Again three short ballets, this time called Triple Bill (in Finnish puzzlingly Tripla as the new Mall of Tripla is soon to be opened in Pasila district), with ballets by Wayne McGregor, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

McCregor's Infra to music by Max Richter was to my liking the most interesting, although not having read the introduction I apparently saw it in a wrong way: not as life under the surface of the city, but as the usual relationship mess on the surface of earth, and Julian Opie's walking figures of light more like transcendent reflections, thus more Supra than Infra.

Balanchine's Serenade to Tchaikovsky’s music I liked better than I had expected. I must have seen it before as it was last performed here in 2004, but I have no memory of it, which is not surprising as I see Balanchine as empty but pretty form.

Last but not least The Concert by Robbins to music by Frédéric Chopin. I don't think I have ever heard ballet audience laugh out loud, and it was indeed a funny parody of a concert in 1950s. The types of people depicted there are, however, extinct, and so there was a faint whiff of mists of time over it all, like classic slapstick comedy: one laughs but it doesn't really touch.

The house was almost full, which is not common with these triple bills at the National Ballet, and the audience was pleased with what they saw, to judge by the applause.

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The prices at the restaurant have changed: a glass of red or white wine is now 11,50€, while sparkling wine is 8,50€ and champagne 12€ as before.