9 Great Reasons To See Boston Ballet's Thrill Of Contact

Attending performances of Boston Ballet is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do with a friend. This past weekend, I took my mother in law into the city last weekend for a girl’s day. Thank you, Boston Ballet, for providing us with tickets to see Thrill of Contact (and just like always, all opinions are my own). This images today are courtesy of Boston Ballet, because I haven’t figured out how to attend the ballet, take photographs, and not feel funny about it. And because I wasn’t able to attend the performance where picture taking is encouraged.

9 Great Reasons To See Boston Ballet’s Thrill Of Contact

1. Thrill of Contact is a mixed work ballet by Boston Ballet. There are four distinct pieces of work included in one ticket price.

2. Shades of Sound and Edge of Vision (Boston Ballet’s previous spring mixed work ballets) were lovely and left me breathless. But neither offered me a vision of what I thought a “typical ballet” would look like. Themes and Variations (choreographed for The American Ballet Theater, premiered in 1947) is classic Balanchine choreography. Boston Ballet used costumes courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.

3. Balanchine is a master of movement and witnessing Boston Ballet dance such a difficult piece of choreography was a treat. As usual, the movement of the dancers was effortless even in the most complex moments.

4. The second piece in Thrill of Contact is a world premiere by Boston Ballet principle dancer Jeffery Cirio called fremd. World premieres area always exciting to witness, who knows maybe in 50 years another ballet company will be dancing it.

5. The movement of fremd was raw, strange, and different. My mother in law (whom I took as my guest) loved it. It left me a bit confused, which according to the note in my playbill was part of the goal.

This world premiere explores what it means to face the unfamiliar, how we as people deal with the unfamiliar, and how we can step past boundaries or obstacles when we fear the unknown.

6. fremd is Cirio’s mainstage piece of work for a major ballet company. He will also premiere a new work this summer at the 2015 Cape Dance Festival in Provincetown. He’s doing really exciting stuff!

7. The costumes in The Vertiginous Trill of Exactitude are so fun (the tutus are made out of nylon fabric and fiberglass rod).

8. The footwork in The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is sharp and crisp. Combine that with the unusual costumes and I felt as though I was watching a top hat in motion at times. Very fun!

9. The Concert (Jerome Robbins, 1956) had me smiling from ear to ear. The satire in this ballet made watching it a lot of fun. We all know that being a professionally ballet dancer takes a serious amount of determination, so it was really fun to see a dance where they’re really having fun with the movement.