Tonight Kitten, Oscelot, Kitten's mom and I went to see the Memphis Ballet preform. As you know, I absolutely love ballet. Her mom got ahold of the tickets for us, and the seats were absolutely amazing. We were in the orchestra, dead center, far enough back to see everything.
They did four separate short peices, all of them different, and they were all absolutely beautiful. The first one was a modern expression of joy, and how joy spreads through interaction with other people. The second one was a modern interpretation of The Green Curtain (a shot story) and was a profound peice about lost love, greiving, and the madness it can bring to a person's life. The third peice was about a woman who was desloate, but brought to happiness through the support and love of her friends. It was really uplifting, and if I were to guess, the one most people enjoyed the most, because it was the easiest to understand. The last peice was a collection of Roy Orbison songs and I really loved it. It was, without a doubt, my favorite. It was the most modern from a musical standpoint, and the most classical and technically challenging from a dance perspective. It really moved me. Also, it inspired me to get ahold of some Roy Orbison. I forget how beautiful and emotionally deep his work can be.
I enjoyed the dance very much.
Now I must rant.
Because I am pretty sure I live in one of the most culturally challenged places on the planet. Seriously.
First, I want to preface this with a disclaimer. I know I'm a snob. I know it. I was brought up in the theater. I was raised by the dancers in my ballet company I preformed with. I was young when I started attending ballet and opera galas. I know these things influence me. I also know, because of it, that once upon a time it was not rare that people in my town knew how to behave at a theater. Which is why I am so mad.
I wore an evening dress tonight. The girls wore suits. Now granted, the dress I chose was rather casual for an evening dress, and in any other city I would have been dressed fabulously, but underdressed for a night at the ballet. I wore my hair down, I went without jewelry, my coat didn't match my dress. But you would have thought I was Queen Victoria compared to the people I saw tonight. When, tell me, did it become appropriate to wear torn jeans and an Angry Birds t-shirt to the theater? I was appalled at the amount of short skirts, knee high boots and no hosiery that I saw. Men were there wearing their work clothes. Maybe I'm being judgemental or old fashioned, but I believe that if a company of preformers takes months to prepare a beautiful, emotionally mature, technically perfect peice of work just for me, the least I can do is show my appreciation by dressing like what they do is important.
Say nothing of the amount of children I saw running around the theater. Now, I believe children should be introduced to the arts. Bu I also believe that they should be taught how to behave. I went to my first ballet when I was about seven. I wore the dress my grandmother had bought me for Christmas. It had that scratchy netting underneath it, and it drove me nuts, but I never so much as scratched my legs because I knew if I were rude enough to disrupt the preformance for anyone, I'd be hauled out of the theater and skinned alive. It was one of the most moving and memorable moments of my childhood. I could forget that my dress was scratchy because I was busy watching the stage.
During the first preformance,there was a child a few rows up from us crying. The parent never considered getting up and giving us peace. Another child shouted YaY!!!! really loudly after the preformance. The audience, well, most of them, laughed indulgently, so the kid felt like it was okay to do that any time there was a pause in the proceedings.
There was a group of teenagers that were eventually sitting behind me that kept getting moved from seat to seat because they weren't sitting where they purchased tickets for. They moved four times before settleing in. Annoying. What happened to ushers checking tickets?
Also, any time there was a pause in the show, people would start talking. Loudly. The woman behind me, a terrible parent I might add, was complaining loudly about her kids and their after school activities and how inconvenient they were to her. She used a lot of expletives. And here I thought we were in a classy establishment, not a trailer park...
I was also disturbed at the amount of eating going on. I know you arent' allowed to take in food to the theater proper. Now I could complain about the cheap white wine in plastic glasses served by the theater, but I cn let it go in deference to their needing to make a buck. People want wine? People have no taste? Skin 'em...although when I was growing up, you received wine and champagne in real glasses that you returned to a porter BEFORE you went into the preformance. Again, this may make me a snob. I'm okay with it. What I'm not okay with is the people behind us rattling bags of peanuts throughout the whole ballet. Or the guy with the 40 of Budweiser sitting in front of me guzzling and clinking his can over th sound of the music.
