Hello from Caesariatus

[Caesariatus]

Hi, I'm Caesariatus. I started to become a balletomane about six years ago. Even so, I'm not nearly as much of one as some. I go to two or three ballets a year, not counting Ballet in Cinema or the various ballet DVDs I've bought. I live in Connecticut and usually go to either City Ballet, ABT, or Boston Ballet. I'll do Boston as a day trip. For New York, I'm fortunate that my parents live in Manhattan within walking distance of Lincoln Center. Nowadays my big Christmas and birthday present from my wife is a ballet ticket. Several years for Christmas she's given me a ticket to NYCB and I've given her a ticket to the Met Opera for the same evening, and we've gone down to my parents, walked to Lincoln Center together, and then split up on the plaza, reuniting in the evening to compare notes.

[carbro]

Welcome to BalletAlert!, Caesariatus.

As you may have gathered by now, we have lively discussions on the NYCB and ABT forums. We hope you'll pipe in as your viewing -- and comments -- warrant. Same goes for Ballet In Cinema.

Unfortunately, our Boston Ballet forum is much quieter, so please, please let us know what you're seeing there.

I'm interested in learning what it was that sparked your balletomania six years ago.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Hello there! So you too got bitten by the "ballet bug"?...Be ready for a wonderful trip, my friend. Welcome!

Unfortunately, our Boston Ballet forum is much quieter, so please, please let us know what you're seeing there.

Oh yes...and let me know if you get to see the divine Lorna Feijoo, one of my all time muse...

[Caesariatus]

Unfortunately, our Boston Ballet forum is much quieter, so please, please let us know what you're seeing there.

As far as I can remember, I've seen three ballets there, Cinderella (with Larissa Ponomarenko), a Ballet Russe program, and Midsummer Night's Dream.

I'm interested in learning what it was that sparked your balletomania six years ago.

I attended a few ballets when I was a teenager or a young man (in the 1970s) and enjoyed them, but didn't become a real fan then. Years later I found myself following a comic strip, 9 Chickwood Lane (which I don't even read anymore) which had a character who's a ballet dancer. That led me to remember the ballets I'd seen when I was younger and think, "I should go to the ballet again". So I did. And then I did again. And one thing led to another, and now I'm on an Internet ballet forum.

I don't remember too many details about those early 1970s ballets. One was Midsummer Night's Dream, but I'm not sure which company (although it was almost certainly in New York). There is one sequence in some other performace which I can remember being very impressed by, even though I can't remember what the ballet was. In it a woman was dancing a series of steps which included some slow spins, and another woman upstage right of her was repeating the steps a beat later. I don't know why, but that's always stayed with me.

[Caesariatus]

Unfortunately, our Boston Ballet forum is much quieter, so please, please let us know what you're seeing there.

Oh yes...and let me know if you get to see the divine Lorna Feijoo, one of my all time muse...

I saw her dance Titania in MSND. To be honest, though, the dancer who really impressed me that night was Erica Conejo, who danced Hermia.

[carbro]

Many of us ABT watchers miss Erica terribly. What a gorgeous dancer!

In the 1970s in New York, a Midsummer Night's Dream would have been NYCB's, as ABT had not yet acquired Ashton's The Dream. The Balanchine is a huge favorite of mine.

[sandik]

Years later I found myself following a comic strip, 9 Chickwood Lane (which I don't even read anymore) which had a character who's a ballet dancer. That led me to remember the ballets I'd seen when I was younger and think, "I should go to the ballet again". So I did. And then I did again. And one thing led to another, and now I'm on an Internet ballet forum.

I remember that strip -- I'm always thrilled when I find references to dance in other parts of popular culture. As I recall, the young woman came from a fairly eccentric family -- they were all quite entertaining.