vagansmom

LOL, my opnion is 180 degrees opposite of Aspirant's. I didn't like Gosford Park's meanderings and I loved it in The Company. I didn't need or want a ballet novel; I wanted to see dancing, I wanted a peek into the lives of professional dancers and I got both so I am very well-satisfied. I also was treated to a whole new view of "White Widow", a dance I've seen many, many times and never tire of. I wish the entire piece had been filmed but of course that's my wish for every dance (save The Blue Snake which I found laughable). Another highlight for me was Charthel Arthur's facial expressions. Mostly silent, she can be observed in many scenes taking notes while sitting next to the choreographer in rehearsals. I can't remember now which part of the movie but there was one scene, most likely with DesRosiers but maybe it was Antonelli, where the expression on Arthur's face practically stole the scene. I've seen that look before in real life; a choreographer or AD is suggesting something preposterous and the ballet mistress has to appear silently respectful. Arthur conveys that appearance deftly but still manages to let the audience know what she really thinks. I do feel badly that The Blue Snake was the grand finale. I don't want the general viewing audience to have the impression this is what's considered a good ballet. I don't want people to go away laughing at ballet and I'm a little afraid that might happen.

I think I may have found my newest favorite author I finished Unless tonight and will begin The Stone Diaries tomorrow or Wednesday (whichever day affords me a "snow day" from school). Kate B., I too found Reta's emotions and behavior very realistic. Anyone who's ever experienced a deep and ongoing heartbreak (how many of us haven't?) will easily identify with her feelings. And I LOVED Reta's letters,didn't you? Thanks for the links too. I'll check them out while the snow piles up on the doorstep. Both you and FarrellFan have me wanting to read The Republic of Love. I don't know how I missed this author!

Has anyone read anything by her? I just started reading Unless and so far, 42 pages into it, I really like it. It's written in the first person by a female author whose 19-year-old daughter has dropped out of college to become a panhandler. I love Shields's prose and am hoping the book will continue to delight me. I see that another book of hers, The Stone Diaries won the Pulitzer Prize.

And Sarah Hughes herself, the "tall girl" on the circuit at the time, was nearly always listed as a towering 5'3" (although I did hear one report setting her height at 5'5").

So glad to hear that Suguri continues to skate so well. I look forward to watching her skate in the Worlds. She has very lovely qualities on the ice; I wish I could see more of her. One more comment about Cohen before leaving that topic alone for awhile . I think that when she rose to the senior competition level, her nerves increased proportionately. I remember seeing her skate while she was still a junior. She had a quiet calm about her back then. It may be possible it was simply a very good day for her, but I remember thinking that she had the whole package - with musicality galore - and I looked forward to seeing her skate at the senior level. Soon afterwards she incurred the stress fracture in her back and was out of skating for many months. I haven't yet seen her skate with the same aura as at that earlier junior competition. I do wonder, once a skater has reached 19, if it will ever be possible for them to permanently break that mold of blowing big competitions (Todd Eldridge, another favorite who broke my heart regularly, comes to mind). But I can hope. I agree about Kurt Browning's musicality and overall superior technique. I've always felt so sorry for him that his back was never healthy when Olympics rolled around. So many skaters with musicality: Janet Lynn, an all-time favorite. Robin Cousins. The late John Curry whom I still miss. The "two Brians" - Boitano and Orser. Elizabeth Manley. The very lovely Chinese skater, Lu Chen.

I think that young dancers "eulogize" Cohen because she's a ballet dancer's ice skater. Plain and simple. She has the flexibility most dancers would give anything to have. She has line. She has musicality. Of COURSE they're going to go ga-ga over her. I do too. Conversely, they don't like Hughes because she's most definitely not of the ballet dancer's mold. Her knees were frequently bent. Her arms and shoulders were often sketchy. That said, I agree that Hughes gave the best performance of the night, and of her life, at the last Olympics but I could never say it was Too many legendary performances to choose from.

