When I grow up I want to be a ballerina

Last year, Groupon had a great deal on season tickets to the Joffrey Ballet. I had never been to the ballet before but I figured that since I love musical theatre, opera, symphonies, etc., there was a good chance I would enjoy the ballet. In about 5 seconds, I talked K into getting tickets with me so that I wouldn't have to sit by myself. Last spring, we had the chance to renew our tickets for the same price and retain our seats (which are balcony seats but dead center and pretty good). It has been so enjoyable to have this experience. It's fun to get dressed up on a Saturday night and head downtown for an evening of culture. We usually walk north through Millennium Park after the show to grab a glass of wine and a snack at the Tavern on the Park.
A couple of weeks ago we saw a performance called 'Winter Fire'. (Only after a small ordeal with a conference championship basketball game and switching of tickets and last minute favors.) Winter Fire included three shorter ballets that were all unique and powerful in their own ways.

The first, 'In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated', was a high energy piece that combined the classical and the contemporary with a score that smacked you in the face from the start. The second piece, 'After the Rain', drew you in from the beginning through precise movements that were filled with emotion.

The third piece is the one that still haunts me though. 'Infra' was created after the London bombings and takes place below busy streets. A quote from the choreographer sums it up best "Literally below the life-affirming Opie screen and beneath the haunting surface of the music, I have attempted to create a series of human intimacies, bared from under the skin - prosaic, imperfect and fragile. In this landscape of miniatures that expose the very signs of life, physical empathies and emotional inferences rescue the lost narratives of the population on stage. Infra has become simply about people." - Wayne McGregor
At some point in the middle of the piece I found myself fighting back tears and realizing that the music and the dance had come together and touched something inside of me that I had not expected. I was completely lost in what was happening on stage and felt that I was almost under the streets with the dancers and sharing in their joy and pain.