Quality Wilis

 

Giselle is a ballet that only succeeds because of the quality of its wilis ( pronounced willies) 

The first act is a so-so bit of storytelling, with Giselle falling for a betrothed duke and dying from a weak heart and an insane mind, but only in the second act do things ramp up a notch with the ghost of Giselle joining the forest ghosts of spurned virgins who have died before marriage, namely the Wilis.

The power of the second act is the way that the corps de ballet ( maybe 30 women) dance as one entity

And the National Ballet of Japan had precision in bucket loads

They were breathtaking and all rather menacing 

I almost laughed when two Wilis hurled the huntsman into the river to drown, such was the gasp from the audience. 

They were two Wilis that could hold their own in a pub fight

I’m on the 5 pm train home

Happy that I made the effort to go to London for the day

Curtain Call for "Giselle" 🩰 UK Debut of Japan’s National Ballet 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 国...

I was in two minds about going to London today 

I’m not quite in the mood. 

But a long conversation with my Sheffield friend John changed my mind

He more or less said “ For fuck’s sake go”

My friends have come up trumps recently

Trendy Carol’s hubby had already asked if he could take the dogs today ( he misses them when I’m on holiday) so I’ve got a cheap ticket to London with my railcard and I’m off to the Opera House 

I will report on the quality of the willies later

A hand

 Mary has the phantom pregnancy mooches today, hence the towels… Roger is putting up the drama with his usual alacrity. 

Weaver has been braving the lane traffic with her usual bad temper and Bun is sitting in the sun looking pleased with herself. 

I’m glad I’m on holiday still

The other morning , I made myself useful and took kelda and her cats to the vets. In turn Kelda made the Flower Show video, quid  pro quo 

As I waited for the cat boxes to be loaded up, I spied a villager leaving his house for work. He stopped short, surprised to see me there, then waved and walked over.

He’d obviously heard of my possible redundancy worries and gave me one of those understanding supportive faces people do when faced with someone else’s bad luck.

And quite spontaneously held out his hand and held mine for a while, in a sudden gesture that quite moved me.

It’s these little things that get you through the day

The Show

 The first of two promotional videos arrived this morning thanks to villager Kelda.

Shut Up and Dance | Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles | June 2025

Feel brighter today. The official Trelawnyd Flower Show promotional video should be out later but in the interim enjoy these two videos

The first is just a joyous song

The second is just………joyous……

Big Breaths

 I’m feeling somewhat overwhelmed today.

I can do , only what I have done and plans are afoot,

I know this.

But things are now feel out of my control and I have been transported back to that horrible day when my husband left, and I saw no meaningful future in this world.

Only now I am 7 years older

In a week or so the hospice will have a list of those staff who are taking voluntary redundancy 

If there is a shortfall they further redundancies will be made

I cannot afford to keep my home without a job 

I’m not sleeping well because of it all.

At least my arm is improving.

The art of saying nothing

 Tact is the art of saying nothing, when there is nothing you can say. 

So many people cannot cope with this skill

It doesn’t feature in their arsenal 

Some need to either fill a void with a platitude,or emoji or prove to themselves they are worthy by trying to say the right thing.

Invariably they make things worse by failing to reading the room, or by not seeing the bigger picture.

Silence is part of counselling culture and training.

It allows a look to convey concern or empathy or just acceptance 

It gives space, and allows pain to be shared without heavy handed words and meaningless phrases

Silence is ancient 

It is powerful 

And it is not used enough 

Coldplay

 The concert that outed that CEO affair is still out in the news

The lisping choir’s version is here

They have kept me afloat