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Ballet still brings me to tears

Contributed by: Erin Di Paolo on 10/24/2006

I had tears in my eyes when the opening music started, even before the curtain went up. Even before I saw a single performer. This is how I felt on September 29, opening night for the ballet Giselle, which recently finished its run at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in downtown Denver.

These feelings are nothing new for me; I always feel this way when I watch ballet. Even when I arrive to pick up my nine-year old daughter Allie from ballet class on Saturdays, I experience this. Far from being a professional, Allie is learning the basics of ballet and, as she does, it stirs up emotions from long ago, emotions that never quite leave me. It was long ago that I studied ballet. I gave it nine years of my life, which, sadly, was not enough. Early on, I realized that I did not have "the stuff" to make it in this particular art form. But, oh, I can still dream.

And seeing Giselle was like a dream to me. Giselle is a story of love, beauty, deception, and loss. Even though I have dreamed of seeing it for most of my life, I never knew the story behind it. Before going to the show, I read a summary of the story, which made me want to attend even more.

To me, ballet is powerful. It is the most genuine, beautiful, artful, graceful form of artistic expression available today. I have seen many ballet productions by The Colorado Ballet, but this was truly my favorite. The dancing was graceful and elegant; the costumes were sleek and stylish.

Recently I read a story in the Rocky Mountain News about the future of ballet. In it, Lewis Segal, a dance writer for the Los Angeles Times wrote that a hatred of ballet is "reasonable, even necessary." I cannot even begin to fathom why someone, especially a dance writer, would say something so idiotic. I can understand why some people don't prefer ballet; it is an acquired taste, just like red wine. I can also understand why a lot of men would not care for it, too, even though there were plenty of men in the audience when my mom and I went to see Giselle.

But ballet has been around for many, many years and I believe it is worthy of our respect, if only for that reason. It has stood the test of time. The sheer beauty of it cannot be overlooked, however: the music, the dancing; the acting; the artistic expression. Ballet will always be a part of our society, like it or not.

Just as it will always be part of my soul.



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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Erin Di Paolo

Denver , CO

Erin Di Paolo has posted 61 stories and 6 comments since joining on 3/18/2006. Erin Di Paolo 's average story rating is 4.81.
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