Day 24: Whatever Tickles My Fancy

Tuesday night was another great outing at the San Francisco Ballet. It was just Maren, Katie, and I (we missed you Dyan!) and I was very happy with 2 of the 3 sets (it always seems to me that there is just 1 that I don't really bond with).

The first two performances were so incredible. The first one was entitled "Rush" and it was my favorite. The music was so stirring and the dancers used traditional movements and added modern flairs to them. The pax de deux was so amazing, completely full of emotion and captured the essence of the music.

One of the most memorable events occurred during the first performance. The lady in front of us completely fell asleep and both Maren and I were watching her as the percussionist got ready with the cymbals. When he crashed them together, she completely jumped and her head jerked up back into the awake position. Maren and I exchanged glances making sure that the other had seen it and somehow we managed to keep our giggles silent. The timing of it all was just classic, like something out of a movie. This other gentleman who was sitting next to her- not her husband, was giving her a hard time about how she could fall asleep when the ballet was so good.
The second performance, entitled "Classical Symphony" was also good. It was pretty classical and I absolutely loved the tutus. They had two layers and were structured with wire on the ends and so they flowed in a unique pattern.

The third one was called "The Concert (or the Perils of Everybody)" and was choreographed by Jerome Robbins, the same guy who did West Side Story. They had this incredible concert pianist who played Chopin- it really was so stirring and beautiful. From the program notes, I had gathered that it was going to be a funny ballet but I found it way too absurd. As the judge Len from Dancing with the Stars would say, there was too much fru fru and not enough real dancing. It just bothered me that much of the performance were these dancers doing bad ballet. I appreciate great parodies and poking fun at aspects of art. For example, I loved the Producers and the movie Enchanted. It pokes fun at aspects of musicals in a high class and professional way. The quality of dancing and singing is just outstanding. So, I expected that from this performance. Instead, I just found a lot of poor quality dancing from these amazing dancers who had just performed two fabulous numbers. However, I was completely alone in my feelings about the 3rd one- the other girls loved it so I was just the weird one :-)

We have one more ballet and I am so happy that I got season tickets! I'm planning on doing it next year and anyone else is welcome to join in on the fun!