OttawaMom

I took my 13 year old daughter to the NBOC Swan Lake in Ottawa (Canada) on Friday, March 14, along with one of her ballet buddies. This was the first time for all of us to see it and, therefore, we could not compare it to that of any other company/choreographer. All this to say that we thought it was beautiful. Xiao Nan Yu had the lead that night as Odette/Odile (Heather Ogden and Sonia Rodriguez danced for the other two shows. We thought Xiao Nan Yu was very lovely. Ryan Boorne was the Prince and Rex Harrington was Rothbert and Martine Lamy danced beautifully also as the Wench. The costumes and scenery were also incredible. P.S. I saw an earlier post from another ballet mom in Ottawa - what did you and your son think of the show?

The web address in my last post may not work, so I have pasted a copy here: [edited -- A.T.] I'm sorry, but we can't post whole articles; it's a violation of copyright laws. The link above should work if you copy the whole link into your browser. Sometimes long links don't work when you click on them, unfortunately. Thanks for notifying us about the issue!--A.T.

An interesting article in today's Ottawa Citizen on Evelyn Hart from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, "The Dancer Who Won't Retire"... http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen...en/story.asp?id{DC34C398-7C2C-4563-8A78-9D5399067363}

I was so disappointed with the ice dance last night as of course me being the patriotic Canadian, was rooting for B&K and after the Italian stumble, that bronze was theirs to be had. Could not believe their fall in that last few seconds and cannot imagine how bitterly disappointed they must be. Then when I watched the medals and saw Fusar-Poli's big pout on the podium, I really wished I had gone to bed early.

Wow! I was just logging on to send this article from Dave Barry, the Miami Herald humorist and saw this scoop - what excellent news for S&P to get the gold! There have been a lot of views expressed on this and I am sure the debate will continue. Personally, I am no expert, just an armchair critic who thought their skate was beautiful and I have thought they have been handling it all with a lot of class and dignity. On the lighter side of this controversial subject, read this for a good laugh: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/livin...rry/2674512.htm

Of course, like mom2 I am rooting for the Canadian skaters but cannot help but admire all the lovely American skaters! This article was in my home town paper today but was from the L.A. Times so I found it on their website and thought I would post it here: http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-...an05feb05.story Let the games begin!!

Does anybody know anything about my fellow Canadian, Matthew Golding? Where is he from, where does he dance? Just curious! Thanks!

Thanks Ms. Leigh for your very helpful response. I feel that this now supports the decision she made to change schools! To be truthful, I was always uncomfortable at some of the competitions watching how people reacted to the results and how critical parents/kids could be towards other dance schools/dancers. What I will miss, though, is seeing her dance since she now spends more time in studio then on stage.

Thought you might find this article from the National Ballet School (Toronto, Canada) interesting: http://www.nationalballetschool.org/pages/...o/lausanne.html

This is an interesting topic! My daughter is almost 12 and only started dancing when she was about 9 (before that I was a single mom with minimal cash flow). At that time, because I was not familiar with dance myself (and thinking of it as purely a recreational activity), I put her in a local dance studio in jazz. The next year she auditioned for their competitive team and was accepted, however, it was a requirement that all students take a ballet class. This turned out to be great for her as she found out that ballet was really her true love (I guess when she was younger, the jazz and hip hop music were more appealing). So anyhow, she danced with them for a couple of years and they entered about five local competitions each year (jazz numbers only), which she had fun doing. This past year she decided to audition for a more prestigious school and is only studying ballet. After being accepted, she had to make a tough decision because the new school doesn't participate in the competitions. In the long run, I know she will receive much better training at her new school, however, I am not sure if she will miss participating in the competitions. Right now, she is happy so that is the main thing! Anyhow, I am curious on what people think about competitions for younger dancers (i.e. good/not good - why) that sort of thing. Thank you!

I had purchased my last theatre tickets on-line where I guess I had provided my office number and a telemarketer called me at work - I thought that was pretty bold and I had a very hard time to get the caller to hang up. I understand that they need the support from the general public - and with a daughter in the arts world, I can certainly appreciate how important donations are - but PLEASE - don't solicit people at work!