Ballet or opera?

My darling wife wanted to see her favorite ballet, "Giselle." It's the story of Prince Albrecht, who is already betrothed to another, but who disguises himself and woos a peasant girl, Giselle. Giselle finds out he's a fraud, and heartbroken, she stabs herself with his sword and dies. Her spirit joins the Wilis, a group of women's souls who've died of heartbreak, unrequited love, or being jilted. They live in the woods under the rule of Queen Myrtha. Any man who happens by, they exact their revenge by dancing him to death. Prince Albrecht comes to grieve at Giselle's grave, and the Wilis attack him, but the spirit of Giselle saves him and protects him from them. She goes to her eternal rest, and he escapes with his life.

We went to see a local performance of it, featuring some dancers from the Royal Ballet of London. Sadly, we went to a matinee where the Royal Ballet dancers were NOT performing, but it turned out to be a beautiful performance, and our local dancers were phenomenal. I have only seen a few ballets, and I had forgotten that they are largely pantomime. I like it better than opera, because motions and facial expressions are far more universal than language. Opera is a lot of standing around and singing in foreign languages. Ballet is motion, which is nearly universal in communicating an idea or a situation.

I like ballet. My darling wife enjoyed the performance of "Giselle" very much. I was glad I could make her happy.