pherank

The Solman quote acts as the lead in the to the article, so I think it purposefully presents the reader with the popular sterotypes before presenting a new theory about Jews and economics. "Shouldn't we be a bit on the side of the 'liturgists'?" Or as Balanchine once said, "Byzantine icons, dear." That certainly makes some sense, though I personally try not to take 'sides' as that generally translates to being on a particular 'team' and wearing their uniform, talking the right talk. That's where all the problems start for me. Dancing as a non-book form of knowledge makes perfect sense: there's lots of stored information/memory involved, but it is not a worship of "the word" (which may be why religious sects often want to ban such activities). Dance does seem to be about activites of the body and mind that are beyond language, but I don't happen to see that as a danger to alphabetic language, jsut an expression of other aspects of the mind/body.

Yeah, they should start using ballerinas. Because THEY're not reed thin.... They have lots of muscle tone. And it depends on the body type: a Sara Mearns or Carrie Imler does not look like a stick. Neither for that matter do Aurélie Dupont, Marie-Agnès Gillot or Agnes Letestu. I'm guessing you're thinking of the Russian predilection for super-thin body types (Zakharova, Lopatkina, perhaps), but they do have muscle, and apparently, stamina. Still, I prefer more meat on the bones.

I find it a refreshing idea: to use a dancer as model. I do tire of all the reed thin models in the same standard poses.

Masha just traveled to NYC for a shoot with Gene Schiavone:

Amen to that, Bart. Something that I hear quite a lot these days with regard to training or education, is, "it was just a waste of my time/or money". Because it didn't lead to an obvious job or career path. I can't recall learning about ANYTHING that hasn't proven to be useful knowledge in some manner. There's obviously been a radical shift over the course of my (and our) lifetime regarding the role of education in society, and its value to the citizenry. There was an excellent article relating to education and its effect on a society in the PBS program, The Chosen Few: A New Explanation of Jewish Success (Study by Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein). The long and short of it: education good, no curiosity and illiteracy, bad. ;) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/04/the-chosen-few-a-new-explanati.html

How fun is that?!!! I envy anyone able to go. Perhaps this should be announced in the Heads Up board as well.

The subject is also timely because many graduates of the English/Humanities disciplines are currently in the news (we just don't know their names). That is because one of the larger employers of humanities graduates (especially post-graduate) is the Intelligence Community, and beyond that, the Foreign Diplomatic Corps. Of course it helps to know another language as well. But these ‘lucky’ employees are not being hired simply for their language skills, but also for their analytical abilities. A good essay topic might involve the ethics of hiring students of the humanities into the intelligence community. And is it all bad? Well not when they avert some catastrophe on behalf of their nation - then the citizens tolerate them, but when the Intelligence community just looks to be part of the problem, then the citizenry get very angry. It's really hard to tell if the present day Intelligence Community, and Diplomatic Corps, are any more or less effective than their predecessors going back 3000 years. My own mother (an Honors English major) and her good friend (an Honors Sociology major) were both approached by the NSA upon graduation. Her friend accepted. So if English majors are wondering where they can find jobs – it helps to know what firms are involved in research, analysis and writing....

Hmmmm - I think you're going out on a limb here, Dirac. Film makers would definitely disagree that "any adaptation to a different medium will be lacking in something", since they often use Literature as a jumping-off point, or borrow from previously existing sources. Of course there's lots of trash cinema, but I'm not sure it holds up to say, conversely, that the only significant movies, as art, are the films that are entirely original projects. From the The Wizard of Oz to Wuthering Heights to The Graduate there are many instances of great films (of varying genres) that are largely based on books. And there's definitely an argument to be made for certain film adaptions being as significant as works of art as the original books. A number of Kubrick's best films (e.g.: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining) were all 'based' on pre-existing fiction, but are beloved by fans of "art-house" cinema, and are very influential within the art form. It really does come down to the people involved, whether industry hacks, or actual "artists". The two art forms are tremendously different to produce - a novel can be slowly pieced together by a single person (or quickly if you are Jack Kerouac on amphetamines), but films, especially the Hollywood variety, almost always require a large crew of people that somehow must work together successfuly. Film making takes as much luck as chemistry and money to get a project to come off half decently. There is an element of serendipity that plays into successful film projects - fortunately that isn't as necessary for lliterature. And now back to English...

Film is inescapably bound to time, and we are the beneficiaries, and the victims, of film shooting (which proceeds linearly) and editing, which manipulates time by rearranging the individual 'frames'. Literature doesn't have that same constraint, as you mention, and the reader may end up doing as much editing (with the mind) as the writer did to create the work. I find there is much more of a conversation going on in the act of reading, than we ever experience while watching a film, especially in a theatre, where presumably we are trapped for the duration. The act of reading isn't passive. Many films, imo, can be felt to "happen to us", like watching two cars suddenly collide on the street, but I can't recall reading a book and having the same feeling.

The essay necessarily simplifies things, and I agree with you that our reasons for reading a piece of fiction can be varied - it's not just about inhabiting a particular character for a short while. In fact, part of the pleasure lies in having so many options/approaches to use in examining and living with a work of literature. But in order to learn of and develop all these options, one has to start down the long path of criticial thinking...and that folks, is what the humanities are all about.

It depends entirely on the actual life and adventures of said used-car salesman. Or repo-man. ;) Does anyone start out wanting to be Holden Caulfield?

