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Colleen

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  1. But if dancers aren't getting the proper repetition because of time or money constraints (or whatever the problem seems to be), shouldn't they seek other methods of ensuring their physical capabilities for getting through a ballet? And shouldn't dancers take some responsibility for themselves and not rely only on the 'great wisdom' of the ballet master to judge their physical fitness?
  2. But if dancers aren't getting the proper repetition because of time or money constraints (or whatever the problem seems to be), shouldn't they seek other methods of ensuring their physical capabilities for getting through a ballet? And shouldn't dancers take some responsibility for themselves and not rely only on the 'great wisdom' of the ballet master to judge their physical fitness?
  3. It's not that I don't think the lower ranked skaters should get attention, but what I dislike about this exact situation is that the best in the world will not be there. And I feel one should win a competition, especially the World Championsips, because one is the best not by default because the top skaters aren't there. I find it a shallow victory to win not because your skating, or in the case of a ballet competition your dancing, is top notch but because the level of competition wasn't really high. I would like (or would have liked) to see Shen and Zhao BEAT their two main rivals to win the World's. In this situation if/when they do win I will always think that their victory isn't as golden (and not as deserved) as for example Sale and Pelletier's the year before when they really had to compete to earn their victory (then again at the time I was thinking in my head that had Elena and Anton been there...who knows ).
  4. I agree that the stamina to perform is gained by performing, but it's not entirely the same as having an overall high level of endurance/fitness. In high school I was still on the track and volleyball teams while preparing for my Elementary RAD exam and my endurance/fitness was a lot better than that of the other girls who only danced. I agree with LMCtech that the short periods of high intensity work just can't provide the same level aerobic activity as say 20min on the treadmill. I think if dancer's included that type of cardiovacular activity (or a step class or something similar) their fitness would improve and level of injury decrease. And it's such a shame that dancer's aren't cultivated in the same way as the were in the past. Playing an instrument, having knowledge of painting or sculpture, maybe a passing knowledge of another language (or two ) can only enrich the mind and give them a wider sea of experience to draw upon in their work. Leigh, maybe you should start fundraising and send your dancers to Europe for a year as a prerequisite for entering the company
  5. I agree that the stamina to perform is gained by performing, but it's not entirely the same as having an overall high level of endurance/fitness. In high school I was still on the track and volleyball teams while preparing for my Elementary RAD exam and my endurance/fitness was a lot better than that of the other girls who only danced. I agree with LMCtech that the short periods of high intensity work just can't provide the same level aerobic activity as say 20min on the treadmill. I think if dancer's included that type of cardiovacular activity (or a step class or something similar) their fitness would improve and level of injury decrease. And it's such a shame that dancer's aren't cultivated in the same way as the were in the past. Playing an instrument, having knowledge of painting or sculpture, maybe a passing knowledge of another language (or two ) can only enrich the mind and give them a wider sea of experience to draw upon in their work. Leigh, maybe you should start fundraising and send your dancers to Europe for a year as a prerequisite for entering the company
  6. Not only is the "competition school" scary, but what I inferred from the article is that this woman doesn't have any teaching qualifications and possibly not much dance training. She says she got started just because she " got involved after helping a friend who had a studio in Ocean Springs. 'I just loved it, so I started in my garage with just 15 students.'" I don't think I've ever heard of any reputable dance teacher who started in this fashion. Usually they'd say "I trained seriously for many years, followed this-and-this course, or had so-and-so teacher/dancer as a mentor, probably danced professionally for this-many-years, and then settled into teaching because I loved it ". I'd be a little wary of any other 'path' to teaching especially if the person told me they taught 'lyrical'. Any real dance teacher would know that 'lyrical' can describe how you're moving but isn't a dance form in and of itself
  7. I'm not sure I buy the excuse that there isn't enough time for the others to prepare since they took a little break after the Olympics. If they've been training all season, taking 1-2 wks off before World's seems like a good idea. Then they'd be fresh and ready to train hard again for the next couple weeks. I'm sure a dancer could learn a new role pretty decently in two weeks, so why can't skaters rehearse old programs in two weeks?
