Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

An Unexpected Guest


Recommended Posts

 I can still vividly recall a rather singular and profoundly inspiring aspect of an American Ballet Theater performance in Los Angeles during the Summer of 2013. Although the company's seamless rendering of Symphony in C was truly effected with great grace as was the bendy supercharged David Byrne-esque (yes, even in a big coat) James Whiteside in Ratmansky's hip Chamber Symphony, there was another facet to this diamond in Los Angeles more subtle and yet fairly bursting with unexpected color: the audience. Why this group threatened to steal the show ! What a presence they were ! From front row orchestra to the "end zone" seating of the last seat in the house, one could sense the myriad of bright and talented individuals gathered for the occassion. Navigating my way toward the front, " fly on the wall" me managed to find my seat next to an instantly personable and charming woman, who, it turned, had danced for Ballanchine. Glory ! That did it.  From that moment forward, my creative spirit went ballistic. She danced for George Ballanchine ! I was in heaven ! After all, these are my heroes. These are the stars in my creative firmament. Not more than a handful of minutes - perhaps twenty - had transpired and with nary a rustling of the stage curtain or the glimpse of a toe shoe and I felt myself submerged in a kind of living room of greatness. I could only wonder and marvel at the identities of those about me. You could almost hear the hum of their collective genius. If the adage is true that " it's not what a man says that can be heard, but what he is that speaks so loud", this audience was among the most eloquent I have ever experienced. And so the living memory of their powehouse contribution to dance on that Summer day in Los Angeles will forever burn on the backroads of my memory.

Edited by altongrimes
Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...