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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Hello all Nutcraker lovers,

First of all, please don't blame me if I mention stupid messages on this board. If I do, it's not my intention. I only visited ballet for the first time ever in my entire life 3 weeks ago. Tough I'm 33 years old, yes, only 3 weeks ago, my ever first visit to an operahouse whatsoever. :shrug:

The reason of my writing is following, I am originally from Europe, but currently live and work in Almaty Kazakhstan. As it seems that Nutcraker, is a performance not to be missed, I wanted to share following info with those of you living in Almaty.

On November 13th, the Nutcracker is going on premiere again in Almaty. I can not comment anything on the technical side of that performance since -as mentionned before- I am really cultural uneducated. :thumbsup:

But still, at least now you have the exact date, and I hope that at least some people might have found this info interresting. :D

ps. you want to know who that local foreigner in Almaty is ? Just go to that performance, watch all the people in the audience, and if you spot one guy, looking desperate and obviously not understanding any of the events that are happening, and if that guy is looking all the time at Leila Alpieve as if he wants to marry her (meaning he's her boyfriend who really knows Sh.. about ballet), than you found the author of this posting.

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Hello and welcome to Ballet Alert Local Foreigner!

Good luck on surveying uncharted territory. Even though it's unfamiliar and you think you don't know enough, I think you'll be enchanted by Nutcracker and not just Ms. Alpieve.

If you look at our "Discovering Ballet" forum, it might give you some extra background and a place to talk to other ballet newcomers and ask some questions you were too shy to ask elsewhere. And tell us about the performances in Almaty!

(Also ps - because we've got kids reading the board we try and keep language tame. Thanks!)

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Hey Local Foreigner, welcome to Almaty! :)

I've lived in Almaty all the first 29 years of my life before i've moved to Canada in July 2003. I am a great fan of the Almaty Ballet and a close friend to some of the ballerinas and dancers. They are my precious friends whom I'm missing tremendously!!

I am glad that you are delighted with Leila Alpieva's talents - she is a indeed a brilliant, versatile and most hard-working ballerina and is always a true pleasure to watch. She has a great personality, too, one of the brightest and brilliantly talented young women I've met in my life.

So if you are serious about marrying her you better prepare those 500 camels (or 300 bred horses) that anyone who wants to marry a Kazakh beauty must present as a gift to her parents. :) This ancient Kazakh tradition is called KALYM - sort of price that a husband-to-be pays to the bride's parents for taking her away from them. (just kiddin' :D you are not expected to do that anymore in Kazakhstan)

I can reassure you that besides the Nutcracker you are up for many more great ballets while you're in Almaty. I'll be very happy if you can keep us - those who are away from Almaty these days - posted on the recent ballet performances. Try to take your eyes sometimes off Leila and get a comprehensive picture of a whole ballet :D. However, I won't argue the notion that Leila herself is absolutely worth a whole ballet at times.

Enjoy your time in ALmaty and make sure to check out the mountains and ski resort!

Welcome to Almaty again :D

Marianna

Edited by Marianna
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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Dear Marianne,

thanks for the nice words of welcome in Almaty.

Yesw, I must admit, the mountains are great :) , the local ski-resort is just super B) (since Yesterday first real snow is falling in Ala, which makes it a very romantic place indeed), but unfortunately camels are not widely available in the city centre :) , but the main point, Yes Almaty is a nice place, and as for me this city introduced me into the world of ballet.

As you mentionned, besides Leila, there are other ballet dancers here, and besides nutcracker, there are other performances. I enjoyed here Corsaire already, last Sunday, my girlfriend and me went to Swanlake, this evening, I'm off to the Fountains of Bakhchisaray or should that be fountains of tears, I really did not figure that out yet.

As for november, Leila is dancing The Nutcracker, La Selphide, and in December Sleeping Beauty. So for a newcomer in the world of ballet not that bad hei ?

