![\"photo\"](\"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/photo.jpg\")
<\/a>“High Tea” at the Raffles Hotel in Beijing. L to R: Dani (secondary principal, Australian), Kyra (US), Arvis (Kyra’s husband, Latvian). not pictured: Antony (curriculum, Greece)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>This dress was on display at the Raffles, along with several others as part of a display by the designer.<\/p><\/div>\n
After dinner, the drivers picked us up and dropped us at \u201cThe Egg\u201d.\u00a0 Our seats are really on the 10<\/span>th<\/sup> row, center section, and we can hear and see very well.\u00a0 The orchestra is tremendous, much better than the orchestra for \u201cSwan Lake\u201d we attended in January.\u00a0 The singers are really good.\u00a0 They\u2019re singing the Italian, and a translation is projected overhead in English, and on the sides in Chinese.<\/span><\/p>\n The set was a technical wonder and had us talking during each intermission about how and why it was done.\u00a0 There was a tilted scrim at the back of the stage.\u00a0 The floor was covered with matte paintings that were pulled off the stage as the scene changed.\u00a0 There was a camera above the floor, and the camera view of the floor was rear-projected onto the scrim from the back, to serve as the backdrop.\u00a0 For me, it was confusing because as the stage filled with singers, we were viewing them from the front (as usual), and also a top view of them walking around was projected onto the back.\u00a0 There\u2019s probably no way this description make sense.\u00a0 Even sitting in the hall, it took us some time to figure out how they were doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n The most serious problem occurred during the finale when the camera and scrim were tilted to include the pit orchestra, and then the audience.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take long before people were waving at themselves and taking pictures, which were of course, flashing right back into all our eyes.\u00a0 The musical moment at the end was lost because of all the visual distraction. \u00a0\u00a0Even with that, it was a fun evening, and we came away visually and musically stimulated.<\/p>\n This is during the bows at the end of the show. Behind the performers you can see the scrim with the projection showing the back of the performers, the orchestra, and then the audience. The lights are from camera flashes.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019re excited about today!\u00a0 We\u2019re going to the NCPA (National Center for the Performing Arts), or \u201cThe Egg\u201d, for a performance of Verdi\u2019s \u201cLa Traviata.\u201d\u00a0 It was organized by Judy\u2019s principal at BISS, Kyra. There are six of us attending.\u00a0 … Continue reading <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>