I can’t begin to describe the feeling it was to be back at another beautiful theatre in the same year that I visited the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia and the Paris Opera Ballet in France. Once again I was somewhere I could call home, another place I could feel at home together with strangers and some new friends. Sharing the same air and breathing in art.
I knew from the first moment that I watched a ballet that I was going to give my whole life dedicated to it. I don’t think I’ve found that in anything else I did in life except with dance. So here I was in the beautiful theatre, trying to hold back the tears again as the curtains rose and the orchestra began to play a familiar tune thats been with me since childhood.
My entries might change quite a bit from the time I first started this blog, if something I realised I was inconsistent because I was doing these blogs for all the wrong reasons. Now I want to write because I really want to share the experience of all my trips into this blog, also a bit more of my personal feelings and to show you all my personality through them.
If you ever come to Vienna, there are only a few things i could recommend for you to do:
- Make sure you walk A LOT, If there is one way to get to know a city, is that you should walk around and get to know the paths the little shops, observe its people and what they eat.
- Watch a ballet and an opera, oh you won’t regret spending that extra 200 euros to watch the ballet. Wherever you get the chance, or you can do what other tourists do which is to line up early for a cheaper 40 euro ticket to get to the standing area upstairs, which is also very good.
- Watch orchestras and concerts. My mom and my sister are big fans of the orchestras and concerts. We quite enjoyed the Viennese orchestra and concerts.
- Eat all the different kinds of sausages. If you are a fan of sausage then you won’t regret coming to vienna, because thats all they love to eat everyday. Also try their cafes, my mom wasn’t so impressed because she said the coffee in Italy is better but I mean if you’re going then just try it. Also their cakes and famous Apfel strudel.
Sorry for going a little off topic, I was supposed to be talking about the Vienna state opera. Well what can I say? Its beautiful. The interiors were beautiful and so was the ballet. I heard that at first the opera house wasn’t really this beautiful or clean, but there was a year they really invested to clean it up. Thats also the same case for what they did with the Paris Opera Ballet. Now on to the topic of the dancing.
One thing Vienna likes to do is to experiment, that is probably because of their director. They did a different take or the Nureyev version of the ballet the Nutcracker and I saw this for the first time. I never really knew it since I’ve always only seen the Russian version or the original versions of the ballet. I guess sometimes they have to make things different so people who aren’t so familiar with the ballet would also watch the ballet and eventually after getting their interest you would turn them into fans.
Ballet is a really hard art to get into right now. Dance yes is big and all these new dance things are popping up online here and there nowadays but nothing really of pure art or substance. Just like all things that get viral. Now everyone seems to be an expert in ballet, which makes it hard for me to be a ballet teacher too.
But I was happy in Vienna, my friend Natascha Mair who is now the Principal Dancer of Vienna state opera ballet was able to tell me a little more about their situation in the company and also take me inside and backstage the theatre, which you will probably see in the video that I also linked into this blog.
I was lucky to have caught her show where she was actually promoted into Principal Dancer, although I couldn’t really understand it at first since everything was being said in German. I had to listen around to hear someone speaking in English and eventually ask what had happened. According to a friend who dances with the Vienna State opera, this tradition was brought into by their Director Manuel Legris. Where they announce the promotions on stage.
I was very happy for her, and more so happy for myself for gaining another crazy experience. I don’t think that day and the day that I was brought backstage into the opera house will be something I will ever forget. These moments align just the same with the time I first stepped into the Mariinsky and into the Vaganova Ballet Academy just last year too. (Which I just all find so mind-blowing)
I’ve been travelling more lately for dance, and I really am looking forward to the experiences I’ll be having in the coming year. I hope you enjoyed this little entry of mine as somewhat of an appetiser to my ballet life. Its always a pleasure for me to share my thoughts and if you read my blog till the end, thank you!
Much love,
Lina
The Backpacking Ballerina 
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