Busy Weekend, Part Tri

On Sunday, I was blessed with the opportunity to see the Kirov Ballet perform The Bayadére. By no small stretch of the imagination, this was a truly gorgeous ballet, with the most amazing set designs, and richly decorated costumes. I don't know how they transported it all to the states, and then moved from city to city. And the dancing was.. just beautiful.

I can't help gushing. Its so rare that a ballet company in the US can even come close to the precision and capability of the Russian companies. Most US companies focus on a sort of mixed bag of both contemporary and classical styles, and while they do admirable work, the Kirov ballet wins the competition for most athletic by leaps and bounds, literally.

Yum. If you ever get the chance to see the Kirov Ballet, don't hesitate to do so. My only advice is to see an evening performance if you can. I went to the final Sunday afternoon performance which was people with small children, and coughers.. So many Coughers!!! People who go to the evening performances usually have more respect for the art happening on stage (and their fellow audience members) and suck on cough drops. And there are fewer children. Much as I love them, they can't see a damn thing from an adult sized seat unless you stick them on the aisle. And they can't sit through a performance than borders on three hours. Take them to the Nutcracker, take them to a modern performance even. But not an honest to goodness Ballet.