high end silver and glass store filled with beautiful frames and vases - but way out of my price range. As I wandered around the store (there was only one other person there, and he certainly didn't look like a prospective purchaser - but then, neither did I, the way I was dressed!) one security guard very discreetly followed me, and another security guard followed the other fellow.
There was a man selling bags of cucumbers on the metro. (I've seen people selling band aids and some sort of religious cards before, but never produce.) I saw him make a sale too! They were extremely helpful at the special "foreigners only" ticket booth at the train station, and it turns out I can buy the sleeper tickets from them for $80 per person. I didn't have Ed's passport with me, so I wasn't able to buy the tickets, but I did find out that they still had about thirty places left and that I could get 2 tickets later that day without any problem.
On the way out of the metro I thought I'd try one of the stuffed bread things that are for sale everywhere. But I had no idea what the stuffings were! I tried to figure it out and finally bought (for1 Hryvna) what I thought was a cheese filled bread. It was indeed filled with cheese, but with pineapple as well, so I tossed it out. I toyed with the idea of a hot dog from one of the vendor's in the metro (I watched her make a few - first the bun, then some ketchup, then some mayonnaise, then some beets, then the hot dog, then mustard, and finally cabbage and parsley), but I really didn't want anything hot. I wandered up Sumskaya and found another really nice market - with a wonderful selection of prepared foods for sale. I bought a whole bunch of prepared things that looked pretty good (a stuffed slice of eggplant, something that looks like a blintze but is filled with turkey, an unidentifiable object that looks like it has some sort of cabbage sauce, two round things that look like fritters, and a cabbage salad). They had poached salmon and other good looking items, but I wanted to try new things. I found the stuffed bread things there too, and again tried to figure out what was in them. There was a customer, who spoke a little English, who tried to help me. It became clear that one was filled with cheese and something else - after several minutes she said "moo moo" and, finally, I understood - beef!! There was a fish stuffed one (I passed on that), and another one stuffed with some sort of vegetable, but we never could communicate about the identity of the vegetable. That's the one I tried. It was sauteed onions - and it was delicious. I happily ate it on my walk through Poet's Square back to the apartment.
Ed's talk went well and he had lunch with the "guys" afterward. Then he came back to the apartment so that we could go back to the train station to buy the tickets. After a bit of a rest we left for the station (I pointed out my "finds" to Ed on the way to the metro) and bought our tickets. Now I just have to get the flights to Riga and back to Kharkiv organized (I think this is all set - I'll know tomorrow), and make sure our hotel reservations are all in order. But I think this trip is pretty well taken care of. I'm really looking forward to it. Belle won't be coming with us, but I think one of Gennady's daughters will be able to stay with her - she works exactly two blocks from here!
I'm waiting until this weekend to post the pictures. It's a little bit more work than I expected. We're having a quiet evening at home tonight. I'm going to try my luck with the hot water and wash my hair while Ed is watches the World Cup (U.S. v Ghana). Meanwhile, Belle is looking longingly at us, waiting for her after dinner walk. We'll do that soon, and then we get to sample all the foods I bought today. i can't wait!
The ballet was a very pleasant surprise. We walked over at about 5:40 - it was a lovely balmy evening - very casually dressed, and arrived about 10 minutes later. We found our seats easily and sat down in the first row, Seats 31 and 32, about 10 seats off the center aisle. They were perfect seats (well, they could have been on the center aisle - then they would have been perfect!). The orchestra pit is not partially under the stage as it is in the U.S., but instead begins at the edge of the stage. So it is quite deep and the first row was quite a distance from the stage - far enough back so that you could see the feet of the dancers. Also there was plenty of leg room for Ed, but it looks like there is plenty of legroom everywhere in this theater. The seats are more erect than the seats we are used to in the West, but extremely comfortable because they are shaped well and come up a little higher than our usual seats, giving more back support.
