Live Performance Excitement!

Since age three ballet has been a central part of my life. From age 16 to 19 it was on a bit of a hiatus, but previous to that my world nearly revolved around it. Not only did I dance, but I owned ballerina statues, Christmas ornaments, dolls, necklaces, pillows, pins--my walls were adorned with a border that showed a dancing ballet bear in pointe, I had books, movies, literally everything imaginable, but surprisingly enough, my experience with professional ballet was virtually non-existent.
The only professional ballet performance I have ever seen was The Nutcracker, twice, before the age of 8. I suppose there are a few reasons why I didn't frequent the ballet often as a child, the most obvious being money.
Now that I'm in Chicago, I see that there are many places I can see shows that are cheap, even free, but back in Detroit, though these opportunities exists, they are fewer in numbers. My parents never had a ton of money, but having their children experience things in life was always very important to them.
My freshman year of high school I spent the summer in Europe, and my brother and I have both seen most of the U.S., but when it came to things like going to professional shows, it always had to be something we could all agree upon. This meant ballet was usually not an option. I've seen many musicals (luckily my little brother has always enjoyed those) but I also have had to sit through countless professional sporting events (I literally do not even know what sport most Detroit teams play.)
Anyway, I have never seen a professional ballet that I can remember. I really haven't seen much ballet outside of my own studio. I went to my friend Gina's dance competitions once or twice in middle school, but those really freaked me out (something a bit too...pageanty in their dress and plastered on smiles).
I think in any art form, watching the professionals do their thing really helps one to build their own abilities and style.
When I learned I had to see a performance for this class, I decided I wanted to go big, and purchased some pretty expensive tickets for The Joffrey Ballet Spring Program on May 1rst.
Description of what I'm seeing:
The Joffrey Ballet closes its 2008-2009 season with an eclectic romantic Spring Program featuring the Joffrey Premieres of Christopher Wheeldon's Carousel (A Dance) and Helgi Tomasson's Valses Poeticos; the revival of Bronislava Nijinska's Les Noces (The Wedding), in commemoration of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Centennial; and Round of Angels by the late Joffrey Co-Founder Gerald Arpino.
Let's be honest, I'm not sure what any of that means, but I'm sure it will be spectacular! :)
I'm absolutely pumped, and I'm sure I will have much to write about in my reflection piece!