Page 9 - The Holiday Issue San Diego Woman Magazine

And so it is that not every childhood
is blessed by the many attributes gained
from the experience of ballet and its mu-
sic: the inner joy it alights, the confidence
it nurtures, the focus it enhances, the cul-
tural knowledge it enriches, the bonding
it promotes, the discipline it teaches, and
the exercise that does the body good.
Which is to say, I saw Elvis, The Beat-
les, and Mick Jagger live in concert before
I saw my first ballet.

Dance is an art of movement, filling
space with athletic yet expressive skill.
It affects us in profound ways, existing
in the moment it is seen—fleeting and
ephemeral. It can not be captured, yet its Photo Courtesy of California Ballet
impression on us lingers. —Jared Nelson

Growing an Appreciation for Ballet

I saw my first ballet in Moscow—by
default. Trying to purchase tickets to What makes ballet a a performance unaware of its backstory
or know little to nothing about the music
a concert, it wasn’t until I handed over
my money that the ticket agent told me profound experience is to which it is set, and so aren’t experienc-
the concert was sold out, then placed a the story, the music, and ing it as wonderfully as it can be.
ticket in my hand and said sternly, “You If you, like me, didn’t grow up
go.” The ticket was to a Ballet at a dinner brilliant choreography. attending Ballet performances, or came
late to the party, it’s not too late to catch
theatre.
I did go; I was too frightened not to up. Even if you were born without a
for fear I maybe was being watched and You’ll Enjoy a Ballet More if You Know Performance Arts gene, and need to be
being as far away from home as I was, I’d the Story Behind the Performance! “dragged” to the theatre and complain
better just go see the thing. about having to endure it, take heart:
knowing the backstory and a bit about
Sitting in a dinner theatre in Mos- Though I didn’t know it then, I was
cow, eating a meal of “Danube sturgeon, still missing out on the magnitude of all the music will lessen your pain.
‘premium cabbage' Borscht, and Golubt- that the art of ballet has to offer: an even As for now, include The Nutcracker
sy,” I was about to see my first Ballet–The deeper appreciation would have been ballet as an activity over the Holidays and
Nutcracker. mine had I known the story the ballet make it a delightful occasion! If you or
Then it happened: the symphony rose was based upon and being enacted on a family member is unfamiliar with the
from a mysterious cavity in the floor, and the stage. It would have been even more Nutcracker, make time to read the story
it was as though the heavens opened and fulfilling had I known a little something and listen to the musical score before the
rained fierce and passionate sounds that about the composer and his music—the Ballet. This will make going to the Ballet
hurled emotion, and as quickly withdrew where, how and why it came to be. All enjoyable, especially for children.
it. The curtains opened to a stage of sleek, can deepen your appreciation for what
muscular bodies who rushed one another you are about to experience—which “Music Director John Stubbs’
with precision-disciplined, grace-pow- accounts for the allure of the Performing Tchaikovsky’s is a most incredible,
ered movements creating an ethereal Arts, and why some patrons attend a extravagant score. His brilliant
beauty that was utterly captivating. I was performance time and again. conducting lights up the stage and
mesmerized by the fullness of it all. Though for me Ballet is now a staple, fills the theatre with music that is
I attended two more Ballets while in too many never get to experience a Ballet captivating, breathtaking and more.”
Russia that trip. performance. And of course, some attend — Julia San-Roman Naughton, Artist

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