Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

This was the first ballet I had ever been to in my life and it honestly wasn’t all that great to me. I can completely appreciate it, but I didn’t think it was anything awesome.

The performances were very good in terms of execution and elegance, but I didn’t see anything that I haven’t seen before on TV. As I watched the first performance I was not at all interested in it, I sat there with my face in my palm, hoping for something great or amazing, but I was let down. I didn’t see any amazing moves that caused me to become engaged in the performance, I was bored. Though I could see how perfect their steps were and how polished their ballet was, they performed their techniques with the utmost precision and never missed a beat, which was good, but not enough for me.

The second performance was once again, not really entertaining to me. I watched as the story progressed and the performers danced across the beautiful set, still bored by what I was watching, yet I could appreciate the hard work they did in order to get their ballet to be so on point and precise. I couldn’t really follow the story which brought down the appeal of the ballet because I didn’t know what was going on and who loved who, it was quite a trip. In all honesty the best part of the second performance was seeing the awesome stage and its refined details, but otherwise it wasn’t anything special to me.

The final performance of the night, was my favorite, I thought this performance had more power and I saw some really spectacular techniques that impressed me, but overall it still wasn’t amazing. This performance was the best in my opinion because I saw people spin the air and land on other’s shoulders and continue to dance, it felt stronger to me and I will say that this performance was good. I liked the choice of clothing and the way the set was designed, it was darker and set a more ominous mood. Seeing the performers dance so powerfully was like a light fighting to escape the darkness and that added to this ballet for me.

As for why I didn’t see these performances as outstanding, I think it’s because of the types of performances I’ve been exposed to. I grew up with breakdancing, and I’ve seen people do crazy things like spinning on their heads, backflips onto their backs and spinning, and even people supporting their weight upside down while only on their elbow. I also do parkour and do things that I think are way cooler and more amazing that what they do. Growing up like this has raised my bar for what counts as amazing and on my scale, ballet doesn’t meet the mark for being great. To me it was fairly boring and I wouldn’t go to another ballet based on this experience. But to each his own.

I’ve always loved watching dance performances, but was never really interested in ballet. I thought ballet performances would be kind of slow and boring as opposed to loud and exciting. I can honestly admit that Thursday night’s ballet was extraordinary. It has been my first time attending a ballet of any sort and surprisingly, I enjoyed it.

What shocked me the most was how precise and graceful the dancers moved. The movements and choreography were beautiful. The elegant movements made the dancers look extremely young. I would have never thought that they were old. It looked as if these dancers were training since they were young. They looked developed, grown, blossomed. Each movement sparked an emotion. I couldn’t get my eyes off the stage.

The first and last pieces were what I thought all ballets were like. I always believed that a ballet had no story, that a ballet was supposed to target your emotions with the beautiful sight and the soothing music, and that ballets were supposed to be just beautiful and perfectly coordinated. And those pieces were just like what I imagined ballets to be like.

What I found most exceptional was the second piece. Although many others disliked the second piece, I really enjoyed it. I enjoy story-like plays, plays that have a purpose. I enjoyed watching the dance moves and listening to the different types of music being played, while putting pieces together and trying to figure out what the story was about. It kept me focused until the end. Instead of just watching dancers move beautifully, I’d rather have something unique- a story, a turning point, an ending.

Overall, the ballet was a great experience. The perfection of movements, the coordination, the sets, etc. were extraordinary.

I really enjoy the ballet we went to. It was my  first ballet I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been recommending it to everyone I talk to.

The sets were incredible- I loved seeing the transformation between acts and the beautiful set designs- no matter how simple or complicated.

The dancers were also amazing. I have never seen people move like that before. The way their body moved, and their hand motions- it was really breathtaking. I was taken aback by how coordinated everything was. Not one person was out of line drink the whole performance. Everyone was in sync, making semi circles, lines, squares, all standing in a certain spot. To me that was the most amazing thing about the ballet- that everyone was so coordinated while doing all elaborate dance moves.I could never even dream of doing any of the things the ballerinas did- dancing on their toes, moving around- not my thing. but it was super amazing to watch and I loved watching from a distance.

I really like the first piece because it my mind that was what ballet was- girls dancing in tutus and guys in leotards. It was like the picture I had in my head of ballerinas. their costumes were sparkly and I loved everything about it (especially their coordination).

The second piece was unique because (as many people already wrote,) it had the power to tell a story through music and dance moves- nothing else. I never understood how that could happen, but now I understand and it was definitely something I won’t forget- even if the story was a little complicated at times. And again, the costumes and set were amazing.

I also really enjoyed the last part. Their moves were great and the music fit everything perfectly.

As I said before, and many times throughout this little blog- I really enjoyed the ballet and have recommended people who are not very into the arts to go see a ballet because it is so cool and definitely a must see at least once in your lifetime. so thanks to the Macualay class for making me go to that 🙂

Out of all the museums, memorials and shows we have gone to, the ballet was the only experience that I had never gone through before. I have been to art and photography museums before this class and I have been in plenty memorials and Broadway shows (which is closely related to the Opera). Going to a show solely for the dance was a first.

Just like the ballet, I will break down my post in three different parts, each part discussing one of the three ballets that we watched:

In the first ballet, all the dancers where elegant, VERY talented and perfect! The simple setting set the tone of this part of the show. The chandeliers, which is the only piece of scenery that was in the first act (or at least, it was the only scenery that i remember), set the mood of a ballroom for dancers to do what they do best. Every hand gesture and lift of the foot was perfection (Yes, I am using the word perfect again because the dance was EXACTLY that, and nothing else).

The second ballet had a story line, which at first thought would keep me interested. However, because there was no dialogue, it was difficult for me to follow what was going on. Even though I didn’t understand the story, the scenery in this act, including the dancers clothing, was beautiful. The exact opposite of the other act, this act had large walls with painting and desks and chairs and a couch and a piano in the back with dancers with elegant 19th century attire. In addition, the dancers danced a lot softer than the first act with less “crazy” moves.

The best part of the last act was what the dancers were wearing. They used their uniform with one side silver and one side maroon to create patterns and moves that pleases the eye. However, in this part of the ballet, I saw a lot of screw ups. When the dancers jumped to great feats, they didn’t always stick the landing.

To conclude, I would like to point out something that we didn’t point out in class today. When I was using the binoculars, I focused on some of the female dancers’ faces. Some faces were very serious, probably because all they were thinking about was what was the next move that needed to be done. However, some faces had smiles on their faces. But it didn’t seem like natural smiles to me, it seemed artificial–fake. Now to leave you with a question, why do you think they were smiling? Was it real?

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!