Marianne, I suppose you know about that, but just to make sure you do, please find here the www adress of Almaty theatre : www.gatobabay.kz

Whishing all the best of luck in Canada, and whenever you're back in your hometown, I will invite you for a tour in the city (yours city), and an evening of ballet.

Greetings

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Sorry Marianne,

forgot one thing.

like your quote from Anna Pavlova. It deffinately works for me. :)

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Hi Local Foreigner in Almaty :D

That quote has really SHAKEN ME when I first found it in a book about the most prominent dancers of Russian ballet (XVIII - through late XX century)! I thought: "WOW!! How did that ballerina who lived more than a century ago know EXACTLY why i became so addicted to ballet now - in the the very end of XX cent.!?????" I was horrified and mistified (one would love to imagine that people in the XIX-early XX cent. in Russia were free of problems and work-related stress :wacko: ). But then i realized that real values in our lives have remained the same since long B.C. and the values that ballet delivers have remained that steady castle of rock that will never be shaken by no changes that may be brought by this civilization.

I am glad that you have discovered WWW.GATOBABAI.KZ - i check it out every day, so you can look for notes by Odillia (yes, Almaty is a small place compare to Toronto or NYC, and I was about the only Marianna who was attending the ballets as often, and it was too easy to figure me out, so i took a nick Odillia :) The fact that the site has been created is fascinating, however it definitely requires LOTS of improvement and professional work there. I am so impressed by the Kirov-Mariinsky/Bolshoy site created by Marc Haegman - that is something folks in ALmaty should strive for.

THANKS FOR GREAT NEWS, TOO - LEILA IS FINALLY DANCING SLEEPING BEAUTY!! I've brought her Sleeping Beauty CD from WashDC back in June 2001, so she finally has done this role. I am having a video tape of it ordered for me!!! You know, my boyfriend works in the Opera&Ballet theater as a sound engineer, so I ask him and his partner to video-tape my favorite ballets for me (so i am a lucky exclusive owner of the tapes with Swan Lake, Fountain of Bahchi-Sarai, and some others)

Speaking of the "FountainS of Tears" :D:D:D It is not "fountainS" - it is one single fountain :D The ballet synopsis is based on the poem by a great (my favorite) Russian poet of XIX cent. - Alexander Pushkin. The Fountain of Tears was built by Khan Ghirey as a memorial to a Polish Princess Maria (that will be our Leila) who was stubbed to death by the jealous Ghirey's senior wife Zarema (he owned a harem, you see :wink: ). The fountain was built that way that the water was dripping like tears (vs. fountainig like other foutnains in ALmaty do) - Khan Ghirey's (nasty cheater!!!) tears over his lost Maria. Hope you've enjoyed that ballet!! I often hold back the tears during that scene when (the NASTY CHEATER!!) Khan Ghirey's servants bring a carriage with Maria up on stage and Zarema is stunned and shaken - when she sees that her beloved husband has yet another woman on his menu list (nasty cheater!!)

I am glad that you're enjoying mountains, ski resort AND snow in ALmaty. It hasn't snowed here in Toronto yet ( i don't complain!! :D )

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AND a bit balated THANK-YOU for the invitation to the evening of ballet in my home town, dear Local Foreigner in Almaty, I am accepting with great pleasure - well in advance! :wacko:

Enjoy La Sylphide, Nutcraker and indeed, that Sleeping Beauty!

A presto, Marianna

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Privjet marianna,

yes, I think you're absolutely right. People explained me already, and now yet again here's the proof. Almati really is a 'bolshoy derevnja' :wink:

So the website you obviously new already. I must say, it could use lots of improvements OK, but for a start, I think they did/do a pretty good job. It is a pitty though that the english version is far from complete compared to the russian page. Not that my russian is so good, but there's just much more info there. Honestly, I am afraid my knowledge is still at the same level of my ballet knowledge. :unsure:

And what is that all about that sleeping beauty CD. You actually brought her that very CD ? Is it really such a small world that me, a European guy is chatting about ballet (something I even never heard about two months ago), that this european guy is chatting with somebody in Canada, and that w eboth know the same people ? :dry: When I see her this evening, I'll deffinately ask her (without mentionning this conversation) If she by accident would not have a CD on Sleeping Beaty. :wink:

Just great ! But yes, in December she's the sleeping one, and she's looking forward to that big style. But first Nutcraker. That's this Thursday evening. And even for that she's getting nervous now.

