For TBWITWW's birthday, my parents bought us tickets to Swan Lake at the Civic Opera House. I have to say, sometimes it gets tough to remember why I want to work in theater. The hours are bad, the pay is for shit, and long-term prospects are shakey as a whole. Granted, I've got a pretty steady deal going right now, but still.... And then I go see a show that reminds me why I do what I do. Ballet is amazing. Even discounting the talent, grace, and beauty involved, the sheer strength to throw your body into the air so much for 2 hours is amazing. And then there's the whole talent-grace-beauty thing. I have to admit, I found myself watching the male dancers almost more then the women. It's not a surprise to see women move with grace and be easy to watch. They're like that naturally. But men... we're a bunch of bumbling clods. It's what we're good at. Me lift heavy rock. Uhg. Then you see a guy leap into the air turn around a few times lift his leg about 10 feet and have a snack before he lands. That's pretty freakin sweet.
In any case, Tchaikovsky is amazing. I could listen to that stuff for hours. The set was very nice; simple and wide open as it needs to be for ballet, just enough scenery to set the scene. The costumes were lovely, of course, and the lighting was great. It rarely was even noticeable, the transitions were subtle and the few times when the lighting made itself known were approriate and clean. To my untrained eye, the dancing was beautiful and enjoyable. TBWITWW says there were a few more mistakes than she expected for a company of this stature, but then, she used to be a dancer so she notices that sort of thing more than your average joe from the street. All in all, it was a great show and it really did remind me why I do what I do.
Also, there's some pretty cool architecture at the Opera House.
Image removed (I can't find it) 10-18-2005
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