ballet aglow in full urban nature, with swifts and crickets adorning.
montreal is great for supporting culture. at parc lafontaine there are outdoor performances all summer; music, dance, film, animation, you name it. saturday night we went to see the ballet being performed by les grands ballets canadiens de montreal … it was absolutely stunning.
there were two pieces: the first one was called polyphonia, and was a more classical collection of choreographies. there were 6 dancers, and they would perform pieces together or in pairs. very sweet, and lovely. many of the movements seemed to be coming straight from nature, which i thought was fitting since we were in an amphitheatre surrounded by a forest of trees, a lake, the night stars and a sky full of chimney swifts and american black ducks.
the second major piece was definitely less traditional, and seemed in fact to be rooted in some sort of basque or southern spain-induced islamic /catholic melange … in fact, it was catalan! this was by far my favourite part of the show, despite the fact that i loved the first half! the music was hypnotising, and rhythmic. the ways in which the dancers were moving themselves was enough to make anyone marvel at the beauty of movement for expressing strong, powerful emotions.
any talk of creating sustainable societies has to include outdoor ballet, in parc de lafontaine, with nighttime crickets and chimney swifts in attendence … my heart was full with joy, and hope. and it is for just this reason that grace & cello owes an enormous debt of gratitude to all those who strive to bring art into our world…
c.