I hope that nobody is reading my "bitter medicine" comments about Cohen's on-ice appearance as an attack against her character! That was definitely not my intent whatsoever. I was just commenting on her inability to connect with the audience and I think her facial expressions are part of the reason. In no way, shape or form do I believe they're an indication of a personality flaw! I see it simply as a case of nerves. Cohen shows her intensity with tight lips and an often fierce look in her eyes whereas some other skaters, notably Kwan and lately Kirk, have the ability to put an audience at ease. We see the same thing in ballet. There are some wonderfully talented dancers with technique "to die for" who don't really connect with their audience. Yet none of us would assume that it makes them bad people. I often LIKE Cohen's intensity. I sometimes love her fierce expressions. Other times, though, I think that it's that very intensity that brings her down. What she shows on her face is also what causes those falls. Such tension evident there. She is SO enormously talented and I've been a most fervent fan of hers since I first saw her skate when she was 15. Nothing would delight me more than to see Sasha Cohen win a string of first place finishes. Much as I love Kwan, it's Cohen I've been rooting for the most these last three plus years.

I missed the US Nationals almost completely this weekend except for Jenny Kirk's short program. But today, during the exhibition skate, they re-aired Kwan's skate from yesterday. It would indeed have been hard, even if Cohen had had a clean skate, for anyone to have topped Kwan's performance last night. All the elements were there as well as that extra magical connection - to herself, to the audience - that Kwan so often brings to her performances. I adore Sasha Cohen's skating but I'm still waiting for her to put together a performance where she doesn't look as though she's swallowing bitter medicine. I don't know if it'll come with age; it often doesn't. But I still sit with my mouth agape whenever she skates - unbelievable technique. I can't ever remember seeing anyone with that kind of perfection in individual elements. I long for her to put together a string of clean performances and to include all the little flourishes in between; something that Kwan has an uncanny awareness of. There's very little "dead" time in a Michelle Kwan skate.

I've read Kirkland's first book 3 times, once for myself, once to see if I thought it was OK for a teen reader, and once from a more professional perspective because I was curious about her mental state. I don't really know of much else about her life other than what I read in that book. Based on those reads, I think that the label of "Bad Girl" logically descended on Kirkland. That book is a classic look into a disturbed mind; it ought to be required reading for psychologists. While Kent, in her autobiography, showed that she made some terrible choices, she could own up to them. Some of her choices originated from compassion, some were from fear; but she has the normal human ability to look back squarely at her actions and recognize her mistakes. Kirkland, at the time of her writing "Dancing...." lacked that ability and was still operating from the egocentrism of a young child or of a disturbed adult mind. I know nothing of what became of her later other than that she's a sought after teacher. I hope that she was able to move past that early thinking because, as an artist onstage, she was brilliant and has much to offer dancers. It's a tragedy that her mind was so fragile that her dance career bloomed for so short a time.

LOL, that's what I do too. My family teases me for that because I have a habit of latching hold of a good author, disappearing behind her/his books, and not coming up for air till I've read everything in print. I will look for "The Nautical Chart" at my library tomorrow. Thanks for such a quick reply.

Ed, thank you so much for that post. You have got me looking forward to reading a book by Perez-Reverte. Could you single one out as a good first read for someone unfamilair with his works?

I sent a snail mail letter to A&E's Programming Director (Peter Tarshis) in the belief that they pay more attention when someone takes the time to do it that way. At least, that's what a couple TV producers I have some contact with have stated. I also remember reading somewhere that Oprah Winfrey had said that she doesn't pay much attention to emails or email discussions but will more seriously consider a standard letter because of the effort put into it. But then I also emailed Elliot Forrest, the host of Breakfast with the Arts. Don't know how much input the host might have but figured it was worth the try anyhow.

OK, folks, we need to let our voices be heard. Let's all contact A&E, contact Bravo and let them know that their stations don't appeal enough to us because there's little to no ballet!

I'd cut her some slack. We all know how those interviews go - how easily what we actually say gets twisted and turns out to be something entirely different in print. It's become something of a joke in my family whenever one of us is interviewed for the Irish dance business: we consider it a successful interview if there's 50% accuracy in the final print product. :yes:

Funny Face, you read my mind. Today I bought my niece the first 3 Betsy-Tacy books as a Christmas present. AND, I told my husband I want a brass bowl for a potted palm. Like somebody else, I can play a waltz and a two-step on the piano. That's about it for my repertoire. But I'll be happy to play for some of those infamous onion sandwiches.

