Bitty was nervous. The performance of Brillo earlier in the day had been a rousing success. However, this was different. For a start, the crowd was mostly high-priced glitterati and they were here to be seen, rather than to see the ballet. The crowd for Brillo had been aficionados, or people out to be entertained. They had been the kind of crowd that performers love. One that they could feed back on, one that helped them reach new heights. And reach new heights they had. Having more than three thousand vocal fans cheering and applauding everything you did had that effect.
Tonight would be different. The glitterati liked to pretend that nothing impressed them. Not even the electric flood lighting that allowed them to find their seats easily as dusk fell. Tonight was unlikely to be a rousing success because the wealthy just didn't respond that way. Success from tonight would be measured by how willing the audience was to be associated with the new ballet. It would be measured in pledges to Mary Simpson's new arts center. And that was another thing. Where was Mary Simpson? She should have been here. Her absence was being noticed, and not in a good way. People were calling her absence a snub of the highest order. If the Lady Admiral didn't consider the premiere performance sufficiently important to attend in person, maybe the ballet was not sociably important. If that perception was allowed to settle, then Bitty's hopes of bringing ballet to the seventeenth century could die in its infancy. Mary had to make an appearance soon, and with a really good excuse for why she missed the premiere.
* * *
The sun had sunk below the horizon and the flood lights had been turned off. Inside the fenced off area for paying customers the audience were chatting to each other. In just a few moments Bitty's company would present its first offering to the wealthy of Magdeburg.
Lady Beth settled as comfortably as she could. Jere sank deeply into his seat, casting an eye around the crowd as if to check that nobody he knew could see him. When sweet reason had failed to persuade her husband to accompany her to the ballet, Lady Beth had been forced to bring out the heavy artillery. Jere had finally agreed to come, but did so with muttered references to horses and water.
She had seen the final dress rehearsal, but having seen the boost the live audience had given the dancers in Bad, Bad Brillo earlier in the day, Lady Beth had high expectations of this evening. However, Bitty had warned Lady Beth not to expect too much. Her experience from up-time being that audiences could be divided into two groups, those that attend to see and be entertained, and those that attend to be seen. The audience for Bad, Bad Brillo had been there to see the ballet. Tonight's audience was mostly here to be seen.
The first chords of Mussorgsky's "Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition" caused the audience to settle. With the last notes of the Promenade, the curtain raised on the first scene. It was a military camp, with Tilly's soldiers and camp followers the night before the big battle. The one that the up-timers called the battle of the Crapper, but which was more correctly called the Battle of Badenburg. The audience was treated to a series of dances performed to Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia" by mostly down-timer dancers. There was a lot of jumping, leaping and thumping of boots in the male-dominated dances. In the background soldiers were drinking, fighting, and getting up close and personal with some of the females. A group of soldiers from Carl's group picked up one of the girls and carried her struggling form off stage. Carl turned to watch, then returned to drinking until he collapsed.
At the end of the scene there was polite applause, nothing like the same scene had garnered in rehearsal, even without costuming. With grudging acceptance that this was going to be a hard audience to please, Lady Beth continued watching. Maybe when the girls went en pointe after the battle scene things would improve.
The second scene was well underway before there was the first hint of interest from the audience. It occurred when Mike Song streaked across the stage in his red costume, the harsh light of the spotlight making him seem to glow. He actually drew a reaction close to awe when he finished each pass by leaping over the falling soldiers. The running jump with full splits, something Bitty insisted on calling a grand jeté, seemed to defy gravity, so long did he seem to stay in the air. Maybe there was hope for this crowd yet.
Finally Casey and the ministering angels entered. There was an attentive silence from the audience while they danced. Whether it was the costuming, or the fact that they were females performing in public, Lady Beth couldn't be sure. She had heard that the strong black Casey was wearing was more difficult to obtain than the whiter-than-white the angels wore. However, both were surely going to be talking points.
