BW

OK, Mel, now you're dating yourself! ;) I think that in the past two years that I paid about $85. I know it's steep... but orchestra tickets at ABT's Met season are higher!:eek:

Now, on to Leigh's new thread about the rising costs of ticket prices!

Yes, Ari, I've seen that one, too...though, again, not all. At first it was hard for me to see Morse in that new role, but I got used to it and enjoyed it, too. Hmm, seems to me that I tend to go for the BBC sorts of productions, eh? On the whole, I have to admit I've always thought they were much, much better.

My other favorite series was truly Prime Suspect - grisly in parts, but excellent. Helen Mirren! As an aside, have any of you ever seen a movie called "When the Whales Came" - it's with Helen Mirren, but quite a number of year ago...and Paul Scofield. If not, I urge you to look for it. I'll see if I can find more on it on the Internet... I'm not sure my description could do it justice. Narwhals figure in it.

Oh, Ed - what an episode! There's another one I've missed...they must have used it in the television series, I'd think.

OK, I'm going to make a summer reading decision...after The Da Vinci Code!

Did you all ever see John Thaw in that wonderful tv/film version of A Year in Provence?

carbo, I "WANT MORE" too! Absolutely fantastic - look out Broadway! Wow! Amen to your description of Jennifer Ringer - never would I have imagined. Damian Woetzel, Millipied, Soto, Stafford, and so many more showed themselves to be incredibly versatile and they can act and some even sang!!

I'll let Treefrog fill you in on the rest...after her whirlwind NYC ballet experience.

P.S. Can we resurrect Jerome Robbins? If not, here, at least is a wonderful site about him and his work: Jerome Robbins !

This topic came up under another thread about NYCB. Sneds wrote:

It really can make a difference in one's perception of a performance, depending on where you sit in a theater.

Several others commented as to why they chose to sit in certain places in various theaters... I've always aimed for the middle of the orchestra...what I hope is just above the midline..so I'm slightly above the height of the stage. Naturally I don't always end up in these seats.

Tonight will be a first for me...on several levels. I will be meeting Mr. and Mrs. Treefrog in Manhattan and we'll be taking in the All Robbins program at the New York State Theater. The other "first" for me will be sitting in the Fourth Ring. I know a number of people always sit in the Fourth Ring. One of the main draws, I'm assuming, is the extremely affordable price for these tickets... In our case, these were the only seats left in the house at the time of ordering.

I shall report back in the hopes that my fear of heights hasn't gotten the best of me. ;)

Where do you like to sit - given the choice when money is no object - and why? And what do you consider your next best options?

But of course!

carbo, so true about the NYC street scenes and I admit I was a true L & O devotee during the Chris Noth days...now I try to catch in on occaision.

AmandaNYC, I'd like to offer my congratulations too on your new position and thank you for reminding me that our one family TV viewing habit has been "Alias" - gotta love that Irina D's mothering instincts and Sydney's daredevil technique... Did catch a few episodes of "24" and have to admit that I found it intriguing but just wasn't able to watch it regularly enough to make it work this time around.

vagansmom, are you implying that you hear "voices"?;):eek:

I must confess my addiction to the Inspector Morse series on PBS - even saw one the other night I'd never seen before! Poor John Thaw, I miss him...but at least we, his fans, have the different programs he was in as solace.

Used to watch Homicide Life on the Streets... and grew up with our Sunday ritual of 60 Minutes, though I don't think it's as good as it used to be.

I think TV has the ability to offer many newsworthy and notable programs, as well as entertaining ones, but I have to say that the vast majority of what's on is pretty poor and often embarrassing.

My other problem with TV as it exists in the USA is that I'm too cheap to cough up the fees for some of the better cable stations! :rolleyes: So, instead, my mainstays are PBS and A&E.

Just doing a little cross post link to OBT's Choreographer's Showcase in the hopes of catching the eyes of some audience members.

As Watermill has written, it sure would be nice to hear from people who have attended... Perhaps with the new administration of Christopher Stowell, there'll be more posters?

grace, you've gotten so many great suggestions and everyone's pretty much hit on all the suggestions that initially came to my mind.

I'll second and third Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" and "The Geisha" by Golden, too, but then again I feel this way about the suggestions of many.

In re C.S. Lewis' books - you don't have to be "religious" or even Christian to enjoy this man's work. Here is a link to his version of "The Divine Comedy" entitled "The Great Divorce" on Amazon for a nice little synopsis.

She might enjoy Thomas Merton's autobiography, one of my favorites, "The Seven Story Mountain" as well.

My own mother fell into similar circumstances towards the end of her days...and she too was a voracious reader - what a saving grace.

Please keep us posted and feel free to give us her reviews!

I'm bringing this thread back up for some who may have missed it earlier. In many ways it ties in to the "What was your first ballet" and "Old people will save ballet, opera and other performing arts" threads.

Happy reading.

And as Alexandra wrote:

But I do I think people go to the ballet with different expectations, and going to watch a student's debut, going for fun, going out of curiosity, having a primary interesting in choreography, or dancing, or theater, or virtuosity, whatever, all of those are different perspectives that will carry different expectations. None is more or less valid.