This week, I received a few books as Christmas gifts from my students. Has anyone read "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides? In looking for a book review of it on Amazon, I see that the other choices of customers who bought it are all books I've recently read and posted about here except for Eugenides' other book "The Virgin Suicides" which I haven't read. I was also given "Gypsy Girl", a children's book by Rumer Godden, one of my favorite adult authors. It was originally published as "The Diddakoi". I'm looking forward to reading it. I love nearly everything she's written; her short stories for children are always worthy of adult read - this latest in my hands being a full length novel for children. And I'm nearing my next once-a-decade read of "War & Peace". I figure I'll probably identify with the elders in the novel now. My son is halfway through it; this is a milestone in his life since reading is such a slow-go for him.

Eek, it's obvious to me how tired I am. Instead of "Life of Pi", I called it "Story of Pi" in my first post here and I see in my last post that it has morphed into "Li of Pi", a title I rather like as a ditty. Ah...it's either a brain blip or almost Christmas. B)

LOL, We should probably start a Li of Pi thread. I hated the beginning of the book but kept at it because my daughter insisted on it, and then loved the whole middle of the book. I didn't like the ending....at first. But then, when my book club read it, I had to reread to remember various parts. It was in the rereading that I really fell in love with the book. There is an awful lot there that takes getting to the end and then looking back through the pages before one can really understand it. It was only then, after doing that, that I could accept the ending. And make my choice of what story to believe.

Besides, unfortunately, textbooks, I hope to find the time during Christmas/New Year's Week to read Hanna's Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson, a saga of Scandinavia that focuses on the women, and Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, a story about the plague. I hear that, despite modern sensibilities sometimes entering into the story, it's still a good one. Our book club just finished Story of Pi, a book I'd read a couple months ago. There was a mixed reaction to it. Most of the members loved the book and spent a good time digging through animal symbolism books but one member hated the book for what she called "wonton violence against animals". For our next meeting, we're reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie. Has anyone read any of these books? What are you reading?

With all due respect, I think that trying to decide whether or not Edison fit an autistic profile is similar to trying to decide whether or not FDR actually had some other disease rather than polio (what disease did they mention in the news recently as the possible real cause of his paralysis?), whether Woodrow Wilson's encephalitis lethargica and possible resultant Parkinsonism was responsible for his erratic behavior, whether Lincoln had Marfan Syndrome, etc. We humans need to categorize and we like to do so with familiar figures of the past and present. I don't think there's any harm in such conjecture, especially when we're not stating anything negative about the individual under discussion. And I don't think of the highest-functioning autistics as being disabled. In fact, for those people I don't even like the term "high-functioning". For that matter, I'M a high-functioning ADD'er, but we don't use the term that way for folks with ADD. I think it's time to move past that term for people with certain autistic traits. It's a negative connotation. The genius of some autistics gives me great wonder and I feel privileged to know them. Others, though, are among my most challenging and difficult students and I'm often handicapped in trying to figure out how best to help them cope with school. So, like any collection of personalities, there are positive and negative behaviors among autistics and a huge range of capabilities. Temple Grandin herself, in her books, mentions various public personages and wonders if they fit an autistic profile. Because she has Asperger's, she's incapable of lying and she's also incapable of expressing an opinion that hasn't been researched to the max! So I would weight her opinion highly in any such discussion. (But I've loaned my Grandin books out so I can't look up Edison in them). Because the word autism still brings to mind severely disabled individuals, many people think of it as a very debilitating disorder. I think that eventually we will be better able to tease out the distinctions between those individuals and the others on the autistic spectrum (aka autistic continuum), most likely through genetic studies, and at that point we'll probably give them separate names. And then perhaps no one will feel uneasy at the idea of naming certain collections of personality traits. Because, really, that's all it's about, giving some traits a name. And I still like, respectfully, to try to figure out which people, past and present, fit what kind of profile. I especially like to do that with personalities in the dance world because they ARE so colorful! It doesn't alter my respect, or lack of, whatsoever of them. Being a people watcher, it just affords me the opportunity to engage in another activity I'm drawn to: classifying. Happy Thanksgiving ALL - my break time is over and the guests are soon to arrive.

