Anjuli_Bai

As I look back on my life, at the obstacles which blocked my chosen path, I can say with real truth that it was best it happened so. At the time it seemed to thwart everything I wanted, but as it turned out what I wanted was not as wonderful as I had thought it would be and what I got was much better.

Your response is, of course, correct - and simple. But.. it loses a bit of the casual informality of the other forms. While "you guys/folks/lot" is awkward - it does convey a nuance of informality. It doesn't sound like voting is about to begin on what everyone wants to do. If one says to a group of people: "What does everyone want to do?" it tends to convey the feeling that whoever answers the question is speaking for everyone. Most people hesitate to do that. I would bet that if you had two groups of people and one group was asked: "What does everyone want to do?" and the other group was asked: "What do you guys/folks/lot want to do?" that you would get more spontaneous responses from the second group. Would be interesting to try.

Great article - thanks for posting! It seems the internet (itself an interesting word) seems to invent words everyday. blog going viral twitter (not the sound of a bird)

Perhaps you can help her to see this not as a rejection, but as a way of helping her to make a realistic choice about her future. She need not stop dancing and being in shows - but perhaps not on the level of future vocation. It's best, I think, to know this ealier rather than later. Of course, you can always get a second opinion. This will also give her the opportunity to develop and explore her other talents to which she can now devote more time. If you see this as a positive - that will help her. There will be many times when one has to adjust to the opinions of others. Sometimes we can forge ahead and sometimes we can't. Lemons can become lemonade. I wish her all the luck in the world.

Those who want a career in dance and have enough talent to get into vocational schools, stay the course and graduate, do so knowing the entire time that professional slots are very limited. So, what happens to those who are not able to get a contract? Are they living on the streets? I bet most of them manage to either get into some other course of study and/or some other occupation connected to dance or not. If they ended up living on the streets, I would say - yes - there is a problem. They are young enough to adapt to the conditions they find and survive - probably even thrive - or at least find a way for themselves. What did British dancers do when Diagelev died and there was literally no where for those magnificent dancers to go? They - lead by some wonderful people like de Valois formed a company - and thus eventually the Royal Ballet. I don't mean to make it sound simple - I know it was very hard going. But sometimes necessity and adversity gives birth to some wonderful progeny. Quotas are never the answer.

As to this statement: " I don't know anything about college and university dance courses but I can't see that they would prepare their students for a career as a professional dancer." I do have an opinion on this from what I've seen in the USA regarding ballet. The ballet classes - from what I've seen - in a college university setting is more about giving the student a taste rather than a sustained meal. Often the class in not daily but more likely to be 2-3 days per week. After a semester or two in "beginners" one is expected to automatically go on to "intermediate" and likewise on to "advanced." The program is usually a four year course of study leading to a degree. One cannot take four years of ballet and expect to be a professional ballet dancer. If a student comes into the program having already taken years of ballet class at a neighborhood school that student will be way ahead of anything - including "advanced" that I have seen at a college/university. Should the student wish to and fit into the "advanced" level in college the computer set up will not allow the student to repeat the same class for four years. At most it will allow the student to take that class for two years and it will assume and register a "fail" on the student's record. Then there is the problem of grading. Does the teacher grade on effort, work ethic, dedication or does the teacher grade on natural attribute and ability? In my view the college/university program is more geared to teach about the arts rather than to truly perform them at anything close to professional/concert level. However, such a program can open a door to other areas in the arts professions. Personal experience: I remember taking an advanced ballet class in a colllege (I was there to follow a specific teacher for a specific reason) and when I signed up for a second year of "advanced ballet" - the computer automatically gave me a "fail" - the assumption of the software system was that if I was repeating the class at the same level then I must have failed the first year. As a teacher at the college I had to submit a detailed description of what I would be presenting in class. When I listed the centre work format, I was told that I should only teach one step in each class. In other words - 90 minutes of pirouettes on Monday, 90 minutes of glissade on Tuesday. Which of course is nonsense. I was also told that I shouldn't be giving pliés the second semester since I had already taught that in the first semester. One ends up dealing with an administration that knows nothing about ballet. Just my view - maybe things have changed although I still can't see how a four year program can produce a professional dancer.

Buy a big potted plant and set it in the bald spot. Or - cultivate bald spots in an artistic design. Put up a blue ribbon to show the design won first prize for innovative gardening design.

Gazelle - your daughter has learned many life's lessons - congratulations to her.

Well, looking at the world right now - 90% of the human population could make a case for being under threat, oppression, etc. What we are seeing is a huge population shift across the globe. The newest wrinkle is what is happening along the southern border of the USA where hundreds of thousands are unaccompanied children as young as five are coming up from Central America and being abandoned on the USA side of the border - knowing that the USA will feed and care for them. In response, one can't put a 5 yr old on a bus and send her/him back across the border without knowing that a responsible adult will meet her/him. Actually, there is no responsible adult - because a responsible adult would not have dumped the child at the border in the first place. All of this has an impact on work opportunities, education and how taxes are levied and spent. And all of that affects dance opportunities for those seeking work and funding. I am not saying that asylum should not be granted - my mother fled from certain death and legally entered this country - but she had to show proof that she would not be a burder on the state coffers. Today the magnitude of the problem has grown exponentially. I can't think of a part of the world - Africa, Asia, Middle East, South America - which is not in flames. There does come a point at which merely emptying the population of a country is not the answer. Sometimes the good people need to stay and fight the bad people. If this population shift does not taper off, then we will not have enough funds to do anything but emergency rescue and basic feeding and care.

