14 replies to this topic

[Marga]

This unique auction ends today just before 3 PM PDT (6 PM New York time). If you have a couple of thousand dollars to spare, you may want to bid.
If not, the description for the item and the accompanying photographs (one is of Nureyev with some kind of scooter/bike standing outside The Ballet Shop) are very interesting.

I miss The Ballet Shop. It was always on my agenda whenever I went to Lincoln Center. Then one day I saw that it didn't exist anymore and became quite sad. That tiny place was a hub of balletdom with wonderful books and artifacts. It was a nice place for ballerina sightings, too!

Ballet Shop autograph book on ebay

[zerbinetta]

The book hasn't sold yet. They reduced the reserve but it still hasn't been met.

[richard53dog]

zerbinetta, on Jul 2 2007, 12:00 AM, said:

The book hasn't sold yet. They reduced the reserve but it still hasn't been met.

If you follow the link it says the bidding has ended. Does that mean the book sold or that the time just ran out and no one met the reserve?

[zerbinetta]

If it is ended and the reserve is still not met, it didn't sell .. on eBay.

[Mel Johnson]

Does anybody remember the Pollacks and their wonderful old bookstore?  It was just around the corner on 6th Ave. from City Center.  Ballet books and photos and good conversations.  They knew everybody in the ballet world and were happy to provide hours of (free) conversation with their clientele, and Mrs. P. would be all too happy to go into the back and make coffee or tea (with maybe a little nosh) if you had been there for a while.

[atm711]

Mel Johnson, on Jul 2 2007, 03:50 AM, said:

Does anybody remember the Pollacks and their wonderful old bookstore?  It was just around the corner on 6th Ave. from City Center.

I remember it as Sally Kamins bookshop.  I spent lots of time and m oney there---I usually bought my books on the installment plan---I would drop off a dollar a week until the book was paid....and about 25 years ago I sold most of it to the Ballet Shop...

[rg]

ah, while i patronized the Pollacks' store and the Ballet Shop, my only sense of the Kamin shop previously came only from the little "Kamin Books" stickers on the inside covers of books on my shelves. now, if i read this correctly, i see that the Kamin shop was taken over by the Pollacks and so partonizing them meant 'visiting' the site of the Kamin shop.

[Mel Johnson]

Yes, that's right!  I still have a couple of those books with the Kamin sticker, and one with a "Ziegfeld Books" sticker, too.  The place was a gathering-place for working dancers and students, and the kaffeeklatsch sometimes spilled onto the sidewalk, with a lot of shop talk, and trading of tickets and such.  I don't know that even The Ballet Shop provided such a family retreat for dancers as did that tiny old bookstore.

[Natalia]

I have fond memories of The Ballet Shop and the ultra-entertaining guys at the check-out desk (Tobi et al).  They knew it all! One could say that they were the 1980s and early-90s equivalent of BalletTalk.com!

[Mel Johnson]

The only thing The Ballet Shop and Ballet Talk lack is Mrs. Pollack coming out onto the sidewalk with a teapot and a coffeepot, "Let me warm it up for you."  And the occasional plate of macaroons.  "They're just tiny, not much calories."  It was the old-fashioned "mom-and-pop" ambience that you don't see much anywhere, anymore.  And I was learning in school of Dr. Samuel Johnson's convivial public salons held at his favorite coffeehouse; I recognized the parallel immediately.

[Helene]

If The Ballet Shop was the shop on Broadway, south of Lincoln Center, my lasting memory is not-so-nice.  When Lynn Seymour's autobiography came out and was only available in England, I ordered a copy from the shop.  I called every three of months to see if it was in -- they asked me to check--  and one day I stopped by.  I spied a copy on the shelf, and when I tried to pay for it, one of the men who worked there snatched it out of my hands and held it to his chest like a baby that I was trying to abuse, and said very haughtily, "This copy is reserved."  That was the last time I set foot in that shop, and I've never regretted it.

[carbro]

At one of the Part-Gomes Beautys at ABT, a gentleman tapped my shoulder and asked, "Do you remember me?"  It was Joe, whom I hadn't seen since he'd left what the owners thought would be a reincarnation of the Ballet Shop.  He looked great -- just the same, but bald and a few not-unbecoming pounds heavier.

[Natalia]

Helene, on Jul 2 2007, 11:51 AM, said:

....one of the men who worked there snatched it out of my hands and held it to his chest like a baby that I was trying to abuse, and said very haughtily, "This copy is reserved."  ....

Oh dear. Well, I don't doubt your horrible story for a moment, Helene. I know of other folks who had similar experiences with one of the fellas in particular (not Joe, who was quiet & very kind). As I said, it was a microcosm of today's BalletTalk - people who feel very passionate about the art of ballet and, sometimes, let their emotions get the best of them. For example, as I was quietly looking at books, one of 'the fellas' bawled-out a group of Argentine middle-aged ladies who had traveled to NY especially to see Bocca at ABT. One of the poor ladies made the mistake of stating 'I think that Bocca is better than Mr. XXX'...who happened to be the favorite of the guy-in-question, who blasted from behind the counter: "Madam, you are an ignoramus of the highest order!" The ladies quickly scuttled out of the shop without making a purchase. I & other customers felt like crawling under a table.

One thing is for sure -- it was NEVER boring to visit the shop.

Edited to add:  Although The Ballet Shop  was a microcosm of BalletTalk, it lacked moderators...which it could have used every now & them.

[artist]

Wow, The Ballet Shop seems like my kind of heaven on earth. If only I had one of those in the neighborhood,   it would be time (and money) well spent.

They don't have anything like that anymore, do they?
In London, actually, they have the ISTD library of used ballet books at a low price (in which I bought an exorbitant amount).

[atm711]

rg, on Jul 2 2007, 08:03 AM, said:

ah, while i patronized the Pollacks' store and the Ballet Shop, my only sense of the Kamin shop previously came only from the little "Kamin Books" stickers on the inside covers of books on my shelves. now, if i read this correctly, i see that the Kamin shop was taken over by the Pollacks and so partonizing them meant 'visiting' the site of the Kamin shop.

For those who did not know her, Sally Kamin was one of the most elegant women I have known.  She was always impeccably dressed and made-up.  Gracious is the word that comes to mind.  Whenever we would ask who was her favorite dancer she would always say Uday Shankar.