At the beginning of a Utah Winter I listened to my son play Appalachian Spring. Hannah met me at the airport and we drove to good food. You can read about that here. Then we drove up to Logan to see Noah. He showed us the teeny tiny room where he practices - supposedly 40 hours a week (wink wink) introduced us to his friends and then we got to see his freshly cleaned dorm room. After stopping by Kerren and Bruce's lovely home, which is better than any hotel, we had a nourishing dinner and, finally, it was time for the show.
Noah was performing at the Ellen Eccles Theatre with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Now, I have been to a few modern dance performances and not enjoyed them. Not one bit. They confused me and left me feeling like I'd rather been folding laundry. But not this group. Every piece they performed riveted me and left me wanting more. It was beautiful and emotional and the most professional dance performance I have ever seen. The first half of the performance was to pre-recorded music. Then there was an intermission. That was when I tried to take video of Noah in the orchestra pit warming up. A security guard told me I was forbidden to take any pictures. So I flirted and begged and he agreed to turn his back for this 34 second video:
The second half of the performance was Appalachian Spring - with a live orchestra - with my son. It is a 30 minute ballet by Martha Graham in the 1940's and the music written by Aaron Copland (who won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for music for his achievement).
It was wonderful and so exciting to hear the piano and know that was my son! Here is a link to the beginning of the1959 performance of the ballet - the lead role (the bride) is danced by Martha Graham and she is 60 years old in this performance (amazing). This is the same set and performance we saw on Saturday night. It was super cool.
9 comments:
So, so awesome! Congrats, Noah. I would have loved to have heard it. You must be sooo proud.
1. That theater is the site of my first date with Greg. He played the bass in the opera Gianni Schicchi and I was an usher. We went to JB's Big Boy afterwards, where he overtipped the waitress to impress me.
2. I couldn't tell but was there a harpist? I wonder if my mom played in the pit for that or one of her students...I'll have to ask her.
3. I will reiterate my hope that Noah and Lauren meet someday. She sent in her app to USU last night...who knows? But shhhhh...stealth is key here.
Appalachian spring is one of my all time favorites. I would DIE of pride if my child played that well.
This is awesome. Noah is so very talented! You must have been brimming with pride!
Not sure why you couldn't hear Mia's Yucky song. It still works on my computer...Hans took it on his phone and we have a mac? Maybe that has something to do with it. Her talent is nothing compared to Noah. Are you musically gifted? How did you know what your children's strengths were? There are so many activities to choose from I never really know what to do...
Watching your children excel & share their talents with others is just one of the kudos of being a parent. Ditto for being a Grandma. Way to go, Noah, and parents.
A good dance performance can be so moving. I'm so glad that you were able to see Noah. What an amazing kid he is. Very cool.
I loved both clips. :)
How fun for your and Hannah! I would have sat and cried the whole time. When I'm proud of my kids, I cry. I try not to but I can't help it! I cried for you and Noah too. Great job Noah! He's looking more and more like a musician too. :)
You must be so proud, and you should be. How wonderfully fabulous for all of you.
Beautiful music. One of my favorites. I played one of the movements on my flute when I was in highschool and loved it. How fun for Noah. He is doing what he wants to do and I am thrilled for him!!
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