Erika & Brian

We had to hightail it home because we had tickets to a show to attend in the evening. Once again we got asked a bunch of questions by the Canadian border officer about how we manage to live where ever we want.

In the evening we went to pretty much our first ballet. I say "pretty much" because we went to a show in Austin last Halloween that contained a mix of different entertainment---singing, acting, comedy, dancing---and some of the dancing could be considered ballet. But this was a straight up ballet show and we figured a French influenced area would be the best place to see it.

It probably goes without saying, but we know next to nothing about ballet. So being that as the case, we were surprised by how almost nothing about the show fit into the cliches we were used to seeing when ballet is referenced in other media. First of all there were no tutus. The attire changed throughout the show, but in the beginning the dancers were wearing long gray tunics that almost looked monk-like. Secondly the dancing was very different than we expected. There were no pirouettes or any of the other moves you think of from the Nutcracker. This show seemed very modern with lots of different types of movement involved. For instance in the beginning the stage contained a large grid of waist-high bars that the dancers moved among. It seemed to tell a story where most of the dancers knew how to dodge in and out of the different "cells" of the grid, but the main dancer in the center was trapped and endlessly banged and bounced off the railings until losing all hope.

Anyway I won't describe all the different scene settings or outfits, but it was quite dynamic and entertaining, and definitely a successful introduction to dance shows. Hopefully one day we'll also get to see a more classic ballet performance to see if we still like that form of it.