greetings

[Edith]

Hello. I guess I'll introduce myself and explain how I ended up here.

I loved watching ballets on videotapes when I was a child (this was my mother's influence). Several months ago I rediscovered these old productions on tape (I am now in college, btw) and found myself deeply moved by them, as well as fascinated and excited. I started watching other ballets and clips of ballets on the internet and on film, and reading about ballet, trying to understand better what I was seeing.

Recently I had an opportunity to attend my first live performance, from a touring company. It was very exciting at first just to see the dancers actually there, three-dimensional and everything, but the music was taped (very disappointing) and I was also extremely disappointed in the quality of the dancing. Obviously I would like to see more live performances, but there isn't much available where I am ... there is no company in my entire STATE that does classical ballets, other than the Nutcracker (not my favorite) and I wonder how good their Nutcracker would be if they never do other classical ballets.

In the meantime, my family and friends think that I have gone off the deep end. I guess I am an anomaly, since Robert Greskovic says in "Ballet 101": "I doubt anyone becomes a ballet enthusiast by way of video exposure to the art form," but since video exposure is the only exposure I have had, besides one rather dreadful performance that would not have made me an enthusiast, I am an exception.

[carbro]

Hello, Edith. Thank you for that lovely introduction! We love "exceptions" here! They keep things spicy!

I'm sure you've already discovered our forum on Ballet Videos. You'll probably find references to familiar material there. Please feel free to contribute your own opinions. Meanwhile, I hope you're able to see live ballet with more gratifying results in the near future.

Welcome to BalletTalk.