Denise's Journey

If you want to know how the recital went... I don't even know what to say. I am honestly blown away by the entire thing. I think I already mentioned that this is the 60th anniversary of City Ballet and this years recital told the story of the founder's life. I cried and I cried and I cried some more. It was so unbelievably beautiful and well done. It rivaled professional ballets I have seen. I'm not kidding. Even the tiniest dancers were perfect. I was expecting a student recital and that is not what this was. It was a full blown production. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!! Don't worry, I bought the video and if you come over you will be required to sit through the entire thing.

ballerina getting her 1st bouquet from Daddy

... and purple tulips from Bop

I had to write to thank Mrs. Brown and I'm copying it here to try to help explain how amazing it really was.

Dear Mrs. Brown,

I wanted to write to thank you for sharing your story with us and for allowing my daughter Stella (a baby chick) to take part of City Ballet and the recital this year. My entire family was so moved by the recital. The content, choreography, costume design and ballet dancers were more beautiful, touching, provoking, professional, captivating, emotional and thorough than I ever imagined. I don’t know if I can put into words how impressed we were with the entire production, how honored and thankful we were to be a part of it and how proud we are to have done so.

I have personally had a life long draw to the Jewish people and their suffering throughout World War II. When other children were reading Nancy Drew and Amelia Bedelia, I was reading biographies of Jewish children who had survived that terrible time in history. Strangely, my grandfather was raised in Emhouse and that is the part of the production that Stella represented. It is so amazing how life works, but it did make Denise’s Journey even more special and a bit personal for us.

We look forward to many more years with you all and with City Ballet. Thank Mrs. Evelyn for always being so kind to Stella for us. Thank you again for the stunning portrayal of your story and for allowing us to also “touch heaven.”

Meredith Grabham