Breathtaking!
by Jan on 4/18/24Thalia Mara Hall - JacksonRating: 5 out of 5The World Ballet Series presentation of Swan Lake earlier this week was spectacular. The sets and costumes were gorgeous, much prettier than traveling productions often are. The special effects (fog, etc.) went flawlessly. As a longtime attendee at the International Ballet Competition, also held here, i have seen world class dance on our stage, and the dancers in this troupe are as good as most of the best who have come through that competition. They were, without exception, outstanding! In addition to the beautifully danced performances, they portrayed their characters in a way that carried the ballet's story well and made the scenic transitions flow smoothly. I loved every minute of the performance.
The only disappointment of the evening was that there were no programs as we entered. When people returned from the intermission, we found out that there were souvenir programs on sale downstairs by the bathrooms, but there had been no mention of the availability of these as we all milled around in the foyer waiting to be seated. Hence, we could not read about the dancers' past experience and where they had trained, etc. A lot of people would have bought programs if they had been selling them in the lobby. No one told us about the ones in the lower level- no one seemed to know anything. Also, since our tickets were checked as we entered the building rather than when we entered the auditorium, people were left in a line outside the front of the building (in the heat) because there was only one man scanning tickets. That was an unfortunate first impression of the sponsoring group.