Hello my sweet peonies! I hope you are all well. Last Sunday I had a day-trip to London and I thought I would share with you how I spent my day… ♡
London in Bloom ♡
Something which I adore about London, and particularly, Covent Garden is that each time I visit there is an endless array of stunning sights around each corner. During my most recent visit the display which caught by eye was the Olivia Burton and Pink Figaro collaboration.
Adorning the side of the Olivia Burton boutique you can spot a plethora of climbing flowers in bright, enchanting colours and nestled just in the centre of Covent Garden there is the dreamiest pink Nissan figaro car, bursting with blooms! I couldn’t resist photographing it.
With Love from Ladurée ♡
After soaking in the delicate blooms, we wandered over to my favourite French café and patisserie, Ladurée. We decided to sit on their beautiful balcony (which I’ve never done before) and I’m so glad we did, because we were the only ones seated up their and it was so blissful.
Inspired by their latest La vie en Rose afternoon tea, Laduree have adorned their balcony with dainty rose garlands and displays.
For our pre-ballet tea, my mother and I decided to order some treats from their pastry cabinet!
I selected the Ispahan, which is a Rose flavoured macaron filled with rose petal and lychee cream, embellished with fresh raspberries.
My mother selected the Passion Fruit and Raspberry Tart which consists of a sweet pastry, a passion fruit smooth cream topped with fresh raspberries.
I couldn’t leave without basking in the delights of the pastry and macaron cabinets and picking up a selection of my favourite vanilla and rose macarons in their pretty damask, green and purple box which reminds me of Blair Waldorf…
Once we had wandered around Covent Garden, it was time to see the Royal Ballet’s performance of Balanchine and Robbins’s works.
Nothing quite compares to hearing the rustle, and seeing the plush velvet velour curtains of the Royal Opera House stage. Soon you hear the instruments of the orchestra begin to hum and lure us in their their melodic notes… the curtains begin to open, and the performance commences…
After a year of being unable to present a full programme of performances due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the Royal Ballet have finally began their Spring/Summer 2021 schedule – the doors of the Opera House opened in May and as a devoted Royal Ballet fan, I couldn’t resist picking up tickets for their Balanchine and Robbins evening.
On Sunday, I went with my mum to see the Royal Ballet’s Balanchine & Robbins programme, a triple bill of performances by leading principal dancers celebrating these world renowned 20th century choreographers. The works featured in this beautiful ensemble were Balanchine’s Apollo, and the Tchaikovsky pas de deux and finally, Jerome Robbins Dances at a Gathering.
George Balanchine was a Russian-born ballet dancer who went on to become America’s most regarded choreographer. He co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its Artistic Director for more than 35 years and his choreography is unique in that it is characterised by plotless ballets with minimal costume and decor and performed to classical and neoclassical music.
His style was a reaction to the Romantic anti-classicism that was prevalent in Russian and European ballet. Balanchine wanted to let “dance be the star of show” and his work, Apollo, performed by Vadim Muntagirov in the lead role exemplifies this. Set to music by Igor Stravinsky, Apollo presents the young god as he is ushered into adulthood by the muses of poetry, mime and dance (these roles were danced by Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Maya Magri and Yasmine Naghdi)
Apollo is one of the oldest Balanchine ballets and was originally created for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes and premiered in Paris 1928. The original ballet features costumes and sets by André Bauchant and in 1929 the costumes were revived by Coco Chanel.
Apollo is the oldest Balanchine ballet in New York City Ballet’s repertory. Created for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, and originally titled Apollon Musagète, the ballet premiered in Paris in 1928 and was Balanchine’s first major collaboration with composer Igor Stravinsky. With this dramatic and powerful ballet, which created a sensation when it was first performed, the 24-year-old Balanchine achieved international recognition. The 1928 premiere of the ballet featured sets and costumes by the French painter André Bauchant and in 1929 new costumes were created by Coco Chanel.
I found most interesting were the presence of the three muses, Terpsichore, muse of dance and song, Polyhymnia muse of mime and Calliope muse of poetry, which all act as one body – one organ – Balanchine knew how to move the body in a way which is artistic, poetic and interesting ways – ways which break the clean lines of classical ballet. The ballet is costumed in a minimal white – and Balanchine later said that when he heard Stravinsky’s music all he could see was pristine white.
Yasmine Naghdi stood out to me the most, every movement was clean, secure and emotive. Her extensions were extraordinary too!
The second piece by Balanchine which I watched was the infamous Tchaikovsky pas de deux, I was so excited for this because I have been watching so many different performers on youtube perform it! Including my favourite, Darcey Bussell!
The background to the creation of this pas de deux is so fascinating. It was originally part of the 1877 production of Swan Lake. The story follows that Tchaikovsky composed a pas de deux for Act III by the request of Bolshoi prima ballerina, Anna Sobeshchanskaya. Since the act was composed later than the rest of the score, it was not included in the final piece and thus, Marius Petipa did not add it into his choreography for Swan Lake in 1895. Petipa moved music from Act I to III, a piece which is part of the Black Swan, Odile’s infamous pas de deux. 70 years later, this missing piece was discovered and Balanchine decided to create a pas de deux which would stand on its own – an eight-minute piece which exudes grandeur and excitement!
