ballet |

Last night I went with three friends to the Parque Centenario to see an outdoor performance by the ballet company of the wonderful Teatro Colón. It was sponsored by the City of Buenos Aires, so that means it was free. I love how these events are totally free for everyone here, instead of only for those who can pay for expensive tickets. A night at the ballet in Toronto can easily set you back a hundred bucks.

The other thing I love is that there are often families at these events with small children, who are being introduced to culture at an early age. A few weeks ago at an orchestral concert in another park, I watched a little boy of about seven as he conducted the orchestra from his blanket on the grass!

Anyway, the video is what you might expect from using a phone in an amphitheatre (although Venetia’s is a tad better than mine), but I hope you get a taste of what a magical night it was — under the stars on a warm summer evening in this magical city!

Last night I went with a group of people from InterNations to see a beautiful production of Swan Lake, performed by the National Ballet of Russia at the Teatro Grand Rex. Earlier this year, we saw the ballet on the big outdoor screen beside the Teatro Colon, that one being the classic version choreographed by Rudolph Nureyev. I have to say I like last night’s version better, as it had more life and a lyrical quality I didn’t see in the other one. Of course, to be fair, a live performance is almost always better than a filmed version, even on a huge screen such as that one.

Argentines love culture, and there’s a great deal of it to be had in Buenos Aires, absolutely free — although that wasn’t the case last night. I must say I’ve never seen an audience’s appreciation of ballet expressed with the “hooting and hollering” I heard last night! They clapped, they cheered, sometimes even sort of screaming as they would at a rock star! It was altogether a very Buenos Aires sort of event, and of course we loved it.