on a cold, wet, friday night, it's pretty hard to motivate to do just about anything. fortunately/unfortunately, i had to be on campus anyways for my personal trainer class, so at least i was dragging my butt in for more than one reason. (which somehow makes the effort of getting off my ass and out of my apt slightly more bearable.)
i must admit to being totally thankful that i had my bright pink umbrella to keep me from getting totally soaked in the downpour (oh, how i hate bizarre LA weather). otherwise, i would've been a total crabby pants during class (and thereafter). as it was, i was clean and dry and safe w/in the walls of the wooden center.
after a good core class, i thought i'd treat myself to a yummy chai iced blendz and a chocolate covered palmier for dinner. um yeah, not the healthiest meal i know, but when a girl needs sugar, a girl needs sugar. a quick stop at powell to check email and i was off to the freud for my much anticipated LA ballet experience.
in all honesty, i LOVE the ballet. there's something about the combo of grace and athleticism that's so amazing and inspiring. i used to go to at least one or two ballets every year when i lived in new york. specifically during the lincoln center festival that happens every summer. i must admit to getting a little drowsy during some performances, but when the choreography is really good, you don't want to close your eyes or else you might miss something. since coming out to LA, i've gotten to see one ballet at royce hall, which was absolutely fabulous. so i'm definitely psyched to check out another performance there this afternoon.
to see the LA ballet at the freud, however, was definitely worth the 50 bucks that i dished out (that i don't really have to spend). the venue is *much* smaller than royce, and every seat is pretty much a good seat. the sad thing is that the performance wasn't a UCLA live performance (at least i don't think so), which meant that there were no cheaper student tix. and to be honest, the cost is fairly prohibitive for poor students who *really* don't have the big bucks to spend (or don't feel the ballet is worth *quite* that much).
this ultimately meant that there were several rows of empty seats. which wouldn't have been a big deal in a larger space, but when it's such a small venue, it's quite noticeable. hopefully it was dark enough that the dancers didn't notice. but if it were me on stage, i'm not sure how much i'd appreciate not having a full house. then again, maybe it made them less nervous? on the flip side, wouldn't you be used to nerves as performers? ack! that's just way too much thinking. at the end of the day, i had a great seat with no heads obstructing my view. i even got to move a seat over after the first intermission to get closer to center. (as eri likes to say, center center is always the best place to be.)
the program consisted of 3 balanchine ballets and 1 new work by melissa barak. while there were one or two slips and falls (at least from what i noticed -- and i'm definitely no professional critic) that were a bit disconcerting (though barely noticeable), all in all i was very impressed.
the first piece was 'the four temperaments,' which i found extremely athletic, incorporating some very modern dance elements. i'd just come out of a core class, so all i kept seeing was the thoracic and lumbar flexion -- segmental no less! (elisa, aren't you proud?) b/c this piece definitely didn't exhibit the same stiffness associated with your typical ballet. while it would've been nice to be more familiar with the four humors (i.e., melancholic, sanguinic, phlegmatic, choleric) prior to the performance, there's something to be said for soaking up the performance with a tabula rasa. afterwards, i got a crash course via text from mel. (thanks, mel!) but even though i didn't necessarily look for accurate representation of the humors, the dancing was riveting nonetheless. interestingly enough, i couldn't help but notice that some dancer pairings were more choppy than others, though i wasn't sure whether that was intentional or not (based on the humors). it totally made me think about 'center stage' and wonder whether there was underlying drama b/w the dancers. and how that might come out on stage. you'd think performers would know how to be professional. but you can't help your feelings! we've all seen those dancer reality shows, right? ok, maybe not all of us....
the second piece was the new work, entitled 'lost in transition.' from the outset, i took it as a play on the 'lost in translation' concept and i certainly looked for elements of interpretive tension throughout the performance. as with the first piece, i found the dancing in the second piece to be extremely athletic and modern. the choreography was creative and interesting, and quite brilliant i have to say. again, i'm no dance critic, but there was something so atypical and unexpected about the movements. you really didn't want to look away. i loved the use of minor keys -- it made the performance that much more contemporary and dramatic. i also wondered whether there was a live orchestra in the back. seeing as there was no pit, i'm not quite sure where the musicians would've sat. but then again, i'm not familiar w/the backstage of the freud. in any case, the combination of the score w/the choreography was perfect.
the company frontloaded the evening w/the modern pieces and ended w/the more traditional works. 'the tarantella' was short and sweet. the tambourines didn't seem to go too well w/the score, but the dancing was quite playful. the last piece, entitled 'who cares?', was a lovely way for individual dancers to show off what they could do. particularly eddy tovar, who hadn't appeared in the earlier pieces. the music was gershwin (and who doesn't love gershwin?) and the dancing was airy and fun. at one point, i wish they'd added in the words, but i suppose that might've been distracting. at any rate, i suppose it was good to end w/a traditional ballet, especially for slightly older patrons who might've been less inclined toward the contemporary works. personally, though, the earlier pieces were much more to my liking. sometimes modern dance can be a little too acrobatic and fluid. so i find modern ballet to be a good compromise b/w traditional and modern dance forms.
all in all, it was an absolutely wonderful evening. especially when i walked outside into the brisk night air. every so often, i wish there were other people to do these kinds of things with. but then again, i'm not sure if i'd have the same thought-provoking experience. i just think there's something amazing about seeing, feeling, and thinking things on your own. free of judgment. free of wondering whether someone else agrees with you or not. there's something so great about just having your own opinion about something. for whatever reason you choose to have that opinion. it's like the title of the ballet, 'who cares?'
http://www.losangelesballet.org/
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