  8. Ironically, although I live in the nation's capital, dance let alone ballet isn't on a national scale here. This season there are only 16 total dance performances at the National Arts Centre, and only 2-3 are ballet (really only 2, including Nut, but I'm being generous by counting the Queen of Spades as ballet and not contemporary). Very rarely do big name ballet companies, other than Canadian ones, come to Ottawa so the opportunities are sorely limited. Modern and contemporary abound however, much to my eternal chagrin. There is perhaps a better situation in Toronto, but that is 4-5hrs away so not terribly convenient. So this season all I'm seeing is Queen of Spades (saw it last weekend, it was okay) and Giselle at the end of April. Along with 2 operas (Salome, and La Boheme) and hopefully and evening with Pinchas Zukerman, that will be the extent of my arts content for the season. It's a sorry state of afairs as you can see.
  9. Not to fear, my suggestion was quite tongue in cheek given my knowledge of the reluctance to discuss other forms of dance, let alone completely other sports/art forms. While ballet may not have been my first love it's certainly my only passion. No gymnastics here
  10. When I suggested a scoring system similar to gymnastics I was only referring to the way scores are tallied not the point-per-trick method. And the ISU is actually proposing deducting points for missing elements not actually giving points for certain elements. So it's not entirely the same situation. And I've been a hardcore gymnastics fan even before I fell in love with ballet (Mary Lou caused me to start flipping all over my basement and I was immediately shipped off to gym classes) and IMO the problem with artistry goes back even beyond the introduction of the new scoring system. Even 10yrs ago I would argue that the routines had the same lack of originality and artistry. In 92, America's golden girls, Kim Zmeskal and Shannon Miller really didn't have the greatest artistry in their rountines. In fact Shannon's beam routine (for which she got a silver in the individuals) was far less artistic than Betty Okino's that season (i know she was injured a lot, but when she competed that routine was fantastic). Now, Svetlana Boginskaya was the ultimate artist and athlete and I've seen maybe one or two girls since her time that can compare (Svetlana Khorkina is pretty striking, but that's really it). Anyway, the point is that I think the problem with gymnastics is unrelated to the scoring system and probably, like skating, more related to a trend to want more tricks and less dancing, more sport less art. Hmm, maybe we need to start a gymnastics thread...
  11. Although I am a dedicated skating fan, I don't recall seeing the 1984 Olympics (too little ), but I agree that a default win isn't good at all. That's why I didn't jump for joy over Hughes' win since it was partly due to a great free skate but also due in large part to the ridiculous judging system. But if someone cannot master proper edge control and spins etc. then they don't deserve to be named to best skater in the world (i.e. Olympic Gold medalist). I really think it should be the most complete skater, not the one who wins because of one good skate and not the one who wins because of one person placing higher than another in this program, blah blah blah. And given the problems with judging I don't think it would make it any worse to bring figures back into the mix and it would add another concrete element on which to judge the skaters. That would make it really hard for all of those 'flutzers' to win a medal and I wouldn't complain about that one bit
  12. I think the removal of figures is like taking away the barre section from a ballet exam. You can fudge some aspects of technique during centre exercises and variations (obviously a careful eye will spot poor technique, but some things can still escape notice) but at the barre you're so naked and so confined in your movements and there's less of a focus on your performance quality, so mediocre turn out etc. becomes glaringly obvious. However, that does mean that for a dancer to progress to the next level (whether through the exam process or teacher promotion) she/he has to have an equal command of pure technique and dance quality. So I think it's a shame that figures have been taken out of the competition because that sometimes punishes the complete skater and rewards those who can fudge certain technical aspects and use performance or other tricks to compensate . Like, would we ever give a gold medal at Varna to a dancer who could only turn on one leg? Of course not. But skating commentators exclaim with glee "and now she's doing the same turn on her other leg! wow!" Maybe they should bring back the figures and just show the LP on tv the way they omit the compulsories for Ice Dance. Then there'd be no dispute (or less dispute) over who deserved the gold. And at the same time they need to get rid of factored rankings and score like gymnastics. Just add up the total marks and whoever has the most points wins. Simple. Easy. Probably much too simple for the ISU. Would take away all the intrigue
