I Cry at the Ballet

I am shocked that I admit it. The ballet has been a foreign concept to me my entire life. Now, with three daughters in a production of the Nutcracker, I have come to appreciate the ballet. More than appreciate it. I just wept through the entire first act.

There is the grace and elegance of the performance.

There is an admiration for all the hard work and sacrifice… from lessons to try-outs to practice to rehearsal to production.

There is an appreciation for the production crew, the teachers, the parents and everything that must “go right” and often does.

And most of all I realized that this culminates in a performance that, just for a moment, each person on the stage becomes the embodiment of all the hard work, the instruction, the coaching, the sacrifice, and the love they have for their art and the love of those that support them. At that moment, all cares and worries, all sweat and toil, all sacrifice and discipline is forgotten. At that moment, they are perfect in who they are and what they do. Such is the picture of Heaven Eternal. I cry at the ballet.