Great Performances on Live from Lincoln Center: American Ballet Theater's "Romeo & Juliet" -- May 7, 1988

Ever found a great old photograph or video from a long time ago? It's like discovering an ancient artifact from your past, a sort of personal archeological dig, unearthing living history. 

You stare at your younger self -- or the younger selves of the other people in the picture or video -- and you experience a kind of headrush. The past becomes present, a memory turns vivid, something in your head escapes and becomes real before you -- and the thoughts and emotions you held at the time that have vanished suddenly well up again, like a pipe bursting from underground.

It's both amazing and unnerving, a unique mental and emotional sensation.

So that's how I felt when I recently found a 1988 performance of Romeo & Juliet on YouTube that was performed by American Ballet Theater on May 7, 1988, broadcast across America from the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. (Shakespeare's famous play is danced to from a score by Sergei Prokofiev, one of the greatest ever written).

See, yours truly, Mr NYC, was in it -- as an eleven-year old boy with a funny wig in the background. You'll see there's two little boys in funny wigs in the background -- I'm the handsome one!

I have some memories of this night, mainly that it was just another performence (we did several) only this time I had to sign a release allowing my visage to be televisually blasted across the Fruited Plain -- and there were cameras in the balconies and audience staring at us. When I saw a recording of this later, I saw that I one point I scratched my nose (which all of America saw, how embarrasing) but my embrassment was trumped by the dancer Kevin McKensize (who played Romeo) rushing out for the dramatic finale -- wearing his sweatpants. This was a faux pas extrodinaire and, if you watch this, and has gone down in television history along with that Starbucks cup that popped up on Game of Thrones.   

Anyway, this brought up some fond memories but I still feel the tension, the anxiety of that night. And it's hard to imagine that I was ever 11-years old!

Here's more info about this Great Performence. The recording appears to have been done by someone in San Diego who, for whatever reason, threw it up on YouTube. I saw in the comments section that one of the chaperone's for the kids (i.e. me and the other one) weighed-in on the sweatpants fiasco. Sadly I don't really remember her -- but I hope she's doing well!