"Carmina Burana" - Sacramento Ballet

On Sunday, I went with Sally to see Sacramento Ballet's signature masterpiece, "Carmina Burana". It was first presented by Sacramento Ballet in 1991, but this was the first time I've ever seen it.

I wasn't mentally-prepared for it, however. Afterwards, I felt dazed, like "what the hell just happened?" Certain things seemed to stand out immediately, like Stefan Calka is just the awesomest dancer ever. But I still have to work out what the piece is about.

"Carmina Burana" was preceded by Balanchine's "Theme and Variations", featuring the delightful couple, Amanda Peet and Timothy Coleman (It's interesting how so many of the Sacramento Ballet's dancers these days are from Down Under!)

At one point, Coleman had the slightest trouble executing a multiple pirouette. What caught my attention was that, even though I was hundreds of feet away from the stage, I could sense tension with the simpler pirouettes preceding the troubled one. I'm sure the tension was invisible to everyone else, wherever they sat, and even Coleman himself was probably unaware of it, but having dabbled in ballet a little bit myself, I could sense worry on some earthy, subliminal, low-frequency wavelength. One thing I've always liked about classical ballet is that it never, ever lies to you! Ballet is true! Ballet is unlike anything on Earth! It's the closest thing to God that people have ever achieved!