Ettiquette is dead. People didn't know to wait until the end of a peice to start clapping. They just clapped anytime there was a break in the music, which to me showed they had no idea what was going on. They clapped when the lights went down. They clapped when the curtain got stuck on the flyrail and didn't come down properly. They clapped when they fixed it...It killed me. Oh, and some people LAUGHED during the Roy Orbison peice, and believe me, there was nothing funny about it. I jsut don't understand.
Is it too much to expect to go to a ballet or an opera, see people dressed properly, behaving themselves, and understanding what's going on? Is it wrong for me to want children who are of an appropriate age to be sitting quietly, listening and watching, learning about the rich and beautiful artistic heritage in front of them? For their parents to respect the dancers and the art form enough to want their children to respect and appreciate it? Is that elitist? Maybe, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong that those people lack culture...
The ballet itself was wonderful. If you get a chance to watch the Memphis Ballet preform, take it. They're a talented bunch of dancers with a lot of clarity about their vision for dance. Their ability to execute beautifully choreographed peices that are emotionally and technically complex is admirable.
If you run in to any of the jerks I was at the ballet with tonight, kick them for me will you? Because I'm a lady, and I can't.
AGxx
Showing posts with label ballet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Why Do All Good Things Come To An End?
So the month is more than half over and I've had relatively few posts, eh? I'm pretty sure February is trying to eat me. Don't worry, it won't, but that doesn't mean that it isn't trying, that's for sure.
Outside of that awesome flu I had, I've had a couple of headaches that threatened to go full throttle, and that's very frustrating considering I've been working on affirming I am a healthy and happy person. Kitten has gotten ill as well, and it pains me to see her sniffling and coughing the way she does. I've done the best I can, plying her with teas and extracts and all the things I can think of to make her feel better. We'd go to a doctor, but the truth is, they'll tell her to treat the syptoms because its a virus, and what's the point in paying $50 to have them tell you somethign you already know?
Valentines Day is over, thank goddess and all I will say about it is that despite my romantic nature, I'm glad we don't celebrate it. I worked on Vday and I think I saw more unhappy families and fighting couples than I do any other time of year. Its depressing, seriously. Besides, how do you make up to someone in one day all the love you have for them if you don't do it the rest of the year. Pull a Frank Sinatra, I say "Each day is Valentine's Day" Right?
Personal tragedy seems to keep striking at the people I love. My Gran is getting a stress test done sometime in the next week or so. She has been having more problems with her heart and her blood pressure. They've got her on some new medications but it irritates me that they haven't found a way to keep her healthy. I mean, I know doctors aren't miracle workers all the time, but it seems the least that they can do is not put her on two medications that do the same thing and make her sick because they take them together.
Outside of my life, a couple of my good friends are going through a lot. I won't air their problems here, but suffice to say, I am suffering with them. One of them is going through something I've never had to deal with as a friend before, and I truly feel lost at how to comfort her. I don't know. And Iworry. And I want to be a good friend. And then I think to myself that if I hover and annoy her I'm just going to push her away and I definately don't want to do that. And if you know me at all, you know I'm great at hovering. The other person has a lot of things on his mind, and of course, I worry about that too. That's the trouble, you see, with being as attached to your friends as I get. I love them so much I feel like I can rest for worrying about how they are. I know I shouldn't complain, they've got more on their plates than I do, but it still wrankles with me. Somehow, I feel like I should be able to fix everything. I can't. I hate that.
In good news, last week we did have a great get together. Hedgewitch made a turkey and she and her husband, Shyguy, came over. Then we invited two girls from Casa Bueno- Shorty and Spice, and they joined us. Of course, it was mentioned to Flyguy too, so we had quite a party on our hands. In fact, I had to borrow a banquet table from my grandmother and we all barely fit at it. It was a good time though. After we ate we played games, which was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed having my friends in the house. It made me happy. Later, after all the girls had bounced, I stayed up late talking to Flyguy, whom I haven't seen as much of lately, and it made me really happy to have some time to sit and chat with him. He's great for a conversation and he always seems to know what to say. Sometimes I think he may think he doesn't, and that its akward, but he does have the knack for changing the subject without making me feel stupid and he knows how to comfort me without making it seem trite. There aren't a whole lot of people out there who can do that. In fact, I can count them on one hand, and I think most of them read my blog on occasion. Well, with the exception of my wife, who doesn't, which makes me thankful. Its nice to have this place to myself every now and again.
