Last morning to lie in a bit, we took a more leisurely breakfast before hubby went to a meeting and I worked from our room. Annoying issues back home don't go away and I have plenty of challenges keeping the good ship Northern Ballet afloat technology-wise no matter where I am in the world. Liaising with my assistant David over the latest issue is pretty much 24/7 and his good temperament hugely appreciated.
Later we dress for the cold and head off to NCPA to meet Mr Young, our Chinese promoter. We drive to the world-famous Peking Duck restaurant for lunch, which is quite a challenge with parking at a premium - it takes longer than if we had walked, but there's plenty to talk about on the way. Mr Young mentioned that he had only last summer met with Jon Olly, our tragically killed colleague, and we share our memories of him.
The Peking Duck here is somewhat better than the one I described a few days ago, indeed the entire lunch is delightful. Afterwards we considered walking to the Temple of Heaven but in the end we wandered across T-Square and towards the old US embassy before accidentally discovering the old railway station, now a pseudo-plaza which for all the world looks like Main St USA, if you've ever been to Disney you will know precisely what I mean - only the writing separates truth from fantasy. It is interesting nevertheless and we conclude by procuring cakes from Starbucks for later.
Our journey home is via a nearby hutong. You will have seen me mention these in passing, so here's the low-down. They are the traditional living areas of ordinary people. Not dissimilar to the townshikkps in Africa, these areas are high-density low-rise dwellings, often with only very basic facilities where entire families might live together, three, four or more generations sharing a handful of rooms. I remember in 2000 visiting a family but we've not done a formal visit since then. We walk along the main road through the hutong, passing shops, a modest hotel, bars, eateries and communal toilets & baths and even a small opera-house.
A spot more work now as Leeds is waking up and there's a massive influx of emails for us both to deal with. Then it's afternoon tea before changing yet again, for the last time. We head back to NCPA as we have a small presentation planned for the 'half' - 35 minutes before the show starts. Hubby addresses the assembled company on stage and invites Mr Young to join us, he presents him with a lovely photo of the production, the garden scene at Gatsby's mansion. Mr Young is a very proud man, and he reminisces about our 16 year association, spanning six productions and visits in that time. There are only four of us who have attended every one - Hubby, Mikhaila in wardrobe, dancer Hiro and me.
The last performance is once again a sell-out. We believe we have played to 10200 over the five performances, an extremely satisfying result and something to be very pleased with. Tonight's audience is the first that applauded during the show, right after tango. They were also more appreciative during the curtain call. It's quite a dilemma because we accept that cultures are different yet the classic Asian reserve leaves one wondering if we are actually being enjoyed. Tonight was less of a guess that on the previous nights.
We are required to bring back two dozen morning suits as these are required for Swan Lake. We are very careful with our money and often use the same costumes in multiple productions - so hubby and I are coming back with two additional suitcases containing the above plus a whole bunch of other bits and pieces we urgently need, making the most of our generous baggage allowance. Wardrobe plan to deliver them to us during dinner. Talking of which when we arrive at the hotel they cheerfully inform us that the restaurant is closed. This is despite the agreement we have with the hotel to remain open late to feed us. A minor debate ensues but they capitulate easily for a change although only the room-service menu is offered, we're happy to choose from that rather than starve.
We later learn that Mikhaila and her team have had big problems with the NCPA staff trying to lock all the dressing room doors whilst they were still working, so not only were they harassed but also delayed. Finally the suitcases arrived around midnight whilst hubby was packing our own cases. I remain awake to finish our second bottle and do FB updates before retiring.
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