* * *
Casey at his side, Carl was finally carried from the stage. The lights faded out and the curtain fell. Then the music stopped. There was some very cultured applause when the dancers lined up to take their bows, then, the curtain falling for the last time, the floodlights in the square flickered on, signaling the end of the fist act. Lady Beth nudged her husband. "Well, Jere? What did you think of that?"
"Not bad. How long is the intermission? Do we have long enough to catch a drink and something to eat?"
Lady Beth sighed with exasperation. "Jere. You're here for the ballet, not to feed your face."
"It was okay, nothing stood out, but then, you were saying that it gets better as it continues." He led Lady Beth to one of the concession stands. "Maybe it'll grow on me."
"Jere." Lady Beth gave her husband a disappointed look. "We'll grab something to eat and drink, then circulate. I want to be able to tell Bitty how the audience reacted. And you—" She looked pointedly him, "If you can't say something good, keep your mouth shut. Understand?"
"Sure thing, Beth."
* * *
Jere was already seated and Mussorgsky's Promenade was playing when Lady Beth returned from having a quick word with Bitty. So far most comments from the audience had concentrated on the costumes and the colors, with a few comments on Mike Song's performance as the machine gun tracer. Lady Beth hadn't heard any negative comments on the music, which was fortunate for Marcus Wendell. It was bad enough that Marcus had been unable to provide the promised live orchestra, but given how he had vetoed a lot of Bitty's suggestions and requests on the grounds that the audience wouldn't like them, Lady Beth didn't like to imagine how Bitty would react if the audience panned the ballet because of the music.
The second act started with a combination of bits from every joyful scene Bitty and her brain trust could remember, set to the overture and a few bits of the pastorale of "Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld." From Don Quixote there was the flirting Basilo making up to all the girls until Kitri marks him as her own. Of course, that had to be Carl and Casey. There were solos by Melanie as a street dancer, and Staci and Alice combining as Casey's two friends. The guys weren't left out. They had sequences culled from various ballets. It was a long scene with mass dancing mixed around the solos. Bitty and her team had chosen to go for the dramatic when they choreographed the scene, cutting out all the "boring" bits, as Joseph called them, and inserting lots of leaps, lifts, and pirouettes.
"What do you think now?" Lady Beth asked Jere in a whisper.
"That high prancing step the girls do is cute. And I like the costumes, especially the way the skirts float when they spin."
"Jere! You're supposed to be watching the dancing, not staring at the girls."
"But that's the most interesting part," Jere protested.
"Shush. The flying scene is next."
The flying scene started with Joe as Jesse Wood and Carl in flying uniform. First Joe would demonstrate a move, and then Carl would follow it. When the intermezzo from Sibelius' Karelia suite started in earnest, Carl literally took to the air. Where the audience had been drawn to acknowledge Mike Song's grand jeté in the previous battle scene, they were spellbound by Carl's solo. Then Joe joined him. Together they really cut loose. The glory and freedom of flight could be seen in the way they danced. The brain trust had been forced to rewrite the sequence several times
when Carl and Joe continually surpassed expectations. The speed of the pirouettes and the astonishing amount of élévation and airtime the two dancers achieved was remarkable.
Lady Beth nudged Jere. "Happy now?"
"How do they stay up so long?" an astonished Jere asked?
"Bitty said it's just an illusion caused by shifting the center of mass."
"That's some illusion."
"Carl claimed it could have been better."
"How could anything be better than that?" Jere asked, gesturing towards the stage with his head.
"Carl suggested that dance could be enhanced if they performed en pointe, but Joe nixed that. I don't think he cares for dancing on his toes."
Lady Beth glanced around the audience. They were quick glances, she really didn't want to miss anything. Seeing the videotaped version of this just wouldn't be the same. The audience, the impossible-to-impress glitterati, was spellbound. Well, not all of them, but enough of them were sitting up and taking notice.
