Blue tulle, with a side order of man-eating bug...

We had our first "kost/mask/foto" (aka "costume/makeup/photo") run of the final program of the season today, at the Operaen in Christianshavn. This last program is interesting (to me, at least) because it's the M/K Program, running May 20-June 5 at the Operaen. Which means Male/Female. Which means that during the 12 performance run, 6 of the shows feature all- or mostly-male ballets; and the other 6 all- or mostly-female.

For me, this is a heavy program. Of the five ballets on the bill for the ladies, I'm in three: George Balanchine's Serenade; Jerome Robbins' The Cage; and Kim Brandstrup's world premiere Eleidon. While I cannot offer you a preview of the latter, I can offer sneak peeks of the former, thanks to photographer David Amzallag and my fellow corps member Birgitta :)

Without further ado, then, some lovely photographs snapped during Serenade rehearsal by David Amzallag:


Moi, between entrances in our main studio, Malersal.


Just before we "peel off" in succession...I love this moment.


The iconic Serenade pose, apparently inspired when Balanchine saw one of his students shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. Here, up-and-coming corps member (and all around lovely, wonderful person) Hilary Gusweiler (in the beige practice skirt) enters as the Waltz Girl.


Exiting the stage as the Waltz Boy (in this case, new principal Ulrik Birkkjær, not pictured) enters. This is a really nice moment for me--you're leaving the stage, walking into this blue light wearing a blue confection of tulle, with your hair in a French twist, and the music is beautiful, and also you know you've got maybe two minutes offstage to breathe once you hit the wings.

And now for something completely different (but equally enjoyable)...The Cage, in which we portray man-eating, praying mantis sort of bugs. My big, wild hair is a pro (for once!) in this ballet, and I. Love. It. Tak to Birgitta for snapping these post-runthrough goofing around shots in our dressing room today:


This isn't even all of my hair. The hairdressers didn't want to deal with all of it, so they didn't pull the ponytail fully through the elastic.


The detail on these costumes is amazing--kudos to our wardrobe department. We were individually fitted for the front piping and back "spine" work, so that each of those features would fit each person's individual body shape. (Example: So the piping would cover our, well, nipples.)

And now, after a long day at work, I'm having a girls' night in with some of my fellow ballerinas. Takeout and Twilight are in my very near future; I very much look forward to the former, and eagerly await an opportunity to mock the latter :) Happy fredag, København!

PS--Happy Birthday to Tchaikovsky! And a big fat tillykke to Google for promoting ballerina dancing through its logo today :)