Swan Lake by The Bolshoi...

I was actually feeling very lazy to blog this, but "God Never Blinks" suggested I keep writing.. so here it is...

This is the second time a performance touched me to tears. The previous time was in Russia itself, a competition performance by a group of Bassoonists on the Brandenburg Concerto. But this time, it wasn't just music, it was the art of the body, the BALLET, that moved me to tears.

The first act where the two ladies, Friends of the Prince, were playing with Prince Seigfried. They danced in so lively, with smiles, just the way anyone could possibly enjoy dancing. The Russians really know their art. They're so immaculate, every part of their body is angled perfectly, every first position at 30 degrees from the torso, the temps leve goes to the exact width apart. I was reminded of the Hermitage, the art of porcelain 'painted' drawings on the tabletop. The Russians are really into their art.

Touching stories don't really move me to tears, but perfectionism in artistry does. I was really lucky I got Ekaterina Krysanova for Odile-Odette. Her Aura more than makes up for her lack of flirt with Seigfried. Grigorovich's updated choreography of the ballet didn't mean for them to flirt anyway. I've watched Swan Lake performed by different troupes and this, this Odile-Odette, trumps all the rest. She has no need for energy. Every muscle in her body exhudes grace. Every Odette I've watched angles their arms the same feathery way, but Krysanova's somehow hid the Aura of the Swan in within. Something you see the same, but feel different. This is what is so awesome.

I guess, having started ballet once again helps me appreciate even more thoroughly. Its not the movements that are hard, its the stills. When the swans stay still, that's the hardest part. And the hardest movements yet, Four Swans. Oh my goodness, the all familiar tune, yet Four Swans added the magic to the tune with their precisely coordinated movements, mind you, even their EYEs were coordinated. Never, never before have I seen such coordination. I don't even think the Kremlin guards can march in such appalling unison.

Talking about swans, there is nothing in the ballet that cannot claim credit for. The black swans were dark, sinister, yet they showcased perfect combinations. In this case, it wasn't just unity, their formations were precise, their V-shaped dances were impossibly touching with perfection. Not to lose out, the white swans were given the honour to induce immense peace with their movements all across the stage. The whites covered the entire stage and sprinkled it with peace, grace and beauty, overflowing into us audience.

The Straits Times review were critical on the choreography, I'm not so sure it deserved such criticisms. For a ballet so well-known, so mature, we're not so into the flirty chase anymore. Grigorovich has given the substance its maturity required. He showed us ballet and pushed the grace of it onto us audience. This is an art that feeds the soul.

Stress is GOOD

Well, the last week of the semester. I couldn't sleep last night. Maybe I managed to fall asleep when it started raining at 7am. But I had lesson at noon, so didn't sleep much. But here I am, still awake, 12 hours later, putting my thoughts into this blog.

Stress is GOOD. This semester, I have experienced stress levels never reached in the past five years. I cannot recall beyond the past five years how life was like. Maybe worse, maybe better. But let's leave that for a discussion in the future.

The stress was rather consistent. Not constant, but consistent. Constant is like, imagine a graph with y and x-axis. Then draw a horizontal line across in the middle of the graph. That's constant. Consistent, simple. Just imagine a Tangent graph. Lol. Not sine, not cosine, but Tangent. It peaks (to INFINITY) but it drops. So there's breather in this very stressful semester. But the stress peaks to INFINITY. You know, INFINITY, rotate the roman number 8 90 degrees. Left or right doesn't matter.

Okay, so why Stress is GOOD. Firstly, having been reaching the realms of relaxation, in Swiss, in X, in Bali, in Yogya, in Ubud, in Boracay, this stark contrasts actually forces me to re-evaluate items of my life that might not be so efficient. Or ideal.

Take dressmaking for example. It forces the issue of the inefficiency of the dressmaking school. How I can get so irritated due to the lack of focus from the teachers (as they are distracted by other students) and they miss out instructions on my sewing such that I have to redo multiple times. And sometimes there happen to be occasions I just sit at the centre waiting for my turn for the teacher to assess my work such that I can move on in my coursework. This is all okay when I have too much time to spare previously. Now that school stresses me out, I am forced to reevaluate their teachings. No matter, I learn very important design techniques and ideas from them to do fashion design. Unless I find an alternative way, i can only persist. But I will search for alternatives.

On another note, I learnt how much ballet meant to me. How it helped to strengthen my physical health, helping me cope with the stresses of life with a stronger body. It's awesome! Really.

And of course, most importantly, it is the stress that helps me learn even better. The stress that motivates me to improve and the stress that pressurises me to find the most efficient and creatively resolve any issues I face. Can you imagine, after a stressful 12 weeks and going, I'm still saying stress is good. It has done me well. Maybe, caused a few pounds, but that's a good thing too isn't it? ;P