The Ballet

While I genuinely like the art of dance, I was nervous to see if I would find Ballet exciting and beautiful. I had always assumed that the strict form and slow classical movements of it would make it slightly boring and less artistic. After seeing the Ballet, I found it to be better than what I expected, and I really enjoyed.  That is not to say that I found all parts equally exciting (the Sailors kinda stole the show for me), but I feel like I gained an appreciation for the form of Ballet; in that it lent to a certain beauty in the purity of movement that I hadn’t ever seen before.

I appreciated the variety of the ballets we saw.  I liked that they represented different styles; the first two ballets were the more conventional type (even within that category was the difference in that one was a series of solos and duets while the other was an ongoing story) and the last ballet was something I had never envisioned as something I would see at a Ballet.  I liked each type of ballet for different reasons.

The first two ballets showed off the beauty of the human body in a simple, innocent way.  The fluidity of the movements, especially when done in a duet, reflected such an agility and graceful strength that you don’t really see elsewhere.  The dancers moved like gravity didn’t effect them completely, as though they were connected by strings.  Although they followed a form and there was repetition of moves, I felt that it aided in unifying the performance and made it whole and polished.

The last ballet, Fancy Free ( the sailors on shore), was my favorite.  Now, if I hadn’t been looking out for the art in ballet, I would have also chosen this as my favorite, but probably just because it was more broadway-show-like and exciting in contrast to the ones before it.  However, while I did find it exciting, I also liked it from an artistic perspective.  I was amazed by how creative they were within the boundaries of ballet etiquette.  They made it less stiff, more real.  The music choice was more vibrant, but the movements were similar to the ones in the preceding ballets, albeit faster or more dramatized.  My favorite part was when the soldiers threw their heads back, downed their shots, and slammed the glasses on the table in sync.  I found it quite artistically pleasing 🙂