This past week we have attended a variety of Christmas events
through the realm of fine arts appreciation. It is kind of a goal for
us to be "patrons of the arts". Right now our "patroning" (I'm not sure
that is a verb but I just used it as one) consists of attending high
school theater productions in the area. We expanded our tastes to the
collegiate level this week. Over the weekend my cousin invited us to
K-State to watch Winterdance, which is the K-State dance department's
semester recital. The last dance recital I attended I was a participant
in back in the second grade. Dance is not one of the art forms we get
much exposure to in Kansas. We really enjoyed the production. I found
myself thinking about the choice of lighting, costume selection, the
importance of choreography, and an appreciation for what dancers can do
with their bodies. I think my husband is rubbing off on me since I can
no longer just sit and enjoy but must analyze all the details. One of
my favorite piece that was performed was entitled the Crystal Ballet.
It is a three part ballet that is based on the change in an ice crystal
cystalline structure from a solid state to melting. To begin with all
the dancers were standing in a grid shape with very precise,
synchronized movements and as the number went on the "uniformity" melted
and became more fluid. How's that for a ballet review. Other numbers
included a traditional African dance, a tap dance number which was
wonderful, and a few more dance numbers which we puzzled over the
meanings of since even as "self-proclaimed patrons of the arts" we just
didn't get what was going on. As a side story I took ballet and tap
dance for two years growing up until I dropped out to take up soccer
instead. My ballet instructor from 20 years ago is now on faculty at
K-State in the dance department. After the performance we headed out to
eat at Noodles and Company which is always a treat-- we used to eat
there every weekend I would be in town while we were dating-- we even
have "our booth". Following a delicious meal of pesto cavatappi and
whole grain Tuscan linguine we watched the K-State football game at the
Student Union.
The cultural experiences continued into Sunday. Our Bible study
went to a Christmas concert that was put on by a small college in the
area involving the choir and orchestra. What I remember of it was very
good but 3pm on a Sunday afternoon is my usual nap time and let's just
say I'm a creature of habit. Arthur kept elbowing me as if I didn't
know already I was nodding off. After the concert we all had dinner and
shakes before driving around looking at Christmas lights. Our friends
get together every year and have some of the best lights in the area
scouted out. We saw everything from classy to about 20 inflatables that would make Clark Griswald's display look tame.
Our
cultural weekend has also inspired us to dive deeper into the wonderful
world of dance through Netflix documentaries. We watched First
Position which about some of the top youth ballet dancers in the world
preparing for an international contest to win scholarships or jobs in
the ballet world as well as another documentary about Russian
ballerinas. Through watching dancers the thing that impresses me most
is that it really is very physically demanding but unlike athletes,
dancers have to make their strenuous craft look completely effortless.
So if you are feeling like you need just a tad of ballet in your Christmas season enjoy this clip from The Nutcracker. Omnia Vincit Amor.
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