Isabel had her first public performance today. Of course, it was all of the kids from her ballet school, a couple of hundred in all, doing a series of Christmas themed routines. At 5, she’s one of the youngest, but the oldest kids were probably 10 or 11.
I guess that's called neo-rococo
A few of the teachers came on and did cameo roles, so we did get to see some actual dancing. The kids, for the most part, were running around in circles and jumping up and down. It was cute, but it was just like any kid’s Christmas pageant anywhere in the world.
Except it was at the Státní opera. My five year old daughter just performed on the stage where Enrico Caruso once sang. A stage that has hosted world class performances of opera and ballet for over a hundred years. In a building with perhaps the most ornate ceiling I’ve ever seen anywhere, and I’ve traveled a fair bit.
It was nice to see it again. I went to a few operas there shortly after I arrived in Prague 13 years ago because I figured as long as I was going to be in such a cultural city, I might as well soak up the culture and besides, it’s affordable here. You can be an average shmoe and go to the opera, it’s not much more than a movie. After a few times, though, I realized that I’m just not that cultured and, although I appreciated the effort and artistry that went into it, I didn’t understand Italian well enough to really know what was going on and generally fell asleep.
Back to the present. I think Isabel enjoyed being on stage. At least she said she did. And she did as well as any of the others. Her halo (she played an angel – yeah, right – little do they know) kind of got knocked for a loop as they were taking their bows at the end, but that’s not as bad as the poor little girl who, when they were supposed to be entering all in a line, fell down and got dragged on her butt until they’d reached their positions.
She was mortified, I suspect, but it was the most entertaining portion of the show.
www.gurukalehuru.com 