Well, dear readers, I am back from the Mexican ballet. I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you read such a sentence? Nowhere, that’s where. In any case, I am back from the Mexican ballet, which turned out not to be a Mexican ballet at all, but a ballet troupe called Media City Ballet doing Espana-themed music, such as Bolero, Don Quixote, and Carmen (they ran out of programs so I can’t be more informative). So, it wasn’t at all like Ballet Folklorico or Tango Argentino, it was just ballet but without the guacamole, salsa, and beef tacos. Speaking of beef tacos, there were quite a few men in tights up on stage during the ballet, along with some women in tights. I almost wore tights (after all, mother wore tights), but at the last minute I opted for more traditional clothing. I do look splendidly splendid in my tights because I now have abs and buns of steel, what with my twenty-seven pound weight loss (thus far). Yes, I should have worn tights or I should have worn green – I wore green the last time – what am I, Sally Durant Plummer all of a sudden? Prior to attending the ballet, I’d had a rather interesting day. I don’t really remember why, but I think it was interesting. For example, I woke up. That’s always interesting. I got a late start, what with answering e-mails and returning telephonic calls, and then I had to take the short story manuscript to the final proofreader. I showed her the cover and she adored it. I then came home and jogged, then did some work, and then it was time to attend a Mexican ballet that really wasn’t Mexican at all.
First there was the pre-show party for certain people, of which I was one, I guess. Just before going to said pre-show party, I stopped by Bookfellows to show the new book cover to the owners. I’m happy to report they flipped for it. They showed me a recent book release that also uses an old paperback book illustration on its cover (although not nearly as dynamic or clever as Grant’s). I chatted for a while, and it was nice to see them again (author Bob Birchard was there – I’ve known him slightly for going on thirty years). I will, of course, be doing my first signing for the new book sometime in late October or early November, which I’m very much looking forward to. This will be a really fun book to read from. I then went to the pre-show party, had my photograph taken, saw a few folks I know (the head of the Theatre Academy at LACC was there – the ballet’s publicist was our publicist for the cabaret series, and he’ll be doing PR for The Brain From Planet X). There was lots of food, of which I did not partake. Then we all took our seats and the show began. I found it a very odd evening. I know very little about ballet and its world, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the ballet films, The Red Shoes and Black Tights and a couple of ballet DVDs that I’ve seen. The program was made up of very short pieces, with two longer ones in the second half. The first half of the show only lasted thirty-five minutes. The second half ran about fifty minutes, maybe a little more. There seemed to be no sense to the program order, there were frequent moments when the audience just had to sit and wait while the curtain came down and they set up for the next ballet – but since there were no sets, the between ballet waits were pointless and unnecessary, and every time they happened they lost the audience. Some of the dancers were very good, some less so, and some simply looked befuddled, as if they didn’t know what they were doing. The choreography was interesting, but the canned music was really loud and annoying, and frequently the dancers were out of synch with it. At one point, music started and then stopped abruptly. The dancers stood there trying to figure out what to do, then just started dancing sans music, at which point the music began again. The whole affair was just a bit sloppy for my tastes – even though they were doing short pieces, there still has to be some sort of cohesiveness and it still should be a show. Anyway, we were out by nine-fifty, so that was nice.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because so I can continue the story.
After the Mexican ballet that wasn’t a Mexican ballet, I met up with our very own dear reader Laura, and we went for a bite at a nearby Coco’s. We had a nice meal and a nice time. I then finally returned home, where I opened a Diet Coke and began these here notes. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too? Oh, wait, I’ve just gotten an e-mail. Shall we see what it says?
To: bruce@haineshisway.com
From: charo@charo.com
Dear Coochy Coochy:
I read with interest your comments on seeing a Mexican Ballet. I was once in a Mexican ballet with Xaviar Cugat. I danced in a tu-tu and he drank tequila and ate some chili con queso dip. Coochy coochy! He then did something with or to a tamale that I cannot describe as it might frighten your readers away. Coochy coochy! Anyway, I just thought I’d drop you a line and say I find your writing very sexy and it makes me want to coochy coochy! Te adoro, bk, and I do remember our lunch together at the Beverly Hills Hotel. That was coochy coochy, too.
Love,
Charo
Well, what a surprise to get an e-mail from my close personal friend Charo. I haven’t seen her since our lunch, but I remember her with some fondness.
Today, I must do some work, and then this evening I’ll be going to Thousand Oaks (a much nicer place than Hundred Elms) to see a production of Aida, directed by a nineteen-year-old as his thesis project for UCLA. Apparently his folks are footing the bill, and it’s in a huge theater. This young man played the young boy in Ragtime in its LA premiere, and I went to school with his father. I’ll be most interested to check it out and will have a full report for you.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write (time to get back to my new play), relax, then see Aida. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, and perhaps let’s even have a coochy coochy Mexican ballet.