Ballet Friday

Today was the ballet field trip. I worked at home for a little bit, then rushed to the local Korean market to ask if they have an ATM. The cashier took his earbuds out, heard my question, and the very generously didn't laugh as he reminded me that there was a BANK OF AMERICA sharing the same parking lot. Duh. So, ATM for my chaperone admission fee. Wait, ATMs only give twenties, and the fee is ten. So to the ATM, and then inside to get the nice Bank of America teller to change my twenty for two tens.

And then of course I thought of this SNL skit.

So, the bus. Our class got a bus all to ourselves. There are three first grade classes. Two fifth grade classes were going as well. You don't want to split up class groups, with the teacher-organized delicately balanced chaperone/student formations. So our class got a bus. Sweet. The driver, Irene, was super worst-case scenario, and briefed all the moms on the location of the fire extinguisher and the Bodily Fluid Cleanup Kit. We got to the Seattle Center, walked up our twelve flights of stairs, fit ourselves into the allotted rows, and watched us some ballet.

The company wisely shortened the production, down to an hour. Even though there was a guy explaining what was happening, it was hard for me to follow the plot. I loved the dancing toreadors, though- there were lots of them, and except for the main one, they all had pink capes. During the anti-intermission, they showed how they move the scenery around to make an outside scene into an inside one. They demonstrated differences in lighting. They demonstrated some percussion instruments, then a violin and a French horn.

My favorite parts were when they tossed Sancho Panza into the air repeatedly, and every time the lights went down, because that would cause the three thousand kids in the audience to scream like mad. I wonder if the performers enjoy the kids' matinee. I enjoyed it!