At the Ballet

Today I took Kate to Bass Performance Hall for her very first ballet. The Texas Ballet Theater presented Sleeping Beauty, and today they had a special matinee performance called Tutus & Tiaras. There were special tables set up for girls to make a tiara, get cookies and bracelets, they could sit in a real carriage for a photo op, and they were able to meet a couple of the performers as well.

Kate was so very excited to be going downtown today. We pass by downtown a lot on our way to the zoo or museum, but I don't actually think I've taken Kate down there for anything that she would remember very well so it was sort of like her first time being amidst all the tall buildings that she admires from the freeway all the time. She was giddy about the parking garage and the tall buildings. She loved Bass Hall with the huge angels out front (who doesn't?). Once we got inside and finished all the princess stuff, she wanted to explore every single part of the building so we walked up and down the stairs several times. We went out on the balcony in between the two angels a couple of times and visited 3 different restrooms. She was having a blast.

When it came time to go find our seats, Kate was a little nervous about the whole experience because she's never one to just trust that she will love something. She was worried about the music being loud, worried about the lights going off and it being dark, worried about whether there would be a dragon on stage....worry worry worry. I just bought our tickets the other day as a sort of last minute decision, and I wasn't sure how she would react to everything so I went cheap and got the mezzanine box seats up near the front. The great thing about those is you are really close to the stage, so you can really see the performers...mostly. They are partial view seats, so everything really far to the side of the stage we were seated near was concealed by curtain from us. We also had a big speaker dangling out in front of us, but it didn't block any of our views. However we were up above the orchestra pit so we could also see the orchestra playing really well, and she enjoyed watching them almost as much as the dancers themselves.

She kept her hands over her ears for the first 10 minutes or so, but eventually she relaxed her arms and the second the first dancers came out on stage her eyes lit up and she kind of gasped. I knew she was going to love it after that. So she spent the remained of the performance (we are talking 3 hours: 4 acts and 3 intermissions) whispering to me:

"Oooh, she's my favoite!"
"I like the blue dress."
"How do they dance so gracefully?"
"Oh, that one is my favorite!"
"This is my favorite dance."
"I love the purple dress."
"This is my favorite dance!"
"I can't do that."
"How do they make the songs with those instruments?"
"I like the Queen."
"This one is my favorite."
"They jump really high."

She also danced around here and there, because she simply couldn't contain herself. Thankfully the guy sitting in the chair next to hers didn't seem to mind. That's the other great thing about the box seats - you have a lot more room than the regular seats so you're not so easily bothered by people. We were up pretty high, on the third level, so we had a great view of the whole theater. However, this also meant that when Kate was twirling around during one of the intermissions trying to show me her ballerina moves, the candy bracelet that they gave her downstairs went flying off her arm and landed on either an unsuspecting attendee or somewhere in the orchestra pit. I chose not to lean over an see where it landed because I didn't want to get a dirty look. It was pretty funny though.

After the ballet, we were both pretty hungry so we headed out into Sundance Square because Kate wanted to eat there instead of coming home. We walked over to Five Guys and had a burger, and then across the street to get some gelato. We circled back around to the fountains and finished our dessert, than Kate proceeded to dance and run around for a little while. It wasn't crowded at all and the weather was beautiful, so I let her entertain herself. In fact, I had to force her to leave because she wanted to keep playing and looking at the big buildings. She even said she wanted to live in one of them, so perhaps my dream of living downtown may someday be a reality after all.

I'm happy that she loved the ballet as much as I do, and I'm guessing that Nick is happy she loved it too because this means he doesn't have to be the one who always goes with me. I've already purchased tickets to take Kate to The Nutcracker in December.