Thanks to Cineplex I recently had the chance to check out the Bolshoi Ballet live. No, I didn’t travel to Moscow. I watched it live via satellite at my local Cineplex movie theatre. Pretty cool, eh?
I brought my four year old daughter to see Sleeping Beauty. I had my doubts as to how this was going to work out. Like most little girls in her age group, G-Girl is fascinated with ballet and ballerinas. However, I worried that she wouldn’t have the attention span to sit through a three hour production. Plus, I was very aware that other folks had paid to be there and wouldn’t welcome interruptions from my preschooler.
Prior to heading out I had explained to my daughter that she had to sit still and be very quiet, or else we would have to leave as she couldn’t ruin the show for other folks. The second act didn’t go as smoothly as the first. I have to admit, the first act of this particular ballet is more story driven, and of more interest for a young child. The second act was more abstract, lots of lovely dancing, but less obvious story elements. My daughter kept asking me what was going on, when was the Princess going to wake up? Where was she? Why was there smoke? Who was that? She kept forgetting to whisper and just blurting things out. Fiercely whispering in her ear I reminded her that she had to be quiet or we’d have to go. She loudly blurted out, “I don’t want to leave. I’m really enjoying the performance!”. Which sort of made me want to laugh, but also made me cringe because she wasn’t’ being very quiet. I leaned over her chair and whispered in her ear, trying to explain what was going on. She settled down, leaned up against me and almost fell asleep. And then quite suddenly she stood up and informed me that she’d like to leave now. So I grabbed her hand and walked her out of the theatre. Checking the time I found the ballet had about 15 minutes left in it. My four year old had made it though 90% of a three hour show with no major drama. I was pretty impressed.
I have to say, overall watching the ballet on the big screen was an amazing experience. The camera work was superb. I felt like you ended up with a far better viewpoint then you would ever have in a live theatre. The sound quality was amazing. The costumes and sets were stunning. All in all it was a very impressive show, and an experience I would recommend to anyone.
Despite asking to leave early my daughter LOVED the show, and she can’t wait to go again. Coming up on December 18th and 19th the Bolshoi Ballet will be performing the Nutcracker. I am really looking forward to taking her. It’s a more kid-friendly production. Plus, she now knows what to expect. I’m hoping we’ll make it through the entire show this time. Either way it will be an afternoon out with my girl that I won’t soon forget.
Disclosure: I was provided with free passes to see the Bolshoi Ballet live at Cineplex theatres. As always, the opinions stated are my own and were not influenced by the free items received.
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