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| Astana Opera and Ballet Theater in September |
One of the blessings of living in a capital is that all
sorts of cultural events are at the tips of our fingers. The city has a number
of museums, galleries, theaters, and concert halls. On December 27 we took our
family to the infamous Astana Opera and Ballet Theater to see the Nutcracker.
This new Theater was built in 2013 and is grand and beautiful! The
building itself is 64,000 square meters. Of these, about 3,000 square meters is
the stage area. If I am not mistaken there are 4 levels in the theater (6
levels inside the stage area), and right above the main opera and ballet stage is a separate chamber music hall. We went there at the beginning of
January to see Peter and the Wolf.
When we lived in Iowa I took the two older girls to see
Nutcracker. That was a performance done by the local ballet school. They did a
wonderful job, and we had a great time. But ever since that outing I wanted to
take my girls to a professional ballet. Living here in Astana gave us that
wonderful opportunity at a very affordable price (the best seats were going for
about $40, the cheapest were about $3)
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| In front of Astana Opera and Ballet Theater - going to see the Nutcracker. |
When we first walked into Astana Opera House, our first
impression was that we’re standing in the middle of grand palace. Some of the
ladies were wearing formal evening gowns and some men were in tuxedos, though
they were the minority. Everybody else was dressed very nicely but more casually. Our girls
decided to wear their fancy dresses and they looked like they totally belonged
there!
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| The girls changing their shoes. |
Since it was Christmas/New Year’s season, in the middle
of the hall stood a big and beautiful Christmas Tree! Around New Year they
hold Novogodniye Utrenniki (New Year Celebrations for children) in there just
as in all of the other theaters, concert halls and entertainments centers
around the city.
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| The big Christmas Tree in the entrance hall |
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| Our family in the entrance hall. I guess Lexa wasn't ready for the picture! |
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| Now we are ready for the picture! |
When I bought our tickets I decided to get one of the
bell-etage private sections. They had a section with 7 seats in it. There were
six of us plus my mom who was visiting us from Krasnoyarsk, just perfect! We
had a good view, and the kids loved being up high (we were only on the second
level but to them it felt up high).
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| Here is our little private corner. |
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| The view of the stage and the orchestra pit from our seats. |
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| Isn't it beautiful!? There were no empty seats by the time the ballet started. |
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The twins watching the people from their little "nest"
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| A scene from the Nutcracker |
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| Another scene from the Nutcracker |
The ballet performance was outstanding! The decorations
were beautiful! And the music was magical! Spencer was fascinated by the orchestra
down in the orchestra pit and was probably watching them more than the
performance itself. But the rest of us had our eyes glued to the stage.
During the 20 min intermission I took the girls to the main hall, and they
spent the whole time twirling and jumping like ballerinas there.
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| Showing off their ballet moves! |
All in all we had a wonderful time!
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| These two dancers were amazing! |
A couple of weeks later my mom and I took the girls to
see Peter and the Wolf which was a wonderful experience as well. Peter and the
Wolf was written by Prokofiev to teach kids about symphony and the
instruments that play in symphony. This time we went to the chamber music hall
on the top level of the theater. We also discovered a little museum of
costumes that were used in different performances.
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| Second level of the theater. |
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| The ceiling in the chamber music hall |
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| The museum of costumes used in some of the performances by famous opera singers and ballet dancers. |
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| One of the dresses in the museum |
We are looking forward to visiting this beautiful place
again!
