Philadelphia

Like a good boyfriend (sing it with me, “State Farm is there”), Thom already wrote a comprehensive report about our wonderful Philadelphia trip a couple of weekends ago, and all I have to do is link to his entry. Go check it out. I’ll wait right here.

Okay. I will reiterate his take on 11:11, the Rufus Wainwright ballet pieces: it was the strongest set of the evening. Fresh and alive, they seem to flow effortlessly from the music and they bring out nuances I hadn’t noticed before. For example, near the end of “Oh What a World,” choreographer Matthew Neenan sets his dancers in rotating circles like a carousel, picking up on a short, faint thread in the orchestration, a run on the xylophone (or glockenspiel?), and the sight and sound come together so well.

“Poses” has been one of my favorite Rufus songs, and the dance is perhaps my favorite, too. It’s set for two trios of dancers, and with the lighting design casting speckled light all over the stage, it looked like they were running and dancing through the shade of trees. Gorgeous. The other day someone from the Pennsylvania Ballet posted on the Rufus message board to say that photos from 11:11 will be up on their website soon, and that the company will be performing it again next season.

We had a great time in Philadelphia, and will be back again soon for sure. Thom‘s photos and some of mine are up on Flickr; I’ve yet to upload my photos from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is the last site we visited before leaving town.