Treefrog

According to the Joffrey website, Please .... not "The Blue Snake". :green: But we saw "Light Rain" last year ... twice, if you count the Ravinia engagement. Same for "Suite Saint-Saens". "Tensile Involvement" I think I saw last year, but to be fair it might have been at the special spring gala performance. "My Funny Valentine" and "White Widow" are the only works we haven't seen around here for a couple of seasons. Frankly, I'd rather see something newish, by which I mean something that hasn't appeared in the last two seasons at least. I have a good idea why they are doing this. I suspect that they anticipate some first-timers who have seen The Company, and will feel comfortable re-viewing the same works. You know how you always like it at concerts when the artist performs the oldies? But I do wonder how many first-timers will be there, and whether it is worth alienating their steady audience to accomodate the newbies.

As always, it's a mushy problem. The reality is that there are probably factors at all levels that affect who wants to dance, who has the opportunity to get good training, and who gets hired. Mel, my point about Arab-Americans was that if you start with a group that is a relatively small proportion of the population, and reduce it further due to cultural, economic, or religious constraints, then the pool from which to hire is going to be very small. One thing I have admired about the Joffrey is that they have a reasonable number of African-American dancers (Erica Edwards, Michael Smith, Bobby Briscoe, Jessica Wyatt, plus the retired Pierre Lockett) AND casting appears to be relatively color-blind. Thanks in part to the efforts of Pierre Lockett and others, there is an active outreach and education program among Chicago's African-American community.

Very cool idea! Do you offer a ticket, or just say, "I'm going to this performance and wondered if you'd like to go too?"

Eland, I don't think anyone has to go so far as to hypothesize that ballet companies think African-American dancers will be trouble. The first thing I'd want to know is 1) what the proportion of African-Americans is in the general population, and 2) whether African-American kids study ballet at the same rate as other-American kids. That would give us a handle on whether African-American dancers are getting passed over in the hiring process or not. In other word, to correct a disparity you have to show there is one AND understand where it is occurring. As for Mel's question about Arab-Americans -- as a guess, I'd say that religious and cultural norms mitigate against Arab-American girls studying ballet. Tights and leos don't leave much to the imagination. This could reduce the pool of available talent.

Speaking of the Joffrey -- what about Maia Wilkins?

Sorry, Hans, my training is in evolutionary biology, and I can't let this one pass. Recessive genes do not decrease in frequency with each generation; they are maintained at a stable proportion of the population. Mind you, the frequency could be quite small, but it does not change over time. So, go ahead and feel special! Just don't assume there will be fewer of your type in the future.

Watermill, what you suggest sounds very much like the Regional Dance America festivals. There's a thread going right now in the Parents' forum on Ballet Talk for Dancers. Classes by guest and master teachers, and evening performances by the participants.

What is the proportion of true blondes in the general population? Is the proportion of blonde dancers different from that?

Like horses do? In a hunt? Just playing 's advocate here. I have no legitimate knowledge of this.

Yup. The real-life Mr. A sits in his regular box, and is known for leading the cheers. It doesn't strike me as seemly, either.

It opens March 24. We have tickets for the 25th. I'll try to report back in. Is anyone here familiar with the Lyric Opera House? I cheaped out and got tickets towards the back of the first balcony (that's still only the second price range). Will we regret being so far back?

No argument from this Joffrey fan about Blue Snake. But do remember that Blue Snake is not part of the Joffrey's repertory -- it was staged especially for this movie. I've been hoping to hear more comments about the quality of the dancing in this film (as distinct from the choreography). Overall -- did seeing The Company make you want to see the Joffrey live, if you had the chance, or did it make you realize you could happily stay away, or somewhere in between?

Obbligato, I know just what you mean. All of a sudden he's just not there, and I can understand your sense of betrayal. If you can manage to pick it up again after having left it for a while, you will see that the original story line is not so much dropped as delved into from a different perspective. One of the beguiling things about this novel is that we are allowed to see the same events from different perspectives -- sometimes from a different person's point of view, but also after the passage of time and intervening events, so the interpretation is different. Something that makes little sense the first time around suddenly explains everything when it is revisited. I really loved this book, too. I agree that the shift in voice between parts one and two is dismaying, but if you can get over that hump I think you will find it rewarding to continue.

I love that scene too. If I remember correctly, the ballet mistress also says something along the lines of, "Well, that'll be a first!" when told that not only is there no music, but no counts either. The ballet master you thought so terrific is Mark Goldweber. I agree.