Carl and Casey launched directly into the grand pas de deux when the flying scene finished. Lady Beth had thought that Carl wouldn't be able to maintain the pace, but the first moves of the pas de deux to Smetana's Vltava were a crowd scene, and gave him a little time to catch his breath. And he needed to.
"How does he do that?" Jere whispered. Carl was lifting Casey above his head with one hand again. "He's not that big, and Casey isn't particularly small."
"It's all in the technique, Jere. Just watch and appreciate it."
The curtain fell with Carl and Casey embracing. This time the audience exploded into applause. The curtain was raised and the dancers advanced to the front of the stage to acknowledge the applause, until finally, someone decided enough was enough. The curtain fell and the floodlights came on signaling intermission.
* * *
Lady Beth decided that seeing Bitty to report on crowd feedback on the second act would be redundant. Instead, she continued circulating, making contact with the important guests, asking them how they were enjoying the performance. Most of them, even some of the males, were enthusiastic.
The third act was the final battle scene. The battle of Wismar, where Hans dies. Mussorgsky's Promenade again warned the audience that the curtain would soon rise, and the few stragglers hurried to their seats. The curtain raised to ships of the invasion force moving across the stage. When the enemy warships left the stage it was the turn of the three American motor boats with their rocket batteries to dance around the stage searching for the enemy. This action was repeated a couple of times before the stage was cleared a final time. There was a quick change of scene to the airfield. Carl and Joe were getting ready to leave. Casey kissed Carl goodbye, and then she joined the small crowd to see them take to the air and fly off.
Once in the air, Carl and Joe searched for the enemy and flew toward them. When Carl and Joe left the stage the enemy fleet crossed the stage again, to be followed by the motor boats. Then the special effects guys really earned their money. The first shots fired were rockets that shot across the stage on wires. The audience didn't know how to react. There were explosions off stage and gun smoke drifted on stage from the wings. More rockets were fired, to be met by a volley of cannon fire. Again only the muzzle blast of the cannons appeared on stage. Then a "boat" containing Joseph speed across the stage, tossing Joseph overboard before speeding off stage, to be followed moments later by another explosion. There were a few shocked reactions as clever use of fabric and lighting made it appear that Joseph was shy half a leg. Lady Beth smiled, that was that for the Navy, payment in full for the use of their generator, lights and sound system.
The curtain fell, to rise a few moments later. There were ships stationary in the water. Special effects had some of them "burning." Joe continued to circle at a distance while Carl attacked a Danish "ship." With a graceful grand jeté that took the audience by surprise, such was the élévation he achieved and how long he seemed to float in the air, Carl cleared the ship, only to stumble as he landed on the other side. Lady Beth stifled a gasp. That wasn't how it had gone in rehearsal. She had to admire Carl's quick wits when he took advantage of the stumble to imply he had been hit by gunfire. The wounded Carl then circled the warship. The strong twisting turning jetés that Bitty called "Coupè Jetè en Tourants" that Carl executed put the lie to his deadly injury. But Lady Beth had to agree with Bitty and her fellow choreographers, if opera could get away with the dying heroine singing on forever while dying of consumption, Carl could continue to astonish the audience with his élévation and speed while taking his time to die. But die he must. With one last look towards Joe, and by some amazing coincidence, the audience, Carl launched himself at the enemy ship. This time he timed his grand jeté so that he landed within the "ship." Coming down in full splits, he hit the concealed pad with a loud thud. Immediately the special effects crew let off the fireworks. Under the cover of the cloud of smoke the ship was wheeled from the stage, leaving Joe to dance a solo for the fallen hero.
Then started the penultimate scene. It was a complex arrangement. Casey danced to Sibelius' The Swan of Tuonela from his Lemminkäinen Suite. Lady Beth shuddered as the pure mourning and lament of the English horn solo penetrated. On the stage she could see Joe "landing" and telling Sharon that Hans was lost. There was interplay of horn and cello as Joe and the ministering angels tried to comfort Casey in her grief. The scene lasted all of nine minutes, finishing with Casey dancing to the English horn solo in an almost wistful restatement of the solo theme, answered by the softly surging strings, and the return of the cello solo. The music alone was enough to send a shiver down Lady Beth's spine. Wiping a tear from her eye, she doubted there could be a dry eye in the audience.
