Down the Rabbit Hole

I heard the radio ad for Firebird and Other Ballets  one day and thought that this may be the chance I get to watch Ballet Philippines again. It's one of the hobbies I picked up as a child: watching theatre acts and musical performances as part of my cultural education , shall I say.  And as usual, I had absolutely no idea what I was about to watch. But in this case, ignorance makes the visuals a pleasant surprise because the costumes were not the typical tutus that ballerinas wear in classical performances; rather, they were wearing masterpieces by Mark Lewis Higgins. I got a seat on the first row; hence, I got a really good view of the costumes. They are amazing! The princess' costume reminded me of the Paunjalay  because of the vivid blues and the bells. On the other hand, the ensemble dancers reminded me of flower vases... this is so Beauty and the Beast  (the vases where actually people who had been enchanted to be flower vases, like Lumiere, ...

Indeed, the Silangan Chamber Guitar Ensemble showed what guitar performances are like beyond six strings. It was an evening of classical music in Church Among the Palm's new chapel; despite issues with the acoustics (the echoes were quite bad), the guitarists' renditions of the classics made me wonder how could they play such complicated pieces seemingly without difficulty? I have to be honest; I am not such a big fan of classical music. I know Mozart's Requiem quite well and I listen to it when I feel stressed out. Beethoven, sure, with Symphony No. 9's Ode to Joy. Other than these pieces, I am not familiar with classical music... much less with those arranged particularly to be played by guitar ensembles. And so tonight, I listened in to appreciate the classics. And the guitarists helped... a lot. The audience was taken on a musical journey that enthralled and educated. We listened to pieces composed by people I have never heard of (except for Antonio Vivald...