Well, the answer to that problem is easy - just put the flower beds where the lawn is and then move the lawn to the flower beds.

I think this is a case of buyer beware. Anyone who is seriously considering study in any field of endeavor with the desired end result being the capability of sustaining onself, must look at the reality together with one's desire. I don't think it is the task of the school and/or gov't to limit one's choices based on what the school or gov't considers "reality." The aspirant should do the research, make the decision and takes the consequences. A young lion spends his life readying himself to challenge for the possibility of controling a pride. He invests years, resources (food), energy and finally the possibility of being killed or badly mauled. But the reigning lion is too strong and so our young lion sets off alone. Should he never have tried?

The key phrase in Melody's post is: "Not sure which I dislike the most, having lived through both earthquakes and hurricanes." that you lived through them. YEA!

I think there are two issues here - the teacher and the subject matter/curriculum. You judge the teacher as you would any other teacher - doesn't matter whether it is math(s) or ballet. You judge what is being taught by gaining knowledge of what needs to be taught. You read, ask questions, observe other students, go to performances (both school and professional), observe classes, see what the students look like, I would not judge a teacher by affiliation to any dance organization/body - it is no guarantee by any means. There is no one teacher, organization, school, etc., which has "the way." No matter how deep the teacher's knowledge base, no matter how many certificates are on her/his wall - it's how it is taught - the classroom environment - relationship to students, communication with parents, accessibility, overall school environment that is important. We have all probably known teachers with every credential possible - who still can't teach what they know. The class has to be about the student - not about the teacher - or the teacher's ego - and certainly not about how her wall is decorated. It is not unusual for one to move around a bit before finding a good fit - both academically as well as environmentally. And even you do find a good teacher - expect to move on after a few years - or add another teacher to the schedule. No one teacher has all the answers. Good learning involves variety. A new voice, a new eye, another way to approach the same material.

Let me try to answer your questions one at a time: I am curious to know how ballet classes in different levels are named in America and whether students are placed in different (flat work) classes if they were doing pointe work? So is there some sort of separation between serious dancers/those doing pointe work and those just doing one class a week? Let's assume the school is a neighborhood school, offering substantial teaching for both vocationally and recreationally aspiring students. The levels would be usually catagorized as: Beginning 1 Beginning 2 Intermediate 1 Intermediate 2 Intermediate-Advanced Advanced 1/2 Advanced 2 Pointe Class - 1 Pointe Class - 2 One would not be placed into a pointe class with only one or two slipper classes per week as that is not enough to sustain pointe work. As for separating the vocationally bound student from the recreational student - that happens automatically as the recreational student will not want to be in a class which would overwhelm him/her. But should that happen the teacher will control it. What usually happens is that the teacher will quietly invite the student to take a higher level class. A good school will have a class such as "Beginner 2" which bridges the gap between "beginner" and "inttermediate." and a bridging class between "intermediate" and "advanced." If a recreational student can keep up with a class of vocationally bound students - the recreational student is almost always happily allowed to be in that class. Class separation is based on ability - not a future aspiration. For the most part adults will self select their level - and very seldom do they try to place themselves in a higher level than they truly are. Most people are usually honest with themselves. In fact, especially with adults, they tend to go the other way - staying in a class below their skill level and need to be encouraged to move up. As for children, they either progress up from the day they enter as a small child - or leave as interest and circumstance changes - family moving, etc. For those children who come to the school already having been to another school, the teacher will assess them as they take a class. Also, since ballet exams are not common in America, how do students know that they are at the right level to apply for a particular summer school? In the UK, the RAD vocational exams attatined are used to judge whether a student is at the right level for a summer school. I wonder how this would be done in America if not many students do exams? Summer schools tend to differ in how one applies - with a video, etc. But most often the student will consult with her regular teacher who will suggest which summer school. The summer schools often have someone representing the school hold auditions around the country and at that point the student will be assessed for acceptance and placement. Often, too, the first day of the summer school will also be an assessment by giving a general class. What counts here is how the student performs in class - that's it. No one is interested in what an exam says. it's what happens in class that counts. I've seen a few students who had taken RAD syllabus for years and were beautiful to look at in the formal poses such as arabesque, attitude, etc., who once the music started simply drowned - didn't have the ability to pick up, learn quickly, assimulate and perform the dance sequence. They couldn't move spontaneously. I remember how surprised they were - they had assumed with all those years of training, exams, and good marks in those exams that they would easily fit in - but they didn't. They couldn't take the pace. I hope that helps to answer your questions. The above is just my opinion and observation- others will certainly differ.