A young woman came in and had a ticket for one of our seats!! She was very nice and just sat in the seat next to us, which was empty, but a little further from the center. (When I examined my ticket later that night I realized that the woman at the box office had inadvertently given me tickets for July 23, not July 21, although she definitely knew I wanted tickets for that night's performance of Giselle!) It turns out that this woman was born in Kharkiv, but has been living in Israel for the past 15 years - she is 28, a consultant at a cosmetic surgery center in Tel Aviv, and speaks 4 languages. Her English was excellent (although she didn't think so - the Ukrainians never think they speak as well as I think they do). So, she said, she was a "tourist" and, like us, this was her first time at the Opera House. We would have invited her to have a bite of dinner with us under ordinary circumstances, but tonight we had eaten quickly at home before the ballet (even though it started at 6 p.m.) because Ed had learned just that afternoon that he had to address the judges of Kharkiv the next morning at 11 a.m., and he would have to prepare after the performance!!
Sitting on the other side of us was a woman with her two young sons - they were adorable, and they had a basket of flowers that I assumed would be given to the dancers after the performance. In fact, there were many people, not just in the first row, who had brought flowers. I was wondering how anyone, even those in the front, would be able to throw them hard enough to reach the stage. There were also lots of kids in the theater and the place was practically full, which I was very pleased to see. Four dollars a ticket may be nothing to us, but it is definitely something to these people.
Ed had bought a program (it was 1 HVA - 20 cents) and I could see that a ballerina named V. Markova was dancing the part of Giselle. Before the performance started, a man in a tuxedo came out with a microphone, and Ed and I both thought - uh oh, this can't be good. He went on and on, and no one groaned or anything, so we were beginning to wonder what was going on. I definitely heard him say "Markova," so I thought she was probably unable to dance. But it turns out that she was celebrating her 35th anniversary of dancing on this stage. (I was hoping she started dancing there when she was about 5 years old, or it would be a very hard stretch to imagine her as the love sick young Giselle!) The man left the stage, the conductor came out, and the performance began.
And quite a good performance it was too! Markova turns out to be a fabulous actress(absolutely essential for this role), and looked a little like Jennifer Jones in her 40's. The scenery was adequate, if a little worn, but the first thing I noticed was how old and worn the toe shoes were. This must be a very poor company. Maybe I can do something to help them - they really are quite good. I'm not sure whether there was something wrong with Markova's left foot (it looked like she couldn't point it properly) or whether the shoes were just so dirty that I couldn't see her point! But in any case, she was a very emotive Giselle. I wasn't as happy with Albrecht who was sort of short and stocky - he had HUGE legs, and his calves looked liked they had coconuts stuffed into them. The guy who played his servant was so fey as to be distracting, and the costumes of the peasant men were very unfortunate orange Peter Pan looking things that just made them look like goofballs (but I have seen much worse in the U.S., that's for sure). The first act of Giselle isn't much to write home about as far as dance goes, but it was certainly very moving because the acting was so good.
The second act was another story altogether. It was wonderful. Marta, Queen of the Willies was as good as I've ever seen (and I've seen some greats - like Cynthia Gregory), the Willies were all in sync and lovely to look at. The costumes looked fresher than those in the first act, and Albrecht was wearing black tights now so he didn't look quite so bad. And he turned out to be a really good dancer. All in all, I really enjoyed it - and the audience was fabulous - not a peep out of them, not even the little kids. One little girl in our row got very excited about the pirouettes and exclaimed out loud. Her mother immediately shushed her, and she put her hands over her mouth showing that she hadn't meant to do such a bad thing - the emotion of the moment had just made her forget herself!
As soon as the curtain came down the audience started applauding rhythmically - the corps and soloists all took their bows, and then the most extraordinary thing happened. Adults and children started lining up on the side of the stage with their flowers - there were at least 20 or 25 people lined up - and then they went on stage one by one to deliver their flowers and get a kiss from Markova! The two little boys sitting next to me were among them - one of them took the flowers over and got his kiss, but his brother hadn't gone with him, and now he had no flowers. He kept going towards the ballerina, and then back to the side, at a loss as to what to do. Poor thing - he really wanted his kiss, but he had no flowers to give.
