My First Ballet

In an attempt to culture myself a bit I joined my friends Anne and Hilary to a Pacific Northwest Ballet production of The Sleeping Beauty this past Friday night. There was some sort of deal in which discounted tickets were available to people under the age of 25. Luckily we all fall into this category and at seven thirty-ish we shuffled into our seats near the back of the theater to watch my first ballet.



It was... alright. Movements were crisp, the costumes were wonderful, orchestra perfect, and the lighting effects made the sets shine. However, the dialog was pretty stale -- some would say non-existent. It was certainly an interesting experience, but it got pretty old in the last act when it was the celebration and all that happened were people dancing. That sounds wierd, but in the other acts most of the dancing moved the story along. The last act was just us sitting and watching people come up in pairs (or themselves) and do a little routine. Heck, even the other characters on stage were sitting and watching. The word "showcasing" was dropped, and I would have to agree.

Two other things come to mind about my ballet experience. The first is that I had an incredibly annoying woman sitting behind me who would sing a little bit to the orchestral music, and also say things like this during the routines: "late. late. late. oops. late. she's off with everyone else." My working theory is that she was rejected from this particular production and harbors nothing but ill will towards the performers on stage.

The second thing is that I kneed two little girls in the back of the head. They were both sitting in front of me and due to their size they were propped up on booster cushions. This meant that their heads were positioned above the headrest. The first was actually the left little girl's fault -- she whipped her head back right into my waiting left knee. The second impact came when the right little girl slowly tilted her head back to yawn just as I was adjusting myself in my seat. These two inopportunely timed events resulted in me driving my right kneecap into the back of her head. She immediately snapped forward and put her hand to her head, and then told her mommy. I'm just thankful she didn't cry.

So while I was warned that it might be boring and put me to sleep, the ballet did no such thing. That said, not sure I would go again especially when musicals are a much better option. Dialog and songs, yes please. Though I wouldn't mind seeing The Nutcracker, as it's a holiday classic that has sets produced by Maurice Sendak. One thing for sure: it won't be long before I am once again viewing people in fantastically colorful costumes prance about-- the Emerald City ComiCon is but one month away!