Ballet Concert

The girls, initially excited about going back to ballet classes at the beginning of the (school) year, were very excited about their new outfits and prospects. However this excitement was just that – initial. After a few lessons, they developed a resistance to going, and from then on, it was a slog in varying degrees of severity.

Added to this, an extended absence when Sarah burned her arm, and we had a situation where, when we went back to class, they were far behind the others and out of the loop for the up-coming concert.

Apart from the first few classes, we have also been without aupair, so yours truly has been the ballet dad too. On our return, the teacher forbade any more absence as the performance was only a few weeks away, and we needed to be at every practice so that Amber and Saz would know what to do with themselves on the night.

At one of the Eufrat school weekends, Hanka and Katka heard about the concert, and when invited to attend both agreed and so… they did! Fantastic for the girls, as it turned out in the end, it was what probably saved the day for them.

The concert was to be held at a far away place on the West side of Prague in a small theatre (Divadlo Strašnice) – we had never been there before, but, it showed up well enough on a map, and there was a tram stop nearby, conveniently featuring the name of the theatre in it (Strašnice) so it all seemed plausible enough. We were to be there, as we understood the instructions, an hour before the performance for the ONLY rehearsal at the venue.

I collected the girls from school on time and, loaded with all their kit (which took 2 backpacks) we set off for the hall. Worrying about getting their hair done, which is a mission on a good day when those tight little ballet buns are required, I was nervous about mom being there on time to do the aforementioned preparations. We got off the tram confidently and set off to the theatre. Within a few minutes it dawned on me that I was not seeing the roads I should be seeing and the theatre was not anywhere in sight… Now getting frustrated, carrying two backpacks and two scooters, and trying to phone Hayley for help, my Qi was becoming contorted. We are all sent these little episodes, I am lead to believe…

Hayley, already waiting at the venue, was wondering where we had got to as I tried to describe where we were. Needless to say she had even less idea of where we were than I did, and I had none.

We stormed back up the hill to the main road and I began to seek help in my patchwork Czech. The people were helpful enough – a florist family, but they were in no hurry, slowly explaining to me where to go and when to get off etc. It’s like being desperate for the loo while some lovely old duck tells you to notice the pretty flowers on your way, enquiring about your life, where you are from, how you like Prague etc. Meanwhile, all that’s on your mind is a very particular and urgent convenience, as you dance about in front of them hoping to non-verbally convey the dire urgency of it all.

Anyway, we went back the the tram stop that we disembarked from 15 minutes earlier just as the number we required departed. The wait for the next one was to be about 10 minutes, acceptable under ordinary circumstances, but this was no ordinary circumstance.

In desperation I consulted the list of trams passing our stop for any sign that there was another that passed our destination. There was, and it was the next one, and we all got aboard. The girls don’t deal with urgency well at all. Their standard response is a combination of hysteria, which makes them ask questions at an astonishing rate, both speaking at the same time and losing their temper if I can’t listen to, and answer each of them the instant the question is asked. Secondly they get a kind of paralysis, in which they suddenly become deathly tired, develop pains in all quarters and burst into tears. The combination of these things results in only one thing – more pressure which only brings on more hysterical paralysis…

The tram made a turn that it shouldn’t have if it was going to where we needed to be, and I knew the world had ended. Consulting the onboard map I see that there is not one stop bearing the name of our theatre, but no less than 5 of them the only difference being their obscure extensions. So… we got off, waited for a tram going the other way, went back to the beginning again and waited 10 more minutes for the ONLY tram that stops where we need to be. All the while Hayley is calling to make sure we are still alive and telling me that, not only should we have been there half an hour ago, but we should have been in full kit, hair done and ready to dance!

We sprinted from the stop all the way to the theatre, burst through the doors into the reception area, to the astonishment of all the other parents who were quite serenely talking among themselves, reading etc. The rehearsal was already in full swing behind the theatre doors when the Wood whirlwind blew past trying to locate the changing rooms. Then began the fastest transformation of hysterical paralytics into ballerinas. Thank heavens for Hanka and Katka, who lifted the girls spirits the moment they saw them. Hayley, finished stabbing the last pin into the ballet buns (read babies head) as she delivered them to a very peeved teacher to participate in the last few minutes of their rehearsal.

Poor kids… they cope well given the odds staked against them.

Just before going on… how you feeling girls?

Nervous?

Well, despite the preparation being so dogged, the performance was excellent, and both Amber and Sarah did very well, ended up liking the tour on stage and vowing to get back onto it at every opportunity – I wonder where they get that from??

Amber makes her entrance…

… and then Saz

On with the show!

The concert was not just for their age-group, but included all the classes of the same teacher, so there were performances from dancers in their early 20’s all the way down to our little people – very good indeed.

 

The photography was difficult – the flash shows up all the dust in the air and so, if there’s fast movement to freeze with a flash, it’s dotted with white orbs and washes out the performers, but you get the idea… nothing a 2.8 or faster lens wouldn’t be able to solve, but that’s another story

Our 2 ballerinas – we couldn’t be more proud!

And thanks to the loyal fan-base… for everything!