To parents of Claras / Tickets! which row?

[marigold]

Suddenly I find myself unable to choose a row to watch my dd dance Clara! They don't have a seating chart at our theatre displayed on the website, but I can imagine it as we've been many times. Still, when ordering tickets on the phone for the whole family, I want it to be perfect! Is there a usual row any of you have chosen that you felt was perfect?

[Momof3darlings]

This is a tough question to answer since we are not familiar with your theatre. A good seat in one theatre is not necessarily a good seat in another. My only suggestion would be to sit far enough back but center to be able to see all the dancers feet (up close you generally can't) but not so far you have to do the seat shift to see around the tall guy's head.

[Victoria Leigh]

Is there an orchestra for this production? If so, that could make a difference in the seating as well. I agree with Momof3 about trying to get center, but not too close unless the whole orchestra section is graded. Often the lower orchestra section is flat, and then starts going uphill about half way back.

[vicarious]

Center balcony. I can see the whole ballet that way. When more than one of my kiddos are on stage it's not like watching a tennis match. Plus I love to watch all the dancers. Up that high I get a better view of the corps choreography. I also like not having to visually chase dd across the stage. We had a large group of friends come last year and they were all able to sit together because there were more seats available in the balcony.

[edgart6]

When my DD danced in a large theatre (seating close to 2000) I found slightly off center 1/3 back in orchestra the best. I liked the angle of off center. In smaller theatres (600 or less) I really find unless it is not graded well there are no bad seats. I would never, however sit in the first couple rows. All you see are feet! The balcony is great if you can get front row.

[mcrm55]

Traditionally, company directors, benefactors and producers reserve seats about a third of the way back from the stage. Depending on size of theater and orchestra pit- in a typical Broadway house, for instance, with rows going up to row R( 18th row) or so, this would be the sixth row. Center, or just off center, as Edgart6 suggested. Or, first balcony, sometimes called the Mezzanine, center. Having said all that, personally, I prefer sitting very close so I can really see everybody's feet and expressions. I like the second or third row, as long as I can see over the lip of the orchestra pit and see the dancer's whole body as well as the feet, which I consider an advantage, unlike Edgart6! One caveat: if there's a conductor, don't sit in the first few rows right behind him/her: you won't see ANYTHING but waving arms!

 

What I think is as important as how far back, with a large group, is not reserving all in a single row, or some people will find themselves very far off to the side and lose a chunk of the view. A better way to do it is, however far back you choose to be, stick with the center but get two or three rows one right behind the other. This way, people can also turn in their seats during intermissions or before the show and chat.

 

Congrats to your dd!

[calamitous]

My advice is similar to what others have said but with a few other ideas. These are mostly based on suggestions for taking kids to theatre productions. If you have young kids in the group, you want to be as close as reasonable since they tend to become engrossed in the show and this is best close up. If many in the group don't know much about ballet (like me) I would suggest further away or a front balcony. Since seeing feet is really only meaningful to those who know about ballet being able to see the stretch of the performance is helpful. In our theatre, I like the Loge, which is priced the same as orchestra seats but is a small balcony.

[marigold]

Thanks to all. I think I will choose two rows and keep our group together, rather than one long one. Another benefit of that is I can still decide the day of the performance which of two rows from which I wish to watch from!