Ze Ballet

Yes, I know I have been absent for a week. Sorry! Cory and I actually went to Arizona (story and pictures coming soon) and when we got back I was just too overwhelmed and tired to want to do anything remotely productive!

And then yesterday we had our late anniversary event! We went to see the Moscow Ballet perform Sleeping Beauty... here in our little town!

There is some back story here. Last year they weren't even scheduled to perform in our town, but couldn't get their visas to get into Canada. So they asked if we would like a show here. One show sold out and they added another, which also sold out (on very short notice). I'm not sure if they did a third, but they were so thrilled by their reception that this year they decided to open their tour here!

It was an... interesting experience. It's been so long since I've been to any ballet other than the Nutcracker that it was hard for me to follow a bit. Sleeping Beauty really only has four scenes so they are very drawn out. I really liked the fairies dancing and the group dances. But the individual dances were not very well choreographed, in my opinion. There was a LOT of repetition. Many short dances after which the prima ballerina would bow (forever) and then she would come right back out to do another one. Also the lead male dancer (what do you call them?) needed a hair cut and some pants!

The end scene with the wedding guests was fun though. Puss in Boots and the White Cat were very much in character and fun to watch. There was also Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. And the fairies came back as jewels. They were the most "in to" their dancing so it made it more engaging. Also the costumes were amazing (and there were a lot of costume changes!).

I suppose it is also possible that they had to modify their dances since our stage is so small. But overall, I don't think I'd go again for quite a few years!

Afterwards we went to a place called The Wild Huckleberry for dinner with my parents. It was pretty good food for a really good price. And then my parents stopped at Safeway and brought back this amazingly good chocolate cake for us to share!

Cory stayed home with a babysitter and did really well. Hooray! I was a bit crazy on our way out the door, trying to remember all the things to tell her! But she knows him from church and the nursery during mom's Bible study so they were fine!