“Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music.” ~Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
On Saturday night, I attended the American Ballet Theatre’s production of Sleeping Beauty at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City.
My enormous good luck to see the final performance of Ratmansky’s production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet was thanks to Helen Chaitman. Helen’s grandson, Charles Phillip Chaitman, was dancing the part of Hop-o’-my-Thumb who leads his brothers in a dance at the wedding celebration in Act III.
Needless to say Charles performance was inspiring. If he can dance and perform perfectly with so much joy and such an open heart at his young age, what can you and I do?
I am reminded of the time my good friend Georgie took me to see a show in one of Tina Turner’s last tours. Watching Turner race and jump across the stage into the second hour, I turned to Georgie and said, “So what’s our excuse?”
The American Ballet Theatre performance of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece reminds us that excellence and beauty are essential to our survival.