For Christmas, my lovely ex-Pat and Danish (respectively) Aunt and Uncle gave us a gift certificate to the Kennedy Center because they know how much we love the performing arts. We found out that the NYC ballet was coming this month, so that won hands down.
And it was just as wonderful as I anticipated.
First, I was a dancer for 10 years. Unfortunately, a combination of bad back injury and unwillingness to devote what I had left of my life to dancing did me in. Developing hips probably didn’t help. The back injury was what really did it, though.
I still dance sometimes on my own, I love it in that crazy addictive way that you can love something while hating it at the same time (though since I’m not dancing I hate it less). Seeing the NYC ballet was the realization of a dream. I’d seen them on film, but never in real life before.
Second, one of the numbers they did has a special meaning for us. Micah planned the day of his proposal proposal to include the senior recital of the Central PA Youth Ballet (don’t let the name fool you, they’re good!). They did Balanchine’s “Serenade” (set to Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings”). I’d been wanting to see it for years, and Micah was able to make it come true the same day he asked me to marry him. The NYC ballet was performing it tonight, so lovely and such special meaning.
I was excited that they were doing a Balanchine and Robbins special. While I think rather poor;y of Balanchine’s way of treating his dancers—oh, I’m sorry, “horses” was his term—he was an excellent choreographer. Robbins is…interesting. They did his Ballet Without Sound (or was it Music?).
Third, we got to dress up and have a really fun date without worrying about things like budgeting for it ahead of time or anything like that. You don’t have to dress up pretty to go to the Kennedy Center, but I decided to go for it. I’m not the kind of person who dresses up every day, but I like to feel really pretty once in a while. We definitely weren’t overdressed, either, which felt good. Saw everything from jeans to furs.
And fourth, the most randomly awesome thing—-I actually knew one of the dancers. Danced with him might be a strong word but I spent hours in rehearsals with him and some time on stage with him. I was glancing through the program and his name just popped out. Mom, Dad, and Sis, you remember Amar? Well now he’s with the NYC ballet, though he’s not a principal.
Public thank you to my aunt and uncle. And I enjoyed it so much I just had to gush. Be glad that I’m not describing the specifics of some of the dances (seriously, the 4th movement of the dance set to Bizet’s Symphony in C is amazing!!!). I’ll save that for an e-mail to my aunt.
photo by sophia =^.^=
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Isn’t it wonderful when you receive that perfect gift? In my experience it’s a close second only to finding the perfect gift for someone else.
Sounds wonderful!
Those are the best gifts, aren’t they…The ones you’ll remember long after?
My parents and brother got me ballet tickets for Christmas, my parents used to take me every year when I was younger but it had been a few years since I had been. I really enjoyed the experience, although my brother couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t prefer an Amazon voucher!
Wonderful!!
How fun!
A few years ago, Tim got me (for Christmas) tickets to see some Russian ballet company doing a performance of Sleeping Beauty. It was awesome; we had a great time. 🙂
I used to dance, too, when I was a girl. Mostly ballet and pointe. Good times. 🙂
Oh what a nice gift and a perfect evening with hubby!
I bet your aunt and uncle are almost as thrilled as you are! In fact, I’m almost certain of it.
It’s wonderful to know that a gift one has given is one which has given so much pleasure…as all gifts are meant to do. And this one is a shared joy…a gift given, and a gift chosen, and a gift received.
Glad to know it also gave you a chance to dress up…that’s always fun!
I remember Amar fondly. He was the fox in an adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s “Jemima Puddleduck”. We seamstresses were discussing his costume and decided he should have knee-breeches. He said, “Pants! Pants are so good!” He was a fine dancer and a very nice person.
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