37 replies to this topic

[Paul Parish]

Dear Birdsall --
I hope it won't creep you out to hear that it was a well-known ritual in the 19th century for fans to drink champagne out of the ballerina's slippers.

I think it makes most sense in the Catholic countries, where there's a 2000-year tradition of venerating local saints, and of visiting their shrines and cherishing the physical remains of their lives on earth. My slightly loony great-aunt from new Orleans had a 1/4-inch-square piece of cloth from a garment once worn by Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, which she kept foisting on members of our family who had to go to the hospital -- she was interested more in the possibillity that a certifiable miracle would occur that she could document and send in to the Vatican, in hopes of moving Blessed Claude up the ranks out of the beatificate into the status of sainthood.

A garment, or a fragment of one, something that touched the saint's body, the church considers [or did when I was a child -- they've kinda moved away from such superstitions] a 3rd-class relic. First-class would be a part of the saint's actual body. The Holy Grail and the crown of thorns of course have got TONS of cachet.

I do have a pair of Kyra Nichols' toe-shoes and I don't care who knows it.

[carbro]

I have two pairs, both of young dancers around the time they were promoted from corps to soloist.  One was Judith Fugate's (NYCB), the other Janet Shibata (ABT).  As neither of their careers turned out quite as I had wished, I never bought any more to avoid jinxing favorite dancers.

A friend of mine has a pair of Gelsey Kirkland's.  I tried one on and was surprised to find that while the box fit me perfectly, the shoe itself was almost two inches too short for my medium-width foot.

Helene, on 01 January 2013 - 07:02 PM, said:

...Suzanne Farrell's white shoes -- from "Mozartiana"? -- were a lot more expensive than the rest.

I may be mistaken, but I think Mozartiana's ballerina wears pink shoes.  White-shoe ballets include Swan Lake, Diamonds, Monumentum/Movements, and sometimes Symphony in C.  NYCB prices shoes according to the dancer's rank.  Trick is getting a prima's shoes when she's still in the corps.  

[cubanmiamiboy]

And then there is that infamous story on Taglioni's cult- (still retold on numerous websites as a historical fact) -which is what we might call the ‘Saint Petersburg Supper’. A couple of admirers bought her dance shoes after one performance-(for 200 roubles it's said)-, cooked them and ate them-(‘with a sauce’, some say...).

[Marga]

I have Martine Lamy's shoes, or rather, my daughter does, and Karen Kain's (which fit me perfectly!). My daughter's teacher gave her one of Anna Antonicheva's signed shoes many years ago (the other went to another top student) and I was surprised at how rock hard the sole and shank were - they didn't bend at all! She had just danced Giselle in them and she has an extraordinarily flexible foot with a high instep and arch. I do have others but don't remember whose at the moment! I always pore over the dancers' shoes at the sales tables. While shopping at Capezio years ago, I found shoes earmarked for certain ABT dancers in the bargain bin - rejected by the dancer in question. Btw, I've stuck my nose right in the used shoes and never smelled a thing!

[puppytreats]

When I was a teenager, I bought a package containing allegedly a very tiny piece of James Dean's jeans.  The novelty store sold boatloads of sealed plastic packages containing such keepsakes, and we endlessly debated whether we were victims of a scam, but we were mighty excited, impressed, and amused, nonetheless.  It was a lot of fun.

[Birdsall]

Paul Parish, on 01 January 2013 - 09:23 PM, said:

Dear Birdsall --
I hope it won't creep you out to hear that it was a well-known ritual in the 19th century for fans to drink champagne out of the ballerina's slippers.

I think it makes most sense in the Catholic countries, where there's a 2000-year tradition of venerating local saints, and of visiting their shrines and cherishing the physical remains of their lives on earth. My slightly loony great-aunt from new Orleans had a 1/4-inch-square piece of cloth from a garment once worn by Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, which she kept foisting on members of our family who had to go to the hospital -- she was interested more in the possibillity that a certifiable miracle would occur that she could document and send in to the Vatican, in hopes of moving Blessed Claude up the ranks out of the beatificate into the status of sainthood.

A garment, or a fragment of one, something that touched the saint's body, the church considers [or did when I was a child -- they've kinda moved away from such superstitions] a 3rd-class relic. First-class would be a part of the saint's actual body. The Holy Grail and the crown of thorns of course have got TONS of cachet.

I do have a pair of Kyra Nichols' toe-shoes and I don't care who knows it.

