How to get to the Dutch National Ballet's Gala

Standard YouTube Licence

Tickets for the Dutch National Ballet's gala on Saturday, 8 Sept 2018 have just gone on sale and they are going like hot cakes.  Last year they sold out well before I got round to buying one.  This year I took no chances and ordered mine as soon as I could get onto the company's website. The tickets are not cheap but remember that there is a lovely party afterwards where you may get a chance to shake hands with such gigastars (if not terastars) as Artur Shesterikov and Sasha Mukhamedov.

I described the 2015 gala in The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2015 and Dutch National Ballet's Opening Night Gala - Improving on Excellence 8 Sept 2018.

So how to get to the gala.   Well it takes place in the Stopera in Amsterdam which doubles as the town hall and the national opera house.  The word "Stopera" is what we trade mark lawyers call a portmanteau combining the words "stadhuis" (or town hall) with "opera".  Be that as it may, the Stopera is in a splendid position overlooking the Amstel river and there is no better way of spending the interval than gazing out over the river. Every seat commands a good view of the stage which is cavernous. I once stood on that stage as part of a birthday treat in 2015 (see Double Dutch Delights 17 Feb 2015).  There is much less of a crush than at the Royal Opera House because the walkways and stairs are broad.   There is plenty of seating for the intervals. It is also a lot easier to get served at the bar than in the West End and you don't need a second mortgage to buy a round.

The Stopera is next door to Waterlooplein tube station which is served by thee lines all of which go to the Central Station.  From there you can get a train to just about anywhere on the continent and even to St Pancras via the channel tunnel nowadays.  It also serves the airport which is a major hub from where you can travel to just about anywhere in the world.

When I am in Amsterdam for business I like to stay at the Radison Blu which is on a street called "Rusland" that I think means "Russia".  It is a short walk from the Stopera.  It is also close to a the Hemelse Modder (literally "Heavenly Mud") which Ted Brandsen once told me is his favourite restaurant and it is certainly mine.   It is important to get a good meal inside you because there is no restaurant in the Stopera.   There is a pub next door but it is not particularly special and service is slow.  I recommend the Heavenly Mud and I have already reserved my table there.

If I am in Amsterdam for leisure I stay at one of the hotels in the Bastion chain. They are very like Travelodges, Fairly cheap and cheerful but not always in the best locations.  Probably the most convenient is at Duivendrecht which is about 6 stops on the underground from Waterlooplein.

To get around Amsterdam you can buy a combined bus, rail, tram, underground and ferry card known as an Amsterdam Travel Ticket starting at €16 for one day and  €21 for the weekend.  Remember to check in and check out every time you use a public transport service.

You can fly to Amsterdam from Leeds with Jet2 or from Liverpool and Manchester with easyJet.  There are probably more services from  London than you can shake a stick at and there is also a through train to Amsterdam from St Pancras.  I am sure there are good connections from Scotland, Newcastle, East Midlands, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff but I have never flown from any of those cities.  There are some excellent bargains from both airlines and Eurostar if you book far enough ahead.

The Dutch National Ballet is one of the most beautiful, friendly, innovative and thrilling companies that I know with some of the world's best dancers.   I do hope you can join me on 8 Sept.

A Day of Superlatives - Dutch National Ballet's Don Quixote

Standard YouTube Licence

Dutch National Ballet Don Quixote 28 Feb 2018 20:00 Music Theatre, Amsterdam

Wednesday was a day of superlatives. I don't think Amsterdam has ever looked lovelier than it did that night in the clear, crisp air with a full moon and the lights of the buildings, street lights and traffic twinkling in partly frozen canals and the river. I don't think I have ever seen a better Don Quixote even though I have seen artists like Isabella Boylston and Marianela Nuñez dance Kitri and Carlos Acosta dance Don Basilio. Above all, I don't think I have ever seen the Dutch National Ballet dance better.

One reason why I enjoyed that show so much was that nearly all the leading rôles were performed by dancers who graduated from Ernst Meisner's Junior Company.   Sho Yamada, who danced Don Basilio, had partnered Michaela DePrince in an extract of Diana and Acteon the first time I saw the Junior Company (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013). Riho Sakamoto was Kitri on Wednesday night. Jessica Xuan, who also joined the Junior Company in 2013, was queen of the Dryads. Yuanyuan Zhang, danced Juanita. Many more of their contemporaries including Cristiano Principato and Thomas van Damme supported them in the show,

Wednesday's show was their opportunity to impress and each of them grabbed it readily.  They danced with exuberance and verve.  Combined with imaginative sets that included a winking moon, costumes for ambulatory cacti and monsters more outlandish than Hieronymus Bosch's, the stage exploded with energy, movement and colour. Don Quixote had never been my favourite ballet because the story is so confusing.  Basically La Fille mal gardée except that it is dad rather than mum pushing daughter into an arranged marriage.  What has that to do with Cervantes? Or cactus men and beaked monsters for that matter?  The answer is "not much but who cares so long as the ballet flows".  Wednesday did flow to Minkus's jaunty score with spectacular choreography such as one armed lifts and daring fish dives. Ratmansky's production helped me understand the ballet and to appreciate it properly.

Yamada danced Don Basilio with style and swagger.  Tall, slender and athletic he commanded the stage.  Sakamoto charmed me with her coquetry and impressed me with her technique, especially with her fouettés in the final act. Though it is probably unfair to single out any artist for special praise, there were captivating performances by Xuan as queen of the Dryads, Suzanna Kaic as Cupid and Zhang as Juanita.  There was fine character dancing from Nicolas Rampaic as the slightly dotty Don Quixote and hilarious clowning by Frans Schraven as his squire.

I have already mentioned the imaginative sets and costumes.  I was not surprised to learn that they had been designed by Jérôme Kaplan who had impressed me several years ago with his designs for David Nixon's Gatsby. I have also mentioned Minkus's jaunty score.  Its interpreter on Wednesday night was Marzio Conti.  As I was seated directly behind the conductor only 5 rows back I experienced the music as he must have done. Perhaps that was yet another reason why I enjoyed the show so much.

Usually I come to Amsterdam for the day arriving on the first flight out of Manchester and returning on the last.  This time I had come to give a talk on patent litigation  at the Radisson Blu hotel in Russia.  Not really Russia, I should explain, but the street where the hotel stands is called "Rusland" which is Dutch for "Russia". On the way back from the theatre I felt transported to Petipa's Russia as I followed the frozen canals with the music resounding in my ears. That is just how I imagine St Petersburg to be.  One day, perhaps, I will find out whether I was right.

Talking of translations, a partner of the Dutch office of a leading international law firm invited me to dinner on Tuesday night at Hemelse Modder which translates as "Heavenly Mud".  The meal was scrumptious. I had croquettes of mussels, fennel and tarragon, lamb stew and a delicious lemon pudding with an excellent German red. I mentioned it on Facebook to which Ted Brandsen commented that it was his favourite restaurant.  I can quite see why.  It is now one of mine.   It is not far from the Music Theatre and I strongly recommend it.