Walking through the doors at The Royal Opera House is always a butterflies-in-the-stomach moment for me. So much anticipation, it always feels like it will be a special night and as I wait in the foyer to meet family or friends, I’m looking for them through crowds, wonderful crowds of people all dressed up for their night out.
To be honest, I’m also people-watching while I wait, because there’s always something or someone interesting to look at. So I look, and I watch, and I wait for my special people to arrive. This place is also special. It’s a marker for some of the key relationships in my life. In these red velvet seats from the amphitheater to the stalls, I’ve experienced transcendent moments with those I’m closest to.
Hearing Domingo singing Divalcura next to my Dad, our love of opera giving us a place we can meet and communicate. At The Magic Flute with my Sister. An evening of escape, when she was going through a particularly tough time. Or watching flowing beautiful ballet with my best friends, together transfixed by the movement, power and elegance of the dancers. Together with the people I love, I’ve experienced art that has made us laugh, smile and shed tears.
There is, for me, nowhere better to experience the beauty and power of music and dance. The whole place is like a magical jewel box, alive with light, people, drama and artistry. I love it because it’s a place where the extraordinary is par for the course.
I love it because it’s where the pleasure to be found in art and supremely talented performers brings you, brings me to a place of human experience. which is hard to put into words, so far is it beyond the day-to-day.
When I was well, I lived for the moments when I could sit in this building and watch and listen. Perhaps what was most special was that this is not a lonely but a collective experience. In the dark on my velvet seat, I’m one of hundreds, perhaps thousands of human souls, sharing a moment of great beauty that will never be repeated in exactly this way. Here, in this auditorium, I feel part of something beyond me, something bigger, and I feel alive.
