En pointe

This past Saturday, I took my mom to see the Kirov Ballet at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. Usually, we sit in rafters, up where the oxygen is thin. Zellerbach is small enough that even the seats waaaay in the back still offer pretty decent views. But this time, we sat in the tiers on the right side of the stage. After the near-perfect views of everything but the far right wing, I can pretty much say that I will be sitting in the tiers from now on. The view from our seats couldn't be beat. And thank goodness too. The male lead, Anton Korsakov, was just exquisite. Think that word may not be appropriate to describe a masculine dancer (albeit a ballet dancer)? Just look at his hands in the below pic (click to enlarge):


See what I mean? Attention to detail. Polished. Everything this guy did was flawless. Gorgeous, sky-high leaps, extension for miles, perfectly pointed toes, a joy to watch...UNTIL, he got to his fouettes. Don't get me wrong, they were still balanced and controlled while still looking fairly effortless, but I couldn't help thinking that he didn't have near the center that Danny Tidwell has (yes, that Danny of SYTYCD fame). Don't remember what I'm talking about? Here, check this out...

Let the whole thing load and then skip to about 2:28...that's where the turns start (or you could watch the whole thing and get chills, like I just did...again.). Now, make no mistake, I am not trying to compare apples and oranges, I'm just sayin that even though Anton Korsakov is a freaking BRILLIANT dancer (not to mention that he's totally cute...he has a Myspace fan club, for crying out loud!), his turns weren't quite as centered as Danny Tidwell's. That's all. Still, I was totally blown away and impressed. So elegant and regal, he was.

Anyhoo, I had a ball and smiled the entire time. The $70 per ticket that I kicked down for the tier seats was totally worth it. Despite my love for bone-crunching sports like hockey and rugby, I will always have a special place in my heart for the ballet. And when it comes to wonderful companies like the Kirov, I'm a happy kid who'll always come back for more.