vagansmom

Never thought to look at CTBallet for ABT guest performances. I thought they always hired NYCB dancers. I'm going to head down there to see Abrerra. It will be my almost 4 year old granddaughter's first Nutcracker. Took my daughter at the same age to see Darci Kistler and Jock Soto; she slept soundly through the entire second act.

Recently read Nabokov's Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited. I felt as though I lived -trancelike - more in those pages than in my own life. Nabokov's prose creates the most vivid images I've ever experienced. This is not a standard autobiography at all, but more akin to a series of paintings that can evoke texture and scents as much as the voices of the past.

I haven't been following Ms.. Womack's vlog. Does she ever tell about the joys of being a ballet dancer or other joys in her life?

I like the "change over time" that Amy refers to in now reserving the title for those who've proven their ability to dance at the highest level for a long period of time. There are dancers who flame out quickly, usually to injuries, but sometimes to other unfortunate or tragic circumstances such as illness. Who knows how far Valentina Simukova could have gone if she hadn't died of measles? Or, in America, Tanaquil le Clercq or even Gelsey Kirkland whose drug use and emotional difficulties silenced her dancing career?

It IS sad. I would venture that 50% of professional ballet life is about the dancing itself. The other half is all about having or adopting the right temperament to handle the life as well as empathy in order to understand others' emotions and viewpoints. Without that second half - all nonverbal learning qualities - all the technique in the world won't make a successful professional dancer... that is, unless you're so phenomenally superior to nearly every other dancer in the world. Yet even then... Ballet is so much more than facility and technique.

Weird to see a ballet discussion about black ballet dancers turn into a discussion of whether or not one likes a dancer's first name!

I read my first great Russian novel as a teen for a Russian history course I took while a junior in high school. I then gobbled up most of the Tostoy and Dostoyevsky novels in the next couple years. Most of the translations were the Garnett ones, although the first time I read Anna Karenina, the translator was Rosemary Edmonds. I reread it two years ago, a different translator, but can't recall who it was. Throughout my life, I've reread most of these novels - War &Peace every decade ( I'm beginning to identify with the elderly characters, hehe) - a different translator quite by accident each time. Until a few years ago, my heart was with Garnett and the two Maudes. But then I read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. More recently, I read their translations of Crime & Punishment and "The Brothers Karamazov" (finished it a month ago). I love them. They revived the humor in those novels, especially War & Peace. I think that reading more than one translation has provided me with a deeper understanding. Translations are always flawed. What one translator misses, another corrects, and the cycle continues. Here's the article I read in 2005 that sent me to the Pevear/Volokhonsky versions: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/11/07/the-translation-wars

Irish dance and fiddle music uses 9/8 time frequently, often in a minor mode. The slip jig, a light balletic dance that only women do, is in 9/8 time. Some dancers, those not as musically inclined, sometimes miss the beginning of their dance. West African music uses a variety of unusual (to our Western hemisphere ear) rhythms. When I first started playing African hand drums, it took me a few weeks to hear a few of those rhythms despite my extensive musical background.

I agree with Canbelto about Lane. Someone else wrote "And in any ballet, that technique has to be deployed in a distinctive, imaginative way for a dancer to put her or his personal stamp on it." I don't find that Lane has yet discovered this ability. I've never danced ballet, but have a daughter who danced professionally and I'm a musicality coach for dancers. I posted this in another thread, so I won't go into detail, but I believe that what Canbelto notices, and what I too see in Lane, is that she sits squarely in the center of each musical beat. With excellent technique, which Lane has, that makes for a lovely, though what some would often call bland, performance. ​I've always wished, for example, that Lane would learn that she can "charge the beat" a little, yet still keep perfect rhythmic timing. This would add energy to her dancing. She needs to play with the phrasing more. Countless fine ballet technicians have this quality, but I don't yet see it in Lane. Canbelto used the word "vanilla" and I agree that it's a good adjective. She "sits in" every beat. I remember an excellent Irish dancer with the same qualities. Perfect technique. Beautiful face and body for dancing. But she too "sat" within the center of each beat so that it looked, yes, bland, even though her dancing was technically gorgeous. In Irish dance competition, she would never win the first prize, but was usually further down the list at 5th. or 6th. even though she had all the technical qualities, even exceeding some dancers ahead of her in awards. I recall yet another dancer who did the same thing to the same results. These are both dancers from other schools, not the one I own with my husband. I knew the mom of the second dancer only slightly, but I spoke to her after one competition and suggested she get a musical phrasing coach. She did, and suddenly this dancer had that "intangible" (but it's really musical phrasing that can be taught) quality and started winning competitions. This is what I see lacking in Lane. I would so love to see her working with a coach specifically in this area because I think she could be absolutely marvelous. (Edited to add that Canbelto added another post while I was composing this one. I completely agree although I do think Lane has better ballet technique than she does; I think she's lacking in musical technique).

