Berlin - class with Staatsballett Berlin and "Schwanensee"

1t was the 1st of January 2012 at midday and I was on the train for 6 hour trip to Berlin. I love travelling by trains here. I learnt after my first trip from Paris to Amsterdam that I don't need to be at the train station till half an hour before the departure time. You just turn up at the station, find the platform and get on the train. Once you at in Europe there is no passport checks to go to another country within Europe. It's so easy and its a great way to see more of the country as you travel through towns and countryside to your next destination. 
I arrived in Berlin in the evening and I was instantly in love with Berlin. I stayed at a great hotel in Charlottenburg which is the area that the Deutsche Oper Berlin theatre is situated. 
The metro system here took a bit to get used to because they have U bahn ( undreground) and s-bahn ( normal trains) and many different lines but once I got the hang of it, it was so easy and quick to get around Berlin. 
The next morning I had class with Staatsballet Berlin at Deutsche Oper Berlin which was only one stop on the metro. I arrived at stage door at 9. 45am as it was a 10 30 am class and met Leslie who showed me up to the studio. She said there wouldn't be many dancers in class because they had a class the night before and had a class that night. I thought that would be more reason to do class but in the class there was only about 15 dancers, most of which were soloists and principals so maybe the had rehearsals during the day and that is why they did the morning and then maybe there was an evening class for those who just had the show.
The director of Staatsballet Berlin is Vaslav Malakhov and I had heard that as well as being director he was also still a Soloisten ( principal) dancer with the company ( he is now in his mid 40's) so I wasn't surprised to see him turn up at class. He warmed up in his zebra print warm up gear and joked around with the other dancers who all seemed to be speaking Russian. At 10 30 there still didn't seem to be a teacher but then Malakhov got up and set the warm up exercise. So not only was he doing class but he was also teaching class! 
I really enjoyed this class. It was quite a relaxed class, mainly I think because there wasn't really anyone watching the class but Malakhov set some really good exercises. It was a huge studio and the floor was really good ( no 
noisy pointe shoes) and I really enjoyed the style of the class and watching the dancers of the company. Malakhov is a funny man and was still in pretty good shape. As I said before there were quite a few Russians in the company and there was one girl Ekaterina Krysanova who was very good. 

After class I went into the Mitte area of Berlin which is the city centre area. It wasnt great weather but it didn't stop mean from walking around, doing a bit of shopping and sightseeing and trying out a couple of cafes. The food is really good here. Generous servings, great quality and decent prices. I also made it out to East Side Gallery which is a 1.2pm stretch of some of the remaining Berlin Wall. It still cant comprehend that the Berlin wall didn't come down till only just over 20 years around in 1989 ( I think) 

That night I saw the Staatsballett Berlin do Schwanensee (swan lake) at the Deutshe Oper Berlin. I was supposed to meet up with my friend before the show for dinner but due to difficulties with phones that never happened so I just went to the restaurant at the theatre. When I walked in, I saw that there was one part of the restaurant that looked a bit fancy then behind that was what looked more like a buffet/ caffeteria so I decided to get food from there. I ordered my food and paid, I think the lady asked me if I was with the ballet company and I said no but she was speaking in German so could of been asking me something completely different. then looking around I realized that there were dancers sitting at the tables with make up and hair done for the show and I got a couple of strange looks, so I think I was in the dancers green room/ cafe. There were normal people on there too but I think they worked in the theatre. So I don't think I was supposed to be in there but no one told me to leave so it was fine. 
This was a traditional swan lake with choreography by Patrice Bart after Petipa and iwanov. It was the full length but in 2 long acts instead of the normal act 1, act 2 and then act 3 and 4 with a pause between. 
The principal dancers were Ekaterina Krysanova ( Odette/Odile), and Dinu Tamazlacaru. I had a great seat in the third row from the front and right in the centre. The only thing about sitting so close was that I could see all the faces of the swans and it looked like a few of them were very tired/ a bit over it, which I can understand as I have done long seasons of Swan Lake and other similar ballets where there is a lot of standing on the side but it was interesting to see that it is noticeable from the front. Apart from that little detail, the dancing, lines and patterns by the corps swans was faultless. There were 18 corps swans, 4 Cygnets and 4 big swans and then of course Odette.
Ekaterina was beautiful. She had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction in the act 2 pas de deux. The front side of her tutu bodice must of come apart a bit and as the pas de deux went on the tear got bigger, until by the end of the pas the whole seam had come apart and she had gaping hole in her tutu. She went off and then there was the cygnet and big swan dances and when she came on for her solo it seemed to be fixed but then it started to come apart again. She was very professional about it and it didn't seem to affect her dancing at all. I was just distracted as I was worried that the prince would get his turns caught in the hole when he was partnering her in turns, but they had no troubles and still danced a superb pas de deux.
She was even more amazing as Odile and did some fantastic fouettes in the act 3 coda. She is very tiny but super strong.
I have to mention that the boys in this company were great too. They had some great group dancers in act 1 and 3 with lots of turns, jumps and double tours. There were a couple of parts in the story that I was a bit confused and I would of like to have been able to read the synopsis ( it was in German) but overall it was an amazing production and a very talented company.
I loved this company and the city and hope I get a chance to return here in the near future.