After this a woman came on stage with a microphone (she looked like a ballet mistress) and said some things about Markova too. I don't know whether the size of the audience and the flower ceremony were a result of this celebration for Markova, or whether this is what always happens at the ballet here, but I'll find out next Thursday because, after last night's experience, I went over today and bought 2 tickets (in the same seats) for Swan Lake on July 29. I also bought tickets for Tosca (these are in the 8th row, so they only cost $3) for July 25. I have a feeling the opera won't be as good as the ballet, but we'll see.
It was really hot out today, so I went home after my brief outing with Belle to buy the ballet and opera tickets. After an hour or so I was ready to go out again and decided to go to the train station to see how much first class sleeper tickets to Moscow would cost if I bought them directly at the station. The Russian travel agent had emailed me that the cost through them would be $121 per person, plus a $60 delivery charge. I walked to the metro down Pushkinskya, instead of Sumskaya, and discovered another really nice market where I can get more provisions. Shortly after that I passed the Synagogue. I knew there was one around here somewhere, but I didn't know exactly where. I'll have to try and go in soon. I also found a really high end silver and glass store filled with beautiful frames and vases - but way out of my price range. As I wandered around the store (there was only one other person there, and he certainly didn't look like a prospective purchaser - but then, neither did I, the way I was dressed!) one security guard very discreetly followed me, and another security guard followed the other fellow.
There was a man selling bags of cucumbers on the metro. (I've seen people selling band aids and some sort of religious cards before, but never produce.) I saw him make a sale too! They were extremely helpful at the special "foreigners only" ticket booth at the train station, and it turns out I can buy the sleeper tickets from them for $80 per person. I didn't have Ed's passport with me, so I wasn't able to buy the tickets, but I did find out that they still had about thirty places left and that I could get 2 tickets later that day without any problem.
On the way out of the metro I thought I'd try one of the stuffed bread things that are for sale everywhere. But I had no idea what the stuffings were! I tried to figure it out and finally bought (for1 Hryvna) what I thought was a cheese filled bread. It was indeed filled with cheese, but with pineapple as well, so I tossed it out. I toyed with the idea of a hot dog from one of the vendor's in the metro (I watched her make a few - first the bun, then some ketchup, then some mayonnaise, then some beets, then the hot dog, then mustard, and finally cabbage and parsley), but I really didn't want anything hot. I wandered up Sumskaya and found another really nice market - with a wonderful selection of prepared foods for sale. I bought a whole bunch of prepared things that looked pretty good (a stuffed slice of eggplant, something that looks like a blintze but is filled with turkey, an unidentifiable object that looks like it has some sort of cabbage sauce, two round things that look like fritters, and a cabbage salad). They had poached salmon and other good looking items, but I wanted to try new things. I found the stuffed bread things there too, and again tried to figure out what was in them. There was a customer, who spoke a little English, who tried to help me. It became clear that one was filled with cheese and something else - after several minutes she said "moo moo" and, finally, I understood - beef!! There was a fish stuffed one (I passed on that), and another one stuffed with some sort of vegetable, but we never could communicate about the identity of the vegetable. That's the one I tried. It was sauteed onions - and it was delicious. I happily ate it on my walk through Poet's Square back to the apartment.
Ed's talk went well and he had lunch with the "guys" afterward. Then he came back to the apartment so that we could go back to the train station to buy the tickets. After a bit of a rest we left for the station (I pointed out my "finds" to Ed on the way to the metro) and bought our tickets. Now I just have to get the flights to Riga and back to Kharkiv organized (I think this is all set - I'll know tomorrow), and make sure our hotel reservations are all in order. But I think this trip is pretty well taken care of. I'm really looking forward to it. Belle won't be coming with us, but I think one of Gennady's daughters will be able to stay with her - she works exactly two blocks from here!
I'm waiting until this weekend to post the pictures. It's a little bit more work than I expected. We're having a quiet evening at home tonight. I'm going to try my luck with the hot water and wash my hair while Ed is watches the World Cup (U.S. v Ghana). Meanwhile, Belle is looking longingly at us, waiting for her after dinner walk. We'll do that soon, and then we get to sample all the foods I bought today. i can't wait!
posted by Susan Spivak at 12:16 PM
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