My girlfriend and I are going to our first ballet at the Four Seasons Center in Toronto, Ontario, we will be sitting in the grand ring to watch the nutcracker, and since we've never been to this venue before, we're wondering should one wear?


I'd appreciate it if anyone could give some suggestions.


Thanks,
Chris

I actually have a similar question. My mother and I will be attending the St. Petersburg Ballet on April 4th to watch Romeo and Juliet (it's a Friday night). She wanted to know if it would be appropriate to wear a full silk sari embroidered all over with gold/silver threads (she wants to know if she'll be tooo toooo overdressed). Since we rarely go out, and Indian gatherings are so few here, she'd really love the opportunity to wear such an outfit to a special event. Will she be too overdressed?

As for me (I'll be driving, so my outfit needs to be more condusive), I'll be wearing a red cocktail dress (well, it goes below my knees). Does that sound too inappropriate? I just remember at Boccatango, everyone was wearing pantsuits, and I was really out of place in my Little Black Dress.

Thanks!

In New York, you see a wide range of clothes. If you're comfortable in a cocktail dress, that's fine, but be prepared to sit next to someone in jeans, too! Formal wear is generally out of place except at a gala.

Most of the people I see fall into the range of business to business-casual. Except in the priciest seats (and sometimes even there), most men don't wear ties.

For Nutcracker at the Four Seasons anything that could be described as business or business casual will stand you in good stead. There will be so many people (I hope!), many of whom do not come to the ballet, or to any theatre any other time of the year, that there will be all kinds of dress, and almost anything you choose to wear will be fine. Congratulations on your first trip to the ballet, maybe the National Ballet of Canada will make a believer (addict ) out of you!

My experience with the Four Seasons is that you could dress to please yourselves. A matinée will be less dressy than an evening performance and more expensive seats will have dressier occupants. Not wearing a suit would be fine . . . but you might be a hit with your girlfriend if you do!

Ngitanjali - I think you'll both be comfortable in those outfits. I don't think Americans understand the formality scale of a sari, so if she feels appropriately dressed, then she is.

For "Nutcrackers" also be prepared to see little boys in ties and jackets and little girls dressed in their holiday finest, sometimes including tiaras.

Wearing a sari sounds wonderful!

Dark sports jacket and dark slacks -- maybe with turtleneck -- is fine for almost every city in the world and might make you feel more comfortable than wearing a suit. I'm on the elderly side, so I do wear a tie for evenings, but an open neck shirt for many matinees.

Down here in Florida, you see the occasional fashion disaster in bright tropical shirts -- and even flipflops.. The far northern version of this might be sweaters with jazzy Christmas tree patterns worn with hiking boots. A rule of thumb: if your clothing is calling for more attention than the dancers are, you should be wearing something else.

One major exception to all of the above: beautiful, well-made clothing on beautiful women. Ngitangali, please beg your mother to go for the sari! It sounds very classy and beautiful.

The answer to this question (the generalized question) seems to depend more on the city than on anything else. Seattle, for example, is fairly causal. But you see all sorts of dress at any Seattle ballet performance. I see full black and white formal and evening gowns, and at the same performance even shorts, tee-shirts, and sandles, and everything in between. We even have a lady here in Seattle who is known as the "Rainbow Lady" (I think that is correct). She is quite a culture lover and attends many performances. She always dresses in a floor length, flowing costume made of brightly colored scraps of cloth...literally in every color of the rainbow hence her nickname....along with various wild hats.

I agree with Helene; for the Nutcracker one does see more "dress up" going on than ususal. I am a VERY causal dresser for the ballet, but for the Nutcracker I attended last week, even I dressed up a bit because it adds to the holiday spirit and I think it helps to make the kids in attendance feel they are at a special occasion.

I think this is a great point. I remember rushing to "The Nutcracker" from work a few years ago, in my typical commuter frenzy and casual clothing, and after nearly knocking over some poor child in my tunnel vision (and complete klutziness) to find my aisle, realized that it was a very big deal for the kids, and I had made no effort. That was the last time, and I make myself remember to respect the tradition and importance of the experience to the kids, and dress for the occasion and leave work at the door.

I like to get dressed up to attend ballet and opera, day or night, weekday or weekend in NYC The are special treasured experiences for me and I like to mark them by my dress. I also feel it is more respectful for the performers. Dressing well does not mean being uncomfortable and so I don't feel the least bit of discomfort when I wear a suit and tie.

I've seen some very casual dressers at the Met and I find it goes too far in the other direction, old sneakers, flip flops, torn jeans and T shirts. There should be a minimum dress code at the Met, for example, in my opinion, but not prohibit casual attire.