I'm so glad that both relatively new posters and you "old" ones are coming out of cyber space to add your memories here.

Ed Waffle has just added a new thread in a different forum that should be of interest to everyone as it deals not so much with our collective pasts but our futures. Old people will save ballet, opera and other performing arts

Ed, yours is a very thought provoking post. I'm placing a link to it on that "Your first ballet" thread.

My first reaction is that all this "old people" saving the arts stuff is another form of passing the mantle on...the handing down from generation to generation sort of thing. It also puts me in mind of Alexandra's recent thread asking people what exposure they had to the arts as children.

Your point about making it easier for the "aged patrons" to attend is an excellent one, for even as we push back the hands of time so that people are living longer, we still could use some easier access to the performing arts venues...both physically and financially. Perhaps rather than offering a "children's membership" plan at a discounted rate with an adult ticket purchase, they ought to swap the two? ;)

Thanks Ari, now that's service! I guess my "search" method wasn't the best...but I do appreciate your help.

The dates were May 25th through June 8th and I'm wondering if anyone attended or has read anything about this?

From their website I read:

American Choreographers Showcase, OBT’s annual festival of new works, has gained a national reputation over the past twelve years as a hotbed of innovative new choreography. This year’s program will feature six of the most creative and popular contemporary works of the past four seasons, providing a unique and diverse cross section of the OBT repertoire, as well as an illustration of the range, talent and ability of the company’s dancers. Program A features Peter Martins’ energetic and spirited Calcium Light Night, David Parsons’ oVbeat and intriguing The Envelope, and Trey McIntyre’s romantic Like a Samba and his urban cool Speak. Program B features Paul Vasterling’s elegant, neoclassical ballet Seasons with Trey McIntyre’s witty and phantasmagorical Aliss in Wonderland.

Thanks for any information.

I missed it too. Guess I'll have to wait til it becomes a cult classic and is put on DVD.

I am so impressed by the fact that so many of you remember such details about your elementary school education...of course, some of you are probably not all that old, either. ;)

I've really enjoyed these insights into the past and it's been a real eye opener as to how diverse the "arts education" is in different countries, types of schools and during different times, too.

atm711 yours really made me laugh with that Civil War song... And I loved Farrell Fan's epiphany about The Lone Ranger theme song! :)

I was pretty fortunate, though I didn't realize it until much later in life when I saw what goes for "arts education" in some places. As far as my memory serves me - I always had Art in school...also Music, though it was basically singing and "flutofone" practice. The school also had a drama department and up until high school just about everyone would get involved...but the senior play was always the highlight of the school year.

If my last two years of high school and college fall under the "as a child" part, then I really lucked out in the arts department.

But all this said, I, too, have to credit my parents with exposing me to the arts - a brief stint at piano lessons, visits to The Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC and all sorts of art museums in cities we visited.... Was taken to the big musicals of the time such as Camelot and My Fair Lady and practically wore out their soundtrack albums on the "Victrola" - but sadly no classical music...though my mother did play the piano pretty well.

Aha! Thank you for the explanation Jaana that was way before my days of being connected to the cyber world.

Melodies, can you tell me what "BBS" stands for? I'm guessing it has to be a ballet bulletin or ?

Many thanks for adding your post to this thread.

And you, too, JRB! Hope your daughter's AD likes it here, too. ;)

Well, I've now purchased the book...but I am hoping to finish my current one first. I'm worried that you all are going to be too fast for me as you've already picked out one for July!

I know, I know... It's not a race! ;)

Hello Marenetha - fancy your finding this old thread! Unfortunately the orginal article is no longer available online to read but in this case it is a bit different, for as Segal writes:

Hindus everywhere believe that the whole universe was created in a dance performance by the eternal, ever-potent god Shiva.

Truly, for the most part, in ours it does. Yet, in times past there were certainly ballet dancers who danced well even in to their early 50's - if I'm not mistaken.

Luckily, if a dancer is a good teacher they can continue to practice their art and get paid for it and reap not just the financial rewards but the satisfaction of passing on their art form.

Thanks! Of course it was Agnes deMille! :D

Does anyone know who the choreographer for this musical - either the play or the film - was?

I know that Christopher Wheeldon has used the Carousel Waltz and If I Loved You in his recent ballet...and even though I know he's the choreographer...I keep thinking it's a Jerome Robbins! Why I think this, I'm not sure...but every time I am about to see it performed by NYCB, I start to say "Oh, I love Jerome Robbins!" and then catch myself. :rolleyes:

I grew up on the East coast of the USA - in a suburb of NYC. Attended a private school for most of my years...and reading was always more than encouraged. My school had summer reading lists (required) that had quite a number of books on them. One of the highlights at school was the annual book fair! I remember them well and the excitement of walking around with a mimeographed (remember that?!) sheet upon which I could write down the books and the authors that I really, really wanted, more than anything.

Parents were avid readers. I have many fond memories of going to the library with my mother both to the children's room where we'd listen to stories read aloud by Miss Bird... and tagging along as my mother searched the stacks for just the right book for that week.

Books are the one thing I was always given without hesitation and it's a practice I try to carry on with my own family.