Speaking of my wife, and Flyguy...so one of my coworkers is getting married. i love her to death and she's a good person. In fact, she's one of the very few people I invited to our wedding. Anyway, the girls and I were invited to her wedding and its Memorial Day weekend. Its not terribly likely that I'll get off for it and we know the girls won't be able to go. Outside of that, its in a city about three hours away. I hate driving by myself. I mentioned to her that I didn't know if I would be able to go because of it, and also (I said laughingly) I wouldn't have a date since Kitten had to work. She looked at me in suprise and said she assumed I was going to bring Flyguy.
I almost didn't know how to respond. I think I laughed, and said yes, he does clean up well. I was suprised though. I couldn't imagine any other married person I know going to a wedding without their spouse and bringing another date instead. I would never insult Kitten that way. Mention not that an overnight trip with Flyguy out of the city with him as my date to one of our coworkers wedding would do nothing to quell the rumors that he and I are sleeping together (or that he, Kitten, Oscelot and I are sleeping together- astounding isn't it?) Anyway, it suprised me. It also kind of jives with my prior post about how I think people see my relationship sometimes. Yeah...it was odd.
In other news, I have started reading, at Kitten's suggestions, the Warriors series by Erin hunter. I'm completely addicted. we're all reading some part of the series nwo, and its funny to me how we've allowed the book terminology to seep into our household language. We've already determined Squirt, our cat with a bum leg, would be a medicine cat. Anyway, if you're looking for a light, easy read, its a great series, and its not lacking in books to read for a while. It has completely hikajacked my reading list. I've even suggested it to some of my customers.
Two weeks from now we're headed out of town for a concert. In case you're curious, its not Brandi Carlyle for a change. Its actually for an artist called Katie Herzig, who opened for Brandi at a concert Kitten and I saw about two years ago. We loved her and this is the first chance we've had to go and see her preform again. I'm looking forward to it. Also, we get to stop by the city Kitten's sister lives in, which is good. We didn't get to see them for Christmas, and just found out she got a job offer in Wisconsin, which is quite far away from where we live. I'll be glad to see them before they move. I feel saddened that they won't be quite as close, but then, we're planning on moving to Portland OR and that's on the coast, so I have no room to complain, do I?
I spent most of the other morning I had off watching videos on Youtube. Actually, I've been a bit of a Youtube freak lately. I'm not normall on it, but this time...well. I got hooked watching Lady Gaga videos the other morning. I love her. I don't care who laughs at me, she's talented, beautiful and her songs are damn catchy. Of course, I also took the time to watch a couple of videos by David Guetta, and artist Flyguy introduced me to and whom I like very much. I also happen to like most of the videos, although I do agree with whomever it was that said he never really serves much purpose in his videos...
I got distracted the other night thinking about ballet, and the Oscleot and I spend the entire evening planted in front of the computer watching the BBC recording of the Royal Academy Ballet's 2009 rendition of The Nutcracker. I was spellbound. Its the first time in a long time I've been able to watch the ballet in its entirety. Also, there was a lot more conforming to the actual storyline of the ETA Hoffman novel, which I won't cover now, because I could talk about that for an eternity and a half and not shut up. Its on my list of books to acquire. When I was younger I had a fully illustrated copy of the nvoel in coffee table version and I don't know where it got to. Its actually the full novel, not the children's illustrated made for baby version without the gore and violence...anyway...see what I mean about talking about it forever? It was a delightful evening because I had pizza, and breadsticks, and hot tea and an evening of ballet while wrapped comfortably in my blanket. We get to go see The Memphis Ballet in three weeks and I am really excited about that too. We're going with Kitten's mom. Its going to be a good time. Also, I have an excuse to wear something pretty, which I never say no to.
I got to thinking about dance again the other day. Hedgewitch and I talked about it, and then Flyguy and I talked about it, and then I talked about it with Oscelot. I think there's some contemplation of taking Ballroom lessons, despite my objections that it could become and expensive hobby. Also, I should mention, Flyguy has not agreed to the scheme, only me and the ladies so far, hedgewitch included. I think Shyguy will do it. I know FG won't. He's too busy and he swears he can't dance. (Which is a lie I am pretty sure I could prove) I miss dancing a lot and I think its time for me to find some sort of outlet for it, because I can't go on being sad and missing the thing I love most. I can't. Well, its the "hobby" I love most, I suppose. The thing I love most is Kitten, isn't it?
