The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude

That has got to be the coolest name for a ballet that I have ever heard. :) And it's one of the three ballets that I got to see for free last night! Due to a string of simultaneous lucky coincidences (unexpectedly encountering John outside his building as I was riding my bike home, while he was on the phone with his friend Marenda, while Marenda was searching for somebody to share her pair of free ballet tickets for that night), I was invited (well, okay, I really kind of invited myself...) to go see A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Oregon Ballet Theater. Only, it wasn't just Midsummer -- it was their "Germanic Lands" program, which included two short ballets, then an intermission, and then Midsummer (1 hour long). So, we got three ballets for the price of one - which was free! :)

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude was actually my least favorite of the three (and the women's stiff, flat, bright green frisbee-like tutus were mildly distracting), even though it had the best name. The second one, Almost Mozart, was really cool. I guess you could say it was in "acts;" each act was introduced by a brief, haunting Mozart phrase from the orchestra, and then the majority of the dancing was done in silence. That in itself was very different, and it could have been terrible, but the choreography was fantastic. The first act was two men, joined by both hands the entire time. It was amazing what they could do within those limitations. In the second act they added a woman, who was sometimes linked with them, sometimes dancing inside or weaving in and out of the circle of their arms. Again, very cool. And it was pretty neat to be able to hear the dancers as well -- their feet, their breathing -- which you don't normally get in a regular ballet because of all the music.

And, of course, Midsummer was great. I was impressed at how they were able to tell the story so well without words, in only an hour. (Granted, I haven't seen Midsummer performed as a play for quite some time, but there was a recognizable story line that was easy to follow, which is a great feat to accomplish.) The goal was to make it a very family-friendly and kid-accessible show, so there were lots of kids in it as fairies, and they threw in lots of silly things as well, like a ballet-tango between the fairy queen and the donkey, which was hilarious. All in all, it was a highly enjoyable evening.

It's nice to be reminded me that the world does tend to put us in the right place at the right time, even if we don't know it at the time. :)