Last night I saw the Joffrey Academy of Dance perform Sleeping Beauty. I’ve been itching to see a ballet performance, but lately that has not been fitting into my budget. As this performance involved students from the school, not the professional ballet company, tickets were very affordable ($15). At that price, I thought it would be worth the risk even if the performance was not very good.

Doing something fun is always a wonderful excuse to dress up, so I did.

I spent the day sitting at my desk in my office and obviously I’d be sitting for the ballet, so I opted for a more casual style of outfit. For those reasons I chose not to wear a petticoat, even though petticoats are lovely and wonderful fluffy clouds of lolita prettiness. No one can see it when you’re sitting down, and I didn’t want to be an annoyance to other theatre patrons by having “skirt overflow” onto a nearby seat. (I’m glad I made this choice, because the seats in the black box theatre were very narrow non-permanent bleacher-style seats that were very close together indeed.)

I have two ballet-themed pieces, but I chose not to wear them. Instead I opted for this skirt, which was a present from my mother a few years ago. I have a bit of a hard time coordinating with this skirt due to the blue. This time I highlighted the black in the outline of the artwork. The weather was just barely warm enough to get away without wearing a coat as long as I wore enough layers. This ancient sweater is one of my favourite things to pair with a skirt for a casual outfit–it’s just the right length for a lolita skirt and it’s warmer than most of my brand cardigans. I pinned a few ribbons on it for an extra little touch~

I really enjoy contrasting these black socks with lighter shoes, so I went ahead and did so. The socks and shoes were very popular with my coworkers; I received positive comments on them all day. XD

I ultimately didn’t wear a hair accessory because I was worried about obscuring the vision of anyone seated behind me. The audience consisted mostly of relatives and friends of the students performing; I didn’t want to ruin their experiences. I packed a bow in my purse, thinking I’d put it on after work but before the ballet, but it was more convenient to omit it entirely.

We had an absolutely lovely time at the ballet–the students were very skilled! I was very impressed. The Lilac Fairy, Princess Aurora, Carabosse, and Prince Désiré danced beautifully~! ♥ Watching Prince Désiré perform his jumps and leaps during the wedding act made everyone in the audience marvel; he was able to get so much height and maintained lovely form. I’d definitely see the academy perform again; it’s clear that the school puts a lot of time and effort into their student productions. Even the pre-pointe children playing sheep and trees did an excellent job with their roles. Even though I wasn’t related to any of the performers, I felt very proud of how well they did! I hope they and their families felt that way, as well. ♥