It was another elegant night at the Opera Garnier—rich textures, swirling colors, and layered music transforming all the senses. And then, as we emerged for intermission and headed for the champagne bar and a prime place on the marbled balconies, we noticed a scarlet-clad woman draped on the stairs like a cloth dropped by the wind or a fairy-tale princess, asleep for a hundred years. Some paused in wonder. Some did not notice. Some glanced but then passed by—since nothing could stop them from their intermission cigarette. 

The scarlet woman slowly awakened and began to dance, the opera house stairs a stage for her grace. A lone violinist provided the score for her longing. Her dance of freedom became a pas de deux, when a black-clad stranger took her hand. They danced as two and then as one. But the drama ended as it had begun, she alone on the stairs.  

We clapped and continued our intermission rhythms, but realized that sometimes the best moments are those unexpected grace notes “between the acts.”

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