On our way through Covent garden we found many dance shops, where we peeked in windows at pretty, satin pointe shoes. As well as admiring shoes we found the statue by Enzo Plazzotta called The Young Dancer.
The Royal Opera House is very grand, but currently the front is covered in swathes of plastic sheeting and fenced off as they are doing a huge building project to open the space up to the public. We did admire the flags flying though and the grand staircase, built to accommodate ladies wearing extremely full dresses.
We took the Backstage Tour and our guide was really excellent. There is no photography allowed on the tour, but we will remember it very well. We started in the auditorium, where we heard a brief history of the site (there have been three theatres built here, the first two burned down) and watched as the stage was reset from morning rehearsals to being ready for an evening performance. The stage is rarely left empty as so many people need to use the space, checking sets and props, practice for both ballet and opera and so on.
We moved on upstairs and were treated to a view of dancers rehearsing in a purpose built studio. They were preparing for the production Woolf Works by Wayne McGregor. At this point we also watched some videos about how pointe shoes are produced and the logistics of bringing sets from Purfleet to Covent Garden.
we had a brief stop in the costume workshop, where regular maintenance is performed on costumes and the principles have their fittings. We spotted one of the mouse masks from The Nutcracker!
All too soon our visit was over, but we will be sure to be back next year to enjoy the new public space downstairs.
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