Ahh Coppelia...



off to the ballet

The ballet last night was fabulous! We both really enjoyed it.
We got all dolled up for the evening, and set off for Lloydminster early enough for supper. Mmmm McDonalds (blech). But I let her pick...I should have known! Then we shopped for a bit and headed over to the auditorium.
I was worried that Jacelyn would be bored or shiffting around alot in her seat, with no dialogue to help her understand what was going on. But the performers were absolutely wonderful at putting emotion and expression into every move they made, and that alone kept her eyes glued to the stage. The looks on their faces and body language really kept us entertained for the entire 2 1/2 hours.

a snapshot of the dancers onstage...Jorgen's interpretation of the ballet used huge mobile geometric props that were the 'houses' and buildings of the village square

When I first began wondering about Jacelyn's level of understanding, I peeked at her out of the corner of my eye to see her reaction. I caught her smiling all the time, and she asked questions throughout about what was going on onstage. Not only that, but she noticed what was happening side stage, not just center stage, and asked questions about that, too. And of course, with classical music playing the entire time (in fact the performer's actions were timed so perfectly to each note), she had questions about that as well, like why is there no singing? She's used to Disney movies, I guess! :)
The ballet was also bittersweet for the performers, as Coppelia will be the prima ballerina's last ballet, and in fact March 27th will be her farewell performance. She is retiring after 16 years of playing primary roles for Jorgen Canada. It was nice to be a part of that.

This classical piece of Leo Delibes'  "Coppelia" was performed live in 1870 in Paris during a performance of Coppelia. It was a beautiful piece of music, and brought tears to my eyes during times, especially when caught up in the emotion of the dancing onstage. With the opening of the first few bars I knew I would love this selection...I could (and often do) listen to classical music all day. I make Mike listen when I'm working in the garage...I don't think he appreciates Mozart or Chopin the same as I do. In fact, when a particular piece came on, he exclaimed "What the hell is this" and started to laugh. I looked at him and said.."this is Canon in D...our wedding song. I walked down the aisle to you to this song."  That shut him up.

I would go to another Jorgen performance again in a heartbeat, and will be watching for another in the future.