Our Grand Night at the Ballet

The girls and I had the wonderful opportunity last night to go to the Capitol Theatre to watch Ballet West perform Treasures of the Ballets Russes. There was a woman in the ward who was unable to use her tickets and so she offered them to us. We couldn't pass up the chance to go. We got all dressed up in our finest apparel to go on our "date".
When we arrived at Capitol Theatre we had some time to walk around and explore. I took the girls up the balcony to see the large, crystal chandelier, to peer at the box seats, and to look down upon the orchestra pit. All of the orchestra members were dressed up in tuxes or black dresses. Did you know that there is a net covering part of the orchestra pit. Perhaps it is so the ballet dancers won't fall to great injury if they trip. From there we got cushions from the coat check so we would be able to see the performances better.


Three different ballets were performed: "Les Biches" (The Does), "Prodigal Son", and Polovetsian Dances from "Prince Igor".


"Les Biches" (The Does) was a ballet that took a whimsical look at the 1920's flapper scene. There wasn't really much of a story to this one, but it was still very interesting to watch. Instead of tutus the women wore flapper dresses with their toe shoes. Some in fact didn't even wear the toe shoes. Instead they just wore ballet shoes. One female dancer even performed holding a cigarette holder while wearing long beads. Adelle especially enjoyed the long feathers that adorned each of the girls heads. The funniest part of this ballet was watching the only male dancers "the athletes". They were quite humorous as they would strike their strong poses and hop about all manly. They even made fun of their own moves at one point. Adelle said this was her favorite ballet.


The next ballet, "Prodigal Son", was my favorite of the three. The picture below is from this ballet.

It is based around the biblical story of the prodigal son. The story itself expressed through dance was very moving. Adelle even began to cry at the end. I had to tell her that it was going to be alright. Lydia remarked afterwards that she was concerned when the "drinking companions" started robbing the son of all of his clothes. She was worried he was going to be naked on stage. The dancer was left practically naked except for his nude colored dance shorts.


The "drinking companions" were so very interesting as well. They all had bald caps on and moved at times as a single entity. They were eerie and created quite a tone to the ballet.


What amazed me about this ballet was the emotion that was present. It was unlike any other ballet I have seen before. Some of the dance moves were so technically difficult and innovative as well. One very moving part of the ballet was watching the prodigal son suffer after he has been robbed, beaten and left destitute. The male dancer was literally crawling along the stage collapsing and dragging himself along. It was incredible.


Watching the story of the prodigal son being played out in such a dramatic fashion reminded me of the original parable. It reminded me that even when we make mistakes and fall into the deepest sin we are still able to return to our Heavenly Father and be welcomed back with open arms. It of course is never an easy process, as it wasn't for the prodigal son in the ballet, but it is possible and well worth the effort.


The last balled, Polovetsian Dances from "Prince Igor", was more traditional then the other two ballets. There were grand costumes and large group dances. This was Lydia's favorite because it was so vibrant and the dances were so big. Men dressed in hunting costumes that would date back to an earlier Russian era leaped and raised their bows to the sky in jubilant fashion. The warrior wives danced with plaited hair spinning and bouncing joyously. Female, Persian slaves flowed across the large stage moving their brightly colored veils, enticing the warrior men. Adelle especially liked the lead Persian slave with her sparkling costume.


What a wonderful evening it was. The girls were quite tired when we headed home at 10:00 and both fell asleep. I don't think it will be an experience that they will forget any time soon. I know I won't.