The Nutcracker

Adam Maskell as the all-dancing Knickerbocker Glory
... the set design is ... yes ... a mouth ... 
and yes, that is the uvula hanging down!

I am a fan of film, opera, and musical theatre. Ballet has never been high on my list of places I like to go to first.

Today I saw Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker at Sadler Wells, a stage built for dance. The ballet was two hours.

It seemed to be a lifetime in terms of enjoyment. The costuming brought on a motorcycle gang, a Dali-esque dancing couple, a pair of clumsy winged angels in blue plaid pyjamas, a romantic couple who leaped in and out of a rose-hearted silhouette, a classroom of kids in a boarding school – some of whom had to be pushed out on the stage, and others in the same school, ready for any kind of action.

We spent the afternoon going down Portobello Street, looking at the antique market, buying schnitzel (in a bun with fried onions and sauerkraut) at a food kiosk, enjoying the new patterns in purses, trying to find scarf patterns we have not purchased before, looking at vintage fur coats, and even finding people walking along the streets whom we have known before. Rebecca saw a fellow pottery classmate. Wyona found Greg’s old boss, Cathy, sitting a few rows ahead of us at the ballet. And Francois and Heather, some of my first boarders, stopped me in the London airport to say they had been on the same plane as me, and would I like to come up to Cambridge and visit them on this trip.

Wyona and I had planned to see the ballet at the Palladium, danced to George Gershwin’s tunes, but the ticket sellers said they weren’t offering concessions. We tried Chicago, but Rebecca, who has not see that play yet, could not get back into town to be with us. That is how we ended up at Sadler Wells with the Matthew Bourne ballet production. But it was three times lucky for us. Wyona saw Bourne’s work last year, danced to Swan Lake. Kathy told us she had seen it the year before, danced to Carmen, but the theme was “car men”. Nice.

We made a side trip to Tesco’s before going to the theatre at Angel Street – it was that or go out for supper and the schnitzel was still with us – to we went to the theatre as bag ladies – ladies with bags full of Coke, wine gums, cookies and chocolates – a sure way to stay away when jet lagged.

A part has gone out on the furnace in Woodside Lane. There is no heat here and won’t be until someone can fix it on Monday. Today is Sunday. No hot water or warmth for a while, so we will be staying in our coats, sweaters and gloves and be wrapped in scarves. I always knew we could put them to some good use.

Alex is coming on the cruise with us. How cool is that!