Yes, it’s that time again, and we’re off to the Ballet – courtesy of a live-stream to The Savoy Cinema in nearby Corby.

Beamed live to the cinema, from none other than the famous Royal Opera House, for those who don’t live close to the Royal Opera House, this is the smart way to enjoy a Ballet!

Last time we were here was to see La traviata back in January – and it didn’t disappoint. This time, it’s Peter Wright‘s production of ‘Giselle’. It’s running from 14 February until 20 March 2026, and tickets for the Opera House range from £35 to an eye-watering £224. Not for us though – less than £35 in total, courtesy of the Savoy!

Official Synopsis

The peasant girl Giselle has fallen in love with Albrecht. When she discovers that he is actually a nobleman promised to another, she kills herself in despair. Her spirit joins the Wilis: the vengeful ghosts of women hell-bent on killing any man who crosses their path in a dance to the death. Wracked with guilt, Albrecht visits Giselle’s grave, where he must face the Wilis – and Giselle’s ghost.

Yikes! That all sounds depressing… and apparently, it’s a bit spooky too! Still, for variety, it’s also a tale of infatuation, betrayal and redemption, so it sounds like a little like Eastenders where a box of tissues will be obligatory! .

We found our ‘posh’ seats and settled in. As the countdown on screen approached zero, the lights went down and up popped the silky smooth Petroc Trewlawny and ever-smiling Dame Darcy Bussell who were hosting the evening for those of us about to watch it at one of the 1000 cinemas streaming the performance.

The Savoy by now was about 95% full, and the views via the live stream showed that it was a full house at the Opera House too! With our hosts helping us to understand ballet as an art form, it was ‘every day, a school day’, as we learned that mime is a very important factor in ballet!

We’ve not seen Giselle before, and apart from the rather depressing storyline, we weren’t familiar with the plot nor the music. We’d pre-booked our usual super-comfy seats (that also recline), and Ann had helpfully brought along drinks and snacks for the interval!

Curtain up! And with the anti-depressant tablets close by, we settled down for this new experience. With Akane Takada playing the part of Giselle and Matthew Ball as a very athletic Albrecht. The music, with the score by Adolphe Adam, turned out to be very agreeable – somewhat Tchaikovsky-like in places, with musicians from the ROH at the top of their game (as usual). The set design by John Macfarlane was deliberately dark and sinister, and complemented the storyline perfectly (lots of dead trees – Monty Don would have had a fit!).

Act 1 (55 minutes ish) was all about the young lovers and the pursuit of young love (Awww!) but by the end, our heroine – Giselle – had died of a broken heart whilst her beau, Albrecht, was now in desperate need of some counselling! Yikes! Where are my pills? After a very short 6-minute local interval, Act 2 (also 55 minutes) began, and we were introduced to ‘the Wilis’ (stop sniggering at the back!), it’s pronounced Vilis anyway!!

Yes, those Wilis were definitely a scary bunch of women, where the final Act was all about Albrecht taking them on, in his search for Giselle who was now in full Marty Hopkirk mode. The choreography was superb and the lead dancers especially, redefined ‘supple’ in every possible way!

Plot aside, even if ballet isn’t your thing, you have to marvel at the physical fitness of the performers. The benefit of seeing it at the cinema is that the camera closeups really capture extra detail that would be simply lost watching it at the Opera House. It amplified the complex choreography and the punishing dance routines that are a ‘normal’ part of ‘ballet thing’. I hadn’t realised that ballet dancers were so muscular! It made me reflect on my recent Pilates classes and how inflexible my body is!

At just before 10pm, it was all over, and we’re both convinced that this is THE way to enjoy Ballet (especially ones that are unfamiliar). And, it was a happy ending too (sort of!)

The background information provided by Petroc and Darcy put it all into context, whilst the camera work brought out the best in the production. Add to that the sound quality and the super-comfy seats made it all an easy and very enjoyable watch. Did I mention that the ticket price was a lot more attractive too!?