That's my February so far in a nutshell. I can't think if there's anything else I've forgotten to mention, though heaven knows I'll remember the moment I hit publish. That's always the way, isn't it?
I'm probably only breaking for now so I can write something truly rediculous. But then, that would be a sign things we heading back to normal now, wouldn't it?
AGxx
Also, I might thank Swiss for the earworm which resulted in the title of this post. (I'm like you, friend, give me a depressing song and I'm hooked.) Although, it could be worse, I've had Marroon Five's "Moves Like Jagger" and that stupid "I love you like a love song baby" song stuck in my head for weeks now.
Outside of that awesome flu I had, I've had a couple of headaches that threatened to go full throttle, and that's very frustrating considering I've been working on affirming I am a healthy and happy person. Kitten has gotten ill as well, and it pains me to see her sniffling and coughing the way she does. I've done the best I can, plying her with teas and extracts and all the things I can think of to make her feel better. We'd go to a doctor, but the truth is, they'll tell her to treat the syptoms because its a virus, and what's the point in paying $50 to have them tell you somethign you already know?
Valentines Day is over, thank goddess and all I will say about it is that despite my romantic nature, I'm glad we don't celebrate it. I worked on Vday and I think I saw more unhappy families and fighting couples than I do any other time of year. Its depressing, seriously. Besides, how do you make up to someone in one day all the love you have for them if you don't do it the rest of the year. Pull a Frank Sinatra, I say "Each day is Valentine's Day" Right?
Personal tragedy seems to keep striking at the people I love. My Gran is getting a stress test done sometime in the next week or so. She has been having more problems with her heart and her blood pressure. They've got her on some new medications but it irritates me that they haven't found a way to keep her healthy. I mean, I know doctors aren't miracle workers all the time, but it seems the least that they can do is not put her on two medications that do the same thing and make her sick because they take them together.
Outside of my life, a couple of my good friends are going through a lot. I won't air their problems here, but suffice to say, I am suffering with them. One of them is going through something I've never had to deal with as a friend before, and I truly feel lost at how to comfort her. I don't know. And Iworry. And I want to be a good friend. And then I think to myself that if I hover and annoy her I'm just going to push her away and I definately don't want to do that. And if you know me at all, you know I'm great at hovering. The other person has a lot of things on his mind, and of course, I worry about that too. That's the trouble, you see, with being as attached to your friends as I get. I love them so much I feel like I can rest for worrying about how they are. I know I shouldn't complain, they've got more on their plates than I do, but it still wrankles with me. Somehow, I feel like I should be able to fix everything. I can't. I hate that.
In good news, last week we did have a great get together. Hedgewitch made a turkey and she and her husband, Shyguy, came over. Then we invited two girls from Casa Bueno- Shorty and Spice, and they joined us. Of course, it was mentioned to Flyguy too, so we had quite a party on our hands. In fact, I had to borrow a banquet table from my grandmother and we all barely fit at it. It was a good time though. After we ate we played games, which was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed having my friends in the house. It made me happy. Later, after all the girls had bounced, I stayed up late talking to Flyguy, whom I haven't seen as much of lately, and it made me really happy to have some time to sit and chat with him. He's great for a conversation and he always seems to know what to say. Sometimes I think he may think he doesn't, and that its akward, but he does have the knack for changing the subject without making me feel stupid and he knows how to comfort me without making it seem trite. There aren't a whole lot of people out there who can do that. In fact, I can count them on one hand, and I think most of them read my blog on occasion. Well, with the exception of my wife, who doesn't, which makes me thankful. Its nice to have this place to myself every now and again.
Speaking of my wife, and Flyguy...so one of my coworkers is getting married. i love her to death and she's a good person. In fact, she's one of the very few people I invited to our wedding. Anyway, the girls and I were invited to her wedding and its Memorial Day weekend. Its not terribly likely that I'll get off for it and we know the girls won't be able to go. Outside of that, its in a city about three hours away. I hate driving by myself. I mentioned to her that I didn't know if I would be able to go because of it, and also (I said laughingly) I wouldn't have a date since Kitten had to work. She looked at me in suprise and said she assumed I was going to bring Flyguy.