Marianna, Do I understand you right that you are over there, and your boyfriend is still in Almaty ? :( Would be nice to meet him one time. Just for fun. I mean, strange isn't it, we are having these conversations regularly over the web, and they see eachother every day at work, and none of us knows about the others. :P

OK, before I forget, yes, yes, yes, you're absolutely right on that fountainS thing. I know it's only one fountain. Just mistake sorry. But Actually, I think I misinformed you. Leila was not dancing. The lady who was Maria was performed by a good friend of Leila : Korolei (also this name will be misspelled, but OK). We just went to see Korolei performing once. And to be honest, the first act was not that exicting at all, but second was better already, and third and deffinately fourth act were great. I really enjoyed at the end when Khan is staring at his fountain and Maria appears in his dreams. Just great !

One last thing before I quit for today. Maybe I can not spell the name of the performance wright (prononciation of that Bachiskj;ljhv;kj is even worse), but this fountain is not just a story by Pushkin.

Before I moved to Almaty, I used to live and work one-and-a-half year in Ukraine.

And Bakhchisaray is a village is Krimea, Ukraine. In that village, there was a fountain named the fountain of tears, with basically a similar story linked to it. Pushkin rewrote that story and made a poem of it, on which the current performance is based. So the original name was The Fountain of Tears, but only after it got famous outside Ukraine, it turned into The Fountain of Bakhchisaray.

Impressive for a newcomer hei ? (OK, agree internet helped me a lot on this, but still.)

So that fountain is not just a story, it's a real thing ! Pictures can be seen on http://bakhchisaray.russian-women.net/

Best greetings

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Privjet Local Foreigner in Almaty :D

And another grande reverance to you (the first one went to djb for the profound knowledge of Russian phonetics) - and you were saying that you knew nothing about classical ballet! You've just told me something I didn't even know existed. IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPRESSIVE!!! :lol: BRAVO!! :)

I did know that the "copyright" for the Fountain of Bahche-Sarai story didn't belong to Pushkin - just like it was with most of this poetry and prose, he was searching for fresh raw material for his next masterpiece(s) everywhere, then he'd found a jewel and "shaped and polished" it - to make a diamond of it. Well, his genious did.

But honestly, I didn't know that the place has actually exsited! WOW!! I thought it was some imaginary place where the story happened. SO THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH FOR THIS VIRTUAL TOUR!!

And, yes, I did bring that CD with Sleeping Beauty for Leila back in June 2001 (for some USD 30 - which is quite a lot, considering that you can buy classical music CD back in Almaty for $2 - $10), but she kept saying that this ballet is a real marathon for a soloist dancing the Beauty part, so she didn't really want to do it, etc., etc, (which was breaking my heart, of course. So, I'm delighted that she's finally found enough inner strength to go for it.

And THANK YOU for reminding me that it wasn't Leila who's performed Maria last week - HELLO! :rolleyes: of course it was Kuralay. I even spoke on the phone to her about it - two weeks ago. My memory goes as i'm aging (just kidding :wacko: )

How was the Wife of Khan Ghirey - Zarema? It was supposed to be a premiere for a young ballerina, and I wasn't quite sure if she can actually do the role as impressive as the two others - about 10 years older than she - were doing it before her. I usually had to hold tears back during that famous scen when the Khan's servants bring Maria onstage and Zarema is shocked by her beloved husband's change in feelings towards her. ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS in that ballet!

