2 Interesting Reflections from Attending a Ballet

I never thought I would enjoy attending a ballet. Ballet always seemed so odd to me. I prefer symphonies or Broadway.

But because of COVID, it has been over a year since my wife and I attended a live performance. We used to really enjoy going to concerts or musicals together. So, when our local ballet was having a Valentine’s day recital, we decided to give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised.

The evening was a collection of different dances. And as I reflected on attending the ballet that evening, a couple thoughts came to my mind.

Ballet is an example of metaphor

Background to metaphor

I recently read an amazing book on metaphor and its usage in language and society. It was written by a non Christian as far as I know, but the book has profoundly helped my Bible study, my understanding of the world, and language in general.

Essentially, the book defines a metaphor as understanding something you don’t know in light of something you know.

For example, you can take an abstract idea like “knowing” and link it up to a physical reality, like “seeing”. The metaphor, therefore, is “seeing = knowing.”

That is why in your day to day life, you say things like “I see what you are saying.” You literally do not “see” what a person is saying. It is a metaphor.

Metaphor is one of the most useful tools God has given humans to understand the world.

In a previous post, I discussed how God uses metaphor to get across spiritual truth in the Bible. Honestly, if you were to pull out your Bible right now and turn to almost any page, you would find a metaphor.

Parables are extended metaphors.

Proverbs are condensed metaphors.

The Psalms and Prophets use metaphors constantly.

A metaphor is just an equation: X = Y. You equate two dissimilar things. Then you think about how the one is like the other.

A good example is Psalm 1. The Psalmist compares the righteous man to a tree.

At first glance, a person and a tree don’t seem to have much in common. But as a reader, you should stop and ask “in what ways is a righteous man like a tree?”

Once you have set up that equation “righteous man = tree”, you can use the one to help understand the other. In this case, God is communicating a truth about an abstract concept (the righteous man) using a very common object (a tree).

Through the one, you better understand the other.

Music = Movement

Back to the ballet. I think I never understood ballet or even dance for that matter because I did not understand metaphor.

Ballet uses this simple metaphor: Music = Movement.

As I watched the dances move to music by Rachmaninoff or Shostakovitch, I realized what they were doing. Whoever choreographed the dance was doing metaphorical thinking, whether they were aware of it or not.

That realization changed my perspective and enjoyment of my evening.

Every movement, every twirl, every point of the toes was the artists interpretation of the music. Or, to put it another way, ballet transforms something abstract, music, into something more tangible and physical, movement.

The result? The emotions of the music were further highlighted by the movement of the dancers.

Attending a ballet becomes much more enjoyable once you understand ballet isn’t merely to impress. It is interpretive.

As someone who absolutely loves music, I found it infinitely intriguing all the choices a choreographer had to make while listening to music.

What movement evokes the crescendo of the piece? How is the orchestration portrayed by the dances? What dance can capture the longing or the elation of a piece of music?

I found my enjoyment of ballet increase a hundred-fold once I understood it is simply metaphor for my enjoyment.

Ballet is a complementarian art form

For those unfamiliar with the term, “complementarian” is simply the Biblical affirmation that manhood and womanhood are distinct. Men and woman have the same value, but different roles. Desiring God has a good round-up of articles if you want to read further.

While attending the ballet, I noticed the God-given differences between men and women on display. And not just on display: beautiful. Complementary. Elegant.

The woman dancers used their flexibility and grace, the men used their strength.

The unique physical attributes of men and woman worked together in the ballet. The result: something more beautiful than if only one gender was dancing.

Sitting there with my wife on Valentine’s day, I was struck by what a good reminder this was.

A Christian marriage should be like a ballet: two individuals using their individual giftings from God together for the benefit of others.

I think if a preacher is going through Ephesians 5, he can look no further for an illustration than ballet. As an art form, I was surprised at how balanced it is.

The men aren’t dominating the woman or vice versa. There is only graceful movement together. Leveraging each others strengths. Covering up the other’s weaknesses.

What a great picture of Christian marriage! I never thought attending a ballet would become a spiritual lesson.

But isn’t that the beauty of the Christian life?

One of the amazing features of the Christian life is seeing the world through a God-focused, gospel centered worldview. You enjoy more things and learn more things than if everything was mere entertainment.

So, my encouragement for you is simply this:

Try something new. Something you might not understand. Then reflect on it. Examine it by what you know about the gospel and God.

“The whole earth is filled with God’s glory” Isaiah 6 says. It is indeed.

Praise God for ballet and the lessons He teaches us as we go along our way.

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