totally bowled over!

So there I was - sitting at the first intermission of the Sarasota Ballet wondering if I should stay for the whole thing.  The first of the three ballets scheduled was Balanchine's Emeralds and it was fine, workman-like in some places with a few shining moments of  excellent work but it seemed somewhat flat, uninspired... never really got to the passion it could have. Little did I know what the evening had in store for me...

But let's finish Emeralds first -

like I said- very workman-like but no spark... I guess they were saving it up...

next up a completely fun, rollicking tale of the devil's seduction of Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress (an opera as well as a ballet - based upon the same Hogarth drawings of the fall of a young man from a wealthy family into lunacy and finally an ignominious death.)

 

this one was quite spirited - the rollicking scenes in the brothel and the gaming tables were very well choreographed and danced and the dance instructor from the second scene really caught my attention... the betrayed girl, danced by Victoria Hulland, was a truly excellent performance.

So by the time I got to the second intermission I was feeling much better about this company (which I have never before seen in performance) - but I was just about to be TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY---
by the final ballet of the evening In a State of Weightlessness.

This was hand's down the most amazing ballet I have been lucky enough to see- it completely lived up to the title - these dancers were the very essence of weightlessness- and it was amazing that they did it with seemingly no effort - which of course could only be done with both amazing technical skill and massive effort - making it look effortless and weightless! This thrilling ballet was choreographed by Ricardo Graziano - who is a member of the company and their resident choreographer.  In my opinion this man is absolutely brilliant!

The haunting Philip Glass score played perfectly with the movements of the couples who performed each of the sequences of weightlessness... I wish I was more eloquent in describing the amazing beauty of this performance.  I was mesmerized. I leaned forward in my seat - feeling the dancers "floating" through space... wishing I was able to do the same.  The dancers LIVED this performance.

Absolutely terrific - totally bowled over the entire audience who cheered and stood and shouted BRAVOS over and over! This is one you need to look for on ballet programs over the next few years and I will be looking for more of the brilliant Graziano!

So - the evening ended on a sky high note!!!  I am so happy I got to finally see the Sarasota Ballet despite the scarcity of tickets - I settled for a less than perfect seat on a night there was only ONE ticket available.... it was such a wonderful evening!!! This week- the symphony and a Mark Erelli concert and a lecture at USF- SM.... so always something to do here in Florida's cultural capital SRQ!