洛杉磯芭蕾舞團 Going to the ballet

My husband got 4 complimentary tickets to the Los Angeles Ballet yesterday afternoon. Because it was such a short notice, I was reluctant to take the kids to a ballet that would last two and a half hours. I warned my husband that our 7-year old son may not be able to sit through the entire show, but my husband insisted that it will be a good experience for the kids. My daughter had quit ballet classes several times over the years. She has decided to pick it up again because her Jazz dance teacher told her to take ballet to improve on her basic dance movements.

I made sure we left the house early enough so we'll have time before the show to get something to eat. We had to drive over an hour to Glendale, which is northeast of Pasadena. I was surprised with the new-ness of downtown Glendale. Looks like business is booming in Glendale. We drove down Brand Blvd. to get to the Alex Theatre. The block near the Alex Theatre had that old Broadway feel, but minus the hoards of people that are ever-present in the real Broadway. We picked up our tickets at 7 pm and walked down the street to get a bite to eat at a sushi place about a block down the road. Both kids were dressed up because I told them people usually dress up to go see ballet. I didn't know what to expect and how the kids would react to this show. The kids were excited nevertheless because it was something they haven't done before. We got back to the theater at 7:30 pm and promptly found our seats which were center orchestra. We had great seats!

This show was broken up into 3 acts: The Prodigal Son, a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine in 1929; World Premiere, a jazzy, 50s-ish tribute to Ballet with songs by Eartha Kitt and Ella Fitzgerald; and a modern interpretation of Igor Stravinsky's Violin Concerto choreographed by George Balanchine. My son really enjoyed the first act while my daughter enjoyed the second act. Both kids were really bored by the third act. My son actually fell asleep during the third act. It wasn't surprising since it was already 9:30pm when he fell asleep. I was glad that the show had two intermissions. I had packed some snacks and juice for the kids so they can eat something during the intermissions. The kids and I survived the long, and late show.

I was pleased that this ballet gave my children another aspect of ballet that they don't normally see. They are used to the classical ballet--Swan Lake and Nutcracker. Now they see how ballet can be applied to different music and thus modernizing it.

My own ballet senses were shocked during the first act because there were more than 10 male ballet dancers and only 1 ballerina on stage. Whereas in majority of classical ballet, we see more ballerinas than male ballet dancers. I can imagine the whole program must be extremely avant-garde for 1929 when Balanchine choreographed it. In any case, it's still amazing to see the amount of physical strength needed to do a ballet program well. At least my son now sees that ballet is not just for girls.

昨天下午公司有人送給我老公四張洛杉磯芭蕾舞團的票。我本來懶得去,最主要是因為戲院在Glendale, 從我家開車到那裏至少要一個小時。再加上表演時間是兩個半小時,我覺得小孩子一定會不耐煩或者是太累。反正不管怎樣,小孩子肯定會鬧,所以就不想去。後來老公說那票不能退了, 所以只好硬著頭皮,帶著兩個小孩,全家一起去看芭蕾舞。

我們大概七點左右到達戲院,領了票以後,找了一家壽司店買壽司給小孩子吃。七點半準時入場。我們的位子不錯在正中央。兩個小鬼蠻興奮的,很期待表演的開始。[待續]