The Arts in NYC Fall 2012

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching modern ballet. I had my doubts as to whether it was going to be entertaining or not. All I could think about that day was how long and tedious the night was going to be. However, the time passed by much quicker than expected. There wasn’t a single moment where I was bored. I actually wouldn’t have minded staying for a little while longer to see more.

The Joyce Theater wasn’t very big. As most of us know it was a huge pain just getting in and out of the theater-room. However, that’s just one small problem that’s completely compensated for by the show. The front row seats were also a major plus. I was expecting to be seated all the way in the back. I think the seating is one of the main reasons I liked it so much because I was so close to where the performers were. We were so close that you could see all the sweat dripping from them and hear their breathing as they moved on the stage.

I was shocked by how different it was from what I imagined it would be. I guess I was thinking of the stereotypical ballet with really skinny girls in tutus dancing around the place and twirling every couple of minutes. Modern Ballet just puts a better twist on it to make it more relatable to the younger generation. My favorite part was definitely Memories with D. Gary W. Jeter (the guy with the large tattoo on his back). It showed me how in sync the movements of these guys were. Most of the movements matched each other pretty well. The amount of hours ballet dancers put in has to be crazy. They’ve shown that they’ve put in their 10,000 hours to get that good. They are able to make the viewers feel like they are in a surreal world (or at least I felt that way). I have to give them credit because I would be winded in a few minutes after all of the quick moving all around the stage. I could hear how quick they were all breathing. At the end most of them were glistening on stage from all of the sweat.

Jeter was my favorite of all the performers because he was the most muscular and lean. The definition of his muscles is one of the best I’ve seen in my life. His body-fat must have been lower than 6% to be that “ripped” and “shredded”. Sometimes I found myself concentrating more on the muscles and how they moved than on the actual performance itself. I was surprised at how athletic all of the male performers were. Ballet must be a great way to tone your muscles.

Overall, I would definitely see another performance of modern ballet, but I probably wouldn’t try classical still. This has really shown me that I can’t judge something by their stereotype because it can be deceiving.