Cinderella, the perfect Valentine

We had been in SLC one week and had settled into routines when Valentine's Day arrived; our first holiday in Utah. Both Wayne and I had shopped earlier in the week and we were able to have our presents on the table at breakfast.

I spent the day thinking about the ballet. When I was a little girl my dream was to be a ballerina. It never happened, but I did get to meet a few when Emily took ballet. Three years in a row she was chosen to play a mouse in Continental Ballet Company's production of "The Nutcracker". I was thrilled to be a backstage chaperone and even got to help with some quick costume changes in the wings for the principle performers.

Wayne has never been a big fan of ballet so we had only gone to productions that included Emily.

Then 2 years ago Emily and I went to see a production of "The Nutcracker" at Northrup. It was wonderful and I thought to myself I should go to the ballet more often.

When we arrived in SLC and I saw that Cinderella was opening on Valentine's Day, I asked Wayne if he'd like to go and he said sure.

So on Valentine's evening, after a wonderful dinner at McGrath's Fish House, I found myself in the 5th row watching Ballet West's production of "Cinderella" on opening night. The production reminded me of the one by our Children's Theater, for the 2 ugly step-sisters were played by men! One of these men played Prince Charming on other nights. Almost all of the roles were shared by 3 different dancers so you could go to the show on 3 different nights and see totally different people in the roles. During the intermission I imagined how different our Ugly Stepsister would look as Prince Charming!

I enjoyed every moment, totally engrossed in the story, the music and the dance. The settings and costumes were wonderful. The dancers leaped and twirled and lifted, making my heart soar with them! It was truly a magical evening. The audience included many young girls out with their Dads, and I wished that I could have shared it with my girls.

Wayne enjoyed the staging, which was wonderful, and appreciated the talent of the dancers and the music by a chamber-size orchestra in the pit. He said we can go to the ballet again if I would like, so maybe I will write about the ballet again.

There were no photographs allowed at the performance, and we didn't bring our camera anyway, but we took a picture when we got home.

Happy Valentine's Day