      Jacket from Helene Berman | Dress from ASOS      Stills from the Ballet Preljocaj- Snow White, directed by Angelin Preljocaj My first experience watching a ballet in London. Booked it really last minute, so all that was left were random seats nowhere near the stage. It was pretty off-putting, but we decided to go ahead anyway, because the costumes were designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. PLUS it was Snow White, dominatrix style. What's not to miss? It was arresting, right from the beginning, with Snow White's mother withering across the stage in exaggerated pain in a translucent black robe with a very long train. That, with the smoke thick around her feet and the drapes dragging behind her, together with the eerie music by Gustav Mahler, created a haunting mise-en-scene. The wicked stepmother had the lead role, she was a sadistic temptress dressed in spike-heeled, thigh-high boots and a high-cut bustier, and a black skirt with the effect of blood on the hemline. Gaultier says it symbolises her memory, which has some blood. "She is primitive, menacing.” Snow White was a complete opposite. Her innocence is shown through the part Grecian goddess, part diaper costume, which opens on the sides, baring a lot of skin. The drapery wraps between her legs, like a baby’s swaddling. Goosebumps everytime the choreography and music builds up towards the climax. My favourite part was when the 7 dwarves were abseiling down and up and down again off the walls of their 'cottage'. Pretty damn amazing! & the weather has been so good to us in London the past couple of days. Glorious sunshine, temperatures maintained above 15 degrees. Life is sweet. |