Georgian National Ballet in Managua

A string of coincidences lead us to bring V to The Teatro Nacional Ruben Dario here in Managua to see the Georgian State National Ballet perform.

Photos courtesy of Russian Music and Videos

The only other time we've been there was via the Norwegian Embassy's invitation to a concert (Piano in A minor) by a guest Norwegian Pianist (apologies as my memory fails me again big time) and the Nicaraguan National Orchestra to commemorate Edvard Grieg's 100th year death anniversary.

We love the performing arts but not enough (I guess) to really pay attention to what's going on in the theater circuit. If we're lucky enough to be informed of some performances we might be interested in, we go. We try to expose V to the various forms of art and its appreciation, but only lately as I have been very careful not to force him too much to it (lest he's not yet ready) as he also might develop abhorrence towards the activity.

The (real) first time was last year in New York where we brought him there precisely for the purpose of exposing him to Museums and Broadway. Although having been slowly exposed by a string of International and Scandinavian schools, it must be more fun visiting museums with your peers than doing the same for longer periods of time with your parents. At the end, we asked him to stand for at least 20 seconds in each piece that catches his attention and tell us what he thinks about it or what he sees. I imagined him counting silently 1..2..3..4.....20 ha-ha. But then after the trip, we found out that the Picasso pieces in general interested him and his favorite museum was The Museum of Natural History and Guggenheim his least. That's a start.

Sometimes our own ignorance (okay, mine) makes us miss some must-sees. V was invited by his music teacher to be a guest performer (recorder) at the Teatro National Ruben Dario this June where he will have a solo number - 'La Mora Limpia'. We accepted the invitation and of course wanted V to be familiar with the Teatro (the stage) where he's going to perform to dispel some of his nervousness. Our opportunity came when we received this email from M:

Dear All

On a good friend's insistence, I was dragged along last night to see the performance of the Georgia National Ballet at the Ruben Dario. And what an amazing experience that turned out to be. I hadn't been exposed to Georgian culture before and didn't really know what to expect. It was a heady mix of folk dance, acrobats and ballet with everything from peasants to princesses and cossacks to ninjas. The music, though simple, was mesmerizing; a 4 piece band consisting of clarinet, 2 accordions and drum evoked flavours of ancient Persia, Byzantium and modern Russia. Similarly the pageantry of costumes traversed Eastern Europe to the Middle East over the last millennium. The visual and audible feast absolutely entranced the audience; the dancers and musicians got a long standing ovation.

The good news is that they are repeating the performance next Tuesday night. Seriously consider going and do take along children - who will equally love it. Be prepared to see sparks flying, whizzing daggers and women in long dresses who float across the stage as if being transported on an invisible pulley.

M

M described it really well, more than I ever could. So folks, the Georgian National Ballet (Although picked up from Youtube, It's exactly the same performance that we saw, only this one has some sort of intro where you can see them practicing), if given the chance, don't miss them perform. A unique experience that our whole family enjoyed, specially V.

An anecdote: When V learned that we are going to a ballet -because that's what it is, after all - I saw him grimace a bit. We reminded him how he enjoyed Billy Elliot....that worked.