Opéra Garnier
Last Wednesday,I was lucky enough to be able to get cheap last minute tickets for Teshigawara / Lagraa / Kylián, contemporary ballet pieces by Les Étoiles dancers staged in the famous Opéra Garnier de Paris, which the story of the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux and the world famous musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber is based on. The experience was extraordinary, very bourgeois, very cultured snob. The pieces, as I said, contemporary, thus were fresh, powerful and seductive. Especially in the third part of the show (Bella Figura), where the dancers were topless, (both male and female) in cascading crimson skirts, was ravishing and received an extended standing ovation. I loved it, but RV, being the square geeky old school guy, liked the ambience, but not the show. Here are some
Taken in the salon during Intermission
The bohemian amidst the BCBG (bourgeoises)
Outside on the terrace
The ornate decor in the Opéra
Taken on one of the many stairs in the Opéra, flanking an archaic elevator
As I am holding a cheap ticket, I am way up on the summit of Mont Blanc
RV and I happily in our seats, witth a typically Parisian woman giving the tête à claque(slap inviting face) grimace although she's also having a cheap seat way on top of Mont Blanc. This is a living attestation that snobishness is not reserved only for the rich.
The 'scene' or the stage where the magic happens.
The great thing about horrible seats way above is that you get a very close up view of the famous ceiling painted by Russian-born French painter, Marc Chagall in 1963, famous for his frivolous, poetic and dreamy style.
As you can see, it's written reduced visibility, on the forth tier/ level on the side... even so, it was fabulous!!!