And how was Vatzlav, by the way? Was that Alexey Safronov - a young cute kid with beautiful lines (nice long arms and legs) who sometimes doesn't want to bother performing most difficult moves neatly? Eh? :wink: Tell me all about it - because i've been spending up to $300 Cdn PER MONTH on the phone - getting all the latest news from Kuralay and Dastan (another principal dancer of our ballet, he is REALLY GOOD and HARD WORKING KID). NOW, THANK GOODNESS I have you there :D

And if you'd like to meet my boyfriend, then you can find him at the sound engineers room (or a booth to be precise), at the balcony level, just have some Russian speakers to find that room for you. His name is Alexander, shortly - Sasha, however he loves it when he's referred by his full name ALEXANDER. He speaks some English, so if you speak some Russian, you should be able to have some conversation between two of you. I will tell him that you will be looking for him (hmmm... i don't even know what your NAME is, though :unsure: ) But, I'm sure he'll recognize a young man from Europe! And you will be able to recognize him - he is a tall slim guy, in his 20's, with big blue eyes and a big charming smile. Looks left aside, he is quite a decent person, but sometimes can get TOO SHY (like some of those ballerinas and dancers). I hope when you catch him he won't be in his shy mood - that is the worst time by far to meet that Sasha-guy as you won't squeeze a word out him then :pinch: So, yes, next time you go to the Theater, make sure you ask for Alexander, the SOUND GUY (ZVUKOVIK in Russian)

And I'll be awaiting for more ballet news from Almaty from you!! THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOU HAVE WRITTEN HERE! IT IS DEEPLY APPRECIATED BY AN ALMATY BALLET ADMIRER, LIVING IN TORONTO!!

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Guest Skyshark
But, I'm sure he'll recognize a young man from Europe!

Hello Marianna (and well-known local foreighner !),

As for that foreighner ballet is new to me (but one must take any chance in getting to know something new, definitely if it has the beauty and cultural value as ballet!).

But the foreigner isn't new to me any more (since 33 years and 2 and a half month) :)

You can be shure that your boyfriend won't doubt for a second when they meet.

And if your boyfriend should be in a "silent" mood, the foreigner won't have a problem in doing the talk either. ('t is toch waar hé ?)

Best greetings to Poss, Mariana and of course Leila !

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I see a twist of intrigue here - first A LOCAL FOREIGNER appears IN ALMATY, after I left it just few months ago, who is followed by a SKYSHARK, who has known the LOCAL FOREIGNER for a gazillion years, and every one knows Leila.

NOW, WHO IS POSS??????????????????????????????????? :shrug: :ermm: :shrug:

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Welcome to Ballet Alert!, Skyshark!

We try to loosen our rules a bit for non-English speakers and those who live outside the U.S., especially when we have only one or two posters from one country, but I think I need to say at this point that, unlike other sites, we're not a chat board, and we don't want the board to be used to exchange personal greetings, or messages. We have a private messenger system for that -- you need to make 30 posts to be a full member and be able to use it.

But we want the board to be used for discussions about ballet. In this forum, on the company, or performances you've seen.

Thanks!

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Dear DJB and Alexandra,

Thanks a lot for yours reaction on my Bakhchisaray postings.

As you might have read, one month ago, I really did not know the first word about ballet. Then it feels nice receiving positive comments as yours. I was really surprized and exited that I was able to bring up something that apparently was new for long-time insiders. :)

All the best. :ermm:

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Unfortunately, Almaty is very much a foreign land to many of us -- but that doesn't mean we're not interested! The Fountain of Baksichiray is a beautiful legend, and it was lovely to see the photos. (And you now know many words about ballet!!!)

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Hello Marianne,

I agree, it might look a bit confusing to you. As far as I can see, that highflyer is from Belgium. Apparently so am I. He seems to know me for 33 and sth. years, which is exactly my age, and poss is my local nickname in belgium. So, apparantly, he's my brother, who knows about my sudden interrest in ballet, and the reasons for that. So Don't worry, you're back on track now :shhh:

But getting back to your message. I don't know where to start, you were writing so much.

