Part of Dayle’s Christmas gifts included tickets to the ballet. I knew she danced and continues to have a passion for the art so it seemed like a simple gift. Of course this meant I would have to go to the ballet too. I figured if it was going to be anything like ‘Top Secret’ then I would be okay.

I won’t bother trying to describe the ‘plot’ of the show we saw. Suffice to say there was something of a love pentagon that resulted in nearly every principal character dying. But, the guy did get the girl in the end. Since I have neither the personal experience nor the long-standing ballet-going expertise to rely on for commentary, I’ll just offer up a few bullet points that collected in my mind during and after the show.

• If this show was any indication, we were not the target audience for this kind of thing. I think the audience was mostly composed of two mutually exclusive age groups: 10-13 and 50+. This isn’t meant to be a slight on the people that came, but it was clear we did not fit in with the rest of the crowd. It is entirely likely that this is the type of crowd that goes to a matinee, but this being my first ballet – I got nothing.
• There was actually one legit spill on stage. At the end of one of the lead performers spotlight moments the spinning took its toll. It was a bit awkward, especially because she was supposed to factor into the story before the curtain came down on that act. Everyone on stage recovered nicely and things progressed fine after that, but still. Face plant.
• There were a number of moments that I noticed things were not exactly in sync. With so many people on stage doing similar motions that are clearly crafted to be performed in unison, one misstep or shaky leg really stands out. I asked Dayle after the show if she noticed similar moments of non-sync-ness to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. She agreed that some of the movements were not as precise as they should have been. It didn’t take away from the performance but I found it interesting that I noticed aspects of the performance that could have been considered trivial.
• At the end of the day, I think ballet may be one of the most pure of all athletic activities. The balance, precision, and body control required for these moves is insane. Even the moves that traditional dancers may consider warm up or entry level stuff is not to be taken lightly. Particularly with the male lead and his ridiculously tight pants. You can see the muscle definition. This dude is no joke. Then you watch him run and leap, quite gracefully, through the air. Over, and over, and over again. These people are good.

I’m glad I pulled the trigger on ballet tickets. I’m not sure when we are going to go again, but I’m not adverse to another round of [insert ballet vocabulary here].

Our time in our Nation’s Capital also included dinner at a restaurant from Eric Ripert (this one)…thumbs up. And brunch at a place that doesn’t really deserve a pageview. The experience was fun, the company was great, but we both agreed the food was missing that Brett Favre intangible to take it to the next level. (I think I watch too much Top Chef).

I feel more cultured. This is a good thing, right?