Last week in Paris before Asia Tour~

The Paris Opera Ballet is leaving for Singapore this coming Monday. I have been waiting for this Asia Tour for a long time. During the last tour to Japan with the Opera, I was an understudy and didn’t get to perform in Tokyo. However, this time I will be performing in Rudolf Nureyev’s Swan Lake, Forsythe’s Blake Works I, and Crystal Pite’s Seasons Canon, in Singapore and in Shanghai.

In Singapore, we will do a contemporary program with Forsythe, Robbins and Pite, from 21st to 23rd June at the Esplanade Theatre.
In Shanghai, we will perform Swan Lake from 29th June to 1st July and the contemporary program on 4th and 5th July at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

I have never been to these two cities. Nevertheless, from the trilogy Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan gave me insight into the city of Singapore. It appears to be a very orderly small country with a lot to discover. Also, I have been hearing so much about how Shanghai and the rest of China have developed rapidly since the past few years. Naturally, I am every excited to see it with my own eyes.

The Paris Opera is partnering with Le Coq Sportif for this Asia Tour. Apparently, Le Coq Sportif is one of the French pioneers in sportswear. So for the tour, received the an outfit like this, which I am not too fan of… It is for me a very sporty look for the Paris Opera, very much the image of the French national team in the Olympics… Anyway, thank you Le Coq Sportif for supplying our practice clothing.

Now that the degree course is over, I have much more free time and I am not quite used to this extra time yet. On Thursday evening, there was another Marco Polo Club (Cathay Pacific frequent flyers’s Club) event at Musée Maillol at the left bank of Paris. Even though I am not at all a “frequent” Cathay flyer, the director kindly invited me to the reception. We were offered a visit of the temporary exhibition at the museum, showing a part of Emil Bührle‘s painting collection. It was my first exhibition since such a long time and I enjoyed the visit very much, it is indeed a great collection.

At the end of the visit, we were received at the cafe of the museum. What a surprise, the modern chic decorated cafe was full of charm. At first, I was awkwardly sitting at a corner alone, observing, as usual, with a glass of freshly pressed orange juice. But very soon, I started chatting with other people over nice food and drinks, and enjoyed the evening very much.

In these events, we meet different new people. Talking to strangers can always be a challenge at first, especially for me. But if we accept to open ourselves and take the first step to show our interest in others, we let Life to bring us these wonderful encounters. Sometimes, we even meet people with whom we’ll keep a lasting relationship.