A Wad of Culture

This afternoon we attended the Ballet. ! The Nutcracker, specifically, choreographed by George Ballanchine and staged by a welter of performance groups and sponsoring organizations. I don't know who is ultimately responsible for this performance, but the Anchorage Concert Association, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Alaska Dance Theatre and the Oregon Ballet Theatre are all somehow involved.
I should start by saying that I have never been to a ballet before and was mainly curious, especially about this one as it is a cultural signifier. So this was by way of an experiment for both me and Art.
The Performing Arts Center, conveniently located downtown, is a lovely building, well-suited for its purpose and pleasant inside as well. Also, the facade has a nifty light-show kind of thing going on around the top which I quite like when I'm outside it, so I was well-disposed toward the building even before I went inside. It was snowing like all hell today, so we left early and got there about an hour before the auditorium doors opened. This was good because it gave us a chance to survey the crowd for weirdness, which is a highly rewarding activity in these parts. I had been told that you do not have to dress up for cultural events in Anchorage, and this is very true. It is equally true that you can do so if you want. Some people were very dressed up indeed, and some people were quite casual - to the point of sweatpants and flannel shirts. Some people compromised by wearing dress clothes and snow boots. This was the route I took. It had the effect of making me feel dressy, but with warm dry feet. The lady who sat next to Art wore jeans and a sweater and knitted during the show.
The sets and staging were quite good and the special effects were well done, I thought. The first act was mostly pretty slow, and the "dancing" mainly consisted of little kids running from side to side of the stage. They did fine, but still, it was little kids running around. One adult male dancer showed up for a brief appearance, causing my first surprise of the show.
Those of you who have seen a ballet probably know what I am talking about, but for those of you who don't... The male dancers need longer jackets, or possibly some padding, or something of that nature. Not much is left to the imagination, if you get my drift. To be brutally specific, I am fairly sure I could see the one guy's eurethra. It is true they are wearing tights, but their personal regions are not concealed by much more than the equivalent of a coat of paint. It is true that I am an adult and did not see anything that surprised me, but on the other hand, seeing it in this particular context surprised me a great deal. The knitting lady next to Art kept putting down her needles and saying "Oh my." Art kept saying "Package for you!" and I had to resist the urge to cover the eyes of every kid in my vicinity. "Why not just not look?" a sensible person would ask. Can't be done, is why. Can. Not. Be. Done. They're just...there, you know? Considering that this is a show for which I would estimate 50% of the audience is tiny little girls in their party dresses and snow boots, I think a bit more clothing in the shorts region might be in order for the guys. That's all I'm saying.
Anyway, things picked up a bit in the second act, with mostly grown-ups dancing, and most of the dancers being women, who had all their personal regions concealed. I don't know enough about ballet to describe what exactly was going on, but there was a lot of impressive leaping and some difficult-looking tiptoe-work. All in all, I quite enjoyed it, and Art said it was not that bad.
Then we finished off our afternoon of culture with dinner at Humpy's, about which more in the Eating Alaska blog. [Art's Commentary: The plot of The Nutcracker can be summed up thus; A small girl's fantasy about romance, war and candy] [ Also, we got about a foot of snow w/o the forecast ever being more than 'snow-shower'. Back in PA, we might not get a foot in a whole winter]