Ballet Performance

When we went to the ballet on Thursday, all the eyes were on stage as the dancers elegantly moved across the stage.  However, I focused more on the message that the dancers were attempting to convey.  It seemed like a novel concept to deliver a story without any words!  Using expressive body language, color of the clothing, and the gender of the dancer, the dancers were able to narrate a story, appealing to even the youngest of audience. I found entertainment in the fact that death and life were recurring concepts in the last part of the dance.  Although I didn’t understand why the contrast was made, I understood the basic plot of the ballet.  I found it funny when the old looking dancers arranged themselves around the table.  The meaning that I derived from this was that the dancers were enjoying the afterlife.

An awkward silence filled the air several times throughout the ballet as the music came to a halt.  In those moments, all that could be heard were the feet of the dancers tapping on the stage.  Simply put, the music was the integral part of the performance, even though the orchestra wasn’t on stage.  I would even go so far as to say that the orchestra was more important than the ballet itself!  The orchestra is autonomous but the ballet is completely dependent on the orchestra.  Looking through the binoculars, I saw the violin players change the tone of the music by simply changing the direction of the bow.  In my opinion, the orchestra was more important than the ballet.