I get excited about seeing the Nutcracker ballet every winter, even though I always swear I won’t the following year. The day after Thanksgiving, the Pacific Northwest Ballet Nutcracker performances begin and I have a great seat and can’t wait. What can I say, I am a fool for art!
Tomorrow the Pacific Northwest Ballet begins their new program “Director’s Choice.” Four separate numbers by four choreographers make up the program, including Before After; Rassemblement; a world premiere of Debonair; and A Million Kisses to my Skin. I’m lucky enough to attend on Saturday and I am sure I will come home caught up in dance and blogging about it!
Here’s the advance notice for David Dawson’s breathtaking, hyper-extended piece: it references the intoxicating bliss dancers experience while performing. Dawson set out to pay tribute to what he had learned as a classical dancer and to evoke the feeling of complete bliss a dancer sometimes experiences in their work. “I had it a couple of times on stage, and it feels just like that—a million simultaneous kisses to your skin. It was also a kind of goodbye to my classical career. It was important for me to create this piece using classical steps, but also to create a ballet that was about individuality and freedom.”
Below are two videos taken from rehearsals of Kisses. I can’t wait until Saturday!
Check out these hydrangeas still in bloom just beneath my bedroom window.
Of course the hydrangeas are not at their peak, as in this picture:
But what the heck! It’s November and I am happy with this view.
Do you see what I see?
It has been too long. Chihuly is too wonderful.
Of course Chihuly learned his craft in Italy, so for me looking at his glass is like looking through a glass into the Italian past. It’s how I roll.
I can’t get enough of his work. I take all out-of-towners to the Seattle Center to see the exhibit there and everyone is amazed.
All of these works are from the Seattle Center exhibit.
You have heard of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. But, at Seattle Center, there is a luminous ceiling composed of glassworks. Gorgeous.
And then there is this humongous outdoor installation.
Then, back inside:
Some of his glass creations, like this white one above, reminds me of a taffy pull or some elaborate French confection.
Get yourself to a Chihuly exhibit next chance you get, in Seattle or anywhere!
I’ve got a really bad case of tulipmania. I can understand exactly how those Dutch got carried away with this gorgeous commodity.
It is so bad that I had to return to the Pike Place Market today just to see them again.
I think you can see what I mean. This photo is moody and dark, like a Rembrandt painting.
These blossoms attract me like a bee to honey. I must have some bees in my family tree. These bi-colored parrot tulips are my favorite. I love yellow and red together.
Well, actually these are my favorites. They are called “peony tulips”. You can see where they get their name, right? Google “peony” if you don’t.
Well, I was wrong before, because these are my favorites. They look fringed, like fancy fabric with black button centers. And I adore pinky-orange with honey-gold. It is almost incomprehensible that this is plant material, not woven textile.
A group shot.
A close-up.
I think Georgia O’Keefe might have liked this group.
I love the way these tulips look, grouped by color family. I like these so much better than the “arrangements” the florists put together at the Market and in a lot of other places.
These flowers and their display in all the booths at the Market are almost achingly beautiful.
Beige and red. It was this so-called “broken” pattern that made the Dutch go nuts in the 17th century. Its kinda like how connoisseurs of “koi” fish cherish certain broken patterns. I can’t help it, this is how my mind works.
Love these white, with their specks of green on the outer white petals.
Gorgeous. This photo alone would make most flower shops around the world swoon.
Simplicity.
Here are those peony clusters again. Much fussier, but I love ’em.
And then the parrots again.
I have got to stop. I am feeling dizzy.
Well, one more. They are white, pristine. A palette cleanser. Exquisite.
Back into the warmth.
Like a fan of the warm family of paint colors.
Stop. It is starting to hurt.
Stop!
I have to stop now. I can’t take any more.
I think you CAN overdose on beauty.
Yesterday in Seattle it was intermittently sunny and cloudy. It was cool and breezy and a great day for brunch at the Pike Place Market. A croque monsieur and a kir royale were perfect at “Compagne”, a really nice French-style bistro on Post Alley.
After that, a stroll through the market to have a look at the glorious tulips for sale.
Tulips in abundance!
Tulips in all colors and blends, as well as many shapes. Parrot tulips, lipstick tulips, peony tulips. They were all here.
An altar of color and pattern.
Have a great new week everybody!
get back, lauretta! 
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