a night at the ballet

Jonathan and I have been up to a lot in the last several days. We’ve tried out some new restaurants (heck, everything here is new to us), we got a look at our future apartment (not quite as spectacular as we’d hoped, but the much shorter commute is well worth it), we learned how to use our washer and dryer (it’s more complex than you’d think), and most excitingly, we went to a ballet at the Mariinsky Theater last night.

Upon our arrival, we were warned that the Mariinsky would be closing soon to undergo maintenance and renovations. Apparently it will be closed until some time in 2008, so we had to go see something now, or we’d never get the chance. (Our apologies to those who are planning to come visit us… guess we won’t be taking you to any world-famous ballet while you’re here. *sniff*)

Since Jonathan’s schedule is so bizarre and unpredictable at the moment, when we found ourselves with free time Sunday evening, we decided we’d go see whatever was showing. Every night there’s a different show, and sometimes two- an opera starting at 6:00, then a symphony starting at 10:00. All part of a festival called “Stars of the White Nights,” but I get the feeling that non-stop cultural entertainment is sort of the norm here. Last night happened to be a production of Adolphe Adam’s “Le Corsaire,” or, “The Pirate.” I was pleased that we’d get to see a ballet; no offense to operas or symphonies, but ballet is really what the Mariinsky is known for. So, we figured out the bus schedule, I planned an outfit around my tennis shoes and carefully wrapped and bandaged my feet, and away we went.

Before the show we decided to have dinner at “The Idiot,” a vegetarian-friendly restaurant near the Mariinsky. Apparently “vegetarian” is not synonymous with “healthy” here. Our meal started with a complimentary shot of vodka- my first official Russian vodka shot! Hooray! It was definitely a good vodka, and went down smoothly, although it immediately went to my head, so I was relieved that we didn’t get another with each course. Following the vodka, we had an appetizer of marinated mushrooms, which were tasty but extremely salty. Which is great for me and my low blood pressure problems, but for Jonathan (and most people), it was a bit much. Next came the main course. Jonathan had fried goat cheese patties, which were served with sour cream and honey; I had some sort of boiled cheese and raisin dumplings, which were served with sour cream, whipped cream, peaches and cranberry sauce. Mmm-mmm! Thus, with plenty of fat, salt, and alcohol coursing through our veins, we made our way back to the theatre.

The outside of the Mariinsky is a rather ghastly shade of green, but the inside is really beautiful. The theatre itself is shaped like a large horseshoe, with layers upon layers of seats a few rows deep. We ordered our tickets online and got some of the last seats available for the show, which were in a box on the next-to-top level. The view wasn’t that fabulous, but the overall environment was nice, and (so we thought) we’d have privacy to chat about the happenings.

The outside of the Mariinsky…



The stage…



The seats…



Me in our box.



A buzzer sounded indicating that the show was about to start, the lights dimmed, the overture began… and suddenly there was a whole commotion around us and ushers letting people in. Our best guess is that they wait until the show starts to ensure that all paid ticket-holders have arrived, and then they start letting in people who had stand-by tickets or were late or whatever. Our box had three seats and there were only two of us in there; this made our section fair game. The door behind us opened and two very large women were ushered in and then just sort of left there, for them to figure it out. One sat in the seat next to me, and the other sat on the railing separating our box from the one next to us. We were suddenly sandwiched between about 600 pounds of babushka. They squirmed around a bit initially, playing with cell phones, unwrapping candy, etc, but they did manage to quiet down by the time the overture finished and the actual ballet had begun. Still, it was rather disconcerting.

After the first act, as soon as the lights went up for intermission, there was much shuffling and pointing and rearranging. We quickly determined that if we were going to keep our seats, at least one of us had better stay there to guard them. I’d heard, of course, that ballets and operas and such here are attended by the general public much more so than in the US; even so, I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so proletarian. While Jonathan made a restroom trip, I kept watch over our seats. Several groups of people came in during intermission, sized me up, looked over the edge to see what kind of view we had, talked amongst themselves, and left again. Apparently our seats weren’t good enough to bother confronting me about them.

As intermission ended, I saw the babushkas had found seats a few rows in front of us. I guess they managed to bully themselves into a good view. We were joined by a lone man who was at least quiet and polite. During the second intermission, Jonathan chatted with him a little, and learned that our seats were considered good ones because they had good air circulation. We’d heard that heating and air conditioning were big draws to bring the masses to performances, but we’d assumed that that was long ago, like people in the US going to movies during the Great Depression for the air conditioning. But, apparently, people here are still poor enough, or most homes are too hard to maintain, that simple climate control still keeps them coming. The patrons we saw were certainly an interesting mix- the babushkas, a pair of teenagers in front of us who making out for half the show, obvious tourists, and a few well-heeled locals in suits and dresses. I wondered what the people sitting on the floor looked like, since those were really the hard-to-get seats.

The ballet itself was everything a ballet should be- impressive dancing, cheesy story line, extravagant costumes. The plot was pretty standard, including pirates, harems, kidnapping, love, you name it. Basically a vehicle for a few key people to show off- you know, The Pirate, Look How Strong He Is! The Maiden, Look How Beautiful She Is! And show off they did. I’m no ballet expert, but I was very impressed. There was, of course, also one large group number that reminded me of something from an Esther Williams movie. About 30 women on stage, dressed as flowers, flitting about in formation- then the main woman comes out, and all the chorus women get out these flower-covered horseshoe things and form a big circle around her, and then, I kid you not, behind the screen, a huge water fountain came on. It was like something out of Branson. The audience went nuts.

Speaking of which, I’ll use this opportunity to sneak in a public service announcement. As the fountain started and the delicate flowers made their various formations, people in the audience started taking flash photographs by the gross. Which, first of all, is just rude to the performers, and to the poor ushers, who immediately started running around asking people to stop and cursing tourists under their breath. But, second, and just as important, all those pictures will never in a million years come out. Attention, photo taking public: Whether you are at a ballet, or a football game, or the Olympics, or a graduation ceremony, or whatever- the flash on your camera will only illuminate things about 10 feet in front of you. Never in a million years will your tiny camera illuminate the stage (or field, or whatever) 100 yards away from you. All you are going to get is a picture of the back of the head right in front of you, with complete blackness behind. Please stop annoying everyone around you. Okay, moving on…

All in all, it was a thrilling experience. I hope we’re able to go again before they close down- I think there are still performances running through August. But at least I can rest assured at having seen it at least once.