The Tinderbox

My friend Camille and I attended Ballet San Jose's production of The Tinderbox, one of my favorite Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales.

But even better than the story was the annual showcase of all their talented dancers in the second half. It was a wonderful presentation of different age levels performing modern, jazz, and classical ballet. The jazz portion was exciting and really amusing: there was one boy among a stage full of girls, all around the ages of 10-12, and he was just dancing his heart out with the biggest grin on his face. He stole the show!

Equally impressive was the classical ballet set to Pink Floyd's "Us & Them." Imagine 16 ballerinas and 4 male dancers, probably around ages 16-18, dressed all in black dancing against a red lit background. Gorgeous!

And the neatest thing of all was that these were all kids: student performers who get their chance to shine on one of the most beautiful stages in downtown San Jose, the renovated California Theatre. They weren't perfect--there were a few wobbly moments, and some of them you could see were getting tired after a long, rigorous dance routine--but they were up there giving it their very best with joy in their hearts.

Long live the arts in San Jose!