Danke, Christian!

Those were the only words that I understood in the torrent of German that came over the microphone. Christian stopped dancing and listened intently to the next flurry.

I was watching The Bavarian State Ballet, one of Germany's leading troupes, rehearse at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA, Bombay. Most of the ballerinas were in workout clothes. I could only imagine how much more graceful they would look in their costumes.

Ballet director Ivan Liska was there, supervising every move. Occasionally his voice came over the microphone, issuing instructions.

Christian Ianole and her troupe went back to their original positions and started again. As for me, I couldn't find any fault with their performance.

Princess Odette returned to life with her swans, dancing at midnight, waiting for her prince. Swan Lake, Act II, choreographed by Ray Barra, unfolded before me...

During one of the breaks, I went up to a ballerina, hoping she understood English. She did. I told her how much I enjoyed the performance. She just about finished thanking me when the microphone called her back.

I watched her jump nimbly on to the stage and decided that I would corner her or someone else. Backstage, I told myself, was the best place for that.

Without much trouble, I managed to get behind the scenes. To tell you the truth, the backstage was actually no different from the front. There were ballerinas practising their moves everywhere. They looked relaxed.

There were 90 in the troupe, including the support team, I was told. They were touring India for the German festival, which was on at the Max Muller Bhavan. They would be in the country till the third week of October, travelling first to Bangalore and then Calcutta.

By now, some of the dancers had finished and were packing up. I cornered one.

His name was Patrick Teschner, and he did a solo piece. He has been dancing since he was five. I must have looked shocked, because he started laughing and said that most dancers started really young.

"Actually, I was into gymnastics before. But then I switched over. Now I find this more interesting," he said.

Were all the dancers German? "No, actually, we are from different parts of the world. I'm from Munich. There are some from Russia, New Zealand, Cuba, and many other places," he said.

This was Teschner's first visit to India. "It's really interesting and nice here. A lot of contrast within the country. I mean, we had gone to Delhi first and it is so much different from Bombay!"

Went sightseeing yet? Teschner hadn't. But he hoped to. "We may be going to see the Elephanta caves on our free day, that is Saturday."

I wished him luck and moved on. Most of the dancers had left. The backstage was almost empty.

I went outside and chatted with Lisa-Maree Cullum, one of the nine principal dancers of the troupe. She is from New Zealand. She started taking dancing lessons at age four.

I asked her how long the troupe had been practising for this tour. "Over a month," came the reply. "This is my first visit to India. This place is really beautiful!"

I said goodbye to Lisa-Maree and to the troupe that offered me my first ballet performance. It is an experience mingling with such talented people!