peteb Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) Good morning, I'm not at all sure where to put this, I hope you can find a spot for it. W R G O A B A B D This is the first of five lines of a mysterious code written on the back cover of a Rubaiyat. The man who owned it was found dead on a beach near Adelaide on December 1st 1948 and remains unidentified to this day. It was remarked at the autopsy that the man had extremely well-developed calves and thighs, similar to what you might expect of a ballet dancer. Conjecture has it that he was visiting Adelaide to see his two year-old son, Robin Thomson (dec'd), who grew to be a well-known Australian dancer. The connection between the two was a phone number, also written on the back cover. The reason I'm here is to test a theory: the five lines of code were written as an aide-memoire for for an up-coming event, or as a means of remembering the various movements in ballet. For instance. Line 1. Waltz – Relevé – Grand pas – Ouvert – Avant – Balancé – Allongé – Brise – Degage The next line of code reads: WTBIMPANETP. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. pete Edited August 22, 2016 by peteb Consolidating known information Link to comment
peteb Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 I must add, the Rubaiyat also had a residential telephone number written of the back cover, hence the connection with a woman (Mrs Thomson) and her young son living at the address. Link to comment
sandik Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 While each of the terms that you list would be found in a 'ballet dictionary,' they don't really make a phrase (sentence?) Some are actual steps (waltz, brise, releve) while others would be more like adjectives or adverbs ('ouvert' or open could be appended to several different terms). I love a sneaky dance reference, but I'm not sure that's what you have here. Link to comment
peteb Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 Perhaps an amateur attempt? Thanks Sandik, where would be the best place to find a ballet dictionary? ... Maybe I can bust a few moves out of the code myself. Link to comment
Helene Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Maybe choreography? American Ballet Theatre has an online ballet dictionary: http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html Link to comment
sandik Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Or look for Gail Grant's dictionary -- it's the one almost everyone uses. Link to comment
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