This topic was inspired by a thoughtless comment from a fellow Critical Dancer. Share your experiences using Opera Glasses! It’s not as if I’m on here defending myself. I’m defending ALL opera glass users all over the world. To paraphrase a line from Seinfeld:
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“No one should have to suffer shame and humiliation because they bring opera glasses to the ballet!”
Below is my reaction to the comment under NBoC Fall 2005:
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Posted: 20 Nov 2005 03:20 am Post subject:
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Thanks for coming OUT and thanks for coming to my rescue Kate! I had no idea an innocent remark such as the below would create so much controversy!
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“That’s precisely why I like the Mezzanine view from above. During an intimate pas de deux, I make good use of my powerful opera glasses.”
David made me out to be a Telescope Peeping Balletomane! I was fortunate enough to score a subscriber rush Mezzanine seat for today’s matinée performance. Sure, I can’t have the best of both worlds by moving between 2 seats during the actual ballet itself. At least I can enjoy a different perspective and still experience the same view from the closer seats I am accustomed to. I sat behind Karen Kain in row B for Thursday’s evening Swan Lake.
By the way, it should be noted that I suffered for that Mezzanine seat. I, along with two dozen hearty ballet fans, lined up for up to 60 minutes! The line for the 11 a.m. box office opening actually began at 10! It was a cold 30 degrees Fahrenheit and quite windy in Toronto. Sure others suffered more. I made a quick run to a local café for a large latté and hence frost bite did not set in! That hot latté fortified me enough to survive my 40 minute wait. Yes I suffer for my art! At least the line up was good news for the National Ballet of Canada. Sure, seats were still available for Swan Lake but at least there were fans clamoring to gobble them up! The magic of Karen Kain is having an effect!
After that long wait under deplorable conditions, I was going to use my POWERFUL opera glasses despite what my fellow ballet goers might think. FYI: Both my ballet neighbors in the Mezzanine also used opera glasses! What’s so wrong with seeing a romantic pas de deux between the lovely Heather Ogden and handsome Nehemiah Kish up close? What’s wrong with appreciating beautiful faces, beautiful bodies, and beautiful movement?
In case anybody is interested, I use the Pentax FB-9 Lite. Fits in your pocket yet gets you up close to the pas de deux action!! There…I have laid my soul bare on CriticalDance! Opera Glass lovers unite and join me in my quest to remove the stigma behind opera glasses! Perhaps this merits a topic of its own in Dance Issues? Come on, I bet you there are thousands of ballet fans who smuggle their opera glasses into the theatre only to make their appearance when the house lights go down. I know you’re out there! OUT yourself as Kate and I have done! Join me in Dance Issues for Opera Glasses ‘Everybody Uses Them or Wishes They Did!’
I imagine some people use Opera Glasses because they sit in the Oxygen Mask seats. I imagine some use them because of poor eyesight. Or, perhaps, some like me use opera glasses to gain a greater appreciation of the art? Don’t be embarrassed, post your thoughts! I say Opera Glasses are good for you and the most natural thing to bring to the ballet! There, I feel so much better.
Click
HERE for an educational article about this touchy subject discussed most often behind closed doors!