diane

Oh, dear. In Germany the (former) Health Minister said, (and I translate) "... by Christmas everyone will either be vaccinated, recovered or dead." -d-

One of my first and favourite ballet teachers has died. Ronn Guidi obituary He was hugely inspirational for many of us, and will be fondly remembered and dearly missed forever. -d-

Excellent, thanks! I thoroughly enjoyed that. Another one we see a lot here in Germany is the "Tanztheater" bow (not to be confused with the Pina Bausch bow), where the dancers line up and roll /bend far forward with straight knees, their arms and hands nearly touching the floor, and they sort of stay there for a few seconds, causing wonderment in the audience if all is well with the dancers. -d-

She apparently died in Perth on June 5th, 2021. RIP. https://michellepotter.org/tag/lucette-aldous

Very sorry to read this. Her tours always sounded magical. RIP - and many condolences to family and friends. -d-

Intriguing! I had never seen a production of Sleeping Beauty with those two pieces included. It is a long ballet even without them, and perhaps that is one reason they seem to be omitted more often than not? -d-

Thanks! Really cool. And I greatly enjoyed the spoof, too. -d-

pherank, I agree. Someone has to speak up, and forcefully. Too bad not many, many more are doing so. (i am pleased to see that some ARE coming out publicly to show some support) Another difficulty for dancers is that their careers are usually short (compared to other careers), and so by the time they have reached an age where they are confident enough to speak out forcefully, their careers are basically over. No one would listen. So, for Morgen to speak up now, even though she is not quite finished dancing professionally, is laudable. I think that most dancers just get really fed up and stop, then move on to other things. Then it is somewhat of a shock to see, twenty or so years later, that dancers are STILL up against the same sh*t dancers were up against when we were dancing. -sigh- -d-

Absolutely. This has been my own experience, and that of my DDs (both professional dancers). I am glad that at least some things are _finally_ being discussed openly and that some dancers have felt able to speak up. There are so many wonderful dancers who do not "fit the mold". And, yes, the Age of Social Media makes it much more complicated. Of course, now with Covid, many companies are having a very hard time keeping dancers employed, making for harder times. Wishing all the dancers struggling out there all the best. -d-

Yeah, pherank, it has been awhile. I am still here.... just getting more wrinkled and greyer. It is indeed very interesting how different cultures (try to) control how their languages grow and evolve. The German-speakers also seem to be very keen on keeping things orderly, though perhaps not quite to the extent the French council tries to do. (I did live in Greece for a few years quite some time ago, but I did not ever hear if they had such a council to decide about how to develop the language...) -d-

Quote by pherank: "Oh to be a child and just sponge up language without trying to reason my way through it." Oh, my, yes! It appears that Greek has quite a phonetically logical pronunciation; especially compared to English. 😛 -d-

Marvelous!! -d-

@Anne: Yes, indeed; "durcheinander" connotes more chaos. -d-

Sounds wonderful! So nice when something tlike this works out! (an attempt at translation: "...they will dance next to each other, one after the ohter, and sometimes mixed-up with each other...." ??) -d-

Lovely! So glad you got to see this! (and got to film a little bit for us!) -d-

Wonderful, thanks for those! -d-

I love it that she does not succumb to the normalcy of wearing tight, high-heeled shoes. (not trying to slam those who really like wearing those shoes, but there is a sort of pressure on women to try to make their feet look as small as possible. 😛 ) -d-

Thanks, pherank. Yep, things have not changed. (nor are they likely to...) One thought: There are cultural differences to criticism, and there are indeed some cultures/languages where what we - in the West and in English - would consider "harsh" statements/critiques, they are there considered quite "normal" and not at all harsh, just "direct". That is something which we have to get used to as the world becomes even more connected. (in dance this connection is happening faster than in many areas, I would say) So, yeah... perhaps if one is working for or with some people from Eastern Europe (and former Soviet countires, for example), one should take that into consideration. Not everything which is said can and should be taken the way we may see it at first. But, this is, I fear, digressing horribly, so I will now stop. -d-

