Last night James and I went to the ballet. It was a collection of four short performances, each with a very different flavor. Kind of like a ballet sampler. The first was "Serenade" (pictured above) by George Balanchine. I'm not super familiar with ballet, but this was the one and only Balanchine piece I've heard of, and it was absolutely lovely. Classic, elegant, and with a little drama. It made me want to get one of those skirts and leap around my living room.
Next was a dramatic pas de deux, Hamlet and Ophelia. Then there was an all-male piece that was supposed to be very masculine, but in my humble opinion, it wasn't. I've seen some very powerful, masculine dance, and this just wasn't it. The costumes didn't help: puffy peach shirts and tights don't scream manliness to me. But it was still well done.
The headlining piece was "Nine Sinatra Songs" by Twyla Tharp. (James pointed out that it should really be called "Eight Sinatra Songs," since they used "My Way" twice. Sure, they were different versions, but still....) The choreography and costumes were much more modern, though still definitely ballet. It was interesting to recognize it as ballet even though it was more ballroom-style.
I'm not a huge Sinatra fan, but I really liked this piece. My only complaint is that we were sitting a little too close to a speaker, so those final notes of "My Way" were a bit intense. I shouldn't complain, though, because our seats were great--3rd row orchestra.
This isn't the kind of thing I'd normally search out, but James got free tickets through SLUG, so we went. I'm really glad we did. I miss going to things like this. Susan and I had season tickets to the opera for two years, and I don't think I've been to the opera since. I haven't been to the symphony since Margaret moved to Boston, and I haven't seen a play for a couple years. Maybe I need to look into upcoming events more closely.
Speaking of which, James and I are really excited for an art exhibit opening at the UMFA next month: Monet to Picasso, from the Cleveland Museum of Art. All you Utah people should come check it out. There will be pieces from some of our favorite artists, including Van Gogh and Modigliani. We're thinking of becoming museum members so we can get invited to the preview social and get free tickets. Yes, it would be cheaper to just buy two tickets after it opens, but this way we'll stay informed about upcoming events. I've missed a few that I really wanted to see just because I wasn't paying enough attention. (I shudder to think of how much of life I've missed simply because I wasn't paying attention.)
Art: It does a body good.
