Home Again! Alex's audition and Mathias' six month review

Yesterday was a long day that ran into this one. This must be the typical feeling when taking a "red-eye" anywhere! I started early Sunday morning with a downhill drive into the San Francisco Bay area. I parked the rental car in a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station garage near the airport and shuttled into town to view Picasso and American Art at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.(http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail.asp?id=282

I arrived before the 11 AM Sunday opening time and stood in a very long, eager line of art enthusiasts waiting to see the same pieces. Many purchased the head-phone tour and gawked but I also was amused by overhead comments like "I wouldn't hang any of this is my living room!". I'm not all that removed from needing a guidebook in my ear or thinking that it all looked wrong for any interior. It was a great show, well planned, especially to handle the number of visitors. I also walked through Matisse and Beyond, which seemed to a great selection of the museum's greatest pieces. It was a lovely two hours followed by a rush to the ballet.

I saw a different cast though Joseph Phillips, Sasha deSola, and Guy Amico (an apprentice and one of Mathias' former Kirov roommates) all danced the same roles. Katita Waldo gave an informative and relaxed, conversational styled "lecture" before the program. She was engaging, open, and comfortable speaking to the small crowd. She took questions and answers like a seasoned professional speaker, not just a well established principle dancer. Tiits Helimets partnered Yuan Yuan Tan in the leading roles with Muriel Muffre as the Lilac Fairy. It was very interesting to see the different ways in which these dancers differed from those seen last Sunday. I can see why the "faithful" enjoy seeing the same ballet by all the various casts. I heard that Joseph Phillips did get the opportunity to perform Blue Bird last Thursday. I wished it had been for either of the two shows I saw but was pleased for him anyway.

From the ballet, I retrieved, refueled, and returned the rental car and spent over three hours in an airport restaurant waiting for my flight. I brought the last Harry Potter book with me. I want to reread it before the final book hits the shelves this June or July.

I slept on the plane a bit, catch the flight to Charlotte, and learned that once again my luggage did not arrive with me. Hopefully, it will be delivered tomorrow. I had my eye appointment later in the day and was suppose to pick up the Blues series from Mac's on Main but it was closed for some reason for this evening.

While gone, the new track lighting was installed in both gallery rooms. The newly required lit "exit" signs were too. Alex's drama audition for Governor's School seemed to go well, and Mathias had his six-month review at Birmingham Royal Ballet. He is now "officially" part of the company--not that he hasn't been already but the contract included a clause that would allow the company to end the contract if he didn't work out during the first six months. Mathias also got an opportunity to ask about casting and was quite surprised to learn that his Artistic Director didn't even know that he was only a "cover" for the Stravinsky Triple Bill. Maybe, with this "probationary" period behind Mathias and with the director's new awareness of the casting done by the ballet masters, Mathias might get a few challenges before summer. Who knows? I can just hope and pray that these chances come about!