I am taking my twin nieces to the Nut and I am sure they are going to be dressed to the nines. Their mother tells me they are so excited to see their first ballet.

Summer venues are a whole other story and it would seem completely odd (for me to dress "up" in Saratoga, for example.

Quick fashion note regarding suits with turtlenecks - I packed these for Covent Garden (it's so much easier to deal with than a dress shirt that needs ironing after a trip) and felt positively Canadian (or something - whatever I looked like I was the only one.) They simply don't wear those in London; I bring dress shirts exclusively now.

I've found Covent Garden to be dressier. The Netherlands is extremely casual. I felt overdressed at the theater in a sport jacket. When I was last at the Salle Garnier in Paris, it was dressy, though before that it did not seem so.

Also, Toronto bows to weather exigencies. A stormy day will produce more practical attire.

Here at Scala you can see people wearing jeans too.The most well dressed are old ladies,often going to afternoon performances,so really out of place.The awful thing is to see in this beautiful 18th century theatre,with all its neoclassical style,with people inside wearing jeans and t-shirt.Anyway,if someone is in the first places and it's a "first-performance" you should wear a cocktail dress,or a long dark dress for women and tie and jacket for men.If you are in the galleries you can dress as you want.I'd avoid jeans,but if you were a jacket and shirt to the top and you're young.Young people can dress less formally.

I guess "turtleneck" isn't the word for what I'm thinking of Could it be "mock turtle"? They are jerseys wiith lower rounded collars (but not rolled over). They come across as more formal, which may or may not be the look one is aiming for.

-- all the choices!

And don't forget, comfort is important too. I find it difficult to sit still for very long at the ballet, and those theater chairs can get pretty confining even if you're slim.

Also worth pointing out that comfort can be both physical (clothes that are not too binding or confining) and social (appropriate to the occasion). If I went to the ballet in sweats, I'd be utterly comfortable and completely uncomfortable. My use of "comfortable" in my earlier reply to Chris was meant to include both.

I recently acquired some slightly dressier clothes for weddings, silk skirts and sparkly tops which I have little occasion to wear. They'll likely be called into service for ballet going this spring, when they'll be seasonable.

When I first went in a seat below the amphi theatre at Covent Garden, I was advised not to wear trousers by a friend. A couple of years later, I travelled from Liverpool for a matinee in February when the weather conditions were appalling. I wore warm comfortable clothes to cope with the weather and was "tutted at" when I walked through the old stalls bar! More recently, people seem much more relaxed there about dress and you see everything from formal evening attire to smart-casual to jeans-casual.

For most other theatres these days, I wear (usually) black trousers and a black top. I experimented last weekend and wore a crinkly, stripey blouse, which gained compliments!

If I saw a man in a polo neck sweater (turtle neck), I would assume he was from the North American continent. Not so with women because they seem to be back in fashion this winter!

I went to opening night at ABT, it was like going to the Oscars! I wore a suit, but everyone else had Tuxes and gowns on. There was a woman in a "southern belle" dress with way too many pink and yellow ribbons on it.

That's because opening night is gala night.

This is somewhat off-topic, but permit me to indulge myself. A long time ago, the logo of NYCB was Orpheus's lyre as designed by Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi's design found its way into a few items for sale on the Promenade of the NY State Theater, among them an attractive necktie that I always wore at gala NYCB occasions. One year I wore it at one of the annual SAB Workshop performances. At intermission, I said hello to Suzanne Farrell, who gently touched my tie and told me she liked it.

Noguchi's design is no longer the NYCB logo, and I no longer see Suzanne at the Workshop. For years now, the Noguchi necktie has resided safely in the closet, and when I go to SAB or NYCB performances these days, I never wear a tie.

Farrell Fan,

That was a very touching story. Do you see her company in Washington DC? If so, I am sure it would be appropriate to wear the tie.

I think feel about Patty McBride the way you feel about Suzannee Farrell. Except, I grew up wanting to be her. I idolized her. To me, she was NYCB. Imagine my surprise, shock, joy and excitment a few summers ago when she was teaching my son at Chautauqua and I ran into her. I told her about my idolizing her in the 1960's and how funny life was that she was teaching my son.

Since I wear T-shirts and jeans for my day job, it's always a pleasure for me to dress up when I go out, so it's almost always a suit and tie. Sometimes for slightly edgier things like a smaller modern company where the crowd will be a bit more informal, I'll wear a dress shirt, dark jeans (no fades, funky washes, etc.), sportcoat, and polished leather shoes --- sort of like the generic Banana Republic uniform.

