Last night I saw "The Sleeping Beauty" performed by the New York City Ballet. I enjoyed The Nutcracker so much I was excited to go back and see this classic fairytale. And even better, because I purchased a ticket for the Nutcracker I received an e-mail offer for a 20% discount on a ticket for The Sleeping Beauty. Yay for cheap seats to the ballet!
The show was spectacular. The costumes, the sets, the music, the dancing it was all amazing. The sets were very elaborate as were the costumes. The tutus were covered in appliques and crystals - they were breathtaking.
I arrived at the theatre early which allowed me time to enjoy the splendor of Lincoln Center. It is a group of buildings that surround a large central plaza featuring a water fountain.
All of the theatres have huge sparkling chandeliers and grand entrances. It is a lovely place to see a performance of the ballet, symphony, or opera.
Inside the theatre the second floor has a wide open promenade. In the middle is a round champagne bar. During intermission the pop of the cork was a frequent sound.
The gift shop (really counter) is also on the second floor. It is quite enterprising as they sell used ballet slippers from troupe members. Depending on the level of the dancer the prices go from $5 to $50. They were selling the practice slippers of the girl playing 'Aurora' that night; according to the very chatty women behind the counter it was her debut. (She did very well. Aurora must be a very hard role to dance - there is lots of time up on your toes and tons of spins.) For a friend with little ballerina nieces I purchased two pairs of pink slippers.
I chose the pair on the left because it was signed in purple - what little girl doesn't like purple? I chose the pair on the right because the dancer signed them "Love" and then her name - how cute is that?! While the pair on the left might look huge it is a size 5.5, the pair on the right is a size 4. The 5.5 was one of the larger pairs available for sale - these girls have tiny feet. How do those little toes support them so well? The ballerinas are so lean and muscular, makes me think I need to look in to the ballet workout. The woman selling the shoes was so excited. She told me one of the girls was on stage "dancing her heart out" and she pulled out a book and showed me pictures of both girls. She was also sure to tell me I could go on to the website and see photos of the girls and read about their training. She was such a proud volunteer - it actually made me look at the volunteer opportunities on the website this morning. It is a little bit of a pain to get to Lincoln Center but it would be fun to work the events.
http://www.nycballet.com/index.html
And in case you were wondering what I wore.....I was able to wear the dress I bought for New Year's Eve. At the last minute we decided to dress casual for New Year's so the party dress stayed in the closet. (Bex and I went shopping to find her a party dress before Christmas - of course she didn't find any dresses and I bought two!) It was comfortable and appropriate and the usher told me it was beautiful.
It was a wonderful night until I was leaving my seat after the performance. The girl next to me kind of hit me with her coat (it was no big deal), after which she told me "sorry ma'am". Ma'am! I'm no ma'am! Sigh.
