dancermom2

Thank you for confirming my suspicions that the eldest son got a name but Aragorn and Arwen's daughters are just un-named! My daughter was a little miffed over that one!

Does anyone out there know if the daughters of Aragorn and Arwen have names? As far as I can tell the only reference to them in the Appendix is a generic "daughters". My oldest daughter would be so appreciative of an answer either way!

Tell that to Peter Major Mel!

Ah the tempi of Ms. Quinn. I think there is a school of thought that goes the increased tempo makes for a better attack and dancing. I don't think that is the case. Do you think she realizes that there are dancers on the stage that have steps to fit into the beats? There is only so much quickness that is humanly possible to maintain and to still retain the art of ballet in the steps. I wonder if she ever looks up at the stage? All I can imagine is that when she left the Royal Ballet (that was where she was before hand right?) the dancers must have been breathing a sigh of relief. No more races.

Well...it depends on where you sit but can range from $40 to $100+. I forgot to add that you usually have to pay taxi fare for the babysitter to get back home again! We thought long and hard about whether we wanted to go out to any event or movie bacause we had to factor in the babysitting costs! Now we are free...I have a 16 year old daughter who can babysit for us so I just have to make sure she is available! I also think we have to expose our children to the arts so they can grow into adults who can appreciate ballet, classical music and Mattisse. But there is a time a place for everything and it so much depends on the maturity of the child. It's ok to bring them...but if they start to lose it you have to be willing to get up and leave.

Babysitting costs depends on where you live...in NYC it starts at $10 and hour! ;)

Even with the added corp members...that is not integration. I still don't see a trend that makes much of a difference. What came first the chicken or the egg kfw? It's not just blacks...it's Hispanics and Asians...people of color. Will there ever be a Albert Evans Cavalier or a Aesha Ash Sugarplum in Nut?

I have to disagree. Aesha Ash and Albert Evans and a smattering in the corp in a company of that size is not integration. That is tokenism especially if you look at how often Albert Evans, a wonderful dancer is used. It is still overwhelmingly white.

I never took my children (I have 4) to the ballet before I thought they were old enough to be able to sit somewhat quietly through the whole thing. I also abide by the rule that if your child is misbehaving you leave. Period. When you have a young child you have to understand when you pony up the money that you take a chance you may not get to sit through the whole thing. Kids are kids after all and this is not Disney World. The problem is is that there are parents out there who (1) don't understand the limitations of child maturity and ability and (2) are probably problems themselves. What came first...the misbehaved child or the parent? I also would never take a child to a ballet that was a leotard ballet...and only took the 3-4 year olds to Nutcracker. The only other ballet I took them to was Midsummer. These are ones they can relate to...not a strictly plotless ballet that they will go nuts sitting through. My worst experience with a boorish parent was at a Nut performance by NYCB. I was there to see my daughter be a Pollichnelle for the first time. What did I get? A family came in behind us...with a 2 or 3 year old. Somewhere half way through the party scene the kid gets ansty. The parents must have brought a bag of things to amuse child...of course getting to it was noisy...involved loud rustling through bag and then whispers about "How about this...no well we have...rustle rustle..." "Antsy kid noises..." It was totally aggravating. This went on through most of the 1st Act. During intermission, I turned around and asked if they could try to be quieter. Then Angels came on...more whispers and rustling. I turned around and shushed them. I must have shushed them numerous times. Right about when my daughter was about to come on stage they left. But they didn't only leave...he leaned over and told me "Thanks you B!@##, thanks for !@#$%^ our show so we have to leave...I'll be waiting for you after the show..." Ok...whose fault was that? The child or the parent for taking the child when the child was obviously not mature enough to sit through a whole Nut performance? It's not the child...it's the parent. Know thy child is the golden rule. The other rule is that misbehaved kids probably are coming from parents who need some lessons in good parenting.

Boorish behavior is not limited to any one class. Respect and good behavior has to be taught and the teaching unfortunately can be lacking regardless of the economic background of the boor. Misbehaved kids and adults exist across socioeconomic boundries. Now whether the high arts are for the masses...I hope so or it feeds the whole elitist argument doesn't it? The most wonderful performance of the Nutcracker is the free performance given for public school children in NYC by the NYCB. You can feel the energy and the "wow" and the awe that this audience sees in the ballet on the stage before them. They may not understand it on the level that a well educated ballet-nik may but they enjoy it nonetheless. They may go "wow" at at different point in the ballet but the enjoyment is real. They may not be absolutely quiet but they are into it. As to our writer of the article I do sense a baby-bigot who believes that children are better not seen at all in the public domain. I also sense a plain bigot.

Not just the Met ushers...the State Theater (NYCB) ushers are pretty fierce in applying the standing room rules when there are jillions of 4th ring seats available. Ah...do you think maybe if there is a law about cell phones they would be as persnickety about enforcing it? :rolleyes:

The New York City Council just overrode the veto of the cell phone ban at public performances. http://www.ny1.com/ny/TopStories/SubTopic/...tentintid=27905 It bans talking, listening or ringing of a cell phone at public performances (other than sports events or during an emergency). Violators are subject to a $50 fine and eviction from the venue! It goes into effect in 60 days. Of course...who is going to enforce this? The ushers?????

The appendices has a story about what happens to the characters after LOTR. It tells of Aragorn and Arwen, Legolas and Gimli, Sam, Merry and Pippen. I never read it the first time around but read it this time after I picked it up again. I found it to be very interesting to see, albiet briefly, what happens to them in the years after The Return of the King.

Swan Lake! Too many sad swans!

The dance of the cygnets in Swan Lake!