My mom and I went to see the State Ballet Theatre of Russia perform Cinderella at the Mondavi Center tonight. It was a beautiful performance, and in close competition for my favorite of the fairy tale ballets, if for no other reason then because there was no wedding sequence.¹ Thank you for that little piece of mercy.
Cinderella not only danced but acted her part well. The Summer Fairy’s variation was a particular favorite. The entire ball sequence was lovely, the court dancers and the step family were suitably entertaining, and the costumes were exquisite and simple at the same time. Perhaps not the most impressive dancing from a “oh my god how is it humanly possible to do that with your feet” perspective, but a very good show. Nicely done. I’m excited to go to ballet class tomorrow morning and talk to my studio friends about it, as most of them were there tonight. It’s always fun to spot the other bun heads in the audience, from the little ones attending in pink tutus to the adults standing in first position in their high heels in the lobby.
Speaking of performances, I have one coming up myself next weekend which brings me into tech week at the studio. I’m having the customary pre-performance nightmares now, in which I’m two hours late to dress rehearsal and trying to find my instructor in the dance studio which has become impossibly large, meanwhile dodging the studio director who is going to burn a hole in my head with her laser vision if she catches me running around in my street clothes backstage.
The performance falls over Valentine’s weekend. If you’re looking for a romantic evening, please don’t come see us dance.
However, I do think it will be a nice show. The ballet that my instructor has put together is quite nice. I would link to the studio webpage that tells you all about it, but the studio webpage is designed in Microsoft FrontPage. Enough said, right? It’s illegible to any decent web browser so don’t try.
Here’s what you need to know:
Veteran’s Memorial Theater, Friday, February 13th (oh good, omens...) at 7:00 pm, and Saturday, February 14th at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm.
(As usual, the DavisWiki can be counted on for some useful information as well.)
I’ll be the blue speck in the winter sequence that I hope you can’t pick out.
Wish me luck.
¹ The wedding sequence defined:
We had a nice little narrative going here told through imaginative dance and now we’re going to bring the story to screeching halt while the prince and princess take turns showing off for a half hour. He’ll show off. She’ll show off. They’ll show off together. Various random foreign dignitaries will show off. Completely random and unexplained flea-bitten fairy tale characters like Puss-in-Boots and his girlfriend, the cat in heat, will show off. Meanwhile, at least a half hour has gone by while your ass has been getting numb and you’re worrying about your parking validation. Then, god help us, there will be another pas de deux with the prince and princess before he catches her in fish dip (can I get tartar sauce with that?) and only then will the curtains mercifully close.