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21. Opera, ballet, symphony – choose one and go

Someone at Amy’s work had tickets for the Boston Ballet but couldn’t go, so Amy bought the tickets and we went last night.

The Boston Ballet performs at the Boston Opera House. It’s really ornate inside, which the exterior kind of hints at. Also, I love the lady with the red bag just standing there looking forlorn yet expectant. I hope the person she was waiting for showed up before the ballet started.

The program we saw was called “Black & White”, a program by Ji?í Kylián. There were 5 pieces in the performance – as the web site says,

No More Play, a study in contrasts, is at once somber and light, engaging and introspective. Petite Mort, a visual stunner, incorporates artistic swordplay set to Mozart. Sarabande, a powerful work for ten men, and Falling Angels, a mesmerizing, patterned dance for women balance each other. Sechs Tänze, a light, madcap romp concludes the evening with energy and Kylián’s unique wit.

Here’s a highlight video of their performance of all 5 pieces from last season. My favorite of the pieces was definitely Sarabande, even though it was the most disturbing of the five. Sechs Tänze was pretty funny, but Amy pointed out that it was kind of misogynistic, and I thought it was homophobic. It startles me how very gendered ballet is – I guess I live in a world that’s not quite so stark in terms of gender roles and expectations, for which I’m grateful.