You made me laugh with all this! Love it!

[Birdsall]

puppytreats, on 02 January 2013 - 07:06 AM, said:

When I was a teenager, I bought a package containing allegedly a very tiny piece of James Dean's jeans.  The novelty store sold boatloads of sealed plastic packages containing such keepsakes, and we endlessly debated whether we were victims of a scam, but we were mighty excited, impressed, and amused, nonetheless.  It was a lot of fun.

This reminds me of when I was in Berlin shortly after the wall came down, and many people had tables set up selling pieces of the wall. They were chunks of rock or cement with paint on one side. The two friends who were with me bought a piece each. I thought it was a scam and could be any rocks from any wall, so I didn't bother. LOL

Maybe the reason I don't want these things is that a member of my family has a hoarding problem, and I am scared to death of catching that issue, b/c my office in my house is so messy. I try to avoid buying anything I don't know what to do with......

But everyone has made me laugh and enjoy the variety, especially sticking the nose in and smelling the shoes! LOL LOL LOL I am still laughing, and glad they do not smell! LOL

[Helene]

For some reason, the Four Seasons in Berlin was one of four hotels approved by my last company for business travel circa 2003, and it was the most opulent hotel I've ever stayed in.  Above the mini-bar was a basket of things to buy, mostly the standard fancy peanuts and Pringles for 8 Euros, but there were also little souvenir boxes with (alleged) pieces of the Berlin Wall.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Alleged pieces of the Wall still pop on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/...=item19d41f686f

[Helene]

carbro, on 01 January 2013 - 09:47 PM, said:

I may be mistaken, but I think Mozartiana's ballerina wears pink shoes.  White-shoe ballets include Swan Lake, Diamonds, Monumentum/Movements, and sometimes Symphony in C.  NYCB prices shoes according to the dancer's rank.  Trick is getting a prima's shoes when she's still in the corps.  

Maybe the shoes were from "Diamonds."  I remember they were a lot of money -- maybe $100? -- and a special edition fundraising thing, more than the standard Principal dancer's shoes.

You're right -- you have to invest in those shoes while the dancer is still waiting to be discovered by everyone else.   The dancers that have grabbed my eye right away -- like love at first sight -- rarely disappoint me long-term, no matter how their careers develop, because movement quality doesn't often change.  Maybe I should go into shoe collecting now.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I almost bought once a pair of Gomes signed slippers...but thought it twice.

[Amy Reusch]

Back when I was in school, Jacques d'Amboise, understanding that we wore our pointe shoes to death because we couldn't afford to replace them frequently, brought in a box of "used" pointe shoes from NYCB.  I think the idea was that while one use was enough for the ballerinas, they were less used than what we dancing in.  Some of them were just rejects and had never even been worn.  We pawed through taking whatever fit us.  Apparently a couple dancers didn't understand hat he was collecting them for because in the box also were a handful of autographed shoes... Which is how I came to discover Karin von Aroldingen must have a foot similar to mine... (and yes, of course, I DO still have them, several decades later!).  

The flagship Capezio on Times Square used to have several old slippers ftom famous dancers on display, some extremely old... It was interesting to see in person (rather than just in a photograph) how very little support was in the oldest shoes.

[sandik]

Paul Parish, on 01 January 2013 - 09:23 PM, said:

... My slightly loony great-aunt from new Orleans had a 1/4-inch-square piece of cloth from a garment once worn by Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, which she kept foisting on members of our family who had to go to the hospital -- she was interested more in the possibillity that a certifiable miracle would occur that she could document and send in to the Vatican, in hopes of moving Blessed Claude up the ranks out of the beatificate into the status of sainthood.

Ah, another part of the fannish world.

[sandik]

cubanmiamiboy, on 02 January 2013 - 12:05 PM, said:

Alleged pieces of the Wall still pop on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/...=item19d41f686f

There was a big chunk of it in the Center House (food court and performance space) in the Seattle Center -- they renovated the space recently and I haven't checked to see if the wall is still there.

[Marga]

I used to watch open classes at the National Ballet of Canada studios (Kevin Pugh's Dance Teq) when my daughter took them as a young teenager. Kevin always had several NBoC dancers taking his classes because they enjoyed his teaching so much. Occasionally one of them would toss a pair of old pointe shoes in the trash bin (after having worn them in class for barre) by the door where I was sitting. I was never alone enough to surreptitiously remove them for my budding collection, but I sure wanted to!