In the Tchaikovsky pas de deux, the cast was originally Reece Clarke and Natalia Osipova, but after Osipova sustained an injury, Kevin O’Hare, director of the RB came on to inform us of Marianela Nunez taking her place. What I find so interesting about this pas de deux is that for more than 70 years it was forgotten. It had not been published as part of Tchaikovsky’s score and was thought to be lost.
Described by the New York City Ballet as “an eight-minute display of ballet bravura and technique,” the pas de deux opens with a grand adage, a series of balances and turns which transcend into the infamous fish dives and fouettes which always leaves the audience in raptures! Nela and Reece were an absolute delight to watch – there was so much excitement, fire and passion in their performance together!
I was spellbound by Reece’s jumps and double tours en l’air which he landed perfectly each time! The roar of the audience at the end when the ballerina is carried offstage, high overhead, with one leg extended in front, her arms and head flung back in rapturous abandon.
Costume details:
Marianela wore A beautiful peach coloured dress, with a floaty tulle skirt with diamonds adorning the bodice – it has to be one of my favourites! I also love how the dancers always have little rosebuds adorning their hair!
The final ballet, Dances at a Gathering was created by the American choreographer, Jerome Robbins. Robbins worked closely with Balanchine and was also a director of musicals, plays, movies, and television programs. His works are characteristically diverse and exude lyric beauty and comedy. He creates pieces which have intensity and expressions of moods which could be introspective, joyful and rhapsodic.
Robbins created Dances at a Gathering in 1969, a ballet set to the Waltz’ and Mazurka’s of Chopin. To me, Dances at a Gathering embodies poetry in motion. Every breath, and movement is captivating. Robbins’s choreography brings ballet back to the most natural of movements. “The ballet stays and exists in the time of the music and its work,” wrote Robbins. “Nothing is out of it, I believe; all gestures and moods, steps, etc. are part of the fabric of the music’s time and its meaning to me.”
Dances at a Gathering brought an array of principal dancers to the stage which was lovely to see! There was Marianela as the pink girl, Francesca Hayward as the purple girl, Meaghan Grace Hinkis as the yellow, Fumi Kaneko as the blue and Laura Morera in green followed by Alexander Campbell, Federico Bonelli, William Bracewell, Valentino Zucchetti and Luca Acri. What I loved about this piece by Robbins was the simplicity yet sheer beauty of its movement. It takes the most clear, classic movements of ballet but expands upon them, making it playful, emotive and moving. Robbins wrote that the ballet has no stories, plot or roles, that the dancers are merely “themselves dancing with each other to music in that place” – which is a beautiful way of putting it – as we the audience project our own feelings and emotions onto the piece we see in front of us – this ballet moved me in a way I can’t describe – there is a moment in the final performance where, all the dancers reunite on stage, they stand, looking out to the audience, or maybe beyond it – it is a moment of pause, a moment of emotion and gratitude – there is no movement left just a quiet feeling of contemplation.
Costume details:
For Dances at a Gathering, I particularly loved the simple, lyrical dresses – They reminded me of the style of dress i prefer to wear for my ballet classes, a simple leotard with a loose, lyrical moving dress over top – which allows the dancer to move freely – and I particularly loved the shades of pink and lilac for Nela and Francesca’s dresses! They were beautiful and even the littlebow in Nela’s hair was adorable!
Seeing Northern Ballet’s Swan Lake
After a long absence of performances, Leeds’ Grand Theatre opened its illustrious doors, with its High Victorian architectural structures, to devoted ballet fans. In June, Northern Ballet premiered their production of Swan Lake, after a period of absence of performances in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Set to Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s iconic score and choreographed by the company’s former artistic director, David Nixon (OBE), Northern Ballet’s Swan Lake o ers a unique, thought-provoking rendition of Julius Reisinger’s beloved ballet.
The ballet’s set design, curated by Dave Gillan, instils allusions to a distant epoch. One can immediately register the designer’s nod to the Art Deco of 1920s America, with its opening rendered by the lake of a grand home in New England.
Favourite Moment:
The corps de ballet’s coda is my favourite part of the ballet, the suspense builds as the score reaches its crescendo, each movement is executed with precision, with dramatic pique’s and promenades in unison, mirroring the posture and placement of swans. Odette soon emerges to add to this array of virtuosity, her soft arabesques and turns build into the fabric of the performance, beginning slowly and then bursting into quick, and snappy petite retirees, one after the other alongside quick beats of the feet in artistic sautes.
Afternoon Tea at Betty’s
It was a pleasure to visit Betty’s and enjoy their Vegan afternoon tea; complete with tea-infused scones (which were truly divine), a yoghurt parfait, long de chat, carrot cake and vegan friendly finger-sandwiches it was so perfect. We booked to be seated in their Imperial Room which is so grand and ornate, it reminds me of a scene from Downton Abbey! I highly recommend trying Betty’s afternoon tea if you can – we always visit their Harrogate tea-room because its so close to us but they also have ones in York, Northallerton, Ilkley, and Harlow Carr.
I hope you enjoyed this post darlings, I have also created a little lookbook of beautiful dresses you could wear when you go to see a ballet performance in the future…
As always, I’m sending so much love to you all and I hope you can have the courage to pursue your own dreams. I hope this little guide can inspire you in some way.
I’m sending lots of love to you all,
