Ballet Icons Gala - 19 February 2023

[Sophoife]

Thanks @Emeralds. Obviously living in regional Australia has its drawbacks.

[Emeralds]

7 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

Thanks @Emeralds. Obviously living in regional Australia has its drawbacks.

I do envy you having Australian Ballet though! - do you have to travel far to see them? (Remembering an Australian relative’s comment, “My commute was quite short- a 20 mile drive there each way.” No train/bus service as it was a remote place with very few residents. ) 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Emeralds

[Sophoife]

I live in Albury which is about 330km/205 miles from Melbourne, 555km/345 miles from Sydney.

 

3½ hour drive to Melbourne, four hours by train. 6 hours to Sydney by road, 8 by train. Or $200 each way by plane to Sydney, $220 to Melbourne. Road timings are if I drove non-stop, which is not going to happen 😉 I would not even consider a bus due to not liking to make the driver stop every time I need to express my travel sickness.

 

I have a Melbourne subscription to AusBallet, and for 2023 booked my hotel nights the same day as my subscription. I do sometimes travel to Sydney, and will definitely go to the Sydney-only Ashton double bill in November.

 

I cannot afford to travel to Brisbane for Queensland Ballet, much as I would like to, although I did go up in 2017 for the Royal Ballet in Winter's Tale at which I was privileged to see the two original Leontes, Ed Watson and Bennet Gartside.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Sophoife
Added mileage

[Sabine0308]

@Emeraldsyou're welcome ❤️

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, Sophoife said:

I live in Albury which is about 330km/205 miles from Melbourne, 555km/345 miles from Sydney.

 

3½ hour drive to Melbourne, four hours by train. 6 hours to Sydney by road, 8 by train. Or $200 each way by plane to Sydney, $220 to Melbourne. Road timings are if I drove non-stop, which is not going to happen 😉 I would not even consider a bus due to not liking to make the driver stop every time I need to express my travel sickness.

 

I have a Melbourne subscription to AusBallet, and for 2023 booked my hotel nights the same day as my subscription. I do sometimes travel to Sydney, and will definitely go to the Sydney-only Ashton double bill in November.

 

I cannot afford to travel to Brisbane for Queensland Ballet, much as I would like to, although I did go up in 2017 for the Royal Ballet in Winter's Tale at which I was privileged to see the two original Leontes, Ed Watson and Bennet Gartside.

 

 

205 miles is far indeed! The furthest I did that didn’t involve flights or international border crossings was London to Edinburgh years ago when living in London, to see San Francisco Ballet as I had not seen them in Britain before. 400 miles on the train and a small portion of that by London Underground (Tube/subway) in the morning for a matinee and back again on the evening trains and Tube! Can’t imagine doing 800 miles in one day now....haha. (Of course, there are flights there which are fast, but the carbon footprint for me would be a no.) That was a one off but I do feel for you travelling that far just for any ballet live on stage.

 

Ooh, I loved Winter’s Tale- Watson & Gartside are brilliant. Well done for getting to those performances! The Ausballet Ashton double bill sounds great-you must report back what you think of it. 

 

Admittedly, Ballet Icons Gala is much, much nearer than 200 or 400 miles but unfortunately I had a clash of schedule this time. If Ms Olga Balakleets is reading this, I wonder if she might consider doing this gala in Australia (Melbourne ) ....after all, Dubai is probably tougher to stage ballet performances in! 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Emeralds

[FionaM]

@Emeraldsthere are already two entities producing international ballet galas in Australia 😉

 

I should think Dubai is a lot cheaper to stage galas in than Australia due to shorter flights for European based dancers.  There is a ready made opera house and growing audience of ballet lovers (Russians in exile).  

[Emeralds]

11 hours ago, FionaE said:

@Emeraldsthere are already two entities producing international ballet galas in Australia 😉

 

I should think Dubai is a lot cheaper to stage galas in than Australia due to shorter flights for European based dancers.  There is a ready made opera house and growing audience of ballet lovers (Russians in exile).  

Only two for such a large nation, FionaE? 😊 Could definitely have one or even two more. Australian Ballet also aren’t resident in Melbourne as they have to tour to Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and other regions, so it spends at least 6 months without any ballet. More galas could fill that gap.  (With regards to Dubai, it was laws, red tape and infrastructure in 40 degree Celsius heat I was thinking of- Dubai being notoriously tricky to conduct business for foreign entrepreneurs and generally for overseas visitors, eg you can be legally plied with alcohol at restaurants, bars and hotels, but can also be arrested for drinking alcohol, as opposed to drunken behaviour .) 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Emeralds

[zxDaveM]

On 20/02/2023 at 22:22, alison said:

East Fife 4, Forfar 5, surely?

 

...and it is now the end of the season, the perfect result for the final table: