Peter and the Wolf

The Austin Ballet has got good marketing.  That's all I can say really.  They called my husband and let him know they would be calling back to sell him tickets for three shows.  Then they did call when they said they would, offered a package deal on two kid-centered performances and also The Nutcracker, arranged seats and everything over the phone and done.  We had ballet tickets.

The first show was Peter and the Wolf.  I happen to love the music and have a vivid memory of learning about it in 5th grade and then choosing my instrument, the bassoon, because it was the sound of the grandfather from Peter and the Wolf.

We take all of our ballet cues from Aunt Suzanne, of course, and Aunt Suzanne says it is always appropriate to dress up for the ballet.  So even though it was a small performance in a their student theater, we dressed like it was Zachary Scott.

I even decided to pay a little homage to Aunt Suzanne as Sydney is wearing the dress Suzanne bought her in Nigeria and I am carrying a purse also from Aunt Suzanne via Nigeria, and wearing my Nigerian necklace, also from, whom else, Aunt Suzanne.

We were sitting on row E, so five rows up, and you can see there are only about five or six rows above us.  It was really a nice little venue.

The stage was this close and before the show, the director came out and talked through the plot and what a performing art is (verses a visual art).  She explained that ballet dancers don't talk; they tell a story through their movements.  Then one at a time, the cat, the bird, and the duck came out and did a little piece of their solo and then she asked the audience to tell what about the movements were birdlike or catlike.  The duck did it all wrong (on purpose, of course) and the audience had to help her make up a solo that was ducklike.  After the performance, Sydney was still so into the medium that she was dancing around making her hands like a duck bill and wouldn't speak... because ballet people don't talk, she said (oops, she said something, oh well, it's hard for Sydney to not talk at all).

They also brought the wolf out before the performance, holding his mask.  The director introduced him as Benjamin and used his name about a dozen times, saying "Benjamin will be pretending to be a wolf, but it's still Benjamin inside the mask."  Then he put the mask on, and then took it back off to show he was still Benjamin.

I have been so impressed by the local artisans and how they able to take their craft and turn it into something that even a small child can understand and appreciate.  How lucky we are to live in an area where our kids get to experience these sorts of things.

Now I can't wait for The Nutcracker!