London and the ballet and 2 churches.

LONDON - THE BALLET AND 2 CHURCHES

I have made a promise to myself to get up to London more. There is obviously so much to do and see. A world class city on our doorstep. (someone observed pointedly in a third world country!) It is relatively easy to get to London from the Island - and now I am over 60 I get a special deal on the coaches - ha! I invested £50 on an Oyster card for the underground and plan to get up there at least twice a month during the winter.

I do not actually consider myself as a philistine - but perhaps I am not someone you might expect to be buying a ticket for the ballet but that is what I did. I watched a matinee performance of Swan Lake by The English National Ballet Company at London's largest theatre - The London Coliseum.

It was a quiet Thursday - got into Victoria in good time and had a coffee sat in the main Victoria Station concourse. It is incredible how people go about their business. Such a diverse community. I definitely live in a backwater. It was a sight in itself to see such a multitude on the move.

Anyway - tube to Leicester Square and I walked up to Covent Garden - which on a cold winters day was pretty quiet. I wandered into St Paul's Church (not Cathedral). St Paul's Church is known as the Actors church - not surprising given its location in the centre of theatre land. The church itself is quite modest but it offers a really tranquil setting - in such bustling area. Inside the church - all around the walls are wooden plaques with the names and dates of departed actors - some long departed - some more recent. I spent 20 minutes or so looking at the names - many I remembered. One particularly made me smile - Hattie Jaques. I remembered fondly as a kid watching Hattie and Eric Sykes's mad capers and of course Hattie in the Carry On films - often a big buxom nurse. One slightly poignant observation - if someone is going to put a plaque in your memory - you would hope it would be in quite a good spot. Hattie's was in a corner - near the skirting board and close by a waste paper bin. Never mind Hattie you remain larger than life!

Eventually I wandered down towards Trafalgar Square. A glass box - like a poor mans Pyramid at the Louvre caught my eye. It was adjacent to St Martins in the Fields Church. I followed a couple down the steps to The St Martin's in the Fields Crypt Café! What a space. They have created a massive cafeteria/restaurant in the crypt. It was buzzing and full with subdued lighting and flag stone floors and walls which must be hundreds of years old. (a great place to use the toilet too - ha!). (As an aside I wondered about the blatant commercialism of the Church of England - with this café. Is it right to be so money focused - it wasn't as if they were feeding the poor - far from it. I guess the reality is churches take a lot to run and maintain. It is rather like pubs - we protest when they close - they are part of our fabric - part of our Englishness - but we are not using them. We head for Wetherspoons or Tesco! Increasingly we are a secular society - congregations are falling. We will soon complain if landmark churches fall into disrepair or close - so I guess the church has to be realistic and use their assets to generate income as best they can.) From the café there is direct access to this famous church. I waited in the entrance for a service to finish. They have regular lunch time musical performances as part of their services. I was too late for this one but what a shame. The choral singing was stunning even though heard through heavy wooden doors. One to look out for on another visit.

So off to the London Coliseum - home of English National Opera and English National Ballet. The theatre has quite a wide street frontage but it is absolutely massive inside - very high - very ornate - quite spectacular and full - even for a matinee. This was my first ballet. I had chosen Swan Lake because it was accessible - well known - and Tchaikovsky's music almost household. The Swan's position too, classical ballet - in their white tutus. (it is a good tip to know the story in advance as you are unlikely to work it out from the performance itself - thank you Rich!). 

The audience was mixed - few in formal dress - apparently much more formal in the evenings. There were hundreds of mums there with children - mostly little girls. There was a lot of excitement and it was amusing watching the little girls showing off their ballet moves on the way to their seats and during the intervals. It was clear what they aspired to - I wonder how many will get there?

The ballet itself was danced over 2 1/2 hours with a couple of intervals. The time passed very quickly - and quite honestly it was riveting. Just to hear the orchestra in itself was probably worth going for - powerful and real. The individual dance performances drew your focus and I was glad I took a small pair of binoculars which I used from time to time. The choreography and mass groups of dancers on the very large stage created a spectacular scene - at one stage 26 identical swans - a fantastic - memorable sight. I really enjoyed it - glad I went. I am not going to get carried away - but would I go again - yes - maybe the Nutcracker!

It was dark when I came out - but a nice early evening. I decided to brisk walk back to Victoria - always get a buzz from striding around in London - feel in the centre of things. The Mall, St James Park, Buck Palace. Dived in for a quick pint in Buckingham Palace Road - very busy pub - £5.40 a pint! I didn't choke on the price - because it was a very good day.

FOOTNOTE - one of my sons made me laugh. He said this account read like a school trip - and a mundane boring one at that!