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Not long now before Ballet West's tour of Scotland. Once again they are dancing The Nutcracker. They danced that ballet at Pitlochry the first time I ever saw them. My review of their performance is my very first post. I am very grateful to Ballet West for allowing me to attend class with their undergraduates earlier this year (see Visiting Taynuilt 4 May 2018).
As usual they will begin their tour in Oban on 26 Jan 2019. They will proceed to Stirling on 2 Feb, Dundee on 5 Feb, Livingston on 7 Feb, Glasgow on 9 Feb, Greenock on 15 Feb and Edinburgh on 22 Feb. Dundee is a new venue. They will perform at the Gardyne Theatre which is a new auditorium on the campus of Dundee and Angus College along the way to Broughty Ferry. I know it well.
I think that is where I shall see the show because it is not far from my alma mater (see Thoughts on St Andrew's Day 1 Dec 2016). The performance in Dundee takes place on a Tuesday. With any luck I can resume my old place at the barre in the beginners' class at the St Andrews Dance Club some 50 years after I learned my first plié. According to the Club's Facebook page, that class meets in the town hall at 14:00 on Wednesdays.
In Thoughts on St Andrew's Day, I quoted Andrew Laing's atmospheric first verse of his Almae Matres. That poem never fails to cheer me up when I miss Scotland. Dundee also has a bard in William Topaz McGonogall. You may be amused by one of his poems:
"Oh, Bonnie Dundee! I will sing in thy praiseBoth of those buildings remain though the Albert Institute is now known as "The McManus".
A few but true simple lays,
Regarding some of your beauties of the present day
And virtually speaking, there’s none can them gainsay;
There’s no other town I know of with you can compare
For spinning mills and lasses fair,
And for stately buildings there’s none can excel
The beautiful Albert Institute or the Queen’s Hotel."
I digress. Wherever you see the show it will delight you. Especially the Mother Ginger divertissement.
