Hi,

I'd like to watch dancers' facial expression and mimes. I am thinking about sitting at the first row of the side parterre box 1 and 2 (the closest boxes to the stage). If anyone sat in there before, could you share your experience? I am concerned that I may not be able to see the entire stage and may end up watching dancers' side body (rather than front).

Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't recommend box 2 unless you are in the first row of seats. I sat in box 4 for a rehearsal once and it was difficult to see from the back row. I don't think the people in box 2 were very happy as they left in search of another location at intermission. We were actually quite pleased that they left as we had trouble seeing past their heads. When I want to see the dancers faces close up, I usually sit around Orchestra row G. Any closer and you might lose some of the pointe work. I hope this helps!

I’ve sat in parterre box 1 and 2, I’ve probably sat in every side parterre & grand tier box in the house.

First of all - NEVER sit in the back row in any of the side boxes at the Met - you can’t see the stage unless you stand up, period. In parterre & grand tier boxes you want seats 1-3 only.

Second - you will always lose the near side of the stage. In some ways the 1st boxes are better than the 2nd & 3rd because sometimes the people in the box in front of you can interfere with your view of the near side. Generally speaking you lose less if you sit in boxes that are farther back, but you still lose some of the stage. The impact varies depending on the staging so I usually don’t sit in the side boxes until I’ve seen a production at least once or unless I know I’m going to see it twice the same season - in which case I make sure I get tickets on opposite sides. For Giselle I just sat in the 3rd gt box on the odd side - I couldn’t see Giselle’s house, I missed Albrecht/Loys knocking on the door in the first act, I could barely see Giselle standing on her grave in the second. But I’ve seen Giselle often enough to mentally fill in what I was missing and I knew that I wasn't going to miss any dancing so I didn’t care. If that will bother you then you shouldn’t sit in side parterre boxes.

As to seeing dancer’s sides rather than the front of their bodies - I’ve never noticed that - even in the first boxes, you are still in front of the stage. But keep in mind that you will be very, very close to the stage. I sat in parterre box 1 for a Ferri/Bocca R& J and it was an amazing experience, absolutlely fantastic. I’ve been as close for other dancers and seen details that I’d rather forget - tense faces, grimaces, copious sweating etc.

By the way, if you decide to go for it I recommend the even side for Giselle!