The Snow Maiden @ Theatre Royal
Absolutely amazing
I’ve never been to a ballet before, so when we arrive at the theatre I’m already very excited and not entirely sure what to expect.
Before we arrived I made sure to brief myself with the story of The Snow Maiden, I’ll give you a quick rundown. Father Forest has a beautiful daughter who spends her days dancing around with her snowflake friends; she starts to feel sad, as she wants to dance around with the human people. This shepherd bloke Lel finds her and they run off and find a small village. In the village a young merchant, Mizgir, has come bearing gifts so that he can choose a wife from amongst the beautiful women of the village; however after choosing his bride he is immediately drawn away by the mysterious Snow Maiden and runs off into the forest to find her. Don’t worry, Lel’s there to pick up the pieces for the abandoned bride. Anyway, the Snow Maiden is very upset so she goes to her mother (Spring) who teaches her the gift of love. Snow Maiden then proceeds to go find Mizgir and they fall in love as Spring engulfs the land, eventually melting the Snow Maiden. So poor old Mizgir jumps off a cliff.
The opening scene was magical, with a dozen or so beautiful snowflakes dancing round the stage with absolutely exquisite costumes. The only thing to be heard other than the delicate pattering of feet across the stage was the beautifully subtle score by Tchaikovsky.
As we got further into the story we met Lel, who looked like Han Solo, then half a dozen Mark Hamill's ran onto the stage. The young bride, Kupava, definitely stole the show for me; her dance when she meets Mizgir and marries him was absolutely fantastic! She was coy, bashful, cheeky and playful all at the same time as well as elegant, graceful and captivating, almost floating across the stage.
After the interval we’re back to it with a change of costume for the Snow Maiden who is now in a slightly longer floatier light blue number. We meet her mother Spring who teaches her love, and then she melts. You’d have thought her mum would have known this was going to happen and maybe pre-warned her?
I’ve always dreamed of being a ballet dancer since I was little, well, to be specific, a fairy princess ballerina. After watching tonight’s show and after witnessing the discipline and just damn right impressive muscles I think it’s safe to say I’m not cut out for ballet. I can still dream about being a fairy princess I guess. Anyway I had a fantastic time, it was absolutely amazing and this definitely won’t be the last live ballet I go see!
This love story will melt your heart… especially if you’re made of snow.