Amazing review, Ed. I've not suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon (although I did envision the possibility, vividly, as I cycled most of the Minneapolis-to-Chicago AIDS Ride a few years ago with a very inflamed Achilles). However, another rider described to me what happened when his had let go a few years earlier. He likened it to a windowshade rolling up inside his calf. Whether or not it had ever happened before, I would think the sensation would be unmistakable.

I just read whatever vagansmom suggests We are fortunate to have a very, very good independent bookstore in our community. When browsing there, I tend to focus on the new books conveniently placed in the front room. I would never, never, ever read the last page! :mondieu: Part of what I savor in a book is that unfolding of character and plot. But, I do tend to 1) read the first page or two, and 2) open to a random spot in the middle. If either grabs me, I'll give it a try. If all else fails, I just grab the next book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series.

I once had a very interesting experience with a movie (although I cannot now tell you the title -- something in the late 70's about cross-dressers, I think). For the first third, I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. It was the only movie I've ever considered walking out on. But I didn't, and by the end I loved it. :shrug:

Never fear, vagansmom, I have enjoyed nearly everything you have recommended. In fact, just about every time I am close to finishing one book you start a thread here on a new one ... and I go to the bookstore and buy it. I quite look forward to finding out what my next read should be!

I haven't yet finished Unless, but I realized today that I am growing fonder of the book. The more I get into it, the more fascinated I am with Reta's character and her psychology. I think perhaps this is because Reta reveals more of herself. She is so guarded and emotionally removed at the beginning. I see exactly what you mean about how it might resonate more with someone whose child(ren) are more in transition.

I often feel the same way. It is SO hard to get good help these days. :rolleyes: :grinning:

Oh, I hope you enjoy it! I've seen it several times in the last few years, and thought it was a wonderful ballet. It's such a hoot!

BW, I think vagansmom wrote about "Unless" on the Carole Shields thread. As it happens, I'm reading it right now too. Like you, I'm not smitten -- don't have that feeling that I just have to pick it up and finish it right now -- but I don't want to give it up either. I suspect that it's the sort of book that works on you unconsciously, and I want to give it a chance to do that.

It depends. There certainly are some books that ... just don't get picked up again. It's not that I decide not to finish them; they just languish. These are the ones that are hard to read, for some reason. Les Miserables is in this category; I've started it several times, and just can't muster the energy to keep going. If I just don't care for a book -- it doesn't grab me -- I'll usually try to finish it. I'm always hoping to find something redeeming in them. As for the "recommended by a friend" issue: if it's a casual friend, the subject conveniently never arises. If it's a good friend, I figure our friendship is worth more to both of us than any book, so I go ahead and discuss it with her! Delicately, of course. The last time this happened the friend had actually made a present of the book. So I had to thank her for the present -- it really was a very, very good idea -- while at the same time saying I really didn't agree with the ideas in it. She laughed -- someone else had raised the same objections just a few days previously.

I wondered the same thing. And surely they are speaking of the adult population only? I would love to peruse the data, but haven't had time to look at the report in detail.

Here are some impressions after a second viewing (of the same cast): I see exactly what Dolphingirl means about the two Monotones. II really does go shape-to-shape; I is more about the journey than the destination. I appreciated I much more this time. She's right, the flow is much more interesting in some ways. I also got more out of Wedding Bouquet the second time around, and I'm no longer so quick to condemn it. I tuned out the narration this time, and paid more attention to the dancing -- a good strategy, as the narration (and I'm paraphrasing the program here) sometimes tells the story, sometimes comments on it, and sometimes has no overt connection at all. This time, I picked up on the Bridegroom's longing for Julia (his old flame), and his disdain and distaste for his bride. The latter, of course, remains cheerfully oblivious. Once I stopped trying to make sense of the story and accepted it as a series of vignettes, I was much more able to simply enjoy the dancing. Three totally different ballets (four if you count the Monotones separately) -- and yet, strong choreographic links among them. The same lift appeared in each ballet, I think -- the man sticks out his right leg and rolls the woman upside down over his hip while she opens her legs into a split (but not a wide one). This lift appears repeatedly in Les Patineurs, once with an impish "Look Ma, no hands!" embellishment. But it's also in Wedding Bouquet, and, I'm pretty sure, in at least one of the Monotones. There was a short pas de trois in Wedding Bouquet that echoed something in Monotones I. I suppose all the similarity could be boring, but it was somehow satisfying to see the same elements employed to different rhythms and creating different effects.