OK, one by one.

Leila. Yes indeed, you should have seen her face if I asked her just by the way if she had a CD from that, And when I asked her if some friend brought this from the states, she had to think for a second, and then looked at me in a curious, suspicious and non-understanding way. Especially when I mentionned your name. She allmost fell on the ground ! But then finally, I gave her the full story. :P Quite surprising actually that the world is so small sometimes.

Yes, that other performance, was Kuralay indeed. As for me she had a nice performance. Really.

But for all the questions on who performed how, I will print this forum this evening and take it home. Together with Leila, we'll provide you with all details in writing tomorrow. OK ? :sweating: To really comment on other people is difficult for me at this stage :( , but I can immagine that (no offence to Toronto) you miss your home country, your city, and of course your friends at the Almaty Ballet. Therefor, I'll try to keep you updated on a regular basis, with the help and assistance of my private teacher :wink:

As for your sondtechnician, I really should meet him indeed ! One of these days, I'll try to find him there. Should be nice surprice for him too !

So, more news on the Almaty Ballet is coming. Promise B) And as for me, an illiterate in the world of ballet, it is surprising, and it feels good that I can make some expats happy in this way and by these means.

Hang on in Toronto, and get back to you tomorrow with first revews on your favorite dancers.

:D

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Hello Alexandra,

thanks for the nice comments. Yes indeed, maybe many people are not so familiar with Almaty, Kazakhstan.

One should know though, that in Almaty, the theatre, (especially Ballet) is of a high level. OK, only classical ballet, but don't forget that these CIS countries have The Bolshoy, Mariinskii, and several other high-professional battel locations.

I suppose everybody knows where to find info on the two a.m. theatres, but just to make sure everybody finds it, here it's again : www.gatobabai.kz

Best greetings

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Hello Marianna,

as promissed, on special request, and to save on your telephone bill, here's some info on your favourite Almaty ballerina's and dansers :

That Wife of Khan, the young ballerina who had her premiere. She is still young indeed. Young but promissing ! On stage, she looks great, and one can feel that she feels at her place over there. Her dancing is good (great considering her age), and the acting itself (what could be the only comment on her performance that evening) will improve automatically with time (i.e. experience). Looks promissing and a pleasure to watch. :)

Vatzlav looked deffinately not bad neither. As per some peoples opinion ( :wink: ) he's a very good fellow to have as a partner. Maybe he's not such a good dancer as Dastan (though not bad hei ! ), but then again, he's better as partner. About this kid, on November 14th, he will perform in a concert (sponsored by the National Bank). He will dance some part from Corsaire, together with Leila. That will be the first time these two perform together. Will keep you informed.

What else ... (checking my notes :ermm: )

Dastan. On this one I can not go too much in detail, since he's working already several weeks together with Leila. Results will be seen tomorrow, when they stage together for the Nutcracker. The only thing I could figure out this far, is that he has big potential, really, he's a good dancer, but still a bit young in life. Sometimes needs to be pushed to get serious. But, yet again, also might become a big name in Ala. You'll here more on their results on Friday morning.

Oh yes, almost forgot : Samsung Electronics is having a big advertising campain for the moment. During two months, more than 30 big billboards will cover the city(really big ones), and plenty of small ones.

Also on the road to the airport for example, you can not miss them. People displayed are (mostly only one, sometimes two persons) : Kuralay, Leila, Dastan and Gulzhan, and two persons of the opera of which I really don't know the names. All of them look great. really.

And last but not least, maybe you new already, but if you didn't, Gulzhan is not dancing any more.

Hope this gives you again a closer feeling to your favourite Almata

greetings :flowers:

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Thank you THANK YOU dearest Local Foreigner in Almaty (BTW - I know your real name :D - Almaty IS bolshaya derevnya, you were right!

So, Leila was satisfied with the premier of a young ballerina doing Zarema's part. That is nice.

