Dark Side of the Moon

Last night we got tickets from a friend to go see Eugene Ballet’s interpretation of the Pink Floyd classic, Dark Side of the Moon – with live music provided by the Floydian Slips.

I’ve always enjoyed watching ballet, but I hadn’t been to any performances since I was a kid, and those were mostly the holiday, kid-friendly type of show.

A year or so ago, BN and I went to a “laser light show” of Dark Side of the Moon, at our local childrens/science museum. It was ultra-lame. BN had seen other laser shows of DSofM and said they were much better. But this one was just cringingly awful.

So we went into the Hult Center wondering what we were in for. The “opening acts” were 2 contemporary ballets, the second one preferable to the first but both pretty cool. Then, after an intermission, was Dark Side of the Moon. It was totally awesome! BN said after, and I agree, that all rock concerts should have dancing. The band was on the back part of the stage, partially hidden from our view because we were so high up in the auditorium, and the ballet happened on the front half of the stage. I thought they did a great job of balancing some abstract dancing with some characters/storytelling. I mean it was all dance, but there was a great personified “money” character, a girl in a splashy green outfit with a team of male dancers chasing her around. The “Lunatic” sequence sent chills down my spine – a woman dressed in bandage-colors, mixing nervous tics – somehow gracefully – into her movements, and 4 dark-clad men carrying her bodily around the stage as she tossed and turned.

Now when those songs come up on iTunes I have beautiful thrilling mental images to replace the cheesy laser graphics I had previously.

Two words: Rock On!!!