Oregon Ballet Theatre joins the Oregon Symphony for a free outdoor concert on the waterfront tonight at 7pm. We’ll be performing an excerpt from George Balanchine’s Serenade, and from the looks of yesterday’s rehearsal it’s going to be breathtaking. OBT dancers + live orchestration + the natural beauty of Portland’s waterfront = SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS!

Yesterday afternoon Symphony director Carlos Kalmar stopped in to watch a dress rehearsal.

The dancers ran the piece in costume – which with the airy, delicate Serenade tutus is probably one of the prettiest things you’ll see in a lifetime.

Carlos sits with Tchaikovsky’s score, noting nuances in the dancing that help determine where the music’s tempo should be sped up or slowed down, or on which notes his musicians should linger a bit longer.

After the dancers have finished their first run-through of the piece, Christopher and Carlos talk about small adjustments in the music’s timing as the dancers take mental notes about the changes for the next run through.