An ABT Balletomane

Back in February, Alexa and I made the wise decision to take advantage of the American Ballet Theatre's three ticket special for their Spring 2016 season. We got to pick any three shows and center balcony seats for an extremely good price. How could we pass that up? We both really wanted to see Misty Copeland and Stella Abrera dance so we chose: Firebird, Le Corsaire, and The Golden Cockerel.

The first one we saw was Firebird (along with two other opening ballets, Serenade after Plato’s Symposium and Seven Sonatas). Both Misty and Stella were in this one so I was extra excited for the performance. The moment both Stella and Misty came on stage, there was absolutely no question in my mind why they were promoted to principal. They each have an incredible and unique stage presence. Misty is just dynamic. I don't know how else to describe it. She completely inhabited her role of the Firebird and it's clear why the role is so iconic. Likewise, Stella is also a force of nature. There's something so delicate and graceful about her movements and even from a distance, she emotes so, so well.

Next up, we saw Le Corsaire which featured Misty Copeland in a secondary yet still prominent role. I honestly felt a little bit bad for the main ballerina because anytime Misty was on stage, she totally stole the scene. I really enjoyed the story of this one. It had romance, fantasy and even a bit of humor. But I wasn't too fond of the leading ballet dancers. Instead it was the secondary ones (like Misty and this other guy) who lit up the stage. It was clear everyone audience felt the same because they each got the most applause.

And lastly, we saw The Golden Cockerel. It was another fantasy story (actually all of them were which was perfect for us!) and debuting in the US for the first time. Stella played the role of Queen and unsurprisingly, she danced beautifully! I was so impressed by her and the ballerina playing the magical cockerel. It wasn't my favorite of the three but still very well done.

It's been so much fun getting dressed up for the shows and going to the Metropolitan Opera House these last few of weeks. It's a beautiful venue and hard to resist taking a dozen pictures while we're there (as you can probably tell). If I had to choose, Firebird is easily my favorite of the three ballets but honestly, it was all an amazing experience. One we definitely plan to repeat for the Spring 2017 season!

Do you guys enjoy going to the ballet?