Anjuli_Bai

How about...... What's Happening: Performances seen & general discussion News: Ballet & Dance events & information Keeping the old "What's Happening" and adding the description Keeping the old "News" and adding the description The "new" What's Happening would be about the "present" and "past" - performances seen, reviews, and any other general discussion. The "new" News would be about the "future" - coming events - cast changes - company changes - upcoming tours - etc.

I remember Thai Babilonia (silver Olympic medalist in pairs ice skating) when she quit the Ice Capades she said at some point she should be able to change her mind about a decision she made when she was six years old. She also mentioned that she really wanted to leave much sooner but felt beholden to all those people who had given so much to support her training. While it is certainly true that most all occupations/vocations make demands of training, time and effort - the ballet is one of those in which the participant is always exposed; one is always on view whether it is in the classroom, rehearsal hall or stage. And so much of the time - in fact all the time - at the mercy of others making decisions. In a career such as an attorney at law the training is demanding but it is not from childhood. By the time a dancer reaches the Company stage - she/he has been dancing and preparing for approximately 10-15 yrs. Preparation to be an attorney is demanding but one can sometimes do it in the comfort of home or alone in an office. One can hope to reach the point of success where one is not at the behest of others such as which cases/clients to take, what kind of law to practice or with whom to associate. A dancer, almost no matter how successful will never have real control of her/his dance goals; what ballets to dance, costumes to wear, choreographers with whom to work, who teaches class, status within the company. It is a very rare career for a dancer to pick and chose as a sole operator. Even Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Margot Fonteyn, etc., could only control their activities to an extent. And then there's the spectre of injury. Which of us was not confused or unhappy at some point in our youth? I wish him every success in whatever he choses to do.

Thank you, Sim. Writing for a knowledgeable group of people is a wonderful thing.

"partially seduced" ???? I'm going to have to work on my skills. Seriously, I can see combining What's Happening with News - especially if that helps in "policing." Perhaps a "Dance Issues" or some such title for those items I mentioned above? if you think including such issues in What's Happening/News doesn't quite reflect such more general discussion.

<<<<<You'll notice that this amalgamates the present What's Happening with News - they're quite difficult to separate sometimes anyway. Is that sensible or would renaming them to something like 'Performances Seen' (instead of What's Happening) and something like 'News, Information, Performances to Come' (for News) be a better solution? And what order should they be in?>>>> I like the way "What's Happening" is now described because that would include something like: "I'd like to discuss how costuming for Romeo has changed over the years" or the oft asked "Is ballet a self centered/elitest art?" or is the audience demographic changing? or "Is the role of the critic changing? etc. In other words "What's Happening" as now described can also include a discussion of something that is not about a particular performance or dancer but a trend or general discussion of dance/ballet. Some of the most interesting threads in the "old" forum were about these kinds of historical or cultural or trends, etc., based discussions. I particularly remember a discussion on how sword fight scenes were staged - and another about the history of how the costume for the Lilac Fairy has changed. I don't particularly like sub-forums - too complicated. I also don't like too much division/separation such as: UK, American, World, etc. I think it is too tempting to just stay within one's own area. We can see that happening in what seems to be a division between those who inhabit Doing Dance and don't often seem to participate in other Forums and those who inhabit other forums and seldom glance into Doing Dance. Too many divisions leads to that, I think.

When I saw Miami City Ballet some years ago I thought they were terrific.

I can't recall the last time they came to San Diego.

You get to see them more than we do....and I'm about 600 miles to the south of SFB.

I just posted in a review. What I usually do is copy from my Word document and then paste into the posting box by right clicking my mouse. But with this new board that didn't work. So....luckily I discovered that you have to use one of the last three icons on the top row. Lucky me...I really didn't want to have to retype the whole thing.

