Ballet, bravo
When I heard a Russian Ballet company was bringing Swan Lake to Kaitaia, I was so excited I bought our tickets in May and waited. And waited. It's not the Bolshoi Ballet - but a company which carries its talents and a cast of 50 dancers and support staff across the world to many countries and cities and adds some far out places like Kaitaia.
When I rang the Australian office the morning after our show, they were so happy to have such positive feedback and to know all seats were sold - and that the audience clapped at every possible opportunity to show their appreciation - that we may see the company return to us some time in the future.
As for the clapping at strange places (Ovations in abundance, September 3), could that be because it was the first time many of the audience had been to a full live performance of a classical ballet?
That a ballet company would bring a full show to a tiny place (yes, by some standards, we are tiny) such as Kaitaia and fit their production to our facilities is just wonderful. Once when the New Zealand ballet were here, they told me our stage extension was great and did not wobble a bit. So though the stage space was limited for dancers used to bigger areas, and the leaps and bounds a little truncated, at least the dancers would have felt safe.