Let me ask YOU now - and the fact that it has only been your second or third ballet you've ever seen won't work here. How DID YOU feel during the most emotionally tense scenes?? Did YOU feel sorry when Vatzlav was killed? HUH??? Did you feel that heartache that Zarema felt when she discovered that her husband does not belong to her anymore?

Did you, finally, feel electrified when NurAli jumped on stage and did his wild (and may i add - extremely manly and sexy) part????? You do not mention Erjan Doskarayev - who's done Nurali's part (i hope he did that night?). That guy gives me goosebumps - whenever he's on stage and whatever he does on stage (yes, yes, yes, I confess - i am a total sucker for that guy, and my heart was broken when he got married :):wink: But EVEN MY MALE FRIENDS who'd accompany me to ballet when he dances - they all agree that he is REALLY TOTALLY GREAT. "He LIVES HIS LIFE ON STAGE" - they say - "HE DOESN'T JUST WORK ON STAGE" (there is a huge cosmic difference between those two states of dancer's mind - LIVING and WORKING on stage, and I am very unhappy when some dancers expose me to that latter :( because i was lucky to have known better than that - by watching my teacher Aigul Jumagalieva to perform, every single second of every single part that she does. I am sure you'll notice her - she really stands out, a petite ballerina with a dancer's spirit large as a Sun :lol: )

Coming back to one of my favorite dancers of Almaty State Ballet - Erjan Daskarayev - to give an idea to people who haven't seen that brilliant young man to perform - try to picture the dance of Golden Idol from La Bayadera - performed at utmost best brilliance possible. He shines and he makes you feel like he dances only for you. When he's doing Gester in the Swan Lake he manages to flirts with each and every woman and girl in the theater - he is so good in creating that chemistry with the audience (hmmm, i guess, i wouldn't like THAT IF i WERE married to him :blushing:

So, tell me Poss (hope you won't mind me calling you by your nickname, since your bro has spilled the secret :thumbsup: ) - what did YOU FEEL watching it. We - non-professionals in ballet will NEVER be able to watch and perceive ballet performances as THEY do. I will never learn to catch all those little intricate nuances in classical dance, which i have learnt to accept about myself and not to feel guilty about. I just go by how the performance (particular dancer) makes ME FEEL and try to pretend at times i know something about "ACADEMISM IN BALLET" - looking at their "lines", arms, legs, feet (actually - i can tell beautiful feet from so-so feet now and know it is not good when someone breaks the "line" of the arm, by bending the wrist too sharply - it should be a soft "round" arch, you see :D )

So, confess how that Fountain of Tears made YOU feel? Thank you again, and I am looking forward to hearing ALL ABOUT the Nutcracker - from someone who doesn't know MUCH about ballet (AND do not allow yourself fall under professionals' influences in your opinions - sometimes it is not a good thing for non-professionals like us :wink: - sometimes THEY admire "beautiful lines" and i simply go :sleeping: )

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Guest A local foreigner in Almaty

Hello Marianna,

some reading before the weekend starts . . .

I know there is a dedicated forum for Nutcracker comments, but in this case the city is of more importance than the play, so we'll keep it in the Almaty forum.

Take my word for it, Dastan was great ! He and Leila just danced together as if both of them never had another dancpartner in their whole life. Was nice.

OK, I know, I started with the same names again, but since you know the background, I hope you'll forgive me for that. :wub:

Generally speaking, Yesterdays performance (Nutcracker) was quite OK. Why only quite ? Well, let's say that approximately 55 % of the audience were children. Do I have a problem with children, even when they get too exited on something they see on stage (or should I say a trip they experience ?), No ! Deffinately no problem with these children. I seem to have more a problem with the parents of these children, who just don't guide their small ones into the right direction, on how to behave in such and such situation. But OK, what to expect from the children if the parents don't switch of their lovely mobile tunes, or when it is apparently no problem to show up right at the very beginning, or even five minutes after the start of the performance :angry: . But ok, think you got my point, and also for that, there are other forums.

