DRESS

posted by James Reel

One of the winners of this week's ballet ticket give-aways asked me something I haven't thought about for a long time: How do people dress to go to the ballet?

I told her: However they want, and however they feel comfortable. It's been so long since there was any sort of dress code for arts events--if there ever was one in Tucson--that I never give any thought to the diversity of dress in the typical audience at the TCC Music Hall or Leo Rich Theater or Centennial Hall. Occasionally you'll see a guy in a tux, but that's usually some board members on his way to or from the organization's fancy private event. Fewer and fewer men dress as I do, in jacket and tie for most things at the bigger venues (but not at the little come-as-you-are theaters); most of them show up in what they wear to work, and Tucson is not a necktie town. Women tend to take greater advantage of opportunities to dress up, and my wife, for one, will happily overdress for anything. But there's no real standard.

Interestingly, I've never seen young people (basically, college-age) dressed at all inappropriately for a performance. It's only a few middle-aged and older guys who on occasion dare to go to the ballet in outfits more appropriate for the homeless shelter or the "before" photos for a weight-loss program. That's a problem either with too little self-esteem, or so much self-esteem that they feel free to gross out everyone around them.

So, whether it's The Nutcracker (where the little girls tend to wear much fancier dresses than their moms or grandmothers) or the opera or symphony or Arizona Theatre Company, you can wear whatever makes you feel comfortable in public. There's no such thing as not having the right clothes for these events. The important thing is that you just go out and get cultured.