Ballet

As I mentioned yesterday, Hotness & I attended the ballet last evening.

The performance last night consisted of four separate works under the title "Contemporary Classics", two of which were brand-new to Seattle audiences.

The first one was "AGON", a George Balanchine choreographed piece with music by Igor Stravinsky.

(pictures from PNB website)

It celebrates it's 50th year this year, so it's a popular work for ballet groups.

I enjoy all types of music, including classical, but I find Stravinsky's music too disjointed and rhythmically unbalanced to follow.

Paired with the dancing, I wasn't overwhelmed by this piece and found myself just waiting for it to be over.

Not to say the dancers weren't good, they were very good and it is a hard dance to perform. It just didn't appeal to me.

There was a brief intermission and then we watched "Kiss" followed by "Caught".

"Kiss" involves two dancers suspended by ropes attached to the ceiling and basically is an interpretation of two people being in love.

(Picture from PNB website)

"The dancers reach for each other, skimming slowly across the floor...twisting in airborne pirouettes, soaring as if reaching for heaven together." —Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times

(pictures from PNB website)

It's really a great peice, and while PNB has performed it before, this was the first time I got to see it on stage.

(The last time, I had to watch it on the monitors in the lobby.)

It's not very long, only a few minutes, but it's very moving.

After that, we had a pause and then the curtains opened again for the next piece, "Caught".

"Gravity-defying Caught created quite a stir in the dance world when it premiered in 1982. On a darkened stage, a strobe light illuminates a dancer's perfectly timed leaps, transmitting the striking perception of someone floating through the air." - from the PNB website

(pictures from PNB website)

To say that this one was good is to not give it justice. It was F***ing AWESOME!

I cannot begin to describe how impressive this one was. I tried to find a YouTube video of it, but there wasn't one to be found. It truly has to be seen to be believed!

Once the strobe lights kicked in and the dancer appeared to be "flying", you could feel the electricity in the room as the audience was stunned. Nobody could hold back their applause as he danced and seemed to float in the air.

After he was finished, he recieved a standing ovation from the audience with two curtain calls.

Only a small handful of ballet companies have been given permission to perform this, and Seattle is one of the lucky few. After the audience reaction to it last night, I'm certain we'll be seeing it again.

I can't tell you just how incredible this is, but if you can ever see this performance you will be amazed.

Another intermission and then we had the last piece for the evening, "In The Upper Room".

This was choreographed by Twyla Tharp, and is yet another impressive dance piece.

(images from the web, NOT of PNB dancers)

Off to the side was a fog-machine that filled the stage with 'smoke' and gave the dancers coming from the back the stage the illusion of appearing from out of nowhere.

(picture from the web, NOT of PNB dancers)

It was a great ending for the night's performance and we were glad we stayed for all of it.

You can read the "official review" from the local paper here.

Aftwards, we both went to Pomodoro for a late dinner and coffee.

As usual, we ordered the Calamares a la Plancha, followed by our individual entrees.

Also as usual, we were too stuffed to have dessert. The food is sooooo good!

I keep talking about this place, but seriously... if you're ever in Seattle you gotta go. It is everything a good restaraunt should be; cozy, friendly, intimate, and darn good food!

Our next ballet is after the New Year, which will be "Romeo & Juliet".

Lots of stuff happening in-between, so stay good!