A fine essay in the New Yorker - 08/27/13: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/08/why-teach-english.html

"The San Francisco Dance Film Festival will partner with the IMZ—International Music and Media Centre, hosting the 2013 dance screen competition and conference. San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Film Society will join as co-presenters of the S.F. Dance Film Festival... ...Screenings will be held in the Roxie Theater and the Delancey Screening Room because the originally announced venue for the event, Landmark's Embarcadero Cinemas, canceled all bookings due to a delays in renovations. The festival will show some 50 films, including Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, with 21 additional films on viewing stations at the Museum of Performance+Design." -- Janos Gereben https://www.sfcv.org/article/2013-dance-film-festival-expands-collaborates

Yes, it's a great image and well worth having. When I open it in Photoshop it displays vertically/portrait style, so I really don't know why some apps see it as a horizontal photo. Below is a test to see if displays any better for some people, but it requires resaving the JPEG file and that always loses some data in the process...

Nowhere Near Ready (Ep.205) Original Air Date: 8.26.13 High/Interesting Points: Adam Sklute's expression on watching his dancers rehearse Cinderella (and we hear the word "Terrible!" in the audio). We also get treated to Sklute's less-than-thrilled expression after a sequence of Allison DeBona and Rex Tilson playing flirty friends - it isn't actually in response to DeBona/Tilson, but the editor does a quick cut to the next scene with Sklute and Somes watching the rehearsal, and I just thought Sklute's expression mirrored my own feelings so perfectly. Beckanne Sisk and Katie Martin go on a visit to the Rock School, Philadelphia. A gushy segment, but still of interest. Less Zach about Zach (but don't worry, he still manages to slip plenty of self-references in). Low Points: Christiana Bennett seemingly on the point of a nervous breakdown, and related to that, Chris Ruud plainly overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes to run BW 2, and be a principal dancer. Dancers plainly losing focus, and rehearsals looking ragged.

I'm not sure you can attach an image - we are only able to point to a URL. I believe your message box is full - I just tried to PM you.

Absolutely - only principal dancers with major companies receive a 'decent' living (but then if it was really so good I bet they wouldn't feel the need to participate in galas at any opportunity). It can be really hard for Corps dancers at regional companies. Someone should actually create a restaurant that is staffed solely by professional dancers (each working only a few hours a week at the restaurant). It would be the place to go for the arts community, haute-couture set and the demimonde! Just a thought. ;) The walls could be decorated with ballet photos and autographs...

Noted in Sheri Leblanc's "Musings" blog: "Tanny and Robbins’ friendship continued right up until their deaths – Robbins in 1998, Tanny on what would have been her forty-eighth wedding anniversary to Balanchine in 2000. When Robbins died, the only photograph found in his bedroom was a simple, framed snap of Tanny taken at some point in the seventies – not one of her glamorous, Cecil Beaton-taken shots, but one of Tanny simply smiling at the photographer, likely Robbins, from her wheelchair – a memory more than a picture." http://sheris-musings.tumblr.com/post/25001658950/tanni

Good job, RG - I know many people are waiting to actually see this documentary.

I can't imagine that this type of 'sponsoring' is actually related to visa sponsoring, which is a complicated process that involves the employer. Actually, are we sure that all three dancers are non-US citizens? In any case, since so many dancers in the US are from other countries, I would imagine that it's just chance that the three dancers in this case happen to be. Of course I was referring to financial 'sponsorship' in this case. Tan now lives with her parents in the Bay Area, and I don't know if her father was able to get work in this country, so it has to be expensive for the Tan family to remain here each year. I can't see it being coincidental that Kochetkova, Tan and Karapetyan are being helped in this manner - they are arguably the biggest draws for the company. Whether Karapetyan has gotten dual citizenship is a question (now that he is married to Zahorian). I would expect Tiit Helimets to get a sponsor as well, but I'm not sure of his citizenship standing (assuming that has anything to do with it). I really just think that the SF patrons are trying to help make SFB a rewarding place to be for these dancers, so they are less likely to leave the nest.

Funny that you would mention this PeggyR - I just noticed these designations myself last week on the SFB website. Note that these dancers also happen to be non-US citizens, so understandably may require sponsorship. Or their position is financially more precarious? But I do think this sponsorship may be necessary to help out the foreign national dancers. I would imagine that if Froustey stays with SFB past the 1 year trial period, she will become 'sponsored' as well.

Not worth the risk then. I've had the same problem trying to scan old publications - often the binding can't take the abuse. If the article has worthwhile text, I suppose it could be photographed with a camera rather than a scanner.

I wasn't able to locate the auction itself, but here's a link to one of the image display pages: http://www.biggerbids.com/auction-image-gallery.php?ig=2&auction_id=543580&image_id=3204016 A happy face is always good. My only quibble would be that the hard lighting of Tanny in her Les Illuminations costume 'de-mystifies' the image I had in my mind - inspired by the more famous Illuminations photos by George Platt Lynes. [EDIT] While I was looking about for any and all auctions mentioning Tanaquil Le Clercq, I found this listing from July, 2013 mentioning: http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/collection-of-81-black-and-white-camera-negativ-144-c-a67b8e0486 81 images! Holy cow. Take a look at the thumbnail images - really great shots. ;)

These images will probably not be available very long (as they are part of an auction ), but I've not seen them before. In the article, note that the 2nd sentence should read, "too arty" (so grammar/editing issues are not just to be found on present day blogs). Also they choose to spell her last name as "LeClercq" rather than "Le Clercq" as her family did. Note to Mr. McHugh:

The Prima Wears Prada "In the social media age, San Francisco Ballet's Maria Kochetkova has become as famous for her Instagram photos as she is for her Giselle. The ballerina as fashion icon." http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-prima-wears-prada Naturally I found out about this on Masha's Twitter page. ;) For images of the magazine spreads, go here: http://artistuntied.tumblr.com/post/59513760859/hair-makeup-artist-tamara-brown-accentuates-the