ToThePointe

Borrowing from an on going discussion... If you were to "nominate" a ballerina for this title, who would it be? (Of course none, let's just go for Absolut on the rocks is fine too) My vote would be for Sylvie Guillem. She knocks my socks off, and I'm usually left picking my jaw up off the floor when I get to see clips of her dance.

Thank you both for your replies. I love the lithograph of the opening pose. I am a stickler for details and want to be as close as possible with the chorography.

Andros on Ballet, Fanny Cerritto Does any one know if the picture at this link is of the pose at the end on the first group dance part two (before the first solo)? In the video I have (Nina Ananiashvili and International Stars, Vol. 3) the pose given is slightly different. I would like to teach it to my students as true to the original as possible.

Oh to be able to look like a women, and be a dancer (one must feel sorry for their partners though). The bluebird card is truly remarkable.

It is showing in only one theater here in San Diego County (yes county, not city). The theater is 45 minutes away and with my schedule I've have not been able to see it yet. :angry:

Learn all her stories while you still can, don't let the opportunity pass you by. Let her know that your interested, and I'm sure she'd love to tell you her history. See if she has any photos or programs she would be willing to share with you. The teacher I was looking for (Mr. Eddington) I took from seventeen years ago, and no one who had employed him knew where to find him or could give me an answer with any certainty about where he had danced. I wish I could just have one day to sit down with him and record his stories, let alone tell him thank you for the impact he had on my life.

Swan Lake. I just can't imagine the ballet world with out it. The Kirov version is my favorite.

I do not believe that making ballet more accessible to the general public means throwing quality out the window. I'm not speaking of laying our choreography on the alter and sacrificing it, just better marketing of our classics to the general public. Families will spend hundreds of dollars to take their kids to see Princesses on Ice in a packed auditorium, why not swan lake?

Sports are not funded by the government and they thrive. So what are they doing right that the arts are doing wrong? The arts in general are seen as only for the smart and/or the wealthy. The price of the ticket has nothing to do with this. The general public will shell out big bucks for sporting event tickets. I think we need to do more to break this elitest image. If we can't get T.V. (A&E and Bravo are now scarce with their ballet programs as well as PBS) or the movie theaters (The Company is showing in only 1 theater in San Diego County) to put us in the public eye, then we need to take measures to do it ourselves. The lack of marketing is a huge problem in the dance world. I saw an ad on T.V. for Disney's figure skating show, and I thought if a dance company would advertise in that same manner it would really bring people through the doors. Half the time people don't even know a ballet company is in town performing. Cost is an issue of course, but people won't come to a show they don't even know is there. I personally don't believe that the arts (or PBS) should be funded by the government. We should have to stand on our own two feet. OCPA Theater is an interesting case study for this. They do not take one dime from the government, they could, but they don't. They are currently expanding the theater and have become the Southern California Ballet Mecca for touring companies (source Dance Magazine). For years it was argued that PBS could not air their type of programming without funding from the government. The Discovery Channel, A&E, and Bravo have certainly proved them wrong.

I'm not sure if this belongs in history or dancers: I had a teacher in my teens by the name of Mr. Larry Eddington. He was fabulous, and I credit him for my passion and insight as a teacher. I have searched endlessly for information on him but to no avail. From what I remember he may have danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and/or Ballet Theater. I e-mailed ABT, but have not received any answer (I wish their web site had a list of past dancers like NYCB's). If anyone has any definitive information on him, would you be so kind as to share it with me.

Andros on Ballet has a plethora of Biographies. It can be found at: http://androsdance.tripod.com/index.html Darcey Bussells's site is: http://www.darceybussell.com/ and Sylvie Guillem's is: http://www.sylvieguillem.com/sylvie/1/en

I just wanted to take a moment to say Thank You, especially to Mr. Johnson and Ms. Leigh. As a teacher I sometimes feel very isolated in the ballet world with nowhere to turn for conformation and advice. The fact that despite your extremely busy lives, you take time to answer all of these questions is amazing, and it is invaluable to us on the receiving end. So, Thank you.

I call Gretchen Ward Warren's book the "Classical Ballet Technique" my ballet bible and highly recommend it. It has provided tremendous insight for me. Gail Grant's Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet is so inexpensive and yet so important I have just decided to buy them in bulk and give them to my graduates of Ballet IIIC as a "job well done" when they enter Ballet IVA. Spend the $5.00 and you will never regret it. It's funny how students will spend that much on a cup of coffee, but not a book. :rolleyes: Here are two additions to the list that I find commonly misspelled: Fouetté [fweh-TAY] - Whipped Pirouette [peer-WET] - Whirl or spin