ballet a la sufjan

 I have a confession: I'm not a huge fan of Broadway plays. I don't know what it is I don't like about them. Maybe it's the random act of breaking into songs or the over-zealous acting. Those shows have just never been my cup of tea. On the other hand, I love dance and ballet performances AND I love Sufjan Stevens. When I heard there was a New York City Ballet featuring his music, I was immediately searching for tickets. I found some reasonably priced seats for a Saturday matinee and dragged invited along Kurt, Jenn, and Christian.

 I had never even been to Lincoln Center. Jenn and I were pin-pointing all our favorite locations from Center Stage (i.e. one of the best movies to come out of my high school years).

 Sadly, no photos were allowed inside the theater so I wasn't able to capture any of the show and the lovely costumes. I even had to sneak this shot!

The performance was split into three portions, divided by intermissions. The first piece was set to the music of Philip Glass and was my absolute favorite. The music and costumes were so simple and minimal. I loved how modern it was and less stiff than what you typically think of a ballet. At times, the stage seemed like chaos but then was expertly choreographed back to order.

 The second piece was set to Sufjan Steven's Enjoy your the Rabbit. I had such high hopes for this and was a little let down. The dances were gorgeous, but the music was a little flat. They only used the string section of the orchestra, and I felt it lacked the richness of the original album. I will say they made some crazy sounds with those instruments though, so thumbs up for pushing boundaries.

 The final performance was a collection of Vienna Waltzes. I hate to say it, but it was a bit of a snooze. As much as the previous two chapters were contemporary, this part was completely traditional. The music was lovely and classical, but the dances seemed like endless twirling around on stage. The girls wore (albeit gorgeous) long dresses and short heeled slippers. I don't claim to be any sort of ballet expert but I tend to prefer watching en pointe. Regardless, I had a blast and was so excited to check a cultural outing off my NYC bucket list.

 Thanks to Kurt for being a trooper. I think he might rank the excitement level of ballet somewhere between going to the dentist and taking the SAT. However, I have sat through many a football game, so I've earned a couple hours indulging my inner ballerina :)

 I had such a fun time exploring a new part of town and breaking from our typical weekend routine. I would highly suggest taking in a NYCB performance (or any other local company for that matter) if you get a chance. Do a little digging and you can find some pretty decent tickets with a good view of the stage. Beware that you may end up walking around on your tippy toes the rest of the day and start researching beginners ballet classes at your gym. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Check out Jenn's recap here!