Patrick and I braved the rain this afternoon and here we are ascending from San Francisco's Civic Center underground station on our way to see a ballet we have both already seen a dozen times. Swan Lake Рin a new look designed by Jonathan Fensom and funded by omni-generous supporter of San Francisco music, Jeannik M̩quet Littlefield.
The Main Library is on our left and City Hall is directly in front of us. The Opera House where the San Francisco Ballet performs is (from this viewpoint) behind City Hall.
City Hall as seen from the other side -- from the balcony of the Opera House – after we have had our tickets scanned and the guardians at the doors have allowed us inside, and we have checked our wet umbrellas with the patient Coat Check staffers. It should be remembered here that the service people at the Opera House, from the Coat Checkers to the Taxi Reservation Guy to the Bartenders and Ushers, are invariably quick and cordial.
Since we were early, I had a luxurious amount of time on the balcony to photograph the arriving ballet fans or colorful passersby.
I had not expected so many little girls. Droves of parents brought little girls between the ages of six and ten and they were dressed up and excited, much as I remember my own daughter in the days when she was this small and came along to SF Ballet. I had forgotten how little girls instinctively understand how and why to care about ballet. It crossed my mind that these little girls in one way could not understand the ridiculous luck that meant Yuan Yuan Tan (the finest dancer on the planet, the most musical) would be dancing Odette/Odile in front of their eyes, yet on the other hand they are exactly the right people to see the best (whether they know it or not) because whatever gets carried into the future will get carried by them.
I had the balcony to myself before the performance, probably because it was cold and windy out there. I love this building. It has been my happiest destination for 40 years now. But I went back inside in good time to see an unusual sight. The heavy gold stage curtain is what the audience usually sees when they enter the theater. This afternoon it had already been raised, and we saw a scrim on which moving water patterns were projected, as if we were all swans floating down the stream.
And then the lights went down and the scrim went up ...