Postcard from Spain 3

Tony: Well we’ve been quite busy here in Seville. As well as some great flamenco in the evenings, i am including photos on: The Alcazar; snails at the local market seen while shopping for the picnic; the picnic and a furry local who came to check it out; a walk along the river in Triana; The Cathdral.

Another Postcard from Spain!

Tony: Today was the visit to the Alhambra… WOW! The architecture, detail, and gardens are incredible. As as a hydrologist, the water distribution is interesting given the structure is at the top of a hilltop. They needed a lot of water to feed the ponds, fountains and gardens. I’ve included pics of the water stairs, ponds, guard post for the diversion from the Royal Channel and some of the grounds.

Just a normal Tuesday in Spain…

Postcard from Spain

Written by Tony:

The gang did a walking tour historic Madrid and Bill and I went to the train station to get things sorted out for weds trip to Granada.

The afternoon was spent at the Reine Sofia Museum. While Picasso’s Guernica and many of his other works were amazing, The Glass Foot (murano glass) was my favourite. Not only was it glass, but it reminded me of dim sum (chicken feet!). Some of the other exhibits were “interesting”. The Latin Art exhibit included a large bit cage with two exotic birds and lots of sand which, as i was wearing sandals, managed to get between my toes and track through the museum.

The evening included my second opera - Wagner’s La Rienza at the Teatro Real (Royal Opera House). I was a bit taken aback by the fact that it was non-staged (no sets or costumes).     However , that allowed for the inclusion on stage of a 100 member orchestra and the 100 member Vienna Philharmonic Choir. The richness and power of the voices was amazing even though we didnt understand a word - the words were in German and the surtitles in Spanish. 

My lovely husband sent this video to me - a frank conversation about racial barriers with Misty Copeland, one of the few African American soloists in American Ballet Theater’s history. A much needed discussion, coupled with some incredible rehearsal footage of Misty. Feel free to send us your comments.

Stephen likes to keep us busy. So after 3 nights of presenting the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Svengali in the Royal Theatre, he decided that we would host a party the following night at the studios. I’m not really complaining, because it was such a great evening. We invited 50 close friends, colleagues and supporters to honor Maureen Eastick with this year’s Chrystal Community Award for her contribution to the local dance scene. 

I, myself, spent 15 years at Pacific Dance Centre, and most of my childhood memories are in the studio with Maureen. Not only did I gain an excellent foundation for dance, I also made life-long friendships at that studio.

It was so great to gather everyone together to celebrate Maureen, despite the full weekend of work. What can I say, Stephen’s always got something in the works… or maybe he just likes parties?

When we sit down in a theatre to enjoy a performance, whether it be dance, theatre, the symphony or the opera, we don’t often think about the many hours are put in before and after the final curtain. In this video, you’ll see countless hours transporting sets, configuring them to a new theatre, setting lighting cues, spiking marks on the floor for the dancers, working the dancers with live musicians….the list goes on. And what we sometimes don’t realize, is that the ticket price you paid, doesn’t just reflect the show you’re presented, but also this painstaking labour of the before and the after. Sometimes you may wonder why live theatre can seem expensive - this video may put that into perspective.

A hauntingly beautiful pas de deux (Sophia Lee and Harrison James) from Svengali. Take a moment to enjoy this with a cup of tea.

Ok so the RWB costumes are always gorgeous, but Episode 6 in this series shows you the actual costume design sketches…very cool.

Tickets are on sale for the show (April 26, 27, 8 at the Royal) at www.dancevictoria.com.  And… there are still $25 tickets left!

When Stephen first mentioned last year that the Royal Winnipeg Ballet would be touring this year with SVENGALI, my first question was… what’s a Svengali?

Apparently I wasn’t paying enough attention in my English Lit courses, because this Svengali character is actually from a famous literary novel, Trilby.

In this 5th episode from “The Making of Svengali” series, Mark Godden speaks with Second Soloist Harrison James about his role in the ballet, the master of mind control….Svengali.