In general, it depends on the community and area, and with the state of dance as it is today, I think they'd all welcome more audience members no matter how they're dressed. But you usually can't go wrong if you slightly overdress.

--Andre

I agree with Helene about the children. I think with respect to Nutcracker, all adults should aspire to the condition of Drosselmeyer. All women should wear saris if they have them.

Last night for SFB's opening I wore a navy blue suit, a pale gold mock-turtleneck of hte type Leigh was describing, and my santa hat and a scarlet faux-ostrich boa, and felt perfectly in costume. The kids looked at me with understanding smiles, and so did my friend Zempoalla.

Do a lot of members of the SFB audience dress like you? If so, I'm headed there next year for the Nutcracker. It sounds like a blast.

I suggested to Amma (the Tamil word for Mom) that she maybe wear a nice suit, and she muttered something under her breath about "Ugly Western clothing and abolition of Indian traditions". Anyway, she picked out her sari, she'll be wearing it, and I'll be driving her. *cowers from crazy Indian mother*

http://www.indianweddingsaree.com/sareeima...w/big/20387.jpg

It's something like this one, only with a less opulent border. I'm excited to see her in it!

Amma will be the most beautiful vision in the theatre. Expect a lot of compliments.

If I had grown up in a sari-wearing culture, I would probably react similarly.

I have never seen an Indian woman who looked out of place in a sari. I wish, as a descendent of Northern Europeans, I could pull it off. I don't think I could.

Editing to add: I appreciate that folding, tucking and draping a sari is a learned skill. Mastering it would sorely try my patience.

It sounds lovely. But the funniest thing about reading this story is the suspicion I get that "crazy ______ mother" is a universal thing? Change the details slightly and you could certainly substitute "Jewish" in there. (Basically add chicken, and subtract dosai and sarees) From what my friends tell me, "Chinese" would fit in there just fine too (our standard joke is that Chinese and Jews are really the same ethnicity) Now that I've had a few Korean students and talked to them about their families, I'm betting that would work just fine as well.

ngitanjali, that is a REALLY beautiful gown -- frankly, it simply looks classically beautiful, to me, and I can see Audrey hepburn wearing it. But then, I must have been Indian in a former lifetime -- when I saw Monsoon Wedding and the guy was eating the marigolds, it made me feel so good, because I've been snacking on marigolds for years.

Having grown up in the casual 60s in the Netherlands, I always have had the attitude that the most important thing for me as an audience member is to feel "comfortable". If I don't feel comfortable with what I wear, I can't enjoy the performance. As a result I usually dress super casual. Luckily the fabulous new Four Seasons Theatre in Toronto seems to support every kind of attire, from very casual to the fully dressed up with their most recent Holt Renfrew purchase.

I can respect these thoughts about wanting to dress for the 'Nutcracker' children, but I think it's personal and don't feel it in any way myself; it's a good way of feeling like you pay homage to the performers if that's a way you want to do it. I'm going to see the Los Angeles Ballet's 'Nutcracker' at Royce hall next week, and don't plan to give what I wear any special attention in terms of what's on stage--the weather will have more to do with it than anything else. Nor did I at last year's NYCB 'Nutcracker', where it was freezing in the theater. If you dress up, it's still because that's what makes you feel comfortable. Since I pay a lot of attention to the way I dress every day anyway, I feel somewhat dressed up even if it would be technically casual to someone else; I'm not concerned with what they think of it, and don't expect them to be concerned with what I think about them. The performers simply don't care how the audience is dressed, just so long as the front seats have a reasonable number of formally dressed types. I do think 'physical comfort' to the point of wearing sweats is dreadful. Equally important is not wearing heavy perfumes and colognes to annoy nearby audience members. Also taking baths, which does not always happen in the 4th Ring.

I do agree with those who talk about differences in place and part of theater in which you're sitting. That's the only place I'd make a difference and with my own attire as well. Sitting in the important expensive seats or at a gala or opening, one ought to dress up in the traditional sense. I see nothing wrong with jeans if they're paired with a jacket and a dress shirt, with or without tie, in the lesser seats. Sneakers unless high-style are out unless you're in the cheap seats, and there it doesn't matter whether I dislike dirty tennis shoes, because people are going to wear them--at the Metropolitan Opera House here, people wear anything, and I often find it repellent. If I were to go to the Royal Ballet in London, or the Paris Opera Ballet in Paris I would probably wear a suit, but were I to see either of these in the U.S., I wouldn't see it the same way, unless in the best seats or at one of the festive performances. (If I went to a performance of Wagner at Bayreuth, I would dress up no matter where I sat, but wouldn't go so far as to buy new clothes for it, because nobody is going to care unless you know people; in that case, it's social and you go and pay through the nose if you don't want to be out of place).

