Ballet

I went to see Black Swan the other day.  OK, I know this is not the first movie that perhaps a Harley rider should attend.  But what the heck!  It was a dark and disturbing, but incredibly magnetic movie.  So much so that I had to keep postponing a trip to the bathroom as I didn't want to miss anything.  In the end I was wriggling like a two-year old and had to be sent off by S.W.M.B.O.

I've only been to the ballet three times; once to see a very controversial ballet called the Broken Date when I was about 17; I was taken to see some modern ballet in New York, and I was urged by S.W.M.B.O. to go with my foster daughter to see a performance of Swan Lake all done by blokes - for heaven's sake, what was that all about?

Obviously I'm aware of much of the music for ballet, but the little details in the film also perked my intererst.  I was fascinated in the scene where the dancers literally tore all the insides out of their ballet shoes to make them "right."  Also when I went to the ballet in New York I had never realized that the dancers' feet made little clicking noises as they went across the stage.  I suppose when you think about it they would, as the toes are blocked with wood.  I never knew either that often you can buy the shoes the dancers wore for that performance.  I didn't find that too interesting for the blokes' dance.

Oh yes, I did see a performance once of Australians dancing in boots.  Their used footware was not available for purchase either.

This is a link to the Chinese Ballet - an unbelievable 4 minutes sent to me by a friend recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sMc-p19FIk&feature=player_embedded  The maneuver she performs at 2:00 is incredible.  Also watch for the little man in the white suit to appear at 2:57.  He's there to ensure she doesn't fall - rather well done the way he disappears again.