"Bravo! Balanchine" City Ballet of San Diego Spreckels Theatre March 4, 2012 A program composed entirely of Balanchine ballets is an obvious challenge. City Ballet's ability to meet that challenge is a given; this was a performance of Balanchine worthy of any stage. Each of the Company's twenty-one plus dancers has been carefully chosen to fit into the vision of Artistic Director Steven Wistrich – no one is there by happenstance or temporary need. The Company doesn't import stars to fill a theatre; it grows with intelligent planning. Who Cares? Ariana Samuelsson and Geoffrey Gonzalez began a bit coolly, but warmed as they progressed into Gershwin's "Man I Love." Samuelsson always dances largely, commanding her space. Gonzalez is a careful worthy partner and when given his own space uses it to good effect. Emily Kirn was fun and playful in "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise." Katherine Spagnoletti sailed through "Fascinatin' Rhythm," making light of some difficult and demanding allegro. Erica Alvarado produced a series of spot on fouettés, throwing in an occasional double and then without any hesitation spun out into chainé tours. Gonzalez swished along Fred Astaire-esque in "Liza." The dancers ripped into "I Got Rhythm" – which they certainly did. Agon This is Balanchine at his most intelligent and undressed. In simple black leotards for the women and black and white for the men – there is nothing to come between the dance and the observer's eye as shape and movement are explored as only a master choreographer can. Megan Jacobs, Ariana Samuelsson and Geoffrey Gonzalez led the Company in a detailed and lucid performance. Trystan Loucado in composer Igor Stravinky's "Serabande" section incorporated the sometimes quirky style built on a classical structure – making it his own. "Panache" was the word which came to my mind as I watched him. In the "Pas de Deux," Samuelsson and Gonzalez gave life to a vision of what dance should be: an expression of the music and a product of a creative mind. The choreography is complex and yet must be made to seem natural in that unnatural world of the theater. They made it shine. Donizetti Variations The bright Germanic (think Giselle, First Act) skirts for the women and comparable costumes for the men were appropriate for Donizetti's music – quite a change from the previous ballet. Erica Alvarado and Stephano Candreva led the Company; she in bright red – appropriate for the firecracker of a dancer that she is. Petite but exuding aplomb, she set the mood with an entrance of erupting pas de Russe – seldom done by women. Candreva is a good match both as a dancer and as a partner. I would like to see him reach further – aim at something beyond our sight. Altogether this was a splendid program; a testimony to a thoughtful and fruitful artistic vision.

Great picture!

Thank you, John, for your reply.

It is also difficult for the teacher. For the dancer it can be very frustrating.

Generally speaking, a looser construction - which can be more beautiful such as in highly arched feet - is also a construction which is not as strong. If you think about it - it becomes obvious. Almost everything that moves operates between the two poles of stretch (moveability) and strength (stability). Sometimes it is also a component of wearability. How long a thing works without injury. While a foot which is highly arched can certainly also be strong (with proper training) it may be more vulnerable to wear and tear. Yes, in hypermobile/hyperextended knees it is difficult for the student to learn to pull up through the thighs. When they hear the teacher say "straighten your knees" - they push back rather than pull up through the thighs. It takes time for the message to get through and more time for them to feel what is correct. It's like working with jelly as opposed to working with bricks. Everyone has issues of one type or another - and every dancer has to learn how to work through and with those issues. While one dancer struggles to get a good extension - another struggles to maintain stability while holding that extension.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I am planning on posting in a review of a ballet performance. I understand that I should put it in the What's Hapening Forum. I also understand that there will no longer be a magazine format. But....what do I do about pictures? In the past I had the company send them directly to Bruce. From what I am reading - uploading pictures is not easy for those of us (me) whose skills are not equal to the task. Should I just tell the company not to send pictures? If that's wrong - to whom shall they be sent? Thank you for all the effort you are putting into keeping this forum alive.

Good addition - touching even for those who are not hypermobile has always been a part of teaching ballet up until now when everyone is hypersensitive about it. It even works when self administered! It is hard for someone who is loosely constructed to feel where the muscle is that must be engaged and connected to their core strength. Only when this has been accomplished does one gain control.