It has a lot to do with pride and confidence, so that just so you're not wearing anything too flashy and that's very clean, you're usually all right unless you're involved in it in a social way, sit in the important seats, or are at a gala. In the 4th Ring at NYCB, I've sat next to perfectly gross people, yet some of these were 'dressed up', and it had not helped. But I don't think it's of any importance, at least in the U.S., to try to dress way, way up as in the 19th century, unless the occasion is set aside from others as at an opening or the elite atmosphere is built into everything already, as at Bayreuth. For anything at places like City Center, or any modern dance spaces, it doesn't matter what you wear, you'd match the singular unattractiveness of the place by dressing down, I would think, and that's what people usually do--I've even seen well-known choreographers at performances of other choreographers, and they were even wearing the dirty sneakers.

I think that at almost any performance there will be people in attendance who for whatever reason rarely go to the ballet, and consider it an occasion, and enjoy seeing people dressed accordingly. It was certainly an occasion for me when I unexpectedly spent an extra night in New York a few years ago and so was able to go back to Carnegie Hall for a second concert by the Kirov Orchestra conducted Valery Gergiev. It probably wasn't an occasion for the college-age kids who showed up in ripped jeans, and their attire offended me. Of course that's an extreme example, at least in my experience.

Having said that, I could probably stand to dress up more. I'm most comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans, but I wear a polo shirt and chinos for ballet matinees and have never felt out of place. For evening performances I replace the shirt with a coat and tie. When we see a matinee of ABT's Sleeping Beauty next month, it'll be an occasion for us because we're taking in-laws, including a young ballet student. I'm going to mark the occasion with a coat and a tie.

When I was a student travelling through Europe, I took an overnight train from Bonn to Munich, arriving in the morning, with plans to take that evening's overnight train to Vienna. After spending a day at museums, I saw a poster for the Munich Opera, which was performing Die Schweigsame Frau, and it noted that there were student rush tickets.

I was dressed in travelling clothes, and although my jeans weren't ripped, they were still jeans. I expected the student rush tickets to be at the back of the back of the theater, when I found, to my chagrin, that my seat was in the middle of the main floor -- the 100+ Deustche Mark ticket section, and that was the price 30 years ago -- in the middle of the aisle of continental seating. If looks could kill... There is no way I would have gone had I known I would be put in the prime section, instead of a partial view highest balcony seat, where no one else would see me.

Thank you!

I've spent more than a few performances fighting the impulse to sneeze because someone near me overapplied her scent. This can be as distracting as chatterers.

So I guess a kilt is perfectly acceptable for the Irish and Scots?

As long as you keep your knees together if sitting in the 4th Ring Gallery....

How extraordinary. I didn't know about that.

He,he...come to the Carnival Center in Miami to see the Bal Harbor society ladies wearing her big furs during 90 degrees nights...

One should keep ones knees together regardless of seat or location. It keeps one from spreading out into other people's space, like the guys on the subway, who take up three seats.

But.....but.....but....you don't understand.....

I have a wide stance.

ha!
I always suspected it has to do with some sort of testicular distress--like elephantitis.


I would like to ask one of these wide-sitters, but am afraid it might lead to bodily harm, so I restrain myself.

And in the 4th Ring Gallery, it helps to preserve that Ancient Gaelic Secret: What does a Scotsman wear under his kilt?

His shoes and stockings.

I am here to tell you that one can ask these 3 seaters to shove their legs together and make room for others (and I always mean me) to sit, and live to tell the story

heheh. Well I do ask people to move over so I can sit down. I just don't indulge myself in audible speculation as to why they think they need to sit like that!

Sorry about going so ! clearly this is a subject that many of us feel rather strongly about

Oooof - anyone who has seen me in Covent Garden is obviously excluding me from their description of classy dressers in that theatre! That said, I usually am standing, or sitting towards the back of the Amphi. If I'm sitting further 'forward', I do dress better, and now that I have 'graduated' (kind of) and am usually coming from work, I look bit more respectable. Still, travel and weather dictate. It's about a 15-20 minute *cycle* to the bus or train station - then the journey to London, tube to Covent Garden... and then back, with that darn cycle ride at the end. I'm imagining the cycle ride in a sari. SO not happening.

ngitanjali, at some point, take your Amma to see La Bayadere, and then let me know what she thought.... it was a Big Event for my mum.