LEX

Anyone know how I can find out who is dancing on August 10 at the VIDF? I know Wheeldon's Morphoses is scheduled to perform; I just can't find out who will be dancing. I tried his website and the VIDF website, but to no avail. I have tickets, but would still like to know who i will be seeing!

Hey....is this Rachel or Rebecca? Its Lexie. I'm sure you'll remember me! Hope you (both) are doing well!

Alice, I too trained with Maria and Robert Estner and Charthel Arthur. It is so true...I remember Maria was fabulously gifted at turns--multiple pirouettes even as a wee youngster. I have a newspaper clipping of a photo of her as Clara in the Nutcracker with the Grand Rapids BAllet, probably when she was 9 or so. Her arabesque was something to be admired even then. Mr. Estner and Ms. Arthur were insistent on clean technique and proper alignment, so that coupled with her amazing body (not to mention God-given talent, extensions, and beauty) contribute to her being such a joy to watch.

Thanks! How was the show bad? Did Ms. Arthur come backstage and talk to everyone she knew? I keep up with the news by doing google searches and stuff like that, plus through the grapevine.

Yes, both are a few years older than me. I remember sarah made a fetching Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. David Braciak was a young little pipsqueak back when; sounds like he did pretty well before returning to GRB. I know Gordon is the director now, but without being "gossipy" do you know what lead up to Charthel Arthur leaving and going back to Joffery? Its funny...I'm getting married at the Women's City Club directly across the street from the old studio on Fulton. I spent many hours looking out the windows at that place, mostly facing the barre doing releves or degages. Plus my fiance, before I knew him, used to walk by the studio and mock us by twirling and leaping outside. So GRB is forever etched into both my conscious and my subconscious, and creeps into my dreams on a regular basis.

Annika, I was with GRB when it was still Grand Rapids Civic Ballet, when I was 9, up until I graduated in 1994. She and I are the same age, and both of us were in the Company at the same time. She left for SAB at 16 or so, and the rest is NYCB history. I had a love/hate relationship with my experience at GRB, but I will say it was some of the finest training around. It seems a lot different now. How long have you been there?

Just a clarification, Morris--Maria is a Grand Rapids daughter, not a Detroit daughter. We danced together in the Grand Rapids Ballet for several years and she was just as awe-inspiring then as she is now! One of those rare talents that, even at nine years old, you knew this gal was somethin' else.

While not his absolute favorite thing in the world to do, my boyfriend of nine years has accompanied me on several occassions to the ballet and...gasp...enjoys himself! He has even bought tickets without my prompting, and is on a mailing list for Colorado Ballet (the stuff comes addressed to him, not me). What could be more romantic than sitting next to your sweetheart, watching Swan lake? He particularly enjoyed Colorado Ballet's Dracula this Fall, which was spectacularly staged with lots of blood and special effects. Joffery's Billboards also got a thumbs up from him, but maybe because the costumes were a bit on the scanty side... Anyway, we should consider the source.. to be a "Cosmo Girl" means that you probably don't have any interests outside of catching a man, so therefore you wouldn't have any passions, such as dance, to introduce your man to. A true Cosmo Girl would not have time to devote to The Arts, as Catching a Man and manipulating him into sticking around takes too much time and energy!

Yes, thank you for the wonderful reviews. I have to live vicariously through these glorious descriptions, as I have never seen a performance whose calibre is that of NYCB. I often toy with the idea of moving to NY just for the pleasure of attending as many performances as I want, comparing and contrasting the casts like I see here. I live in Denver and attend the Colorado Ballet as much as possible and any other troupe that passes through with a weekend engagement. So keep the reviews coming and when I finally get to NY I can feel like I already know the dancers' characters and the repetoire!

I called GR Ballet and they confirmed that she will be performimg Sugar Plum/Snow Queen Dec. 21-23. I just happen to be flying home to GR on Dec. 22, so I can make the evening performance. Thanks again Leigh for the insider tip.

Thanks for the tip, Leigh. I will check GR Ballet's website for more info. It's not updated too frequently, so do you know where I could get more info?

I have a confession to make...I went out and bought the Barbie 'Nutcracker'video featuring dancers from the New York City Ballet. I read a piece in the Sunday newspaper supplement 'Parade' on Maria Kowroski, and she told how she was the model for the animated Barbie's dancing in the video. Now, I was in the same company as Maria for 10 years or so (Grand Rapids Ballet in Grand Rapids, MI)and have not seen her dance since she left at age 16 to join SAB, so I jumped at the chance to see her 'dance', even if only in a cartoon! Am I wierd or what! In case you're wondering...the video is not that great. If you squint your eyes you could possibly imagine that the movements were taken from an actual, real life dancer, but the producers stay true to Barbie form--her arms do not straighten from the elbow. However 'Barbie's' extensions are up-to-there, so that is pretty true to life....Someday I will not be a starving college student and will be able to see Maria perform with NYCB instead of having to rely on a reasonable facsimile of her talent

I am a college student as well as a teacher (preschool), and have already signed a contract with the school. I really thought about trying to rearrange my schedule, but my priorities really lie with having to support myself. this company is very small, with a pre-professional group as well as a small professional group, which I was a part of. The way it was last year was I did a fair amount of dancing (about 20 hours), with classes and rehearsal time. This year the reqirements are actually less as far as required classes, just the addition of this weekday morning rehearsal. I guess my question is..in order to stay in shape to possibly try again next year, how many classes should I take this year? And also, this company is undergoing so many changes and is plagued with many problems...should I just look elsewhere, or call it quits? I know this is a question that only I can answer, but if anyone has any suggestions I am all ears! :rolleyes:

My company performed Paquita this past spring and my director had a very hard time finding the music. We do not perform our Spring performance with an orchestra, and finding a CD with the right tempo was next to immpossible. Especially my variation---the one with the jetes and arabesque/attitude pirouetes. the recording he had originally was WAY too fast. I'm sorry but I don't remember whare he ended up finding the one we used in performance.

Bad news.. the company that I have been dancing with for over two years has all of a sudden changed their rehaersal requirements for the professional division to include a weekday morning, which they have not had in the past. this is the first I have heard of it, and was told by the director that this requirement cannot be excepted. I am very upset because i arranged my parttime work and school schedule to accomodate the past years'schedule, to what I thought and understood that it would be this year. I do understand that i cannot change the rules,but my question is, should I just call it quits, and wait until next year like the director suggested? Another option is to audition for the Nutcracker with this company, which is open to the community. The only problem is that the parts available probably wouldn't be that great (I was a soloist with this company). Any suggestions would be great...