Alice!

So, exactly one week ago, I went to see the Royal Opera House's Alice in Wonderland - a ballet adaptation, for the curious.

And? And well, it was amazing! The adaptation was necessarily different from the book: for one thing, as composer Josy Talbot explains, the book profits greatly from Tenniel's illustrations* and Caroll's wording. And, actually, words in general. However, what it loses in wordplay, it makes us in music, choreography and stunningly clever effects. And, while the story is different, I (as a die-hard Alice fan) was not disappointed**.

I won't go into detail on the criticism - because I simply have so much to say. Alice was my first ever ballet, though, and it was lovely to actually see a ballet rather than just read about it***. The choreography, as I said, was wonderful - and it really shocks you to think that people came up with it. How do you imagine something so sprawling? I don't know.

And now to play the favourites game. My two favourite dancers were undeniably Edward Watson, who dances the White Rabbit, and Steven McRae, who dances the Mad Hatter. However, special mention goes to Eric Underwood, who danced the Caterpillar. He was shirtless the entire time and made the entire theatre swoon - his applause was of the high pitched variety. Second special mention goes to Philip Mosely, who dances the Duchess. He was also fabulous - dancing the entire thing in a hooped-skirt can't be easy.

I was upset that the dancer for the part of Alice was Sarah Lamb. Obviously I can't really make any judgements as I have never seen a ballet before; much less her or Lauren Cuthbertson, who was casted by the director, dance. But even before I read the cast sheet and found out about the switch, I felt there was something about the way she danced Alice that annoyed me just the tinyest bit. This does not at all mean that I would turn my nose up at a chance to see her dance again: I am more than willing to give her a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth chance. (Maybe after that point the novelty would have worn off, or I would have found some reason to concrete and justify my dislike. Who knows?)

And so, thus concludes my (sadly pictureless) commentary of a wonderful night.

Look out for a lit corner sometime soon, featuring The Hunger Games and possible others!

*I have seen copies of Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass published with illustrations by people other than Tenniel. I can't say I know why anyone would want that out of life.
**Which is definitely a lot more than I can say for Tim Burton's film, which I abhorred. A shame, really.
***I had a penchant for ballet books when I was younger. Oh, who am I kidding? I still do.

Also!

Alice in Wonderland at The Royal Opera House next week! I'm so excited, when I can remember to be excited!

Woo!
Ballet!
Alice!
Angie and Forceps!

Okay, I really think I'm done this time!

Little Newman
xxx

Je reviens...

C'est combien de temps cette fois? It's seems I start too many of my posts here with the same words, et je sais pas quoi faire. Saying it in French doesn't change the fact that it has been a really long time since I was last here.

And it's not that I don't want to be here! More than ever, I do - I have numerous writing blogs, and food blogs (even a politics blog or two floating out there somewhere), but only one personal blog.* And I need a personal blog, now more than ever. Okay, not more than ever, but I want somewhere where I can talk about anything without wondering first if it's relevant or not, without feeling hemmed in. The problem for me is mainly access. I do everything from my phone, and if I can't do what I want to do easily then chances are I probably won't do it at all. And blogger is not an easy site to use on a phone.

But, here I am, with a laptop, at last.

What have I been doing in the past nine- ten?- months? The usual. Avoiding reading. Writing - never quite enough. Just scraping deadlines. Eating. Spending more than I should. Making friends (- me? Friends? Wow!). That type of thing.

I didn't start the new year with any resolutions - I never do. But I'm drawing to the end of a Twitter break which has actually produced some semblance of productivity within me. I've written a little bit, after a prolonged inability to write anything much following NaNo. (Speaking of NaNo, I didn't win this time either, but I wrote 38,442 words, more than ever before.) I've also written a bit on a restaurant review blog run by a friend and I. (Young Fine Diners, if you're wondering!) I've been reading - my set texts, and La Légende Arthurienne and working (school work, again: I am jobless.)

Quoi d'autre? I'm renewing my efforts in learning French, and have found out about language exchanges. I'm looking forward to attending one of those!

And I'm going to see Alice in Wonderland at the Royal Opera House this March! I'm looking forward to this a lot, as I wanted to go last year, but tickets went very quickly, and my ROH account was playing up :( this year, I only managed to get tickets right near the back, but that's better than nothing, and they were only £9 each! So I'm looking forward to that, and hopefully I will have something to say about that to you, later.

Also hopefully, I will have read enough to write another Lit Corner - I miss that!

I've spent all day listening to RFI on my phone. Anyone learning French or wanting to improve their listening skills, Radio France International is a great resource - does what it says it does on the tin.

Well, that's all I have to say for just now, I think, but I hope I will be back soon with more.

J'éspere de vous revoir bientot!

How are your 2013s going? Anything interesting happened/happening?

Parlez-vous francais? Or are you learning another language? Let me know ^^

Happy Blogging,

Your ever affectionate (if slightly flaky)

Little Newman

*I don't count my tumblr as a personal blog. I don't really use it, either.