So it's been more than a week since we performed our Quintuple Bill.
The whole spectacle was called Anoche en el Bretón..., something like Last night at the Bretón..., which was a theatre located here, in Salamanca. The performance was inspired by the only visit the Ballets Russes made to this city, back in 1918 in that theatre. At the time, the company came and danced Le Carnaval, Les Sylphides, Le Spectre de la Rose and The Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor.
So our ballet school -whose students have founded the Ars Movendi dance association- created a new vision of that night. We performed all those dances in a different way; kind of neo-classical and some of them were even contemporary. We also added a fifth piece, the Ritual Fire Dance, by Manuel de Falla, danced by the whole company as a way to put an end to the spectacle.
And let me say it was a huge success. We danced in front of a full house! There were even people sitting on the stairs! We were told it had been very beautiful and as I went out of the theatre, I heard many comments which made me believe that the public had actually had fun and enjoyed the show a lot. The day after, there were articles in all the local newspapers, some of which had really good critics. They even interviewed our choreographer on the radio!
Needless to say, we, the company members, had so much fun. The final purpose of all the things we learn in class everyday is to be able to show them; to be able to perform in front of a crowd at some point. When we were told we had this opportunity, we all got very excited. You can imagine our dressing rooms, full of happy people taking pictures and recording videos, laughing and dancing around... But the real magic happened at the moment we got onstage and started to dance. It is a feeling that only those who have already danced on a stage can understand. It's something like happiness, excitement, nervousness, sparks, rainbows and unicorns, all mixed together and exploding. Duh! Do you get what I mean?
As for me, I can honestly say that it was one of the greatest days of my life. I spent my whole evening recording backstage videos and hanging around with my ballet classmates as we got our hair and make up done and we put our dresses on. Oh, and I felt free onstage. I stopped thinking of all the steps I had done a hundred times during rehearsals and I focused on having fun, smiling and making the most of it. And it worked; it was amazing. I am very happy I could perform in Salamanca again, along with my wonderful classmates and under the watchful eyes of my three ballet teachers, who were supervising the whole thing. I am going to miss them all SO MUCH after June.
So... that's all. I leave you with a picture and the video from Les Sylphides, which is the part I danced, as well as the video of the Ritual Fire Dance, with the whole company. Oh, and in case you're interested, you can see all the other pieces by searching for Ars Movendi on YouTube.
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| Les Sylphides. I am the one on the right. Don't look at my right foot; I was having trouble with my balance there! |
Until next time...
Keep dancing!
Nerea.
