I went to the ballet last night (and no, Laura, it was not the "most sublime perfect night ever!"). It was, in fact, a lovely, near-perfect program, but not the kind of night where I run from the State Theater thinking who can I call to tell about this perfect night!? (I usually call my parents in those moments...). It was the first performance this season of Robbins' Dances at a Gathering. The music is a mix of Chopin waltzes and mazurkas with a couple etudes thrown in, I think. I've seen this ballet many many times (50 maybe?) and it never fails to impress. Last night I was sitting very close to the stage and could hear the dancers breathing and panting. There were a couple of rough edges in the performance, but they were more than made up for by Damian Woetzel's flawless performance in it. I've seen a few different people dance that role, but none of them more beautifully than his performance last night.

The second ballet on the program was Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. This is a lovely ballet filled with formal, parallel arrangements of the dancers on the stage, and highlighted by flashy solos. The performance was good, except for the slow movement. Yvonne Boree, whose dancing I usually like very much, seemed rather out of sorts. She's usually a rock solid dancer--extremely balanced and secure in her steps. But last night she was shaking like a leaf throughout her movement, even simple arm movements showed trembling hands. Then she turned to exit the stage in the wrong direction (her partner corrected her), and then she tripped (or may have been tripped by her partner?) as they slipped into the wings. Anyway, Maria Kowroski danced the last movement and her amazing legs were everywhere all at once. Limberness like she's got oughta be illegal. She's the kind of dancer who makes the near-impossible look really easy.

Tonight's my night off--then three days in a row of more ballet. I promised to put myself in the poorhouse with ballet tickets this season, and yep, it's coming true. But then, I didn't move here to not do these things, did I?