Last night we enjoyed an evening of Ballet. I don't usually seek out dance as an art form to experience. Paintings, yes. Sculptures, yes. Music, yes. Photography, mixed media, theatre, yes, yes and yes. But not Dance.
Not that I haven't been exposed to it. My Mum loved ballet but didn't know many people she could invite along with her, so I often was the one who accompanied her. I was indifferent right up to the moment the curtain would rise and the dancers emerged. Then, I became entranced by the elegance and beauty of it all. My next door neighbour too was a ballet student, who dragged me to both classical as well as contemporary forms of dance.
However, last night, I was the one who instigated the evening's entertainment. A troupe I had missed when they were on a few weeks ago locally but were on last night in a neighbouring town.
They are the Ballet Boyz. And yes, I know what you're thinking.
That perhaps I hadn't quite been motivated by the "ballet" part. And I'd be lying if I tried to argue otherwise. But let me tell you, whatever my spurious reasons, they put on a breathtaking show. When you have ten muscular guys at your disposal, you can take the choreography to an incredible level. Each guy must be tipping the scales some, with all that muscle and they were being lifted and spun round as if they weighed no more than a feather.
What's more, if the strength and elegance of the dancers failed to move you, there was the music. Especially for the piece "Fallen". A powerful, tribal sound of staccato strings wove through a soaring soundtrack. Matched with strong, harsh lighting effects, to emphasise the bodies and their movements, the audience and me, were spellbound. I think we'd have all have happily stayed there longer and watched the whole piece again. No-one seemed to want the show to end. The excitable round of applause was well deserved.
I came away on a high, talking non stop during the car journey home. That was the joy of it. There was so much to discuss. Everyone had their own interpretation of what we'd seen.
It's not the same as a live performance, but I'll finish this post with a sneak peek of what I was lucky to enough to see
4 comments:
Just watched the 'video' and can only imagine how much better it was as that certainly looked enthralling. Glad you enjoyed it, x
Just amazing. Fluent, competence and beauty. What an experience and I wish I had been there.
Jo x
I watched the short clip and another on-line. It's as though they were so light that they just floated in perfect sync from one move to the next. Beautiful dancers. Glad you were able to experience their performance and that you enjoyed it. :)
I don't see enough ballet. My sister used to dance and I've seen a few Matthew Bourne productions but seeing a ballet is never high on my list of priorities. Maybe it should be. Glad to hear you enjoyed the Ballet Boyz for all the right reasons!
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