Manon...

Stage Rehearsal...  11am

Yesterday moved swiftly from my first stage rehearsal of Manon in the morning to my premiere performance of the ballet and with the company in the evening.

And after a successful rehearsal in the morning, at 7pm sharp my performance began.......

At the entrance to the stage ready for Act II.

 The hair and make up room is full during the interval before act III, with all the girls making ourselves down.....  The lavish makeup of act II (the photo above) is stripped off, our hair taken down and put under the cap, to look chopped and messy.  We cover our face and bodies with the dark make up and below is my final 'look'!!!  

Preparing myself for ACT III

and waiting back stage for my entrance...

The End......

and then it's all over......

The theatre has a lovely tradition that if you are receiving flowers from someone then they will be brought to you onstage in your final curtain call.....  I was touched to receive flowers and (lots) of chocolate and gifts as Toi, Toi's (good luck) gestures from my fellow colleagues.

And now time to get all of that hairspray out of my hair!!!!

With my premiere now complete, I hope to get back on with filling my CharlieHearts blog.  Though I know everyone understands how hectic these last few weeks have been and I appreciate the support I have received through my blog and FACEBOOK PAGE.  If you enjoy the blog please follow the page, it's always nice to meet the readers of CharlieHearts....

And for now a happy Sunday and a little rest, ready for Swan Lake next week :)

Love Charlie

xxx

Born To Golf!

After a trip to the osteopath to sort out my ballerina back, I went to 'recupperate' at the golf club with my Dad.   Him being a professional golfer, I clearly very much take after him..... not in the golf sense of course, but in a motivated and ambitious kind of way.  I admire the way, that he still loves to play something that has being a good part of his whole life so far, clearly still enjoys it, is very good at what he does and yet still strives to be better and improve his game. 

I certainly picked the best few days to visit home, as the weather is oddly wonderful!!!  The sun is shining gloriously and everyone carries a warm glow with them after being kissed by such beautiful days.

With all my packed, busy days at the moment I only just realised that CharlieHearts was featured as Editors picks on BLOGGERS.  So a huge thanks to all who voted, I was extremely honoured to have CharlieHearts recogonised in such a way :)

Keep reading and if you enjoy the blog, take a second to follow our FACEBOOK PAGE.

Sweet Dreams to all

Love

Charlie

xxx

White Knuckles!

With a few days free from work I took the opportunity to come to England to see my family and friends!

So here I am, in the wonderful surroundings that are so familiar to me and my childhood and always give me such a happy feeling!

Of course I can't visit home and ignore the shops. so today I raced around town like a woman possessed!  After a frantic shop, I had an evening with my family, including my younger brother who was proud to show off his new beloved toy - QuadZilla!  And yes, we took it for a spin and returned home wind swept and white knuckled....... :D

And tomorrow I'll spend the morning with one of my dearest friends and the afternoon at the osteopath!!!

It feels so good to be in England......!!!!

Love Charlie

Dancing and Decorating

For those of you who follow the CharlieHearts Facebook Page, you'll already know that finally last Friday we got the keys to our new home!  It needs some tweaks here and there and definitely a lick of paint, but I just know that when it's ready it's going to be a cosy kind of place.  The problem with me is that I have very little patience for these types of things and I just want it to be done already and ready to move in to!!!

So, thus the lack of CharlieHearts blog these last few days, as we were busy painting and decorating, I of course ending up with more on myself than the walls!

Today, we had our first stage rehearsal of 2nd Symphony and it made a nice change to be out of the studio and 2 floors down on to the stage.  Plus, I adore this ballet........

After all the dancing and decorating of today I'll bid you goodnight and fall into my bed!

Sweet Dreams

Love Charlie

xxx

My Fake Sunday...

Mondays are now my official day off, 'my fake Sundays'.  But in my world, a 'free' day is never a 'free' day!!

 At first it seemed weird to tootle off to work on a Sunday morning as any other normal work day.  Curtains still tightly drawn as people enjoy their Sunday morning lie in, an empty bus ride to arrive to a peaceful atmosphere circulating the theatre and the nearby shopping mall.  

  Even though I'm settling well into my new surroundings, I'm still at that point of having a long list of things to sort and as you can imagine, we are so busy at the theatre that this so called list of mine doesn't seem to diminish very quickly!  But as I figured today, a Monday is a very useful free day and three of my very important 'to do's' got sorted..... well 2 and a half....... as for the other 'half' I'm desperately keeping everything crossed for that to be sorted tomorrow.........

Days off are also super special now that I have my mini me in my life.   To whom today, dragged her new love, her Lotte doll, around the whole of the city and learnt about conkers!!!  How incredible the feeling is to show the world to somebody so small and how they enjoy such precious little moments.

And tomorrow 'Manon' begins :)

I hope you all had a happy Monday.

Love

Charlie

xxx

Inside Out

Today we couldn't have wished for nicer weather as the theatre moved outside for the afternoon.  The sun shone brightly on the makeshift beach complete with palm trees that sat proudly outside the Opera House....... and ohhhhh almost for a second I thought we were back in Portugal!!!!

Today was the Estonian National Opera's Theatre Fair.  With opera, orchestra and dance demonstrations, plenty of entertainment and many characters from the ballet's repertoire milling around the crowds, it was a successful day for all.  The queue stretched outside the box office door (a chance to purchase 50% discount tickets) and around the back of the theatre, stalls were set out selling authentic costumes and props from the theatre's many productions.  I think it's such a great idea for the general public to have a glimpse of the theatre life, and judging by the swarms of people swirling around our giant opera house it went down a storm :)  

So, tomorrow is our day off :) and for now I'm ready for my beauty sleep!!!

Sweet Dreams

Love Charlie xxx

Kolm Musketäri...

I've always loved to be in a theatre, to be backstage amongst the buzz of so many artists.  The smells are so familiar to me and instantly bring back memories of my first experiences of being a part of a theatre when I was young.  

Tonight we had a performance of the Three Musketeers (Kolm Musketäri), thus the nature of the costume theme!   Choreographed by David Nixon of Northern Ballet. 

I'll let the photos do the talking, to stop me from rambling in my over tired manner!!!

Sweet Dreams

Love Charlie

xxx

Sunny, Sushi ...

After working a seven day week busy with training and rehearsals, finally Monday arrived and greeted us as a very sunny, warm day off.  After mooching around at home in the morning, we had decided in the afternoon to check out our local sushi bar as a treat for dinner.  

Wandering through the local streets on a 'scenic route' to the shopping mall,  I finally felt as though I had time to take in my new surroundings, other than inside of the Opera House and studios!

The weather seems to be pretty unpredictable at the moment, but today I certainly welcomed to be free of my jacket and let my arms enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Oh and for the record, the sushi was delicious!!! :)

Love Charlie

xxx