A Midsummer Night's Dream

I haven't been very motivated lately to write blog postings- but that hasn't meant I haven't been having fun here in NY!!  Anevay and I spent Christmas and New Year's with friends, two days up in snowy Rochester with my family, and this past weekend, we went to the NY Ballet to see A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Now, anyone who knows me well appreciates my obsession with Shakespeare.  Apparently Santa Claus knows, too...  Every year, Santa puts two tickets into Anevay's Christmas stocking.  Usually, he seems to make an effort to obtain tickets in the orchestra- this year, however, he must have been on a budget, as the tickets were on the fourth tier.  For those not in the know, the fourth tier is the highest level, VERY far away from the stage.  My sweet girl, however, upon finding our seats, clasped her hands together and said, "Oh, we have a great view!  We'll be able to see even more this year than last year!  Santa brought us the best seats in the theater!"

The ballet was beautiful.  Balanchine also adored Shakespeare, as well as Mendelssohn's music, which he said inspired his choreography.  Anevay was captivated by everything she saw, and spoke particularly about the young dancers.

Balanchine often choreographed parts for children.  In this particular ballet, their little limbs offered a somewhat ethereal quality to the butterflies and small sprites they played. 

Anevay even laughed at one of my jokes (now that she's eight, sometimes she's too 'cool' to laugh with her mother), about the huge orb of a light in the theater being an overgrown disco-ball, and wondering if the dancers knew they were all dancing to the wrong genre of music (classical, as opposed to disco or electronic).

Special days such as our day at the ballet- taking the subway to the formidable Lincoln Center, getting warm drinks afterward at a beautiful, sunlit cafe, make me rejoice in our living in NY.  Sure, there are ballet companies in every city, but NY just has a magic that other places don't have.  If only Santa delivered Anevay tickets to huge productions more than once a year- although for the record, we delight in all the other things NY has to offer- free watertaxi rides to Governor's Island, Central Park, even hanging out with Anevay's bike by the East River...

Happy Belated New Year's To All!