drval01

Just some quick offerings: Moonstruck The Bridges of Madison County The Quiet Man

My understanding is that SERBA -- the birthplace of regional ballet -- did not want to replace the B with D. That is to say they did want to replace ballet with dance.

For the modern choreography, Jackson requires written permission both from the choreographer AND the copyright holder of the music. The first is fairly easy to obtain (assuming, of course, the dancer is working directly with the choreographer). The second (i.e., obtaining rights to music) is rather tedious and at times downright expensive.

Regarding the 70s: It was a completely different environment of public spending.

I cleared cookies and passwords like you suggested several days ago with no luck. Still, something must've changed because the problem is all cleared up now!

I'm using Mozilla/Firefox version 1.0.3, and it began happening 5 or 6 days ago. I also use the same version of Firefox when I browse BT4Dancers.

Is anyone else experiencing this phenomenon? Even though I haven't changed any "cookie" setting on my computer, every time I come back to BT I have to re-log-in. I always click the "remember me" box and I am not having this problem when I log into BT4Dancers.

This article is dated, published in 2003, and given the pace of scholarly review was likely submitted at least a year prior. In this light, the secondary sources seem current enough. The article itself is the handiwork of a graduate student and smacks of it. But who can blame Ms. Kelso when the only way one gains working papers for the university is through publication in similar journals of suspect value? In this quest, the wise graduate student knows the more contraversial the essay the greater the chance of publication. If there are issues here which deserve a delicate hand and discerning intellect --- and by all means there are --- then perhaps we should look elsewhere.

Thanks for the update. I notice that the neither of the web sites have been adjusted to show these recent changes, although I did see that Marifé Giménez and Douglas Gawriljuk are no longer on the Maximum page. Do you perhaps know where they ended up? Miami City webpage: http://www.miamicityballet.org Gamonet/Maximum webpage: http://www.maximumdancecompany.com/index-main.htm

When an award or recognition at a ballet competition comes with a cash prize, is it customary to give some or all of this money to the coach? [it's been a while since I've posted and --- in the interim --- the "Ballet Competitions" board was archived. If this is not the correct board for this topic, perhaps an admistrator will move it.]

When I was in graduate school -- oh let's say about 15 years ago -- I would wander around with eyes glazed asking anyone who would stop long enough to listen: "What is postmodernism?" In all my years of asking, I never got any answer that made enough of an impression that I could even remember it once I had staggered away. The more knowledgeable would mumble something reverent and point east, in the general direction of Duke University, where the nearest guru of postmodernism, Stanley Fish, took up residence. In time I stopped asking, because I had settled in my mind (1) that postmodernism was so idiosyncratically used as to defy common definition and (2) that it was a transition term for an age that had not named itself. I’m not sure where usage of the term stands in the aesthetic world, and even less so in the field of dance. Artistically, the most I can gather is that postmodernism represents the final coup d'état over what I have called "the tyranny of virtuosity." The problem is that postmodernism replaces virtuosity with nothing — or, worse, with the tyranny of self-esteem. But, as noted, these are personal conclusions, and I’m certain the term is more canonized in general artistic use. Still, I would guess nonetheless that even in this context its staying power will be very short indeed. Finally, I can report that at least in the field of social theory "postmodernism" is very rarely used anymore, for the post-modern age has found an identity: Globalism.

Osipenko has a continuing association with Vladimir Issaev's company, Arts Ballet Theater in North Miami Beach, FL. She teaches from time-to-time and participated in this past summer's intensive program. Try as I might, I could not convince my daughter to attend after coming home from her regular summer program, a missed-opportunity I'm certain she'll regret when she's older. At any rate, Osipenko is listed as a faculty member for the company: http://artsballettheatre.org/artisticstaff.htm

That's a topic unto itself.

It seems in copyright discussions nowadays the "private interest" side of the debate has all the muscle. The commonwealth side --- the side that argues for the timely passage of material into the public domain --- has virtually no able spokesperson, very much like present society in general which struggles under the collective weight of private interest. Frankly, if copyright law exists to nurture creativity, I never did see how the passage of copyright to heirs and other false entities does anything but discourage creativity by encouraging the bequeathed to rest on their big, fat endowments.

