I went to see Romeo and Juliet at the San Francisco Ballet last night. Kati’s mom had to miss it, so I got to use her ticket.
Wow.
I always thought the cheap seats were just fine for the ballet. Sure, you’re too far away to see facial expressions, but you can see the shifting patterns of humans moving around like a tulle-encrusted kaleidoscope, and it’s beautiful. Granted, at the last ballet I attended, The Little Mermaid, I began to suspect it might be worth the extra hundred+ dollars to sit lower and see the action happening at the back of the stage, but still I didn’t think it was such a big deal.
Oh, friends. It is a big deal.
To see Tybalt glancing suspiciously from Romeo to Juliet at the party, to see Mercutio’s face change from laughter to despair as he realizes he’s mortally wounded, to hear Juliet sobbing under her breath after Romeo leaves…worth it. And Sarah Van Patten, who plays Juliet, is an astonishing streak of emotion in pointe shoes. You cannot sit too close to that woman.
I may be ruined for the cheap seats forever.
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