I screwed up...

Today I made a mistake and one of the festival volunteers was angry at me! Luckily it was all in good spirit.

I found out that Perm has the second-best ballet school in Russia, and wanted to see a performance. Works out that today there was a gala evening because of the opening of the season! So, I enquired with one of the festival staff a few days ago, but his speciality is not ballet but rather topless bars, and so he didn't get back to me. With the evening nearing, I asked another person. She asked someone else, and before I knew it (my intention was to go with two other directors I have befriended), they made a general announcement during one of the screenings that there was a ballet visit planned at the opera house, causing a general rush to the sign-up list during the credits of the then playing film.

BUT, the festival (or the Russians?) feel a constant need to keep us busy every minute of the day, and are incredibly hospitable, and had already planned for a visit to the local art galary and a freezing cold boat tour in the river.

A few hours later, the person trying to coordinate the social program tells me I have given her a headache and everyone wants to go to the ballet and the boat tour may have to be canceled... She was smiling, so no problem, but she was also stressed because things didn't go as planned which seems to be the worse thing which can happen here I think.

We did end up going to the ballet, and as it was opening of the season, there was a little bit of everything. It was SOOOOO beautiful. It almost made me cry! There was some opera (choral and solo), a beautiful orchestra, ballet in couples and, to top it off after the break, a short classical piece (45 mins) with more than 20 dancers of what I believe was Tchaikovsky. All in all we were off the street from 19 to 22 hrs, and it beat everything. I cannot describe it. Of course, in good old Russian fashion, instead of me and my friends going, finding our way and paying for our own tickets, the festival director called the mayor, who called the governor, who called Putin, who called the minister of culture, who callled the director of the opera house, who called the ticket office and we had free seats in the third row. Perfect!

Still no pictures. It's a bit of a nightmare, but I trust that tomorrow I can post all of them at the same time. Tomorrow is the award ceremony and the end-of-fest-party, so I have to sleep now... (we all leave on the same flght the next day: at 6 o'clock, which means we leave from the hotel at 3 o'clock... AM!)

Take care.
Koen x