Prior to Thursday I had 0 experience watching ballet, I was initially worried I wouldn’t get it. The first act (Brahms-Haydn Variations) was where I really enjoyed the music.  I often stared at the conductor’s wild movements or looked at the sides of the orchestra to see what instruments were producing certain unique sounds. The dancing was wonderful too and fit the music tempo very well.  The second act was very “meh” for me because musically, and on stage, everything seemed to flow very slowly.  I recognize how skilled the performers are, but it’s not something I would want to see again. Part of this is probably due to me being an impatient person, the other part being the music I listen to is typically a lot more fast paced, throughout the performance I was kind of just waiting for something to happen.

Finally, The Green Table.  Everyone seemed to like this one.  I LOVED the beats the dancers banged out on the table at the same time, it was an intriguing source of sound because until then the stage was meant to be quiet, sounds come only from the orchestra or the piano.  Marcelo Gomes’ black outfit and ?face paint? were really awesome as well, he was a glaringly obvious metaphor for death.  The flag made interesting colors as it was waved around, and through my binoculars it really was just a white flag with red and black splotches, maybe another color as well (the colored lighting made it difficult).  The way he kept a beat by stomping his boot was satisfying as well.  I think the meaning was fairly obvious, the politicians/diplomats sitting at the green table had a disagreement, leading to fighting, leading to war, leading to death, and the cycle repeats.  It was just a really satisfying act to watch and a great way to end the show.