This is the Wild West (which starts on the East Coast) and we tend to do things in a Big Way. Why bother with a little wind storm -

Well, I can't give you a definitive answer since different school districts begin and end at different times, but I think a general time span would be 8:30 to around 3:30. But that's a very general statement.

An American viewpoint.... Dr.Dance I agree with your comments regarding syllabus work. In my early years of study, I took 3yrs of Cecchetti from a celebrated Cecchetti teacher/examiner. I found it was a good way to teach very basic work such as positions of the body, arms, head, etc. But otherwise found it boring in the extreme (including the pre-ordained music), and even though there was "freework" it was not enough to overcome the negative aspects of not having the student learn to assimulate new movement or new ways of putting together dance sequences. Thus, when this Cecchetti teacher offered to mentor me into the Cecchetti Council - I politely refused. For 40 yrs I loved choreographing every class I taught. This not only keeps the teaching fresh - as well as the teacher - but also keeps the students, even the youngest, on their toes (pun intended).. They accept and expect to be challenged with having to put together new combinations of even the most basic steps. A glissade shouldn't always start with the back foot - it shouldn't always move to the side, the arms shouldn't always be the same, etc. As you probably know syllabus work is not used very much at all in the USA- and yet we do produce good dancers. Exams are not done - there is no formal grading in the overwhelming number of schools. This also means no exam fees or any of the other expenses . As for only doing one side of the barre - I've only seen that once. The teacher was a very famous person - but, sorry, that is simply unacceptable to me. Nor is skipping barre work. Both the classes I took and the classes I taught were always 90 minutes long, except for the very young. We did two shows a year, one at Christmas time and one during the summer. They can, of course, interrupt regular class work but only if that's what the teacher wants to do. Early on in the learning process for a show II taught the enchainements for the dance as part of classwork - the students didn't know it would be part of the dance in a show. After a fairly short while, when the sequences came together, we only rehearsed those particular sequences for the last few minutes of a regular class. As the performance time approached, the dance was already smooth and we only needed approximately two rehearsals, one/two on stage, together with the rest of the school. I never allowed the show dances to consume - or even come close - regular ballet class work. I have to say that since the students were not part of a syllabus system, they were quick to pick up new enchainement and learning a dance was just part of learning new movement in every class.

May 19, 1909 - opening night of the Ballet Russe in Paris at the Theatre du Chatelet performing "Le Pavillion d'Armide.

Many years ago we went to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. We went on the ride called "It's a Small World." For those of you who may not have been to Disneyland - this ride is in a large enclosed building while siting in a smallish boat that moves through a labyrinth of rooms and halls filled with dolls dressed up in the various folkwear of countries from all around the world. The dolls are placed in tiers above one's natural sightline so that one has to look up. It's a fairly long ride and throughout the music is playing "It's a Small World After All." - on and on in gallery after gallery - hundreds - maybe even thousands of dolls with moving arms, legs. heads. mouths all moving to mimic the song, eyes opening and shutting. Well, the day we went something happened to the music and it went completely silent. However, the dolls kept moving as did our boats and so in room after room we were treated to the clickings and clackings of varous doll parts moving, click-eyes open, click-mouth closes, click-head turns, click-arms move - countless dolls clicking and clacking away. That's all we could hear was this other-worldly clicks/clacks and moving dolls as we looked up at them and they looked down at us - eyes clicking open and shut.. To say it was eerie is to put it mildly. Seemed like the beginning of a horror movie. We were very happy to eventually emerge from the building into the open sky and sunshine.

Myself in a mirror.

I just saw this thread...... You will be very much missed, Jane. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.

What I gatherred from the article is that work is good overwork is not. Makes sense to me.

How about just a list of great authors?

Does it matter the nationality of the author if the book is a great one? I don't think so.

Interesting film - thank you for posting it. (I put in "bold" the paragraph that may be relevant to this thread:) On Sept. 14, 2001, I attended a pre-performance Chat with Victor Barbee, Principal Dancer, Asst. to the Artistic Director and Ballet Master, American Ballet Theatre. For thirty minutes, in the Grand Salon of San Diego’s Civic Theatre, Welton Jones, Dance Critic (retired) of the San Diego Union Tribune and Principal Dancer Victor Barbee conducted a most interesting and spirited pre-performance “chat.” Mr. Barbee after a long career with ABT, is now dancing character roles and as well as ballet master, and has just recently been appointed as Assistant Artistic Director under Kevin McKenzie. Now for the first time in many years, ABT is under the direction of dancers who rose through its own ranks. Mr. Barbee sees the role of Ballet Master as key to handing on the tradition that is the heart of the art form. In his twenty-seven years with ABT, he has danced through much of the Company’s repertoire of four hundred ballets and so feels strongly this treasure must be guarded, enhanced and passed on. Questions were solicited from those assembled: My question was: "How as ballet master do you marry the many disparate styles of the dancers, particularly the corps de ballet of ABT, into a cohesive stylized whole." He said: " I think that the many schools and countries from which the dancers come is an advantage which gives them a great deal of versatility rather than a liability. I feel that it is my task to blend their talents and styles without losing their individuality.” (This is an excerpt of a much more complete report I wrote of the event.)