Ballet or Play?

Dear John,

We took you and your sister to see the ballet version of Snow White today and you were most disappointed!  The queen and the off-stage voice of the mirror both spoke and the dwarves moved in a jump/skip and not in fluid dance movements.  Halfway through the production, you announced (loudly), "Hey, you said this was a ballet!  This is not a ballet, this is a play!"

I found it so interesting that you would, at three, understand the distinction and I myself had wondered about the dialogue... I had never before heard a ballet include any speaking roles.

Then, after the show, when your sister was asking about your favorite character (hers was the evil queen), you said the mirror.  The mirror, your sister explained, was not a character.  We did not take the time to explain about props, however, because you immediately rebutted, "It was a character!  It talked!"

So there you go.  At the age of three, you have had enough exposure to the arts to argue the difference between a play and a ballet and know that inanimate objects can be characters.

I love you, smart boy!

Love, Mom