So true; there are just so very many dancers willing to do anything to dance, and the market dictates that they are therefore not really "worth" that much. (".... like sand at the shore..", they used to tell us at the academy; we are like sand at the shore...) That is a great idea to try to help dancers and musicians find affordable (and nearby!!) housing! -d-

Some European State Theatres maintain appartments in a building where they rent out - cheaply - to choice members of the theatre. Most members must find their own housing, though. Guests are often put up in theatre-run/rented appartments. I have no experience in the USA, though I have until now not heard of any housing provided to members ot the theatre companies; students at the conservatories somjetimes have housing, though, don't they? -d-

Thanks for that. -d-

I have not found anything resembling an obituary there - or anywhere, actually. Perhaps it was removed? Or is now somewhere else? (or maybe only visible to his Facebook friends) Just curious; it wont change anything, obviously. Sometimes people do not want an obit written, and make that clear to those around them. Perhaps that is the case here? At any rate, he was quite a "force of nature" here; and SO very knowledgeable in so many fields! -d- Edited to add that I found this short obit: http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Melvin-B.-Johnson-106072960

Goodness, this seems to be more the norm than the exception in many companies, at least in some form or other. And it brings back many memories. Part of it is surely the near total dependance a dancer feels they have on the ADs and AADs (and often others) regarding his/her career. Often it appears largely mysterious how a decision regarding roles and advancements are made, if all else is /appears to be equal. So sometimes every word, every glance, every non-word or non-glance is analyzed meticulously, looking for clues to messages that appear to be few and far between. And, in my own experience, a toxic atmosphere can erupt almost instantly, given a few ingredients. This is not to say that there should be an excuse for any of this! A director, a ballet master - all of these people should be able to defuse such situations, should be humble enough to allow for humanity to show through. -sigh- I think that most of us former dancers have experienced at least some of this inexplicable and inexcuseable behaviour at some time in our professional lives. It sometimes feels as though the person delivering the abuse is deeply insecure and trying despearately to deflect from something in their own person; that they have risen to a position beyond their abilities to control. But this is indeed cold comfort. I doubt that anything will come from trying to go through the official channels to change things; these things normally do not change like that. It will take something almost explosive and potentially damaging to many - and to the company - to get things to budge. My opinion, obviously. -d-

That is indeed quite unusual for a company to insist on that sort of thing! I certainly wish him all the best with this! I had wondered about this, if there were any issues for the members of the troupe if they wanted to transistion or something like that. I think it would be pretty amazing to have a company where the members could really be who they were, regardless of whether they fit a sterotype or idea. It would be a great chance to help further understanding and acceptance of not only trans but all the many diffeent aspects of humans. (I do not want to say, "lifestyles" , for it is not a decision to make; we are the way we are) But, probably there are those folks who see the dollars dwindling if they feel they cannot count on audience coming to gawk and laugh. There has got to be a better way, though. -d-

This is a fascinating discussion. I have not as much experience as most of you, but nevertheless....Just a thought: Here in Germany and Austria when Shakespeare plays are presented they are done so of course in German, and there often are chnages to the text, perhaps in part because it has already been translated, so one can presumably continue to translate further, or for clarity or other reasons.(of course it is the same with any other plays which were originally written in a language other than German; they are all translated, as are all films dubbed) I guess that is often done with choreographies, too, though perhaps not those which are so well protected that the permission to stage them is attached to the promise to do so faithfully. I wonder if the "translation" of text and the inevitable changes - however subtle - that brings with it, could (or does) have a parallel in choreographies. I would think it surely does; though perhaps not quite as strongly in the purely classical ballets as in more modern pieces. I agree that it seems a huge issue is to figure out what is important, what is the essence, of a work, and how to preserve that while also allowing it to exist within the times and the culture at present; especially if the companies/ performers are financiallly dependent on audiences coming and paying. One reason some European countries so lavishly support the arts is so the artists are not forced to follow current ideas of what is "good" or "worthy". Of course, there is constant debate about what is good or worthy or what is "art", but that is indeed another subject. -d-