The only downer? Attempting to master the car park machine on arrival took the combined talents of two other ‘parkees’ and me to eventually work out how to actually pay for a ticket! Still, not paying (the 20p) for the privilege wasn’t an option!! – I’m not made of money!

Our next cultural event here at the Savoy is The Magic Flute (another LiveStream from the ROH) on the 26th April.

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Off tutu the Ballet! – Giselle appeared first on Steve's Blog.

The ‘Christmas Spirit’ continues (Turkey for lunch too!) as we headed to nearby Corby, and the Savoy Cinema to see the two-act Ballet and festive favourite: The Nutcracker. At this time of year, understandably, it was a popular performance, making it impossible for all five of us (Diane, Val, Sue, Ann and me) to sit in the same row – in spite of us booking ahead . The audience was mostly of a ‘certain age’ so, thankfully, there was no risk of those around us diving into troughs of tortillas and slurping flagons of fizz whilst the Sugar Plum Fairy was doing her thing!

This really is (and was) the Ballet for all non-Ballet lovers! Read on!!

Penned by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it was all part of the continuing RBO 2025-26 Season that sees the Royal Ballet and Opera reaching out to new audiences via Cinemas, here and around the world.

This particular production by Peter Wright was celebrating its 40th Anniversary and contained a lot of tunes that most of us can already hum, even if we don’t know the titles or where we first heard them! . Fruit ‘n’ Nut anyone? .

Looking back in time, I see that the last time we saw this live, was at the Opera House, almost 14 years ago, back in January 2012 .

Official Synopsis:
The magician Herr Drosselmeyer needs to save his nephew. Hans-Peter has been transformed into a Nutcracker. The only way to save him is for the Nutcracker to defeat the Mouse King and find a girl to love and care for him. A flicker of hope comes in the form of the young Clara, whom Drosselmeyer meets at a Christmas party. With some magic, a cosy Christmas gathering turns into a marvellous adventure.

We all arrived in good time, and although by curtain up, it wasn’t a full house – it was close! Tonight’s performance was co-costed by Petroc Trelawny and Darcey Bussell whose role was to interact with the cinema audiences and provide some context to the Nutcracker story and its link with the RBO. If you ever wanted to know more about ballet shoes, this was the place to be! DB did a great job, presenting live around the world, juggling microphone, cue-cards and said shoes whilst sticking to the script. Petroc, meanwhile, was very Petroc – cool, calm and engaging throughout.

7.45pm: Curtain up!

I’d read that the whole performance had been shown on the Savoy website as a whopping 210 minutes – that’s 3½ hours! Yikes! I don’t recall the version we saw back in 2012 being that long, but perhaps they’d factored in the interval and the pre-performance sections too? Anyhow, we’d packed accordingly, with a flask of hot coffee and some nibbles to get us through to the end.

As I mentioned earlier, this really is the Ballet for non-ballet lovers. Forget about the plot, and just sit back and let the whole thing wash over you. The choreography, the costumes, the lighting and special effects, the dazzling colour palette, the large cast (made up of all ages) – and the memorable music – all combined to make this a real feel-good experience.

And if all of that doesn’t grab you, then it’s worth appreciating the sheer physical fitness of the dancers. Yes, the guys might not look like the epitome of rugged maleness in their tight err, tights, blond wigs and eyeliner, but you try doing that with either of your legs and your next stop will be A&E! Impressive stuff, and they didn’t even break a sweat!

At just after 9.45, the performance came to a close – and what a performance! Close on two hours of Christmassy magic (not 210 minutes, as advertised – I suspect a small typo on their website). What made it so special? Maybe the camera techniques helped: panning and zooming to bring the audience closer to the performers (whereas actually sitting in one of the seats at the Royal Opera House can be quite restrictive). Or maybe it’s just the heartwarming story? All-in-all, I’m not sure, but what I do know is, tonight was a magical experience, full of Christmas cheer and performers at the top of their game.

If you don’t come out at the end surrounded by a Christmassy Glow, then you went to the wrong show!

Merry Christmas!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post “Your Crackers, M’Lord!” appeared first on Steve's Blog.