Art and Ballet - What more could you want?

I'm telling you that each day just gets better and better. 
We started our day with a visit to the Brooklyn Museum of Art - which is second only to the Metropolitan in size and scope.  It's a 5 story building in the Beaux Arts style of architecture which means lots of mythical allusion and marble with columns, rotundas and arches.  In other words, it's real 'purty'.  We were amazed at the quality of art available here.  The most interesting part of the top 2 floors (all we had time to see) was the Henry Luce exhibition of a chronology of American Art from 1700's to present which incorporated not only paintings but also the decorative arts all put together to give a more rounded representation of the art of a specific period, and all the pieces were from the museum's collection.  

This museum also had a presentation I'd never seen before:  Storage viewing.  They put tons more of their collection into large glass enclosed shelving and then they let patrons wonder around these cases and look at stuff grouped by type.  The pictures make it obvious.  Here's a set of pix to look at which sets out the Brooklyn Art Museum

https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/NewYorkCityBrooklyn?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_S1Ly06YmR_wE# 

 I've been anticipating last evening's entertainment since March when I bought two tickets to "Jewels", a George Balanchine ballet by the New York Ballet.  A little background for my non-ballet friends:  "Jewels" is a three act ballet thought to be the first non-storyline ballet ever produced.  That means just free form dancing without a story plot.  The legend says that Balanchine visited VanCleef and Arpel and was so taken with their beautiful jewelry that he NAMED his ballet Jewels.  (After the jewelry exhibit, I can really understand how he came under the spell of those beautiful baubles.)  The ballet itself has nothing to do with jewelry - one act is called Emeralds and all the costuming is green, the composer is Fauve and the style is strictly classical.  The second act is called Rubies, the costuming is devil red and the style is jazz to the music of Stravinsky, and the third act is called Diamonds with white/sparkle costuming and the style of Swan Lake with music by Tchaikovsky.  

The dancing was so superb that I now understand why NYC Ballet is considered to be one of the top two companies in the United States.  It was thrilling and each act transported you to your own private fantasy.  The Pas de Deax in the final act was the most magnificent I've ever seen - the prima ballerina was just ethereal.  Good ballet is always a pleasure; great ballet is transcendent.  We saw great ballet last night.  

The theater itself was impressive.  It was reminiscent of the Wortham in Houston, but with better seats for all price levels.  We sat on the second row of the second tier, and the seats were fabulous.  Lincoln Center has this wide lovely plaza with a fountain in the center of it ringed by the various theaters that make up the Center.  We ate in a classic New York restaurant right across the street that's been there for about 40 years.  (Cafe Fiorello)  Our meal was excellent as only a $200 meal should be.  To top off the perfect evening, Drake went over to the American Ballet Theater (across the Lincoln Center Plaza) and bought tickets to the ABT's production of SWAN LAKE later this month and we are going to get to go with Jay and Sarah.  Another great evening coming up, in which we will get to see the second great ballet company of the USA.