There are people who can reverse images with ease. It's believed that in those individuals, the right and left hemispheres of the brain synthesize better than in the rest of us. Sometimes, in academic issues, it can get in the way. One of my students struggles greatly with this. She's tremendously talented spatially and, at the age of 8, can create 3 D images with her hands that would defy my capabilities even though I'm a fairly creative person when it comes to arts-and-crafts. But she automatically mirror-writes without realizing it. I know of a neurosurgeon who does the same. It was a problem for him as a writer his whole life but he was a very well-respected Harvard-trained neurosurgeon. I'd put my brain in his hands any day Einstein had that ability too. I think it was decided that his corpus callosum, which separates the two hemispheres of the brain, was thinner than in most people, therefore the two sides could work together more freely. If only he'd turned his attentions to dance! Come to think of it, I wish Balanchine's brain had been studied. I have a feeling it would've resulted in some very interesting discoveries. But it's also possible that the people in dance who are compelled to reverse combinations are left-handed or SHOULD be so. Their bodies would simply be wanting to favor their stronger side.

Mel, I don't know much about Edison's life but it IS possible for him to have been on what's known as "the autistic spectrum". Nowadays, that includes many people with a collection of personality traits and a certain kind of cognitive functioning who can still lead normal lives. In the past, autism was known only in its severest form, with retardation and institutional living the usual reality. Most, but not all, of the kids I tutor are on that spectrum and many of them wouldn't strike anyone as being autistic. They all share a difficulty with language processing and a very disabling difficulty understanding social cues. It usually, but not always, makes it hard for them to acquire reading skills which is when I get involved. Later in their lives, organizational strategies become critical because many autistics tend to get bogged down, focusing narrowly on one field of interest and disregarding everything else. But that ability to hyperfocus is the cause for countless inventions that have enhanced all our lives. Many inventors are "spectrumy" individuals because it takes that kind of scientific mind and dogged pursuit against all odds - what lots of folks would describe as a pursuit lacking in common sense - to see what's essentially just a vision through to completion. So, while I don't know Edison's personal history, I do agree with Citibob that it's possible and also that it's likely, since it's such an inheritable trait, that parents in many cases are also on the spectrum. In Edison's case, the communication you speak of, Mel, could simply be a fascination with the science of communication rather than the connection among human beings. Many researchers now say that one could describe autism as the male personality in the extreme. It's not meant disparagingly and, in fact, the speakers I've heard who've made this case have all been male. I get concerned when we talk about wiping out autism because if that were done, I think we'd end up wiping out our future as human beings. We can credit the autistics with so many of the scientific discoveries that have afforded us longer and healthier lives. I get the very same feeling when the idea of stamping out bipolar disorder comes up. Right there, we'd again lose the art world's creative geniuses, many of whom may also be spectrumy people - think of it: the AD or choreographer who's so singleminded that he ignores the feelings of the individuals he's working with. Finding a way to help these creative geniuses make better social connections while still maintaining what makes them unique should be our focus.

Cliff, my guess is that there is no such person, at least none that would qualify as autistic savant. There certainly are a lot of people who have a step memorized after seeing it just once. I know a couple folks like that myself. And the same two people also remember the steps forever. They never forget a combination or a variation they learned even decades ago. But of course the body has to have been trained - the muscles shaped and strong, the flexibility in place, etc., before we could say that the person can execute the step with mastery. And that takes years to develop. I'm not sure that savants can manage that kind of slow training. Certainly many folks on the autistic spectrum are dancers but the savants rest in a different part of the spectrum. Their world, according to our terms, is a constricted one. I've worked a lot with autistics. One has an amazing artistic ability. She can draw, with extreme accuracy, anything from memory. She can accurately reproduce an image in detail that she'd seen only for seconds. In cleaning out my files earlier today, I came across some of her artwork. I marveled once again at the tremendous talent and the peculiar intelligence of this girl. That great gift, and yet she can't manage day-to-day living with anything approaching normalcy. Anyone interested in really understanding the perspective of an autistic should read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. It's written in the first person by a 16 year old autistic who, while not technically a savant, has many of those mathematical abilities.

I don't have acrophobia but I DO occasionally have trouble with claustrophobia in theaters. The very first time it happened came within moments of being seated at the New Amsterdam Theater in NYC for a performance of the Lion King. We had perfect seats - 8th row center. But as anyone who's familiar with that theater can tell you, one is seated sardine-like. I felt an overwhelming need to jump up and run out of the theater and had just decided that I was simply going to HAVE to at least take a walk to the back of the theater when the music started and the large animals filled the aisles as they made their entrance. There was no way I could follow through without becoming part of the show myself. At that point, luckily, my sense of decorum took over and I swallowed hard and remained seated. But I fought that feeling for the rest of the show.