Tag: ballet

San Diego’s joyful Reopening Celebration Concert!

This evening San Diego is celebrating the reopening of our city after the long, very difficult lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. An epic Reopening Celebration Concert is underway at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park even as I type this!

I watched for about an hour and a half, while there was ample light to take photographs. What I saw on the stage was pure joy. Love of life.

Before the concert began, everyone in the audience grabbed a free ice cream treat courtesy of Forever Balboa Park (the recent merger of two organizations: Friends of Balboa Park and the Balboa Park Conservancy).

Then here came the first performance!

The Enchanted Tail was an operatic fairy tale for kids, by the awesome group Opera4Kids. The sweet, very funny opera featured a woodsman turned into a fox by a wicked witch, a lost voice, a crown, a cunning princess under a sleeping spell–and how a potentially tragic conflict is resolved happily through self-sacrifice and mutual compassion.

Then here came the San Diego Youth Ballet!

Then, to rousing cheers, here came Balboa Park’s own amazing, super energetic dance group, San Diego Civic Dance Arts!

After a wardrobe change, the group danced to Queen’s rock and roll classic Bohemian Rhapsody, played on the Spreckels Organ by San Diego Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramírez!

A triumphant performance!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A walk south of the Oceanside Transit Center.

Today I enjoyed a couple of fun walks in San Diego’s North County. After photographing a bunch of cool sights in downtown Vista, I found myself at the Oceanside Transit Center waiting for a train back home with about an hour to spare. So I walked around, of course!

The first photo was taken as I was walking from the Oceanside Transit Center south along Tremont Street. At Wisconsin Avenue I turned west and continued past the “ballerinas among sharks” mural and over the adjacent railroad tracks.

I continued all the way to a lifeguard station overlooking rocks soaked by a wildly splashing high tide. Then I turned back east.

Just before reaching the railroad tracks, I turned north along a virtually deserted bike path which followed a couple of empty paid parking lots. Even though my camera was in hand and ready, I really didn’t see anything noteworthy as I made my way back to the transit center. So my photos end near the beach!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A dance, Wonder Woman, empty shoes, roses.

An exhausted face looks out from the window of Via Pia restaurant.
An exhausted face looks out from the window of Via Pia restaurant.

This afternoon, feeling restless, I went on a random walk through downtown San Diego.

It’s Mother’s Day.

If this blog post seems vaguely philosophical, I’ll let you decide what it all means…

I spotted a City Ballet of San Diego poster in the lobby of the Spreckels Theater Building. Carmina Burana is coming soon.
I spotted a City Ballet of San Diego poster in the lobby of the Spreckels Theater Building. Carmina Burana is coming soon.

City Ballet of San Diego is looking for donations for their Pointe Shoe Fund.
City Ballet of San Diego is looking for donations for their Pointe Shoe Fund.

A glass container full of pointe ballet shoes. Each provides an unknown number of dances.
A glass container full of pointe shoes. Each provides an unknown number of dances.

William Dorsett, a street artist who often hangs out near the USS Midway, created this cool painting of Wonder Woman.
William Dorsett, a street artist who often hangs out near the USS Midway, created this cool painting of Wonder Woman.

A couple walks along Embarcadero Marina Park North.
A couple walks along Embarcadero Marina Park North.

Mexican dolls for sale on the boardwalk.
Mexican dolls for sale on the boardwalk.

A spinning yellow sunflower at Alamo Flags in Seaport Village.
A yellow sunflower at Alamo Flags in Seaport Village.

Someone mediates on the wall near Rock Man, the amazing stone balancer.
Someone mediates on the wall near Rock Man, the amazing balancer.

A faded flower at the foot of the Merchant Seamen Memorial.
A fading flower at the foot of the Merchant Seamen Memorial.

Walking along by the water one afternoon.
Strolling along by the water one afternoon.

A duck disregards a sign by the Children's Park fountain.
A duck disregards a sign by the Children’s Park fountain.

A restored PCC streetcar of the Silver Line arrives at the Convention Center trolley station.
A restored PCC streetcar of the Silver Line arrives at the Convention Center trolley station.

Checking out a cool classic car in the Gaslamp.
Checking out a classic car in the Gaslamp.

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Shoes with no walker.
Shoes with no walker.

Carrying a bouquet of red roses.
Carrying a bouquet of red roses.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!