A Night at the Ballet

I've always been a fan of ballet. My parents put me in ballet as a child, but I was also in figure skating which as a young girl, I found MUCH more fun (I could skate fast, be less disciplined, and wear more sequins!) but after 12 years of skating, I eventually made the transition to ballet during high school. I danced for a few years with my local ballet school and really loved it. I knew that my skill wasn't enough to get me anywhere professionally, so I did the smart thing and went to college and got a degree in aerospace engineering. Sadly, my school was small and specialized so they didn't offer an elective dance courses to take between my Thermodynamics or Aircraft Structures courses. I let dance out of my life for 4 whole years. Theater held me over for a bit, but after graduation I eventually found a studio to dance in again, now that I had extra money and time (both of which I had little of during college!) I enjoyed it a lot and even managed to find a new studio after moving from FL to TX about a year later. I even performed The Nutcracker that year as an adult party guest, the Rat King, and the funny lady with the big dress with all the little kids underneath (she's called different things!) It was so much fun, but after getting married and moving around a few times, eventually overseas, I thought I was done. The base rec center didn't offer adult classes so I gave up. About 10 months after moving to Japan I finally did a search and found a studio near me. The instructor speaks enough English for us to communicate and this February I started dancing again! I'm the only non-Japanese student but all the other ladies are so nice, the language barrier isn't an issue. Ballet terms are in French so I understand those! (side note: I also started teaching English to the children of some of the ladies!) I love it the classes, but they are tough. It'd been 2 years since that Nutcracker in Texas and I was feeling it. Its been 6 months now since I've been going and I'm seeing myself improve, and I'm just as much in love with the art form as ever.

I also realized that for the first time in my life I live in a huge metropolis that has a lot of appreciation for the arts. A few weeks ago my husband and I went to see the Tokyo National Ballet perform Romeo & Juliet. With the live orchestra (Tokyo Philharmonic) and professional dancers, it was one of the best show's I've seen. It blew all of the amateur shows I've seen and been in right out of the water. I was officially hooked to seeing these talented artists/athletes live. After the show I started looking through this big packet of advertisements they gave us at the venue. All was in Japanese but some logos are in English and things like Dates are pretty easy to understand. Flipping thru ad aver ad, I saw it.... American Ballet Theater Tokyo Tour. July, 2011. OMG! OMG! I had to go!

My husband would be gone for work so I put out the call to my girlfriends. Three enthusiastically replied and we dished out our Yen and bought tickets to the opening night Gala performance. I was going to see 7 separate dances performed by the principles and soloists of one of the best ballet companies in the world. Two of my favorites since I was young (mainly from seeing them perform in the movie Center Stage) were coming and I was going to see them! Sascha Radetsky and Julie Kent. Live. In Tokyo. Wow.

The night was everything I thought it would be! We all got dressed up and took the train into Ueno. The theater was really cool and though we were in the "cheap seats" (if you call $125/ticket cheap!) but could see the stage and dancers so well. The acoustics were amazing. The musicians were flawless. The ballerinas were beautiful. The danseurs (male "ballerinas") were athletic and handsome. The choreography was magnificent.  It was all just magical.  I couldn't take my eyes off the stage for a moment during each dance.. from a group performance, a trio, a romantic pas de deux... dance after dance I was amazed. It truly was a dream come true. The Tokyo National Ballet performance was good, amazing even... but this was something more. This was the best of the best, showcased especially for one night in Tokyo. Its like the All-Star game of ballet! The other ladies I brought loved it too. They are all hooked and want to be my dates again in the future. I doubt I'll ever have a chance to see ABT perform like that ever again, but I am making it a point to see as many shows as I can while I live in this city. 

A Mostly English poster of ABT's Don Quixote

ABT poster for Romeo & Juliet in Japanese

A signed shirt by Julie Kent displayed in the lobby. I think its being auctioned for Tsunami Relief