Swan Lake

Last night Doreen and I were invited to attend the Houston Ballet's most recent production of Swan Lake. It got really good reviews, so when Eddie invited us to go with him and Charles, Doreen eagerly accepted.

I, on the other hand, was not so impressed.

But the whole thing got me thinking about time, cultural literacy, and opportunity costs.

We live in a shared world, and within your cohort there is an expectation of common experiences. For example, if someone says "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" you would be expected to reply "than a rich man to get into heaven"

Or with some of my friends, if you say "It was inevitable:" you will hear back "the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love"

The point being, that we use this common heritage, this cultural literacy as a sort of shorthand in our communications.

So where do you acquire such commonality, and what should it all include? Many people say that Swan Lake is the best ballet for dancers. It is certainly not a ballet where the dancers just stand around. But what importance is it to have attended the ballet? To see the four little signets dancing with hands clasped together? To see the evil Rothbart trick the good prince Siegfried with the beautiful Odelle?

Or is it more important to know that in Russia, when the communists were in charge that the ending was changed so that the swan (Odette) did NOT die and she and the prince lived happily ever after? Does that tell us more about communism or about the way the ballet was originally written?

In spite of my reluctance to attend this ballet, I enjoyed it tremendously. I have always enjoyed the music. Tchaikovsky is one of my favorites, and the theme you think of when you think of Swan Lake is really beautiful.

I am not one to cry at Operas (though I have teared up while watching movies on airplanes) but I must admit that I got chills the first time the Prince saw Odette, and then the evil Rothbart and his evil Black Swans come flying by.

(A brief aside about the music, which is related to the whole cultural literacy thing. I cannot listen to the theme from Swan Lake (click and then listen at about 33 second) without thinking of West Side Story (click and listen at about 42 seconds. Did Leo life from Pyotr? I think so)

SO the question is, do we go to things like this to have gone to them and to gain the shared experience, or do we go to them to enjoy the three hours there?

And that can't be answered unless you think about the opportunity cost. In this case I must admit the opportunity case was very low. We had no other plans, as I have been traveling for quite some time. (I have not had a full weekend at home for over a month) So I was giving up a quiet evening with a nice home cooked meal and a bottle of wine for this ballet.

In this case, I believe it was worth it.

And I will never trust anyone named Rothbart again.