I almost didn't know how to respond. I think I laughed, and said yes, he does clean up well. I was suprised though. I couldn't imagine any other married person I know going to a wedding without their spouse and bringing another date instead. I would never insult Kitten that way. Mention not that an overnight trip with Flyguy out of the city with him as my date to one of our coworkers wedding would do nothing to quell the rumors that he and I are sleeping together (or that he, Kitten, Oscelot and I are sleeping together- astounding isn't it?) Anyway, it suprised me. It also kind of jives with my prior post about how I think people see my relationship sometimes. Yeah...it was odd.
In other news, I have started reading, at Kitten's suggestions, the Warriors series by Erin hunter. I'm completely addicted. we're all reading some part of the series nwo, and its funny to me how we've allowed the book terminology to seep into our household language. We've already determined Squirt, our cat with a bum leg, would be a medicine cat. Anyway, if you're looking for a light, easy read, its a great series, and its not lacking in books to read for a while. It has completely hikajacked my reading list. I've even suggested it to some of my customers.
Two weeks from now we're headed out of town for a concert. In case you're curious, its not Brandi Carlyle for a change. Its actually for an artist called Katie Herzig, who opened for Brandi at a concert Kitten and I saw about two years ago. We loved her and this is the first chance we've had to go and see her preform again. I'm looking forward to it. Also, we get to stop by the city Kitten's sister lives in, which is good. We didn't get to see them for Christmas, and just found out she got a job offer in Wisconsin, which is quite far away from where we live. I'll be glad to see them before they move. I feel saddened that they won't be quite as close, but then, we're planning on moving to Portland OR and that's on the coast, so I have no room to complain, do I?
I spent most of the other morning I had off watching videos on Youtube. Actually, I've been a bit of a Youtube freak lately. I'm not normall on it, but this time...well. I got hooked watching Lady Gaga videos the other morning. I love her. I don't care who laughs at me, she's talented, beautiful and her songs are damn catchy. Of course, I also took the time to watch a couple of videos by David Guetta, and artist Flyguy introduced me to and whom I like very much. I also happen to like most of the videos, although I do agree with whomever it was that said he never really serves much purpose in his videos...
I got distracted the other night thinking about ballet, and the Oscleot and I spend the entire evening planted in front of the computer watching the BBC recording of the Royal Academy Ballet's 2009 rendition of The Nutcracker. I was spellbound. Its the first time in a long time I've been able to watch the ballet in its entirety. Also, there was a lot more conforming to the actual storyline of the ETA Hoffman novel, which I won't cover now, because I could talk about that for an eternity and a half and not shut up. Its on my list of books to acquire. When I was younger I had a fully illustrated copy of the nvoel in coffee table version and I don't know where it got to. Its actually the full novel, not the children's illustrated made for baby version without the gore and violence...anyway...see what I mean about talking about it forever? It was a delightful evening because I had pizza, and breadsticks, and hot tea and an evening of ballet while wrapped comfortably in my blanket. We get to go see The Memphis Ballet in three weeks and I am really excited about that too. We're going with Kitten's mom. Its going to be a good time. Also, I have an excuse to wear something pretty, which I never say no to.
I got to thinking about dance again the other day. Hedgewitch and I talked about it, and then Flyguy and I talked about it, and then I talked about it with Oscelot. I think there's some contemplation of taking Ballroom lessons, despite my objections that it could become and expensive hobby. Also, I should mention, Flyguy has not agreed to the scheme, only me and the ladies so far, hedgewitch included. I think Shyguy will do it. I know FG won't. He's too busy and he swears he can't dance. (Which is a lie I am pretty sure I could prove) I miss dancing a lot and I think its time for me to find some sort of outlet for it, because I can't go on being sad and missing the thing I love most. I can't. Well, its the "hobby" I love most, I suppose. The thing I love most is Kitten, isn't it?
That's my February so far in a nutshell. I can't think if there's anything else I've forgotten to mention, though heaven knows I'll remember the moment I hit publish. That's always the way, isn't it?
I'm probably only breaking for now so I can write something truly rediculous. But then, that would be a sign things we heading back to normal now, wouldn't it?
AGxx
Also, I might thank Swiss for the earworm which resulted in the title of this post. (I'm like you, friend, give me a depressing song and I'm hooked.) Although, it could be worse, I've had Marroon Five's "Moves Like Jagger" and that stupid "I love you like a love song baby" song stuck in my head for weeks now.
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