A must see for fans of Sarah McLachlan and dance

I didn’t much like my early 20’s. My life consisted of studying a lot, working a lot, and the constant feeling of not having enough(mostly in relation to money).  The exceptions to this feeling were the having more than enough in grad school bills to pay, studying to do, and college pounds to be lost.  On a more positive note, my life also included good family, good friends, and the right music to come out of my 20’s in a much better place than where I started.  My personal soundtrack of the time included a little U2, a little Dave Matthews Band, some Alanis Morissette, a good amount of the Indigo Girls, and a lot of Sarah McLachlan.  After seeing and loving Alberta Ballet’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy last night, I have been trying to figure out who introduced me to this particular album.  I give my sister credit for my love of The Indigo Girls, but when I asked, she didn’t take credit for my love of Sarah’s music. After feeling so connected to Sarah’s album once again last night, I couldn’t shake the need to figure out who had introduced me to it 20 years ago.

I happily keep my CDs and their inserts in a binder from the 1990’s, which is where I found my Fumbling Towards Ecstasy CD.  In pulling out the CD, my eyes happened to catch the BMG music company logo on the back page of the liner.  In that moment, I realized it had been me that discovered this album, all by myself! I had picked it out during one of my BMG music club membership phases; each membership legit of course. Self discovery, how apropos!! As the Alberta Ballet program stated “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy portrays the deeply spiritual odyssey of a woman’s life.  The innocence of childhood dreams will give way to the fiery and impetuous aspirations of an adolescent heroine. The birth of the sisterhood will strengthen her resolve to keep faith in life.  The explosive discovery of the opposite sex will give way to first love.  It will end in betrayal, but the sisters will return to help resort her faith once again.  She will then give in to life and welcome love once more.  Love passes, but this time he is the one, the true one.  Tragedy strikes and she faces eternity.  The sisters return, she bonds to life again. At the other end of her long journey, she will find love once more.”  Where was this supportive narrative and comforting language regarding a woman’s journey in my 20’s when I needed it?  The journey, I suppose is the answer to that question. The superb choreographer of this ballet, Jean Grand-Maitre states Sarah McLachlan’s “music celebrates our common struggles and yearns to find balance and wisdom.”  Thank you Mr. Grand-Maitre for your artistic direction and for putting better in words than I could do my self, the reason I find deep connection with this performance and album.

I opened my program before the ballet began and despite being able to predict which titles I might see listed (I HAVE had disappointments when expecting a song to be performed that was not), I was no less enlivened to see “Hold On” , “Good Enough” , and “Ice Cream” would be performed.  I love(d) the whole album, but those titles got the repeat treatment most often. “Ice Cream” always last (I love the humorous surprise in this ballet’s rendition of “Ice Cream”) and replayed most often, which set the tone of hope as I ended a listening session.  The visual experience this ballet created for me had me enjoying all songs performed, not just my favorites.  This is not a sponsored post, so I am stating in all honesty, I did not want this performance to end!! I loved every second of it.  The Alberta Ballet uses Sarah’s vocals, rather than instrumental only, which I appreciated. The set includes Sarah’s artwork as backdrop and I wasn’t surprised to read that the costume designer, Paul Hardy, has many accolades for his work in the world of fashion.

I enjoyed the music of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy last night just as much as I did 20 years ago, only now, I am in a much more joyful and satisfied place in my life.  I am glad to be past the difficult themes of my 20’s and part of me wishes I could have found some beauty in those difficult times as they were occurring, such as was fluidly depicted in this ballet.  The positive theme of “Sisterhood/Empowerment”, woven throughout the ballet and my life, is a theme I don’t plan to leave behind.  Each time “The Sister” dancers came into view on stage, my mind couldn’t help but visualize my closest female friends appearing on stage with them.  Thank you sisters, for appearing in my life when times were good, as well as when nothing seemed to be going my way. You have made my life infinitely better.