I plan to be relaxing in a lawn seat at SPAC tonight for the first performance of the New York City Ballet's two weeks in Saratoga.
I am not well-versed in dance, and I don't claim to understand or even love ballet. But I know enough to take advantage of an opportunity to see a world-class performance with a live orchestra right in my own back yard. It's a different experience in the amphitheater, but it's also great on the lawn, and the lawn fits the bill. Well worth the eighteen bucks for adults -- and kids are free every night except one.
People love the cachet that having the NYCB brings to Saratoga. But keeping the ballet here requires people filling the seats (or lawn chairs). Same goes for the Philadelphia Orchestra later this season.