diane

thanks for those, pherank. I especially appreciate the ones about clarity and reduction in art. Same goes for most things in life, of course, but that sort of insight tends to come in the later years. -d-

^^ If only there were more people who thought the same way. At any rate, it will be interesting to see where these young dancers end up! -d-

In effect, all political refugees are also economic refugees, as the problems caused by politics thoroughly affect the economics of daily life. It is complicated, to say the least. There are also many, many dancers in Europe (and, it seems, where I live in Germany especially) from many other countries, and the competition is very tough. There are also some voices of concern over the "politics" of giving jobs to so many who are not citizens /nationals / long-time residents of the countries where the jobs are. I, too, was one of those who came for work. -d-

That is interesting, Mashinka; would you care to set the record straight for us? I do not know about the others here, but I have been getting more and more confused as to what is fact and what is opinion on many things involved in this case. Thanks. -d-

thanks. -d-

Thank you very much for that link! -d-

I hope that the public will be open to Nacho Duato's ideas. His appointment is not happening without some controversy, of course. One cannot please all the people, all the time. Berlin has a hard time anyway, with a large and diverse (for Germany) population and - as was mentioned - huge debts. -sigh- -d-

what fun to watch! thank you, Cristian! Yes, balancing is a good thing to practice, and it DOES get better when we do! (though there is no way I am going to have her balances!) -d-

Oh, how sweet! I am a bit late here - but still wishing you all many hearts and chances for showing love and kindness - and eating chocolate, should the need arise. -d-

Very lovely! Thank you. Very satisfying to watch. What a nice end to an icy, wintery day. -d-

Stephen Fry is one, too. I think. -d-

Thanks for the memories! There seems to be a "new" website of the Nureyev foundation: http://www.nureyev.org/ (well, it looks different than it used to...) -d-

Cool! Thanks, Cristian! I found myself just smiling throughout. Normally I am not a person who enjoys "tricks" (unless they have a reason for being...), but this was just really fun to watch. -d-

"Unfortunately, this SME -music-content is not available in Germany because GEMA has not granted the respective music publishing rights." -arrrrrgh- -d-

Birdsall, that is quite something! I think you were indeed very courageous and strong to go through with that. -d-

That would have been fun to see. "unfortunately, this UMG-music-content is not available in Germany because GEMA has not granted the respective music publishing rights." -sigh- -d-

Yes! It is so true that most dancers never get to work personally with "great choreographers" and have works created on them! There are, though, quite a few not-so-well-known choreographers out there doing quite good work, creating works on their dancers, and they will probably never really be "recognised" outside of their areas. quote pherank: Fortunately, art doesn't actually require genius to get done, just hard-working, caring artists. Yep. I second that. I would add that it appears there is perhaps a ratio of something like 95% hard work and perseverance and about 5% "genius" in every "great work". (maybe slightly more towards the "hard work" side...) -d-

Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice (in wonderland) would say! It is quite dramtic. I add my thanks to Ilya for keeping us informed on all of this! -d-

Very exquisite and moving. Thank you! -d-

Too funny! But totally typical. In theatres I danced in often times orchestra members were very pleased to be onstage, when that was needed. -d-

Very nice! I do not know of any others, but I will be on the lookout. Hmmm. I am in Germany, so I wonder if there is a "Merkel Polka" or something? If not, why not? Perhaps I need to think one up. -d-

Thank you for your review! What a treat that you got to see so much of the company whilst you were there! Question: do they allow visiting family members to watch company class at other times as well, or only when there is "open house"? Just curious. I like the idea of Snow Queen; probably coloured somewhat by my memories of the illustrations by Adrienne Segur to one version of that story. -d-

Interesting! I would tend to agree with that theory, and that it has appeared that many overtly "theatrical" dance pieces do not immediately find favour in the USA. Bejart did many very theatrical works, using many different forms of art, dance and music in his productions. -d-

Lovely! Thanks. So well done to look so very chaotic. -d-

Mary Wigwam!! Oh, my!!! -d-