Being a typical ballet mom, I thought all I ever needed to know about ballet could be obtained by word of mouth from other ballet moms or from our Artistic Director. Last January, though, my daughter was accepted to a summer program no one in our little circle had experience with. So, where else to turn but to the internet? Around the 10th page of a google search I found a relevant link. I followed it and, tada, I found myself here. Now, I realize how narrow my vision was, to believe that 'everything I needed to know about ballet I learned in the studio.' But try as I may to get other moms in our company to become as devoted as I am, they remain in that confined little space of just our (admittedly wonderful) school. Neverthless, I am steadfast in my mission as a BA ambassador.

Renee Renouf, I want to thank you for your insightful critiques of the Jackson dancers at www.ballet.co.uk. Your day-by-day reviews really convey the feel of being at the competition and help explain the results. Again, tremendous thanks and I hope that you will be in Jackson in 2006! Valerie Burks

Hu Xinxin, Thanks for that wonderful link! It has more than just a chance interview; it has blow-by-blow reviews of each dancer by Renee Renouf, and pictures that I hadn't seen either on the USAIBC website or on the Clarion Ledger. Though the competition is over, you can read Renouf's take on each of the competitors--a real find for those who had friends (and the children of friends) in the competition. The index page is: http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/2818.html Thanks again!

From www.usaibc.com web site: http://usaibc.com/pdf/062802/medalists_rel...ease_062702.pdf "2002 USA International Ballet Competition Announces Medalists Jackson, Miss., June 28, 2002 – The USA International Ballet Competition came to a magnificent climax during its last round of competition with 23 dancers receiving medals, scholarships and cash awards. Senior Division Medalists are: Women’s Senior Gold Medalist – Wu Haiyan, China Men’s Senior Silver Medalist – Li Jun, China Women’s Senior Silver Medalist – Sarah Lamb, USA Men’s Senior Bronze Medalist – Mikhail Ilyin, Russia Women’s Senior Bronze Medalist –Katia Carranza, Mexico Medalists in the Junior Division are: Men’s Junior Gold Medalist – Joseph Phillips, USA Men’s Junior Silver Medalist – Danny Tidwell, USA Women’s Junior Silver Medalist – Sarah Kathryn Lane, USA Men’s Junior Bronze Medalist –Yudai Fukuoka, Japan Jiao Yang, China Women’s Junior Bronze Medalist – Sang Yi Han, South Korea Along with medals, cash prizes are given ranging from $500 to $8,000. Special awards and scholarships were given to: Best Senior Couple- Eve Andre and Sergei Upkin, Estonia Pointe Magazine Choreography Award- Wang Yuanyuan Robert Joffrey Award of Merit- Emi Hariyama, Japan Jury Award of Encouragement- Female: Agnieszka Szymanska, Poland Male: Troy Schumacher, USA Heinz-Bosl-Ballet Foundation Scholarships- Keigo Fukuda, Japan Michelle Carpenter, USA Dance Magazine Scholarship- Eun Ji Ha, South Korea WorldCom Scholarship- Zhang Jing, China Jury Awards- Melissa Hough, USA and Ashley Canterna, USA No gold medals were awarded in the men’s senior division and the women’s junior division."

Round 3 pictures are up. Now all that's left is the waiting.

Did anyone who attended the Southeast Regional Ballet Association festival in Knoxville last weekend have any input about the performances? Since my daughter's company danced, I'm a little less than biased. I will say, though, that the gala performance was a bit flatter than in previous years.

Jeannie, I couldn't have said it better. Ditto!!!!

Though I haven't heard the details of the proposed judging system, my concern is that the judging will be become a non-factor in skating. Gymnastic judges, it seems to me, work within so restrictive a system that the individual persepctive of the judge matters not at all. If this happens, then the ART of skating will cease altogether. Art needs the eye-as-measure, not a so-called objective scale.

I just heard the Russians in an interview suggest that the French judge had been bribed ("paid a lot of money" was the exact word-choice) to say she had been pressured. That's not my idea of grace under fire or good sportsmanship.

Several years ago (more than I like to remember) gymnastics went through the same conflict of artistry versus athleticism. As everyone knows, artistry lost that battle. Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen with ice-skating.