So back to Nutcracker in Almaty.

You asked me last time me MY opinion, well lets say that the best part for me was the very beginning and the second part.

In the beginning, you have little Masha there together with her brother. The way they danced was really cute. Sorry not only cute but for their age, pretty impressing. OK, I heard that one of the teachers or some other proffesional was not happy overenthousiastic with the result, but yet again, you asked my opinion. That lady will really make it. OK she is still a kid, and lots of changes can happen in life, but the way she was 'acting' and dancing, looked promissing.

And by the way, also the audience enjoyed these two very much. I am really sorry, but I don't have their names But next time you have Kuralay on phone, she can tell you.

As mentionned before, off course, all the scenes where big Masha was dancing with her prince, I did enjoy. :wub: And really, the Prince was OK, more than ok. (btw, he sends you best regards :wink: )

The other favourite part was at the end, the Land of Sweets.

The spanish dance was just ok.

The arabian dance was already much better.

The russian dance got lots of reactions in the audience, but did not impress me very much.

But then came the Chinese Dance. Really super. This boy and girl on stage were astonishing. :wink: They got really lots of spontanious positive reactions during and after their dance.

The next one The Mirliton Dance I think ? was like they had some spare time before the finale and they had to add one extra dance just to fill the gap. Sorry to say so, but to me was really one of these :yawn: moments. Sorry.

The Waltz of flowers ? I know this will sound pretty stupid to most people on this message board, but this one I really enjoyed. Why, simply, because i DID recognize the music, and secondly, I even liked the music. I know it sounds silly, but for me the music makes half of the deal. :P

And off course what else could I say, the grand finale ... . I think no comments needed :wink:

Oh yes, before I leave you for the weekend.

Can you imagine ? As I told you previously, Leila is performing in a concert this evening with Alexey Safronov. Only now I start getting some understanding of the term a sponsored concert. They will not let me in ! ! ! :angry: That means that it is a complete private performance for all people with some link to the National Bank . Maybe that's normal, but it was not for me the first time I heard about it.

But OK, I think I'll survive a Friday evening without ballet, and being obliged spend all my Friday evening in the Irish Pub. :P

So far for Kazakhstan this week.

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The Waltz of flowers ? I know this will sound pretty stupid to most people on this message board, but this one I really enjoyed. Why, simply, because i DID recognize the music, and secondly, I even liked the music. I know it sounds silly, but for me the music makes half of the deal.  :P

Dear Local Foreigner in Almaty,

Trust me - your candid confession that you loved the Waltz of Flowers from the Nutcracker WILL NOT sound silly to NONE of the people on this board (and those who would think it's silly, wouldn't even come near this board :wink: ). I promise that everyone would nod agreeably :yes:

Of COURSE, it is a beautiful music and the choreography, and costumes and atmosphere of a fairy-tale - for me it is the essense of ballet (see my QUOTE ), or one of its numerous purposes: to evoke the feelings of delight and amiration in the hearts of people watching the ballet, and definitely, enjoying the Tchaikovsky's genius.

So, congratulations, it seems like you successfully becoming one of us - people who are hopelessly addicted to ballet (when this first occurred to me - i suddenly felt my "addiction" to ballet and everything about it - it honestly, felt SCARY at first, but then - I was lucky to have met and become friends with those few others alike, so things fell into right places, and my life has gotten its purpose and direction. Which is all about ballet :wub: )

Please keep sending us your updates from the Almaty Ballet performances - you are doing excellent job!! :wub:

THANK YOU, Poss! :wub:

Please say BIG HELLO to Lelia for me - i am missing her a lot! She knows that i am one of her most admiring fans! :D

GOT AN IDEA HERE!! :jump: If you happen to have a good photo-camera, why don't you take some photos of Leila back stage - either between parts of the performance or right after it - and post your photos on this site!! THat would be such joy!! :wub: Let me know if you think you could do that (you have to post 30 posts to be able to start posting images on this site though).

A presto, Marianna :D

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