The Ballet

I went to the San Francisco Ballet on Tuesday night. We're very lucky here in the city by the bay. The city is host to some great arts institutions, symphony, opera, ballet and others. Great stuff. I love the ballet. Did you know that the SF Ballet is the oldest professional ballet company in the US? I had no clue. I figured that honor would go to something like the Joffrey in Chicago, or The American Ballet Theater.
Tuesday performance had three pieces. The first was very traditional Balanchine stuff and a complete snore. The second was with three men which is not typical and it was pretty cool. The last however was amazing. Very eclectic unique even. The lighting was awesome. In someways the lack of light was as impressive as what was lit. Very stark. Light coming from only one source, or one direction made for some interesting looks. It was fun. During one part my mind wandered a bit, and I thought of how a professional motorcycle racer is like a professional ballet dancer (you knew we'd get to that part). No really think about it. A ballet dancer has complete control over their bodies, extreme focus, and they make it look easy. They glide across the stage, and hit their precise marks over and over again. there bodies have been trained for years to have one unique function - dance. We think of that racer muscling his machine around. It seems so violent. Tire shredding horsepower trying to throw it's controller onto the ground at every chance. But if you watch a GP race with out the sound off you can see the delicate balance the racer has, the control in extreme conditions, hitting his marks over and over with exact precision and gracefulness as the bike slides around.