SWAN LAKE

Classical ballet, like opera, is a bit ridiculous. It's either very thin women with huge feet and a tutu, or very muscular men in tights and small jackets. And idiotic plots. But the combination of the dancing and the music can be fantastic.

If you were going to watch a ballet for the first time, then you'd be hard pressed to beat Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky's music is simply wonderful. And although the plot is all about spells and swans, it doesn't really matter.

The Danish Royal Theatre has done a deal with cinemas out in the sticks, whereby we can show three live performances a year for three years; an opera, a play and a ballet from each season. They are transmitted via our satellite dish, and we split the revenues. We showed Rosenkavalier and Romeo and Juliet in the autumn, tonight it was the turn of Swan Lake.

I thought we might get a full house, but was still surprised by how many people wanted to come. In the end, we had to turn some away, and we three "employees" had to sit on the steps. The technology, both sound and vision, was excellent; the customers loved it (plus the free champagne in the interval). And all for kr.165 a head.

Walter Blotscher