""Best" Ballet Seats" Topic

Taking the wife to the ballet next month, and was wondering if there is any sense of good/better/best seats.

They have seats available in the very first row and then back a couple of rows in the grand tier.

Thoughts?

I've always tried for seats 10-12 rows back from the
orchestra.

Any closer and I get dizzy from following the dancers,
if it's one of those which go stage-left, stage-right
with a lot of frequency.

Myself,if I was going with Herself to a show like that,as long as it was on the ground level toward the back or center,I'd be cool with that. Your situation,front row, is near the orchestra pit,I presume(depending on the theatre ). Does it still have a fair view of the stage and performers?Grand Tier,I presume is just above the ground level seats,but below the upper level seats(a.k.a. the Bob Uecker seats). 3 rows back from the front row of the Grand Tier sounds like a good view of the performance. Have fun,both of you,wherever you sit.

You'll want to see the whole stage, so a little back is probably a good idea. Too close can spoil the "magic" as the dancers thump across the boards.

Probably the Grand Tier.
Used to have "box" to the Milwaukee Ballet – center and further back – not to the sides like many box seats. Wasn't really 'boxed' – more like 2-3 rows with the best view, slightly elevated and back far enough to see the entire stage and much of the orchestra. The cost for the season tickets was very small in comparison to buying individual mediocre seats. Best use of what was left of my student loans at the time.
Each theater is different, phone books usually have schematics of stadiums and theaters or online.
Front row probably suck – unless you like seeing up tutus and hearing them thump around. The music doesn't sound as good either. Though I've found that all performances seem to be attended by a NationalBronchitis Awareness Group or TB convention. Why is it that a). Everyone feels the need to cough constantly and b). why are cough sweets wrapped in such noisy paper? Damnably annoying when "coughing" up so much money to attend. That, and dropping, and flipping through, the damned program throughout the performance.

Thanks all.
I finally found their interactive seat ordering system. The available seats that are closest to the stage are also amongst the cheapest ones listed, so that hs to mean that they think they suck, too!

Being close to the stage can add something too. I had front row seats to the White Oaks Dance Company once. I was so close you could hear the dancers breathing, and hear the effort that went into the moves, and could clearly see their muscles working as they danced.

Some of the illusion of 'effortless grace' was gone sure, but the grunting, muscular truth that replaced it was quite electrifying too.

The best?
Stay at home.

BTW… experience talking here… Don't bring 'foam fingers' or 'Foam Domes" to the Ballet. My wife never asked me to go again with her…

So your plan worked…?

Quite. The best seats in my opinion would be in the bar.