Ballet on Valentines

On Valentines Day I was lucky to be invited to Lincoln Center to see the New York City Ballet. I first met my friend at the Empire Hotel bar where we were surprised to know that the bar was offering complimentary drinks from Veuve Cliquot! That makes me EXTREMELY happy.

We then headed to Lincoln Center where we had the best seats on the house (Thanks to my friend who seats at the board). I learned two things:
1.The theater has no center aisle as in ballet the exact center stage is where all most important and relevant dance moves take place. The building was built on this premise.
2. The theater’s stage has a very short depth and scenery must be flat and simple in contrast to the Opera house next door who is quite deep.

Valentines day program included:
1. Raymonda Variations: nice ballet dance but nothing out of the ordinary.
2. The Stedfast Tin Soldier: where two toys, a ballerina and a soldier fall in love under a Christmas tree but sadly the wind enters and blows the ballerina into the fireplace! Sad but beautiful
3. The Nightingale and the Rose: based on Oscar Wilde´s book, filled with special effects and directed by an Asian director it was outstanding.
4. Davidsbundlertanze: this was a complicated dance held among four couples. In the end one of the guys commits suicide.

We ended the evening with a dinner at Café Luxembourg which seems to be the ONLY kitchen in that area that is still open after 11PM. What ever happened to “the city that never sleeps?”
This was a LUXE evening in every way.