dirac

If Clifford entertained any hopes for the appointment, they're gone by now. Very nice picture of Barbee (he does look like Rudi in that shot) and Johnna Kirkland. I find Clifford's oversharing amusing at times, and this is one of them. Nobody else is likely to tell us that Barbee never had to close his eyes and think of England. I somehow don't think that Barbee will be clutching his pearls at the release of this information or the bit about his "magnetic" quality.

Douglas turns 102 today.

Thank you for posting this very good news, Quiggin. From the LA Times piece: The old money took for granted that you supported the classical arts, if only for purposes of social climbing even if you had no special passion for them; the new money doesn't, and sees no special value in having a symphony orchestra around. Salonen will have his work cut out for him.

Many workplaces discourage fraternization, but not necessarily socializing. In fact, you can be hurt professionally at some offices and in some professions for not fitting in socially or not being social enough. It’s certainly possible not to socialize after hours with your co-workers and also be a good team member. Ballet companies seem to be generally conformist places where you can be hurt by not fitting in or speaking out, particularly if you are female. That said, Messmer’s less-than-sympathetic co-workers may well have their own side, which of course we haven’t heard and aren’t likely to hear.

Nice to know you were able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner after all. If I had to choose one kind of meat for a desert island, it would be pork.....

Margot Fonteyn had beautiful knees. Of course, hers were also virtually invisible when not bent.

Yes, it is nepotism. I imagine there's no shortage of competent photographers who would like the gig and if Junior's work is good, I expect other arts groups would be happy to have him as well. As Quiggin says, he shouldn't have a monopoly on shooting the company, and strictly speaking it's inappropriate for him to be working for the company at all. If E. Tomasson had an established reputation independent of working for Dad it would be a somewhat different matter, but as it is the situation is pretty blatant.

I understand from a friend in the restaurant business that if a customer claims that a dog is a service animal they have to allow the customer in, even if the behavior of the dog is obviously not that of a trained service animal. They can, however, intervene if the animal is disruptive. “Emotional support” pets don’t qualify as service animals, or so I understand, so any such vest may be an attempt to misguide people into thinking that the pet has status as a service animal.

I would be suspicious of the "in training" vest, myself.

I've heard of hologram Tupacs and Roy Orbisons, but no classical performers. I'm glad you had a good time, but the whole business creeps me out, honestly.

Thank you, sofiabn!

Many thanks for the good thoughts, cubanmiamiboy. I hope it was an uneventful night on duty for you. I was too occupied assisting with side dishes yesterday to post, but I hope everyone had a great turkey day. (I do not hold with Calvin Trillin that it would be a good idea to make Thanksgiving Spaghetti Carbonara Day. By me a roast turkey is a tasty and relatively simple dish for feeding a large group of people that won't break your pocketbook and that most people at your gathering will like or can at least choke down. You can also find turkeys as small as 8.5 pounds for smaller groups.

I add my thanks, MRR. A lovely tribute. So sorry for your loss.

An obituary for June Kerr.

We have discussions of “Center Stage” and “Black Swan” here and here. As you will note in both discussions, "Center Stage" was also disliked by many dancers. That was certainly true of the Eifman company when I last saw them a few years ago. The girls looked like swizzle sticks, to borrow a line from Paul Rudnick. I'd be interested to know if disorded eating is an issue in Russian troupes. I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

An article from The Washington Post discusses how companies today address the issue of disordered eating among students and dancers.

Thank you for the review, miliosr. I didn't much want to go but I'm glad you did it for all of us. I never got around to seeing "Glitter." Is it really as much fun as Dolls and Showgirls?

My understanding is that the happy couples who submit their announcements to the Times and are thus presumably eager for the publicity gained thereby have a say in how previous unions are written about or even mentioned. I'd suggest that such mentions could and should be regarded as welcome doses of candor amidst the flaunting of pedigrees and resumes. In any case, congrats to Mearns and Bergasse. They look very happy, and I hope they continue so.

Welcome, Keith! I look forward to reading your posts, especially, but certainly not exclusively, those from Copenhagen. We also have forums for modern and other forms of dance, so please feel free to post on other forms besides ballet!

That was my impression as well, Marta. What struck me about the passages when I first read them, and why they remained with me, was the way Whelan talked about working with female dancemakers as if they were some strange Other whose ways she would have to get used to, and this process of acclimation required psychic preparation (and I must say she didn’t sound wildly enthusiastic about the prospect). Certainly it's a different dynamic, but after all, it’s working with a woman, not a space alien. There is no mention of the challenges facing women who choreograph or aspire to do so, even though the interviewer’s (Gia Kourlas’) questions clearly invite a discussion beyond the Restless Creature hiring process. I quite agree she shouldn’t be prejudged, but I suspect that a male candidate who had in the recent past expressed anything like similar views would at the very least have some ‘splainin’ to do.

Perhaps that’s extrapolating just a bit. It’s nice that she was nice, but “changing the culture” seems to be painting with a rather broad brush. Also, given the apparent emphasis on hiring a woman, in the recent past Whelan hasn’t exactly been outspoken on behalf of, say, female choreographers: I’d hate to think of women not getting a crack at opportunities because Whelan senses weird energies coming from them, or something. If she's going to run the company, I just hope she's now ready for that woman-to-woman connection .......

I'm not sure what muse status really has to do with running a company - Farrell became a good coach, stager, and director eventually but it did not happen overnight. Also, in Whelan's case the muse didn't know where the door was when the time had come and is apparently still bitter about it. Those are situations a director will have to cope with again and again. Maybe Whelan will handle it better when the star isn't her. Kyra Nichols is still age-appropriate and has some experience.

A thread has been started on Brubach’s book, here. I do find it odd that Brubach is even embarking on such a work, given her previous emphasis in print on Le Clercq’s desire for privacy and her reserve even with good friends (or people who thought they were good friends, possibly). That said, I will certainly read the book and I’m glad Brubach has begun before even more of Le Clercq’s contemporaries join the majority and become unavailable for comment.

An interview with Gayle McKinney Griffith, a former dancer and ballet mistress in Mitchell's DTH from early days.

I'm guessing Whelan already thinks she's a good fit to run the company, and this is, apart from any innocent socializing also going on, politicking.