Bayadère - Personal Leadership on Stage

Yesterday afternoon I read a tweet by István Simon about his second show as Solor with Natalia Sologub as Nikija in Bayadère. Being a "last minute man" going with the flow I tried the very last minute tickets (in my Tevas, just coming back from shopping - which made me feel a bit awkward amongst the people in fine robes) and was lucky (and off I went for changing for trousers and jacket - living just across the street does make that possible ;-)).

Seeing after Coppélia my second story-driven ballet, this time arranged by Aaron S. Watkin,  ballet director of Semperoper. Also this time I knew the main characters in advance and had seen other work of István at the "Inner Voice" played at Albertinum in October last year.

Always stunned by how the humming audience is silenced the moment the announcement for shutting off mobile phones. The start in the story followed a real dramaturgic approach: slow in the beginning, tuning in for the dancers and the orchestra as well. Not sure why I look so sensitively but that is probably what my passion and skill is in general. This helps a lot in understanding the emerging processes in any disciplinary, may it be a production line at an automotive manufacturer, creating a CoWorking space, or just observing the emergence of a new technology within given processes.

Photo: Ian Whalen

István and Natalia (see on left at rehearsal) certainly had some role models in my head that they "compared" to: Jiří Bubeničeck (video interview by New York City Ballet on Facebook) and Yumiko Takeshima, both some of Semperoper's principal dancers. One could clearly see the development over the course of the play that night. In the first act an almost missed grip (at least I had the feeling to sense that) by István caused some "ahs" and "ohs" in the audience. Remembering situations on the field playing Ultimate Frisbee, when someone drops the disc - the real mental strength of people emerges in situations like that. István and Natalia not only managed to get across that situation but improved immensely till the end.

Again it was worth going into the unknown field of ballet - always positive surprises that the Semperoper Ensemble (singers, dancers, orchestra players) provide. THANK YOU ALL!!!

• Good: experiencing the high-level dancing and mental leadership (taking an error in performance as an accelerator for going beyond the possible), standing ovations for the "new" dance pair István and Natalia, the "Kingdom of Shades" with stunning dancers of the ballet ensemble (time could have been definitely longer - it was lovely to watch and analyze the perfection)
• Tricky: some seats are definitely not for tall people like me (how about mentioning the suitable ones on the seat plan?), feeling a bit absurd with bare feet (in Tevas) buying the ticket
• Learned: believe in yourself and go for the best (there is always more than you achieved till today (!))
• Action: taking István's experience (learning from (tiny) mistake at stage performance) for own life. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined" - Henry David Thoreau

PS.: Thanks to Ian Whalen for always being a great source of stunning ballet photographies! Actually he danced yeasterday as well in the corps de ballet.

PPS.: Short video sequence of Natalia Sologub and István Simon in La Bayadère