#LIKEACHALLENGE 

A few weeks ago, pre-coronavirus lockdown, I headed for a 36h city break to Munich. I ticked off my first ballet of 2020 and looks like it might be my last for a while (Covid incoming...) . I got to see Lady of the Camellias set to the magically melancholic music of Frederic Chopin - a nice Polish touch to this Bavarian trip. The story behind Lady of the Camellias was created by a 23 year old French writer Alexandre Dumas, and the ballet version is set to the piano masterpi

I was planning to stick to Europe this year, but ended up watching Misty Copeland in New York, followed by United Arab Emirates. Dubai: a very last minute trip and a perfect pre-xmas present. It's my childhood city, which until now, I only knew from photos my mum keeps in the family albums. I was too little to remember anything. Well, apart from random flashbacks of the swimming pool at Hilton Hotel... I had selective memory for good hotel pools as I baby, clearly. Just li

I’ve seen Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ at least a dozen times. Usually around December, as it’s a very Xmassy affair. This year I managed to tick this box twice, in Dubai and a few days ago in Warsaw. The Grand Theatre / National Opera in Warsaw is the very first opera house I ever visited, so it holds a special place in my heart. I don’t remember what I went to see and when exactly it was, but my classical music upbringing is strongly rooted in Warsaw,

Just a few highlights from seeing the amazing Misty Copeland live in New York (sorry in advance, I have no big close ups as was sitting higher up, but she is magical, trust me ;) Surprisingly she was dancing to the…Beach Boys on this occasion, which was a whole new ballet experience for me to say the least, but thoroughly enjoyable. And I loved the lavish architecture of the David H. Koch theatre, open back in 1964, which is the home for the New York City Ballet and the Ame

The Prague National Theatre, Narodni Divadlo , is a fantastic 'to do' when in Prague. The neo-renaissance building stems from the second part of the 19 th century and is a real pleasant treat for the eye! Enjoy the photos :) I went to see The Love for Three Oranges (quite the title;). It’s an opera by Sergei Prokofievwith a French libretto based on the Italian play with the same title (internationalJ. The opera actually premiered in the USA, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chi

One thing you might not know about me: I studied German at Uni. Not sure how that happened, but it did. Applied Linguists to be specific, Deutsch zusammen mit Englisch (though to be honest, I never really ‘applied’ any of my language skills during that 5 years stint). I wasn’t that interested in the technicalities: delving deep into grammar rules, reading medieval literature (well, I didn’t read much back in the days anyway, so it took a few attempts to pass that exam) or the

Normally it takes a few days or weeks till I get my head around writing about my latest adventure, but this time I decided to jot everything down while it’s still fresh in my head. I’m also on the train right now, so there’s a couple of hours to spare. On Monday I jumped on the Eurostar from London to Paris. This time the goal was to visit the Palais Garnier. The Garnier Opera House stands in the middle of a very busy road intersection with an ocean of people running acros

A couple of photos from my last opera visit, this time in Rome. Another one for my Opera&Ballet challenge :)

1. Girls, you can properly get dressed up (some of the outfits I buy are only good for a ball or...the opera house) If you've got the swagger, just go and pull off an Oscar gown. And guys you can do a bow tie! 2. Drinks at the bar, usually set in a chandelier filled lobby or a stunning terrace with a view during summer. 3. Great idea for a not-a-bog-standard date! 4. Mediation: operas & ballets usually last around 3-4 hours, so there’s a lot of time to ponder about life. 5.

I’ve never actually heard about Frankenstein performed ‘en pointe’ until I looked up what’s on in the Royal Opera House in London. The ballet is based on the famous 1818 book written by Mary Shelby, but only came to life in 2016. It was adapted for the stage by British choreographer Liam Scarlett with music composed by American Lowell Liebermann. It's a lavish performance with the score reminding me a bit of Prokofiev, being fairly traditional in terms of harmonies and struct

My latest opera trip ended up being in…Palma de Mallorca. Not the obvious choice, but I happened to be visiting my best friend over there and thought, let’s just see what’s on. It turned out to be Don Giovanni. First of all, Don Giovanni is not for amateurs. It’s long (goes on for nearly 4 hours) and it can be tedious at the best of times (I closed my eyes and dozed off a few times, like a pro;). Nevertheless, it’s a staple of operatic repertoire and if you’re open minded pl

I kicked off 2019 with the ballet 'Cinderella' and it's my first time at the Dutch National Opera and Ballet before. It was a bit of a last minute decision to book the tickets as I only decided a couple of weeks before NYE to spend it in Amsterdam and what a damn good decision it was: honestly, one of the best ever ballet productions I've seen. Fantastic sets throughout, but above all, the dancing was impeccable. Great chemistry between Daniel Camargo and Igone de Jongh.

I just came back from a preview screening of 'I, Tonya', the film about the Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, who, in 1994, was involved in a plot to harm her biggest rival, Nancy Kerrigan. I was only 10 years old back then but I remember the news headlines very well. I was a massive figure skating fan (I still am, hence the pirouette challenge) and together with my grandma I used to be glued to the telly when the skating was on. Probably like most people, I saw Tonya as