floss

Ohhh, how I loved the rhythmic gymnastics. I even taped it so I can watch it over and over and over again. :shrug: The wretched TV station that had the rights for the Olympic Games would never say when exactly they would show anything except for the swimming (of course) and Jana Pitman's race. You just had watch and hope that it would come on before you had to drag yourself off to bed.

Oh, how I envy you. You have all managed to read so many books. I have just started Marion Meade's "Eleanor of Aquitaine". k8smom what did you think of the Weir book? and how strange to find someone on Ballet Talk who is interested in Eleanor, she certainly had an amazing life. When my family and friends saw the book it was, Eleanor who?

Enid Blyton's stories have been slammed by some critics mainly to do with the way gender roles are played out, some elements of racism creeping in to stories and that there is sense of 'superior Britishness' about the characters. Having said that I loved the "Famous Five series" (I would say that most Enid Blyton's books would appeal more to girls than boys) and think that along with access to a diverse range of literature children wouldn't be adversely affected by reading Enid Blyton. Even "Harry Potter" has elements of sexism in it so you can't really isolate children from such things. You could try your nephew on Blyton but it may be a bit old fashioned for him. Your best bet would be to steer him towards books that are about subjects that he likes and is interested in. If he likes football try football stories they are out there you just need to track them down. My son loved the "Goosebumps" books- scary stories- at that age and would read about 4-5 of the books per week.

"Carnival" (1946?) was on early the other morning. I happened to catch some of it because I had an early meeting. Jenny Pearl (Sally Grey) is a Victorian ballerina in love with a struggling artist. She declines to go to Spain (I think) with him and ends up marrying a possessive Cornish man who ends up killing her. Some ballet performed by Bebe de Roland, and the Carpenter Corp de ballet. Anyone know about them?

I love Chrissie Parrott's Coppelia for WA Ballet. It's a hilarious 1960's take complete with beehive hairdo's, platform shoes, beerbelly dad, and barbeque.

dancing frog you are right when you say that Pratchett's Disc World novels are not for young children they are written for the teenage audience however rebekah did not mention a particular age group so I included those books in my recommendation. rebecka another book within the fantasy genre that children (primary school age)love is "The Day my Bum went Psycho" by Andy Griffiths and I remembered that Irini Savvides wrote Sky Legs. Some other researchers to keep in mind are Maria Nikolejeva, C.W.Hunt III, and Katheryn Hume ("Fantasy and Mimesis"). Also, the popularity of Harry Potter has led to quite a few journal articles which you could check.

Just finished Children's Lit. last year. Some of the fantasy books were Diana Wynne Jones Howls Moving Castle, Terry Pratchett's disc world novels and Sky Legs (not entirely fantasy and can't quite remember author) Check to see if you have "The Lion and the Unicorn" journal at your university, also books or articles written by Robyn McCallum, Rosemary Jackson, Jack Zipes, and John Stephens may be useful. Also Tvetzan Todorov [the marvellous, the fantastic, the uncanny], Joseph Campbell [hero, monomyth, separation- initiation-return paradigm], Rosemary Jackson[ fantasy = literature of desire] and Jacques Lacan [the mirror phase] may be concepts to consider.

Sorry I still haven't got the quote right. Ari I agree with you. It is a little like false advertising. I am sure when Swan LAke is mentioned most people think of the Petipa and Ivanov Swan Lake.

This is one of the problems that I have about Murphy's Swan Lake. To my mind it is not Swan Lake and should be given another title. When I heard that Swan Lake was on this year I was very excited :hyper: because I love the classics. My face when I heard that it wasn't :angry:

Ginger Rogers autobiography, Ginger, My Story was published in the early 1990's (I think)

My favourite is Follow the Fleet (with a young Lucille ball and Betty Grable), closely followed by Top Hat, Shall We Dance ( I love Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, Swing time. Don't forget Flying Down to Rio, their first film together, where they are minor characters.

I checked AB's website, Southern Lights is touring, but only Adelaide Melbourne and Perth. Maybe it will come here another time. Hope Justine Summers feet hold up. I saw a video some years ago that she was in, as a student at ABS, and her feet looked like they may have been giving her trouble then.

I haven't heard anything about Southern Lights. Maybe its not coming here. I would like to see Summers dance again. Is she a guest artist or not?

If I can't get into the book after the first chapter or two I ditch it. I don't have time to waste on a boring book and I don't feel guilty about either, even if every man and his dog is raving about the book. I would much rather find a book to enjoy.

Swan Lake will be Murphy's interpretation, some people loved, others didn't. I don't care for Murphy's work so we did not go to see it. Not sure about the Balanchine I have not seen any of AB's Balanchine programs. But if you can get to Sydney for something at the Opera House I am sure you would enjoy it. The Harbour is beautiful in the evening and you can stand outside, sip champagne and enjoy the view. the view http://www.travelpictures.co.uk/TP/AUSTRAL...dney/syd21.html