When we lived in Washington, I saw an advertisement for college gymnastics meets at Alex's gymnastics studio (a short-lived activity). Hoping to inspire him, we went to the UW campus and watched the gymnastics, not really expecting so much. Instead, we were blown away! It was like we'd found a secret Cirque de Soleil performing for virtually free and locally, with no crowding. They put on quite a show, with music and smoke and great half-time entertainment. We started attending quite a few of their meets, and I relished our secret find!
Since living in Savannah, we have occasionally attended special plays or ballets downtown, but those are fairly infrequent these days. If we buy tickets for only $25 apiece, then we're still out $100 for the four of us.
I received an informational e-mail passed along through the kids' school, though, about a ballet held at the Savannah Arts Academy. Since Fiona is newly back into ballet, I took her on Thursday, not expecting a lot but thinking we might enjoy it. It was $9 for the two of us.
To my amazement, the dancers were incredible. I've seen the professional Savannah ballet company, and I thought these dancers were much better, though perhaps it was partly due to my low expectation. I was so tickled that I took Michael, Alex, my dad, and my neice and nephew back to see the second showing with Fiona and me again on Friday. I enjoyed that showing, too!
What a marvelous show! During intermission, we were able to peruse a Halloween art show done by the visual artists at the academy. The talent, again, seemed professional.
Anyhow, I feel like I've found our 'secret' Savannah venue for entertainment. The four of us can attend their dances for under $20. This Thursday is a FREE piano concert called 'Fingers of Fury', and I'm very much looking forward to it and hoping that it inspires my burgeoning pianists.
I have been nurturing a hope that we will enroll the kids in Savannah Arts Academy for high school. Though a public school, it's a dedicated magnet for only arts applicants, so the hoodlums and associated violence are virtually non-present, since only motivated students are attending. For this reason, and the high SAT scores and College Prep curriculum, I have inclined towards this high school. The actual arts component wasn't really my prime motivator in selecting the school, though I thought it would be nice.
After seeing this the ballet and art shows, though, I am realizing that these high school students are receiving intensive arts training that is really a serious gig. I imagine the best student artists from all over Chatham county are applying to attend the Academy, and the best dance graduates of SAA probably go on to elite professional ballet companies outside of Savannah. So I may not be off the mark when I think this showing was better than the local professional company!
I don't know, of course, that the kids will want to attend this school. There is a Math and Technology magnet at another high school that Alex has expressed interest in, but it's not a dedicated magnet school, so the thug element is present at the school. Alex is not particularly artsy-minded, but he is developing some piano skill, and I will probably be encouraging SAA for him. Fiona currently wants to be a visual artist, so we're already talking about SAA for her, too! I guess we'll see!
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