Emsin

I also went to see her retirement performance of Giselle in June 2002. At first, I felt like I was going to a funeral, but it was really very nice. Especially the final ovation, which lasted for half an hour (I stayed for the whole thing). One thing that I think reflects her personality is that during that ovation, she made great effort not to step on the many individual flowers that were thrown on stage for her. I realized later that these were gifts from her fans, and she didn't want to step on them. I liked that. She was hosting Dance New York on Channel 25 here in NYC for a time, but then the show repeated itself ad nauseum and she hasn't hosted recent installments (she's been replaced by Celia Ipiotis of "Eye on Dance"). I also notice that DanceMagazine doesn't seem to be involved with the show anymore, so something's happened.

And whatever happened to the policy of not seating anyone once the performance has begun? I went to a NYCB performance last summer and the ushers actually brought people to their seats (right in front of me) while Wendy Whelan, one of my favorite dancers, was dancing. It completely destroyed the feel of the ballet to have an interruption like that.

Needless to say, this was more than what I thought. Thank you for the information. In some respects, I think it would be great to have a program like that again. It seems awful that dance companies have to go out and practically beg for support in the private sector. On the other hand, it seems that every time the government supports the arts in this country, politics get involved - and it can get very ugly. I guess we're just not a society that can find a middle ground in this particular realm.

Hello, There was a special the other night on PBS regarding the Federal Theater. For those who don't know, the Federal Theater was a project of the Works Progress Administration during the Depression. It was intended to give work to all kinds of artists by mounting theatrical productions of all varieties. It was entirely funded by the federal government. In the special, there was some mention of how Catherine Dunham choreographed for productions in Chicago, and in an interview she stated how grateful she was that the Federal Theater gave her the opportunity to do so. I'm just wondering how the Federal Theater otherwise helped dance, particularly ballet, if at all. I get the distinct impression that dance and dancers weren't significant beneficiaries of the program, but would love to be proved wrong. Any insight or reference to sources on the subject will be greatly appreciated. And by the way, there's a great movie about this called "Cradle Will Rock." If you haven't seen it - go rent and watch it!!! Thanks, Emsin

My two cents on the great ballerinas of TODAY: Julie Kent and Kyra Nichols