I have been to the ballet a few times in my life, but this year, for the first time, I attended a show by myself. It was a surprisingly transcendent experience, even though it sounds a bit depressing, to go to the ballet solo. Moreover, the ballet I saw was Romeo and Juliet, and I witnessed many a heterosexual couple in attendence, and had I less self-esteem this scenario that I was in would be a prime opening scene of a romantic comedy: single female attends possible the most romantic ballet ever surrounded by couples swaddled in their own sense of coupleness and bemoans her loneliness. Pssht, as if that would happen to me. No, I really truly enjoyed the experience of going to see this ballet by myself and savoring the two-and-half-hours of Prokofiev's score set to the graceful moves of the dancers on stage. We all know the tragic ending, and yet I left the theater in a very satisfied, hovering mood. I spent the rest of the day smiling inwardly, utterly contented by the way this most famous love story was told. It's hard to completely understand Shakespeare to begin with, and not an easy undertaking to translate the written word into movement, into telling a story with the body-- but it really worked.
Sure, it's great to share experiences with people that you know, but it's worth seeking out shared experiences with strangers and doing things on your own, by yourself. I would like to see more ballet shows, whether by myself or with other people.
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