Ballet brings sexy, Bach
I had an fun and interesting evening tonight at the local ballet.
It was my first non-"Nutcracker" ballet, so I was disappointed to see that they danced to pre-recorded music. I'm a sucker for live music; I understand that bringing in live musicians would eat into revenue, and it's such much easier to get a recorded piece than go through days or weeks of musical rehearsal.
Act 1 was a Spanish-inspired dance called "Majisimo." I realize that there are certain requirements to ballet costumes, but honestly, couldn't the men have been given looser pants? Or maybe a Scottish dance, where they could wear kilts?
Act 2 went minimalist, with three pieces performed on a largely-bare stage. "The Steppe and Brook" involved dancing among flowers taped to the floor. The second piece was a Bach sonata, while the third, "Crumbling," was an erotically-charged dance between the artistic director and a guest dancer named Olivier. Ooh la la....
Act 3 was the highly-promoted (for local ballet, anyway) "Play Ball." Basically, the troupe danced a ballgame onstage, complete with peanut hawkers from the local ball team roaming the crowd, the national anthem, and the 7th-inning stretch.
The piece was divided into nine innings, using several familiar classical pieces, including snippets from "Carmen" and "The Barber of Seville", and was quite enjoyable.
A down note: One of our local dancers is named Shakira. Sadly, there was no belly dancing.
It was my first non-"Nutcracker" ballet, so I was disappointed to see that they danced to pre-recorded music. I'm a sucker for live music; I understand that bringing in live musicians would eat into revenue, and it's such much easier to get a recorded piece than go through days or weeks of musical rehearsal.
Act 1 was a Spanish-inspired dance called "Majisimo." I realize that there are certain requirements to ballet costumes, but honestly, couldn't the men have been given looser pants? Or maybe a Scottish dance, where they could wear kilts?
Act 2 went minimalist, with three pieces performed on a largely-bare stage. "The Steppe and Brook" involved dancing among flowers taped to the floor. The second piece was a Bach sonata, while the third, "Crumbling," was an erotically-charged dance between the artistic director and a guest dancer named Olivier. Ooh la la....
Act 3 was the highly-promoted (for local ballet, anyway) "Play Ball." Basically, the troupe danced a ballgame onstage, complete with peanut hawkers from the local ball team roaming the crowd, the national anthem, and the 7th-inning stretch.
The piece was divided into nine innings, using several familiar classical pieces, including snippets from "Carmen" and "The Barber of Seville", and was quite enjoyable.
A down note: One of our local dancers is named Shakira. Sadly, there was no belly dancing.