I have always loved ballet, from the time that I was a very little girl listening and watching Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite, and later as I got older and I began to take dance lessons and found myself for a few beautiful dream filled summers in Saratoga Springs where the American Ballet Theatre had their summer residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. I had somehow found out about the summer camp that I went to there at Skidmore College through an article or ad I think in the New York Times because I was completely filled with a school girl crush on Baryshnikov after seeing him perform on TV and going to see the movie "The Turning Point" which I think if I'm remembering rightly I went to see because ballet and Baryshnikov were highlights of my life.
Much earlier than that I"d found a book at a favorite bookstore, The Andover Bookstore in Andover Massachusetts where I'd ask my Mother to take me for a treat and she always let me pick out one book for an upcoming birthday or holiday and sometimes if it wasn't too expensive she would let me have it that same day. The book I found was titled "The Royal Book of Ballet" and it had stories of some of the most famous ballets with some of the most beautiful illustrations, kind of like a children's story book but all about ballets. Through reading that book over and over I learned about many of the ballets that I later was able to see when I was at the summer camp in Saratoga Springs.
The American Ballet Theatre was at the time when I was immersed in my ballet summers one of the preeminent ballet companies in the world and it still is. I love going to ballets, even now that I don't dance any more myself, but it is that company and those years that still give me the most beautiful memories because American Ballet Theatre creates such an all around excellent and truly gorgeous and lushly filled experience of performance, with dancers, design, music, costumes, lighting, set design and performance spaces all at the highest and most beautiful level.
On Friday afternoon, just as I was getting ready to leave home and go the YES Gallery, the beautiful Artist Alberte Bernier who I have written about in these pages before sent me a message that she had an extra ticket to go to see "Onegin" performed by the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. With everything else that has been going on along with the heat wave that we've been experiencing, I was feeling exhausted, and the forecast also mentioned that rain might be a possibility. At first I was thinking I'd have to say thank you but no, and then I remember the words of a dear friend who has been sending me regular messages every day to encourage and inspire me and in many of her messages she encourages me to enjoy life and be happy. When those words came to my mind, instead of saying thank you and no I said thank you and yes, and I found myself planning my schedule around the evening at the ballet.
Our seats were wonderful and the performance was the highest experience of excellence and beauty. The space itself is such a very special one to be in, and the whole evening, including the company of Alberte was enchanting. At so many times I found myself completely immersed in the story I was watching unfold, and it was such a beautiful blessing and gift to have been able to join Alberte for this stunning and captivating performance. Though the story is a sad one, it was so beautifully done and the evening was thoroughly delightful. I felt as if I was back in my childhood and teenage years at times, with eyes filled with wonder, and my heart and spirit are filled with so much gratitude to Alberte for the invitation and to those who made the evening such a beautiful and very special one.
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