seallen

17 minutes ago, bellawood said:

Hi everyone, here this evening, first intermission. Dual debuts for Sara as 1st violin and Isabella as 2nd. I thought Isabella danced with a lot of energy and attack and had a very successful debut. Sara seemed a little muted and tentative (less so in the 3rd movement) and will need some time to get back to full “Sara” strength I think, but she had an enormous relieved smile during the curtain call (an enthusiastic reaction). The corps looked a little underpowered and under-rehearsed — somebody ran into Sara during one of what I think of as the “walk arounds”. But, so good to see this ballet live again and this spring gives them ample rehearsal for the 75th anniversary celebration in September.

Thank you for reporting!  Being back on stage tonight is a triumph for Sara and so appreciate you checking in with the update for those of us not able to be there.

3 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Tiler Peck can bourree with the best of them. It might be interesting. I used to think of her as Ms Sunshine, but she's deepened considerably over time.

I saw Suzanne Farrell do it back in the day, and her (performing) ghost looms nearly as large as Balanchine's over Mozartiana. She was otherworldly. And you never quite knew when the spirit would catch her. The phrasing and her choices were so spontaneous, different each night. She FLEW across the stage like a wind had gotten hold of her. And I still don't know how you could be reaching up so high to commune with ... the higher spirit... and end up in such a deep backbend.

Thank you!

For sometime I have struggled to define what it is about Tiler Peck for me. She is an exceptional and gorgeous technician. She is gifted and her virtuosity is something to behold, however she somehow leaves me cold...and you have helped me express what it has been, for me, her "sunshine". I am excited to hear she has deepened and look forward to experiencing her as a more mature dancer.

And yes, Suzanne Farrell moved as if possessed by spirit - fully embodied and fully transcendent.

🙏 for sharing this...an absolute joy!

thank you!  ❤️

Maria Tallchief was my idol and archetypal ballerina when I was a child and one of the first ballerinas I saw live at NYCB.

This is a lovely tribute ... and an extra treat was a few brief clips with one of her special partners Andre Eglevsky, who was one my teachers.

16 minutes ago, LadyBubbles said:

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad she's able to share her own story and speak up. I don't think there will be repercussions with MCB. Lourdes knew what she looked like when she hired her. I doubt she expected her to go from her normal ballet size to super petite in less than a year.

Agreed - Lourdes lent her full support on social media following the Today Show interview. 

The message, as I hear it, is to advocate for mental health and body image issues and to call out body shaming, in the ballet world. 

Kathryn Morgan is talking about the body shaming that contributes to "self-loathing" that happens in early training and can continue into a professional career: (consider her mentor, the beautiful Jennifer Ringer critiqued by NYTimes as Sugar Plum). 

Morgan did not complain about not getting a role, but how body shaming beats down the psyche of creative, artistic beings. 

She celebrates her opportunity to be a voice for those who have been body shamed.

She has always affirmed that ballet is an aesthetic art and has said she will never be the skinniest one in the room. 

She announced "I am ok"..."I know I am still going to dance" "I think about my 12 year old self, my 14 year old self ...or even my 21 year old self who went down a spiral when I got ill". 

And - she also declares "I am in a ballet company ... I am dancing Mercedes...and that 's going to be really fun."

Even with what we have gone through as young dancers, ballet continues to bring such deep joy.  Ballet training and dancing brought me so much that is good in my life and that has contributed to my happiness and success as an adult beyond the professional dancer option.

Thanks, as well, to this forum where I have taken so much delight in the musings, opinions, and sharing of diverse and passionate ballet lovers.

We may all not agree, all the time,  but we all share deeply, in the love of 'the ballet' !

1 hour ago, ECat said:

Thank you so much for posting this and welcome!  This video touches me quite personally because at age 12 I had my first of 4 hospitalizations for anorexia and I was also a serious ballet student.  My situation was different because I was never told to lose weight.  At the Washington Ballet School, I was not allowed to audition for the Nutcracker until I put on some weight and at the Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet I was asked to leave until I gained weight.  Luckily these 2 ballet schools acted responsibly in my situation.

 

This is a really tough issue because ballet does have certain aesthetics.  If a dancer really is having an issues with too much weight there needs to be a better way to address it and to help them.  Ballet involves scrutinizing every inch of the body in front of a mirror every day so that alone can cause issues.  Many ballet companies employ beautiful dancers who aren't stick thin and hopefully more companies can catch on.  Today's choreographic demands require a lot of strength and an undernourished body will not be able to keep up.

 

Thank you Kathryn Morgan for shedding some light on this situation so we can try to come up with better solutions.

ECat thank you so very much for sharing your story -  it is so powerful for us individually and collectively to speak our truth. This is ballet's greatest opportunity to heal and thrive as we move into the future. 

I also have a story of body shaming beginning at age 11 as I entered training in a professional program in NYC.  I was a student in the 60s, just as the 'body type' for ballet was under the influence of Balanchine and SAB was actively sorting and selecting accordingly...this influence took hold at other schools, where I also studied and danced, as the Balanchine body became the ideal in the late 60's and 70's.  

My memories, while 50 years ago, are still so fresh and alive: looking up to the 'older' girls (12 and 13) who would offer tips for what we now know is disordered eating, listening to girls in the dressing room bathroom stalls suffering with bulimia, having a teacher suggest I eat one container of yogurt and if I was hungry to have a small piece of cheese in order to get into the costume (I was 5'4" growing to almost 5'5" and weighed 104 lbs), I watched and participated in humiliating weigh ins and the celebration and praise when we had starved ourselves to reach weight.

I have been a fan of Kathryn Morgan throughout her early rise, her illness and now as an exceptionally gifted dancer, teacher and advocate for health in ballet (physical and mental).  While old enough to be her mother, her powerful video speaks to me - speaks to that confused and emotionally abused little girl, still inside, who was told that I was so talented but my body was so "wrong".

It is time to embrace new standards of what is aesthetically pleasing in dance - other aesthetic forms are beginning to embrace body diversity. It is my hope that together, with our love of the art form, we will create a movement that as Morgan states, "stands up" and "talks about this more".  We will no longer stand for "ruining the joy" as we become advocates mental health and body image in the ballet world.

Brava Kathryn Morgan!  for bringing the full spotlight on body shaming in dance.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD0xB8VNzSk