Dressed for the ballet

The Nutcracker danced by the Russian National Ballet Theatre.

We now have the whole routine sorted. Posh dress, pose on stairs or in front of flowers for photos, swan around the lobby, eat an ice cream, take your places, waft fan vigorously in front of face (it has been 34°c here the last few days and the theatres do not have air conditioning), watch ballet.

At the interval there can be more ice cream eating or (warm) drink consuming (the drinks are never cold!). If you are very brave you can try a "butterbrod" - a piece of (looks very stale) bread topped with smoked salmon (of dubious freshness - as there is no fridge for the drinks I don't really want to think about where they keep the salmon). Particularly lovely I imagine with a glass of (warm) Soviet champagne!

Obligatory visit to see the orchestra, retake places, more wafting of fan, more ballet and then home.

Maria was danced by Elizabeta Lobacheva and the Nutcracker doll by A. Bogrutskiy. Both were excellent.