Exhileration

    It had been a while since I had set foot into a ballet performance. Yet, last night, I ended my fast and attended a performance at my church by the Ballet Magnificent. Words are hardly sufficient to explain the beauty that was beheld in on that dark stage, but only words can paint the picture of my thoughts and dreams as I watched the dancers twirl onstage.

   The lights went low, the music began to swell, and the dancers entered. They were a vision, wrapped in a cloud of tulle that shimmered in the spotlights. When they leapt into the air, the tulle surrounded their legs like a soft cloud and I could imagine them rising up into the heavens with their arms outstretched and their toes pointed.

   I don’t remember the exact moment but soon I was up on stage amid the dancers. I could still feel the rough fabric that stretched over my seat; I could touch the cool marble floor with my bare feet. But my spirit, my heart, had joined the dance.

   It was a feeling like no other. Standing completely still, imagining myself as a statue in the White Witch’s garden in Narnia. And then, as the music rose, I followed suit, pointing my toes and lifting my arms. Then, the leap. I could almost feel the muscles in my legs clench. I could taste the cool breeze that drifted past my face. Violets, speckled in a warm meadow. If that had a taste, it would be in the air during every leap.

   My emotions moved with the dance. I felt the terror of nervousness. The clenching in my legs and arms, the sweat beading on my upper lip. And then the exhilaration. It was like no feeling in the world. I spun, soared, leapt, flew all from my seat feet away.

    I was truly caught in the movement. To watch nameless figures spin in unison, watch their feet point in the air, watch their arms reach out into midair was captivating.

     Ballet is a dance of inspiration. It is imagination illustrated with the body. It is a vision of creativity. It is a demonstration of boundless limits. It is an ultimate fusion of mind and heart. It is remarkable, beautiful, magnificent, and truly captivating.

    Ballet is exhilaration.

Photo Credit: The Ballet Magnificent