I'm almost there.

The past two and a half weeks have been pretty eventful and with so much excitement already behind me, I can barely contain myself for what's still to come!

So, two Fridays ago I went to see Ashley Page's beautiful Scottish Ballet Production of The Nutcracker which I absolutely adored! Definitely a lot different from what I was expecting, but glorious nonetheless. Sticking closely to ETA Hoffman's original story, Page sets this work in 1920s Germany, with sleek, silk gowns and smart dinner jackets. Fantastic! It was so exciting seeing the front of the Stahlbaums' house opening up just like a doll's house. Magical. And just as magical, was the dance of the snowflakes at the end of Act 1 (one of my favourites from this ballet), drifting in through a fractured window after the house's transformation. Another dance I thought was excellent, the Arabian dance in Act 2's divertissement; very sexy and so incredibly powerful -- took my breath away. Dances that I felt let down by, however, where the Russian dance and the Waltz of the Flowers. I don't know, I just expected more from these two. Maybe my expectations where too high (or too traditional, perhaps). But, redeeming features in the Waltz definitely came through in the costumes and also Page's brilliant vision to introduce two male Orchid roles amongst the Courgette flowers and Poppies. And can I just say, the costumes on those two guys were absolutely beautiful! Green tailcoats made to look like long petals (doesn't sound like there's much to them, but they really were amazing!!).

Scottish Ballet The Nutcracker --

(lord knows why Blogger has decided to put an almighty gap before this clip!?)

The very next night, we rallied together our Literature gang for an 'all you can eat' buffet meal in Newcastle's Chinatown before heading to a late screening of Disney's newly-released The Princess and the Frog, both of which were fantastic! Scrumptious lemon chicken and crispy noodles, ribs, duck, sweet and sour pork, plus lots of yummy steamed veg, spring rolls, prawn toast and wan tons. Jesus, I'm salivating just remembering it! So we stacked our plates high for at least three servings, and that was before we'd even spotted the dessert counter! The film went down perfectly afterwards and was exactly the kind of thing I'd needed to lift my spirits, having been confoundingly unhappy for reasons unknown the previous week. If you haven't yet been to see this film, make sure you get to it while it's till on! I assure you, it won't be something you'll regret!! :) I had a beaming smile on my face from the minute the opening music struck up and it lasted right the way through the entire film. There was, of course, the obligatory Disney 'aww' moment of sadness, but the ending certainly was a happy one. One thing that did surprise me, was the amount of mature nuances I found myself laughing at, and I don't just mean the sexual innuendo subtext (but that was funny too!).

Ensue: a very indie gig last Monday night, an attempt to get my friend into bed with the "cute" guitarist, drunken conversations with my lecturer about her past "bad handjob" experiences and an eventual trip to a gay club where the same friend ended up pulling a fit Rah boy in a fur coat. Can you imagine. And having had barely two and a half hour's sleep we somehow managed to gather our courage and face our 9 o'clock lectures together, each one propping the other up alternately as our heads jerked in and out of dozes at the back of lecture theatres for the following seven hours.

On Friday, I finally managed to man up somewhat and drag myself along to the pool with a friend in an attempt to get my rake-like figure more toned (if only marginally). Quite shamefully, I barely managed to do seven lengths before admitting defeat. And so on Saturday, I sat with numb legs in the dizzying heights of the Gallery seats for an excellent performance of Chicago which starred Marti Pellow as Billy Flynn, Easternder's Emma Barton as Roxie Hart and Twinnie-Lee Moore as Velma Kelly. This was the first time I've seen the stage production of Chicago live and it absolutely blew me away! Not only was the singing fantastic, but the dancing was hot, sassy and sinuous. Snaps for Fosse.

Forthcoming excitement:

• PowerPuff Girls dress-up
• Lady GaGa
• Emelie Autumn
• Alice in Wonderland (inc. dress-up!)
• HIM(?)
• The Sleeping Beauty Ballet
• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
• Paloma Faith(?)
• Madina Lake(?)
• AFI
• Jeffree Star
• Wayne McGregor's Random Dance
• Kill Hannah

And that takes us up until about mid-May :) I'll be back again soon; things are becoming a lot more animated these days in all sectors so watch this space! As for tonight, it looks like it's a cup of tea and a large amount of HobNobs for me. Possibly watch The Hours, but I'm still undecided on viewing material.