Category — Dance/The Body/Sport

Before last Thursday, I could count the number of ballets to which I’ve gone on a single hand. This trio of performances, however, awakened an interest in ballet that none of the others had done. Yes, BAM’s production of The Nutcracker is fantastic, but I viewed it as I would a show and not necessarily as a ballet.

Theme and Variations is what I imagined a standard ballet performance to consist of: a man and woman dancing while surrounded by ballerinas and their partners. Although it didn’t follow a story, I felt that it was a general depiction of how a courtship might go. The man and woman represented blossoming couples of all sorts. While the other dancers twirled about in a fanciful (yet precise) manner, my focus rested on the couple in the center, their heated passions being spoken though choreographed movements. This does also spark another question: in the context of Theme and Variations, might the idea of choreography serve to understand the art of courtship and tendencies of a pair of lovers? I think it does. Just as love may very well be an art, the goal of choreographing such a beautiful work as Theme and Variations is a labor of love that requires an understanding of such relations.

The second performance, A Month in the Country, is to me a multi-layered one. Each of the characters served to intensify the audience’s reception of the performance as a whole. For example, Kolia (the son) danced whimsically, and in a sense, lightened the conflict between the other characters. However, I was left thinking more. Might his whimsical side serve to mask his desire to see his family remain settled with each other? After all, he did try to get his father’s attention with his new kite (among other actions).

After the show, a number of you and I discussed the idea that ballet performers who play in performances such as A Month in the Country must refrain from voicing anything, so all of the emotion and meaning they wish to convey must come though to the audience though their movement and even facial expressions. In comparison, the use of facial expressions in this second performance were needed all the more because of the set storyline, whereas in the first and particularly the third performances, movement of the body was much more the focus.

Piano Concerto #1 is much less an interest of mine, but was nonetheless a spectacular performance. I felt that it is much more a show of raw dance talent than a groundbreaking example of contemporary ballet, under which category the latter two performances fall.

At the end of the show, I wasn’t as tired as I had been after the opera. Although my day prior to attending the ballet was draining, my spirits were lifted. I am glad to say that I now have a greater appreciation for ballet and that I plan to attend more performances in the future, near and far!

I absolutely loved the ballet. It was my first time ever seeing one and I’m so grateful I got the chance to. Ballet has always seemed so boring to me. I always imagined it with little passion, just a show of specific moves. But now I get it. Now I understand that ballet is about pure beauty, the ideal human form.

It reminded me of classical Greek art. The Greeks, and the Romans after them, were in pursuit of the ideal human form. Polykeitos’ Spear Bearer, Da Vinci’s Vitruvius Man’ Michelangelo’s David: all were striving for that ideal human form. And that’s what ballet is about. These people sculpt their bodies and make them do impossible things in the most graceful way. The limited number of specific moves is for a very important reason: those moves are specifically designed to show the human body at its best.

When the dancers raised their arms like a contrappasto statue, they were gorgeous. Their form was absolutely stunning. during the first intermission Elizabeth asked me what I thought and without even thinking I replied it made me want to cry of beauty. It was like seeing a gorgeous Van Gogh (who, by the way, has made me cry on more than one occasion). The dancers were so beautiful. And through their hard work I could see the passion in it all. That even though it was so set in stone, even though there was no room for interpretation or change, it was beautiful And passionate.

Our trip to the Ballet was incredible. I’ve been to a few ballets in my life as well as modern dance, but this one really blew me away. I was really moved by the first piece. It was so perfect, so refined and graceful. I was actually brought to tears by how beautiful the dancers were–they managed to be energetic and full of life yet at the same time peaceful, at ease, and absolutely radiating poise and perfection. It was like watching a flower bloom before my eyes. I felt that using the binoculars to focus in on one or a few dancers added a tremendous amount to my experience of watching the dancers. I liked being able to see their individual faces and small imperfections with their moves (although VERY rare). There are no other words to describe that performance other than beautiful and graceful.

The second piece, although perhaps not as perfectly wonderful and beautiful, I enjoyed a lot anyway because of the storyline. I thought it was great how they were able to show so much emotion and character using only their bodies. And the set was phenomenal. I literally gasped when the curtain came up because I was not expecting such a lavish, beautiful set.

The last piece had a lot going on, which was wonderful. I liked that the costumes were very simple so that you could focus a lot more on the choreography itself rather than the costumes. I loved the duets. You could tell that these people worked for so long and rehearsed this piece so many times that they were probably sick to death of it, but they still managed to make it look so natural and spontaneous. It’s almost hard to believe that these dancers actually had to learn this choreography, and that it wasn’t just second nature to them! It truly takes an immense amount of skill and practice to achieve such a level of grace and perfection.

Thursday’s visit to the ballet was an incredible experience. Before attending the ballet, I never respected dance very much, especially not ballet. I never thought their job was particularly difficult from all other dancers i’ve seen. But boy was I wrong. From the first performance, “Themes and Variations”, I was mesmerized by the performance. The costumes were amazingly designed, as well as the set. But I was truly blown away by the dancers. The whole performance, I was intently looking through my binoculars at each dancer, looking at how they moved. They moved with a precision I have never seen. The dancers were incredibly in sync with one another. What was more was the pure athleticism of each dancer. They had an amazing balance of strength, and balance, combined with elegance and grace. Looking through the binoculars, I could see the dancers sweating profusely by the end of the first piece, but they never showed it, and always had a calm demeanor on their face. By the end of the first piece, I was thoroughly engrossed in the performance, and couldn’t wait for the rest of the performances, all of which were just as powerful and beautiful as the last.

Thursday’s event was my favorite event thus far. Seeing the ballet was an absolutely incredible experience. The way the dancers moved, the costumes, and the sets were beautiful and unbelievable. The first part of the ballet did not have a story and was a very traditional piece. The costumes were standard ballet tutus and the dance was what one would expect when going to a ballet. However, the way the dancers moved and twisted their bodies with such ease was mind blowing. I particularly enjoyed when the entire company was on stage. The shapes and patterns they formed showed the vision of the choreographer. Our seats were especially advantageous and helped us to see the picture the company was trying to create. Also, the chemistry between the male and female dancers looked effortless. In fact, everything the dancers did seemed effortless. Throughout the entire performance they had very emotional or smiling expressions on their faces as they did movements I cannot even dream of doing. The second part of the ballet had a story that went along with it, and the stage was completely transformed by the set and costumes. Although I found this part of the ballet to be a little boring, the way they were able to communicate the story without any words demonstrated true talent. The dancers were able to communicate emotions, events, and even thoughts through their facial expressions and their movements. The third section of the ballet was interesting to me because of the way they used costumes and a very simple set. When the dancers first came out on stage, I thought there costumes reflected different colors when the light hit them, but then I realized that the front was a purplish-gray and the back was a bright pink. Each pair in the duets had the male in a purplish-gray body suit and the female in the pink body suit, perhaps showing the differences between males and females. The company’s two-toned costumes showed that men and women are also very similar. The movements were very beautiful in this section of the ballet as well, and they were enhanced by the symbolism of the costumes.
One thing that I noticed and was interested by was the fact that none of the men were en pointe. While all of the women were en pointe, the men did standard ballet. It is because going en pointe is considered to be more feminine, or is there a better reason for this difference in technique?