Maybe somebody can explain to me why I should like ballet, and opera for that matter. PBS has the Nutcracker on right now and to me, the music is pretty good but the dancing just looks like every other ballet, people walking around on their tiptoes in weird-looking skirts. Is that supposed to mean something?
I think in the olden-olden days, people were so starved for entertainment, they'd go sit in a stuffy theater and watch people do just about anything and think it was fun. When I saw the Phantom of the Opera a few years ago, I kept my sanity by counting what percentage of my life I had wasted sitting there bored and uncomfortable. The percentage was pretty small and that made me feel a little better. I've seen other operas and stage shows, of course, when they were required in college classes or by social pressures. Is there something wrong with me that I feel either overwhelming drowsiness or anxiety in those situations?
If the MS likes then you just go, act like you like it, make her feel like you really care.
LR
My wife is way too perceptive for that. I got away with it in college because the people I was with didn't know me well enough to know I was putting them on with my nodding and chuckling at their comments. Looking back on it though, were those people putting me and each other on with their appreciation for that stuff?
I'm just kidding really. I understand that ballet and opera involves a great deal of talent in the composition, choreography, training, natural ability, etc. But why does it have to be so friggin boring?
Last summer I had four ballerinas from our states official ballet company in my ski boat on the lake, talk about a bunch of high maintenance fe-fe girly girls. They are intelligent and beautiful but they feel about the outdoors like SJ feels about the theatre.
25 min into the boat trip one said she needed to go pee, so I said you can hang over the edge of the boat, get in the water, we can land and you can go in the woods, or we can dock and you can hit the park restroom.
No to all of the above, all of these options were gross...
So the rest of us just tortured her for 30 more min and just called it a day.
I have attended tons of cultural events, some are the cure for insomnia and some are awesome. My favorite is the annual ball where the ballerinas are all dreesed up and looking smokin...this world is surely filled with extremely varied types of human personalities and that is a very good thing.
Short answer is simple Steve.
You should like it because your wife LOVES it.
I was waggled into the Nutcracker Suite at the famed Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta many years ago by my ex. As to the performance I could have cared less. But the architecture inside was cool so at least I found something to enjoy. I fell asleep once I had my fill of ambiance. The 3 beers I chugged down during intermission might have had something to do with it. 🙂 Everyone else had bloody mary's or mint julips or champaign cocktails.
I actually did enjoy Fiddler On the Roof back in the 8th grade (circa '73). But that was only because my biology teacher, Mr. Boehme, was Tevye. Golly mercy he could wail out on song. He was a very large bearded man and perfect for the part regardless of his singing prowess. He reminds me of that bearded Norse kid in the Capital One card commercials except he's about 10 times bigger.
I can tell you why us girls like ballet...especially when the men are dancing!!! :clap: 😛
Ok, seriously...I find most ballets boring too. Opera, on the other hand, I like if it tells a story. Otherwise the snooze factor kicks in. I liked Phantom of the Opera when it came out as a movie so now I am looking forward to seeing it as an Opera play someday. :angel:
[flash width=480 height=385] http://www.youtube.com/v/oN2i-XJo5m8?fs=1&hl=en_US [/flash]
Gere's explanation at 3:27 says it better than I could. It either hits you like a ton of bricks, or it doesn't. For me, opera yes, ballet no.
She said she liked it better than the "Pirates of Penzance"....LOL
Just to put my two cents in I love both the ballet and opera. Completely different art forms but opera tends to make the eyes very wet a lot of the times.
Ballet dancers are very skilled athletes !
Try it out!
Cheers
Derek
