Photo by Gene Schiavone, courtesy of Boston Ballet.
This past weekend, I received press tickets to go see Boston Ballet’s Onegin. Since I was taking my six-year-old daughter with me, I did a little research about the ballet and about Alexander Pushkin, the poet who penned Eugene Onegin of which the ballet was based on. I told her a little bit about the ballet, but left the rest up to her interpretation. I did warn her that there would be a duel and a loud pop from it.
Photo by Gene Schiavone, courtesy of Boston Ballet.
Based on my research, I knew it was going to be an enchanting afternoon filled with unrequited love and intense emotion. It is definitely a ballet that tugs at your heartstrings. The beauty of the ballet and the emotion that can be expressed by the dancers is apparent in Onegin. The ballet takes you back to 19th century Russia where a country girl falls in love with an aristocrat. Thus begins the dance of unrequited love for the country girl and heartbreaking duel between two friends that left us on the edge of our seats and with tears in our eyes. The final act, though, is where I felt my heart pounding out of my chest with the sharp ache of ill-timed love.
Photo by Gene Schiavone, courtesy of Boston Ballet.
Taking my six-year-old on this thrilling ride of emotions was interesting. I wasn’t sure how she would react to it. After each act, we talked about the different emotions that we saw on stage and recapped what we just saw. Unrequited love is a bit of a tough subject for a six-year-old who has not experienced such a thing, but she did understand loving someone so much that it just hurts if you couldn’t be with them.
It also gave us a chance to talk about self-expression and how it can be shown in so many different ways through art forms like dance, painting, singing or writing. Our emotions aren’t just what we feel in our bodies or show in our faces, but they could be painted on a canvas, written in a poem, danced across a stage or played on an instrument.
The ballet has served as quite the inspiration for my daughter who sings and acts out her life happenings on a daily basis. It has served well in identifying emotions as well as giving us ideas for a creative outlet.
Boston Ballet’s upcoming ballet Kaleidoscope (March 17 – 26, 2016) will be a colorful, fun and distinct performance. If you haven’t been to the Boston Ballet, get your tickets for this show! I know it will surprise you and make you rethink ballet. For tickets and more information, go to bostonballet.org.
Thank you to the Boston Ballet for the press tickets. As always, all my opinions are my own. You should really take your kids to see the ballet!