  13. Colleen

    Adrienne Canterna

    And her sister, Ashley, was featured in Pointe mag recently as one of the 25 to watch in 2002. What's in the water at the Kirov ****** My mistake, it was Dance Mag's Anniversary edition. You're absolutely correct BalletNut [ February 26, 2002: Message edited by: Colleen ]
  14. Here in Ottawa there is a yearly Kiwanis Music Festival which used to go hand in hand with the Kiwanis Dance Festival. But while the Music still goes on, the Dance was cancelled years ago (maybe 1992) because of unfair judging practices and general corruption. This is obviously a much smaller scale than Varna or Jackson, but if a fairly local competition can inspire judging controversies and favouritism I can only imagine what it's like when the stakes are major scholarships and international recognition. Oh do share Juliet, you've whetted my appetite for insider information with that little tidbit
  15. Oh don't worry, I couldn't resist commenting even if I wanted to . I've just been writing a paper all day (Are the women in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women really all that 'good'--very interesting topic). Well, I don't think I've been as disappointed in a skating competition since, well the Ice Dance FP. And as much as I generally don't enjoy Sarah's skating, I was totally taken in last night. It was fast, exciting, and even pretty musical some of the time. I still dislike some aspects of her skating (her knee is eternally bent in her spiral sequences), but for the first time since I've seen her skate (3yrs now I think) I wasn't side-tracked by those problems. It was genuinely a great skate and deserved to win the LP. On the other hand, I was enormously disappointed by Michelle and Irina. Irina was incredibly slow, it was like she was crawling along the ice. And Michelle was way too tentative (kinda like I am when I'm asked to do triples on pointe). She was like a scared rabbit on her jumps. Both programs were okay for sure, and a lot better than most, and I do commend Michelle for picking herself off the ice and pushing through; but for one of her (and Irina's too) most ardent supporters who is rarely disappointed, I was greatly disappointed last night. And Sacha was just boring I'm sorry to say. When I heard the music my first reaction was "Oh dear, not this program". Admittedly it wasn't horrible or anything, but I wasn't crazy about it. Lori Nicol needs to work her magic here. Definitely not the greatest Ladies' competition I've ever seen. The Men's was definitely better. And now the Jamie and David non-sense is coming back to haunt the IOC. They totally opened the floodgates for protests and now they're reaping the rewards of it. Had Irina been in 1st coming out of the SP she would've won the gold. So I guess that's the basis of the protest. Although I don't agree with Russia's current behaviour I think there is a legitimate complaint over how the judging is done in general (hello understatement of the century!). I think with the new mandatory deductions things will improve, but I also think they need to make things a bit simpler (drop the whole factored nonsense). They should just average the two sets of marks (tech. and artistic) for both the SP and LP, and those two marks should determine the overall winner. So, there would be an average for the SP and an average for the LP. I suppose in the case of a tie then the judges can be asked to vote on the ranking. But theoretically that should reward the skaters who turned in 2 good programs. At any rate, I don't know if I really want to see Michelle or Irina at the World's next month. They are both beautiful skaters in their own right but I'm just so disappointed in both of them and their effort ( Michelle's result especially hurt my heart) last night that I don't think I could take a repeat in a few weeks. Or maybe that's just what they need, to go out of amateur competition (which they will likely do after this season) with one more attempt at the perfect competition. Sigh, first Elena and Anton, now this...this just hasn't been my Olympics
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