Barbara

When I was at UC Irvine in the 70s doing a second-Bac in Fine Arts/Dance the program was run by Eugene Loring. Antony Tuder came each spring to teach and set some performances. I was in awe of him. One day while looking for a quiet place to eat my lunch I saw Tuder sitting alone with his lunch. I was too frightened to actually speak to him and sort of slunk away to leave him to his solitude. But, it struck me that this world-renowned artist looked quite lonely and sad. Maybe I'm projecting and he was happy to be away from all those annoying young students. In 1984 I attended An Afternoon with Agnes DeMille - I loved her. I believe by then she had had a stroke and when the curtain parted she was seated on stage. She was so full of pee and vinegar, as my mother would say. I love her memoirs, Where the Wings Grow and Speak to Me, Dance With Me. I'd love to read Lerman's book, thanks for bringing it to our attention, Bart.

Thanks, Helene! I've just finished my long overdue introduction.

I've been visiting this site for a few months now and find it so informative and interesting. I thought it was about time I offically said hello. I was a ballet student for most of my younger life until college and children became my focus. Most of my ballet studies were done in So. Calif. doing the RAD syllabus then with Sallie Whalen in Hollywood and the recently departed lovely Stanley Holden. Also learned so much from El Gabriel at UCI and Clinton Rothwell from Nat'l Ballet of Canada. So many wonderful teachers and memories. Now I've been living in the NYC suburbs for 13 years and am simply a devoted ballet fan - especially love ABT. I'm jealous of those of you that see so much ballet - in the past I've only budgeted myself one ballet ticket a year - usually a very good seat during ABT's Met season. But now, and partially due to this site, I've decided that I really must see more dance even if it means being high in the balcony. So for the first time I'm going to several fall performances and am so excited. Not to sound too schmaltzy but there is so much ugliness in the world that bringing this kind of beauty into one's life just fills the soul. I'll end by saying that I've recently started taking an adult ballet class, which is sooooo hard - a lesson in humility since I know the steps but the body doesn't cooperate. It's still lovely being at the barre again. Thanks for this site. I'm really enjoying myself here. Barbara

To take a moment off topic - Adam, I hit the same roadblock trying to say hello on the Welcome page. Seemed a Catch 22.

I had the same frustrating experience. My daughter and I tried a 3-pronged attack. She was in line at City Center at 10:00 and was 3/4 around the block. She phoned me to say there was someone walking the line and explaining there were 3 times the number of people in line as last year and was recommending ordering online. So my daughter stayed in line while I phoned the order line (never got through) and simultaneously tried to order online. After an hour online I managed seats in the last row of the orchestra for 9/28 and 9/29. Horribly frustrating. I guess this is the success they were hoping for but as you say with luck this ordering situation will be ironed out. Another glitch - I apparently had registered with City Center in the past but had forgotten my password. Ok no problem, I'll just ask them to email the password to me. But no email response ever comes which basically makes ordering online impossible. This happened to me last week while ordering ABT tickets. I finally ordered by phone and was told their computer was down. But the same thing happened yesterday. I finally registered under my daughter's name and that's how I managed the Fall for Dance tickets. It really shouldn't be this hard.

Thanks again! I'll give that a try.

Thanks Dale! I heard that from Tonya too. Any advice about how early to get on line?

I just found out both ABT dates are sold out (Sun. Oct. 6 and Mon. Oct. 7). I'll be watching Heads Up in case anyone ends up with extra tickets. Fingers crossed .

I'm finding this discussion so fascinating. Mostly because I must plead ignorance about anything other than garden variety demi-pointe for the male dancer. I had never known about high demi-point or the 3/4. I was under the impression that the male foot simply didn't have the flexibility of the female foot and thus the inability to rise to a fully stretched demi point position. If I'm understanding correctly, it's more of a stylistic issue. Or does the cart go before the horse? I was recently re-watching a video of the Royal Ballet's Romeo & Juliet from the mid-1980s with A. Ferri and Wayne Eagling. Now I've always loved Eagling but I have to say that having recently come out of the ABT Spring Season and watching the simply amazing footwork of David Hallberg, it was nothing short of glaring to see Eagling's pirouettes done on a very very low demi point. I sort of assumed Hallberg is blessed with a naturally high instep that most men don't possess - lucky for us in the audience that love to watch him. Can't wait to watch the Nureyev documentary tonight and see if I can notice the high demi. BTW, this is my first post but I've been reading for a few months now. This is a wonderful repository of ballet news and information and I feel so lucky to have found it. Thanks to its creators!