I just finished reading this book. It's a very quick read, suitable for middle school through young adult. I love DePrince's spirit and grit. She doesn't spend much time describing the illnesses she and her sisters have had to deal with as a result of their early malnutrition and mistreatment, but the little glimpses she gives us indicate that they have been significant. She might be the luckiest health-wise of the 3 girls her parents adopted, but that's not to say she was untouched by her starvation. And then the emotional toll of what she both endured and witnessed! She amazes me. Her adoptive parents are extraordinary people. Elaine DePrince is a former learning specialist; as a parenting educator, I read with great interest the sections in the book that describe the behaviorial issues the adopted children had (many related to what they endured in Sierra Leone) and how the parents, especially the mom helped the girls work through them. I marvel at her energy levels! I gave this book to a middle school student of mine along with Malala Yousafzai's autobiography. She read both eagerly and has come away with the strongest impressions of DePrince's life experiences. She said she thinks both these books changed her world view. Until she read them, she had no idea of the hardships so many children endure. As a ballet student, she identified strongly with Michaela.

Thanks, California, I realize that I misunderstood your post. I thought you were saying that TKAM would STILL benefit from editing! The fact that you said it vehemently by starting the sentence off with "Of course..." intrigued me so much that I had to ask. I now realize you meant that it DID benefit from a great deal of editing.

Sorry, California, I couldn't get my cursor past the quote, so never asked my question. What part(s) of the book do you mean when you say that?

California, I'm intrigued by your statement

I'd read somewhere - maybe the NY Times? - that "On the Town" is really in too large a theater, one impossible to fill for the kind of show it is. The article stated that had it been in a smaller theater, it would've been considered a hit. Someone made a huge mistake in determining audience attendance. What a shame.

Hartt is practically in my backyard, so I am hoping to get tickets to the final performances just so I can see Reyes again.

While I appreciate and agree with your point, abatt, about new roles offering dancers a chance to grow, I think there is still a way for Lane to get McKenzie to take a fresh look at her. Part of being a dancer means that one should be able to find new ways to interprete the same choreography, to make it fresh each time. As a musician, I explore different "voices" on my instruments; I play with dynamics, with attack. One piece of music then becomes many, depending on how I choose to vary the phrasing. My experience watching Lane is that she is a beautiful, precise dancer, but it's nearly all legato. I think one can maintain the poetry of dance while still exploring its dynamics. I think Lane is a little too safe and needs to take some risks. It may wake McKenzie up to see her do so.

Helene, I'm glad you mentioned the topic of picking up steps easily. I've scratched my head quite a few times wondering why other dancers with what I would determine to be equal if not similar flaws have been moved up to principal, but not Sarah Lane. That's why I asked a question somewhere on these boards about a month ago as to whether or not Lane's outspokenness about her dance role in the film "Black Swan" could have turned McKenzie off. But I've also wondered about how quickly she picks up choreography. I've read here on the boards that Hee Seo learns very quickly. Does anyone know if Lane does? Perhaps that's what's holding her back?

Golden Idol, I've not jumped on any bandwagon concerning Misty Copeland because I've never seen her in performance except for some youtube videos, nor have I gotten involved in any of the heated debates involving racism, but I do want to say that I wish you'd used Copeland's name, rather than calling her "that other one." I find that so disrespectful.

Absolutely thrilled for Abrera and Scott, who are finally getting promotions they have long deserved! Also, I'm thrilled about Cirio coming over from Boston as a soloist. I haven't seen him dance in a couple years, but was highly impressed by him earlier.

Just a guess, but perhaps some of Part's difficulty pre-promotion may have been due to the stress of whether or not she'd get that promotion. Once she did, by the accounts I'm reading here, her technique improved. Relief may well account for it. I have always loved her because of her artistry which, to me, will always take precedence over technique, assuming the technique is "good enough." Being an athlete is only part of being a dancer: musicality/artistry make up 50% of the equation, IMO.

Mimsyb, that's a terrific way to explain it!

Good distinction there, Imspear. I think you're on to something.

Perhaps it tells us that the powers-that-be within ABT are too old. They don't seem to grasp that an outdated website is a HUGE no-no. As a 61 year old, I hate saying that. I think I've done a great job keeping abreast of what a current website should like and all the ways to "brand" yourself or your company, but that's because I have a son and daughter-in-law who do this for a living. They keep me relevant that way. Who's keeping ABT relevant?

1. Lousy antiquated website 2. Not enough coaching Sure sounds like a huge money problem. The website should've updated long before now. Coaching is vital. Only a company that is faltering financially would let those two important aspects of business lag. ABT's patchwork solution for the lack of coaching: Hire stars! And that just continues the cycle of not enough money: too much going to the stars to afford website and necessary coaching for ABT's homegrown? What mismanagement!

There are a number of dancers performing with nagging injuries right now. I always feel sorry for them when I read posts on these forums that they weren't up to snuff, hinting that they should've put out more energy. All too often, they truly wish they could!