Eloquent Movements

Amanda Clark as one of the Willis in Giselle Photo © Angela Sterling

My love for ballet was rekindled last June when I attended Pacific Northwest Ballet's reconstruction of Giselle. I think I will always remember gazing at the sparkling red curtains of McCaw Hall, waiting for the performance to begin. The powerful opening of Adolphe Adam's beautiful score and the set for the village where the drama unfolded.

The entire performance was lovely but those initial moments overwhelmed me. Act I was like watching a painting come to life and Act II entranced me with its eloquent beauty and forgiveness.

The corps de ballet portray the villagers © Angela Sterling

One Christmas during my early teens, my mother suprised me with tickets to a local Nutcracker. It first inspired my interest in dance;  I remember pouring through library books on ballet afterward. My favorite being a gem by Margot Fonteyn: The Magic of Dance which had large black and white and color images.

I was lucky, they also had dozens of recorded performances from companies around the world and little by little I watched them, it exposed me to the choreography of Frederick Aston, Mikhail Fokine, Kenneth Macmillan, the quintessential Marius Petipa, and a little of the great George Balanchine.

Over the years my focus transitioned towards Literature. Everyonce in awhile I'll be sharing with you something about this Performing Art that I find so beautiful and moving.