(Multi)cultural London

There are not many things you would not find in here (except for mobile network at tube stations and rubbish bins). I am here already over one and half year, so I decided to explore more of this all. I want to explore what London offers in terms of culture and share some of my experiences here.

Short after Christmas my close family came to visit me for the first time. My mum is in love with one particular version of the Swan Lake for over 15 years. Unfortunately, she had never had an opportunity to see it life (or on video after our VHS player broke down). It is a bit controversial adaptation of classical ballet, which was created alongside with legalization of homosexuality. It was staged in1995 in London for the first time and it is still performed here. Therefore, we had a perfect chance to see it. The choreography made by Matthew Bourne is strongly related to the life of Tchaikovsky and it is open for interpretation. The dancers were astonishing and I enjoyed it a lot.

source: http://swanlaketour.com/media-gallery

I am Czech a therefore, I support all Czech events here in London. It is important for me that the my country has a representation in this multicultural city. Fortunately, there are people successfully taking care of this. So it happened that I went to an opening of exhibition of Czech postmodernistic art last week. The event was also associated with launch of English translation of 'Pictures of Czech Postmodernism', book written by Jiří Přibáň. All eight artist were present along with many Czech people from home or abroad and few foreign specialist, who admired the Czech art.

In London, there are many markets. These are the places I like the most. Although the historical centre is beautiful, areas such as Camden Town or Notting Hill are much more lively and colourful. Everything from clothes to furniture can be found there. Food from almost every world's cuisine is cooked on the streets and a lot of painters and other artist concentrate here. As London itself, it is a mix of all the things one may imagine.

In near future I am planning to attend few public lectures and go to a musical, which are very famous here and very different form the Czech ones. Otherwise, I am still studying, dancing and looking forward to spring.