Carl returned as the dead hero after a quick costume change. To the strains of a hacked arrangement of the hymn from Sibelius' Finlandia, his spirit danced. The finale was a pas de deux without the partners touching, danced to a rearrangement of Mussorgsky's "The Great Gate of Kiev." The majesty of the music perfectly complemented the grandeur of the dancing. Several times Carl and Casey passed close. But never close enough to touch. While Casey danced as the mourning heroine, the ministering angels danced around her, combining with four young men dressed as pilots. With the new falcons and their partners always between them Casey danced with Carl as her shadow, replicating every step. With the penultimate restatement of the fanfare, the new falcons took to the sky and Casey collapsed, the angels gathering around her, leaving Carl still dancing in the background.
The stage darkened. Only a single narrow spotlight on the mourning Casey lit the stage. Carl was the only person left moving on the stage. The audience could follow him as he circled the stage in a slow coupè jetè en tourants by the ghostly glow of the specially treated white pilot's costume he was wearing. Then the ultra violet lamps that were causing his costume to fluoresce were slowly turned down, causing Carl to gradually fade out. Finally the only light was that on Casey. It stayed on for several beats, before it too faded, leaving the stage pitch black.
There was a moment of silence when the curtain fell. Lady Beth was excited with the way the performance had gone, but that moment of silence seemed to last forever. Then the applause followed. It was something between the unabashed enthusiasm of the morning's audience for Brillo and the polite indifference Bitty had feared. A reasonable compromise, Lady Beth felt, especially for the first performance of a new ballet.
* * *
In the cruel light of the morning Bitty made her way to Hans Richter Square in company with her husband. The first night party had continued well into the early hours of the morning, and with Mary Simpson still not making an appearance, Bitty had been forced to stay until the end. The party had been a success, except when people continued to ask after Mrs. Simpson. But at least Bitty had had an answer to the second most asked question. Lady Ulrike, the princess's governess, had briefed her during intermission at the first showing of Bad, Bad Brillo. The princess had "asked" that Bad, Bad B
rillo be performed. The quiet emphasis Lady Ulrike had put on the word clearly indicated that the request had not been open to negotiation. As a result Bitty was placing responsibility for the performances of Brillo exactly where it belonged, firmly on the slender shoulders of Princess Kristina. In response to the astonishment of the questioners that the princess had ignored the situation in Franconia when asking for the performances, Bitty pointed out that, yes the princess was a princess and as such there were certain expectations. However, when all was said and done, she was still just an eight-year-old girl. One couldn't always expect a young girl, even one as precocious as the princess, to understand the political repercussions.
The smell of cooking food was the first indication that they were close to Hans Richter Square. Bitty had to smile when she cast her gaze over the milling crowds. Surely the king and his courtiers hadn't envisaged this use for their square. There were colorful tents and pavilions spread from one end of the square to the other.
Bitty noticed that Harvey was gently guiding her to one side. She almost asked why, but then she saw what Harvey, with his superior height, had seen. In a sunny corner behind the stalls a group of boys and young men were trying to replicate some of the moves from the ballet. There were some stamping their feet, just like the clogging line, others were attempting to leap and pirouette. Further away a group of girls were trying to pirouette on their toes. Most of the girls had fans just like those used by the dancers. After a moment to take in what they were seeing, Harvey pulled Bitty away. "They would have been embarrassed if they knew you'd seen them, Bitty."
"But they were trying, Harvey. They were interested enough to try. I've never seen that kind of reaction before, not even after we did Nutcracker over Christmas." What she had seen perked Bitty up. She no longer felt the effects of the late night and insufficient sleep. She started to bounce a little.
A Week Later, Duchess Elisabeth Sofie Secondary School for Girls, Magdeburg