New York City Ballet

Brian and I were able to go and see The New York City Ballet perform last Wednesday (Oct 10th) night. I was originally supposed to go with my mother-in-law, Kris, but plans changed and Brian got to come along. I was SO excited to see the ballet. I have been wanting to go the whole time we have been in New York. Every time we would go to the Temple, I would see the posters advertising the ballet hanging at Lincoln Center (located just across the street) and would be reminded of how much I wanted to go. 

I love ballet, although until last week I had never seen a live performance before. I was in a ballet class when I was really little. I loved my pink leotard, wrap-around skirt and ballet shoes. I still can remember learning the feet positions! Ever since then I have just loved it. When we learned that Brian's parents were going to be visiting us and that they had arranged for some ballet tickets, I was ecstatic. 

The New York City Ballet performs in the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. We arrived just as the sun was starting to set so we got to see the theater when it was all lit up. It was gorgeous, the whole Center was gorgeous. I love this part of Manhattan. It is so clean and nice.

We ended up arriving extra early so we had time to walk around the area a little and enjoy the space. I love the fountain at Lincoln Center. It was especially pretty all lit up. The weather was beautiful. It was the perfect fall evening: warm with just a slight chill in the air.

We walked back behind the Avery Fisher Hall building (right across from the Koch Theater) and discovered a whole new space that we hadn't seen before. I really liked this reflecting pool.

Finally it was time to enter the Theater. The inside of the building is just as gorgeous as the outside. Most of the first floor consists of white marble. They have these two gold colored art pieces, one on either end of the floor.

We walked up the stairs and checked our coats and Brian's backpack. We were still early and the doors to the theater weren't opened yet. We got to wait in this big open room. The railing of the various balconies was very cool. Again, I was almost too excited to pay attention to anything. 

It was while we were waiting for the door to open that I snapped a picture of Brian's ensemble...or at least part of it. He had worn his suit to work so I could meet him there and then just head up to the ballet. When I met him at work I realized that he had worn his tennis shoes with his suit and hadn't brought any dress shoes to change into. I was slightly worried about it until we got to the theater and realized that there were people in all kinds of clothes. We saw one guy in jeans and a T-shirt with a tuxedo printed on it. Very classy.

There was a door on one side of our waiting room that led out to the outside balcony of the theater. We had a great view of the plaza and Avery Fisher Hall. By then it was fully dark and the buildings were gorgeous against the black sky.

The light fixtures above the Theater's balcony are very cool.

The doors to the theater eventually opened and we found our seats with the help of the usher. Our seats were located at the back of the second balcony. The Theater was gorgeous! The walls, seats and floor were all red. The lights around the front of each balcony resemble the tops of large diamonds. The theater and stage were smaller than I imagined they would be.

The large yellow curtain had tassels along the bottom. Everything was so opulent. It was wonderful. We had really good seats too. Even though we were a couple stories up, we could see the stage just fine.

We didn't get the full view of the theater because of our position. I went to find a picture online to see the ceiling of the room and found out that it is just as fabulous as the rest of it.

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We weren't allowed to take pictures during the ballet, so I found some pictures online of the pieces we saw.

The first piece was called Apollo. The music was written in 1927-28 by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by George Balanchine. It was first performed in Paris in 1928 and is the oldest Balanchine Ballet that the NYCB performs. According to Wikipedia, "The story centers around Apollo, the Greek God of music, who is visited by three muses: Terpsichore, muse of dance and song; Polyhymnia, muse of mime; and Calliope, muse of poetry." 

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It was fantastic. If you want to read more about it or watch a clip of it, click on the source link above. I really liked how Apollo seemed to control the muses movements with his own. There was clearly an element of communicative expression involved in the story as Apollo lead his muses around the stage. It was excellent.

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The second piece we saw is called MOVES. This one was performed without any music. I read a little about each performance before we went and was worried that this one was going to be really weird. I was pleasantly surprised. It was really cool. Without the music, you can hear all of the squeaks of their shoes as they pivot, the thumps and bumps of their feet as they land and the huffing and puffing of their breath as they dance. It becomes less graceful and more athletic as you can see, or hear, how much work it is. The dancers make it look really easy, but its not. Brian said that it sounds more like a basketball game than a ballet.  

We wondered how they kept time with each other as well, since their was no music to keep them coordinated. At times, a dancer would tap the stage or move in a way that set the tempo, but at other times it was completely silent. At the beginning, they just walk out in single file and stand completely still in a line for quite a while. Then all of the sudden they start moving. I guess they are all just really good counters. To learn more about it go here.

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The third, and final piece we saw was Symphony in C. This was by far my favorite. It was amazing and was so wonderful to watch. The dancers were dressed in tutus that were covered in sparkling Swarovski crystals.The ballerinas were sparkling from head to toe and it was gorgeous. Apparently the costumes were newly designed and created for the 2012 season.

Symphony in C was written by Georges Bizet in 1855. He was 17 when he composed it and titled it Le Palais de Cristal. The music was lost and not found until 1933. George Balanchine choreographed the ballet in two weeks and it premiered in Paris in 1948.

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There are four movements to the ballet, and more dancers appeared on stage with each movement until the very end when everyone was dancing. It was incredible to see that many dancers on the same stage moving in coordination. I don't know how they all fit and moved about without hitting each other. To watch a clip of the finale and a video about their new costumes go here.

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I don't know how to describe how lovely it all was. It was just marvelous and I loved every minute of it. Brian enjoyed himself as well and even though he wasn't as hip on the sparkly/tutu piece, he said that he would gladly take me and "sit through one again." He really liked the other two pieces though. This is good, because I've been looking for affordable tickets to their performance of the Nutcracker! We may be visiting again really soon.