If you stand in fifth (or first) position and do a tendu to the front fully turned out and then rotate the extended leg within the hip socket so that the foot/leg is now almost turned in - and then rotate out again - the muscles that accomplish that rotation will be felt. Try that to the front/side/back and pay attention to how it feels.

There are certainly limits to everything the body does. It depends upon how everything is knit together: ligaments connect bone to bone (and don't stretch), tendons connect muscle to bone (tendons stretch), muscles move the bones at the behest of the tendons (muscles do stretch), the whole thing is tied to the skeleton which of course is made up of bone (cartilege, too), it moves but doesn't stretch. This, of course, is a simplified, generalized, basic explanation. Also - part of the picture is how the bones are shaped; how the ball and socket joints (hips) are placed and shaped and fit together, how the hinge joints (knees) are joined, etc. I have found that whilst children tend to be more flexible than adults - there are many children who are quite inflexible. Some elderly people are more flexiible than youngsters. Most people, if they work on it carefully, can maintain and even improve flexibility. We lose flexibility as we age because we don't move as much and/or other factors such as arthritis, scar tissue, etc. But to your question.....hypermobility is movement beyond the norrmal range of a joint. Flexibility and strength are the opposite poles: one allows us to move and the other gives us stability. People who are very flexibile have difficulty maintaining stability/strength - and people who are tightly knit, while strong and stable, have trouble moving. Most of us are somewhere on that scale - towards the middle. So, a highly flexible foot tends to be less strong while a tightly knit foot is strong but does not have that curve (which we label as "beautiful") The ballet dancer aims for both strength and beauty/flexibility but gives up one for the other. We have to bear in mind that which we label as "beautiful" is subjective - and subject to change with time. I hope this helps.

Thank you all very much. If there is another topic you would like me to initiate let me know, and hopefully I'll have something on it.

I have been asked to repost this....it has appeared on the old forum: Why Turnout? Turnout is one of the hallmarks of the ballet technique, though it occurs in many other dance forms. It gives the ballet dancer several advantages in executing the vocabulary of the ballet: It shows the lines of the body to good advantage. The turned out position is much more aesthetically pleasing and is used for other forms of dance such as Balinese. The foot and leg are more presentable - pleasing to the eye, when seen turned out - rather than straight on. It increases mobility. You are also less likely to trip when turned out, rather than moving straight on. Though I have used the terms turned out feet and legs - all turnout begins and is held in the hip. It increases the height of extension. If your leg is turned frontwards, its normal position, it cannot elevate to any significant degree either front, back or side. It gives you the ability to move in different directions more easily. If your feet are pointing frontward - you have no back foot. Moving sideways or backwards is much more difficult. You can also move much more swiftly when you are turned out. It presents a wider stance for balance. If you are standing on one foot your balance is much more stable if the foot you are standing upon is somewhat turned out. The basic premise of this technique is that the turnout occurs in the hips and is reflected in the legs and ultimately in the feet. The knees must always be aligned with the toes. If the knees are more forward than the toes in any of the ballet positions, then the feet must not be turned out so much. Nothing is gained by forcing turnout, and much can be lost. If the knees cannot accommodate the turnout, then injury will occur; if not immediately then ultimately. Assessing turnout.....If the student stands in her best (unforced) first position, with the knees aligned over the toes, have the student then relevé to half pointe, and see what happens to the heels. Have they lost some turnout? If they have that means that wherever that turnout was in a flat first position is the amount of turnout that is "available" and wherever that turnout is in relevé, is what is "useable." The object of gaining strength is to bring what is available and what is useable more closely in line. The guiding principles are: turnout must never be forced; turnout must come from the hips; knees must be aligned over the toes; everyone's turnout is different - comparisons with others is self defeating. Some of the questions that are asked about turnout, in my experience, are: What determines an individual’s turnout? The answer I believe is the construction of the hip joints, and the tension of the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Of course all of this is connected to other parts of the body such as the spine. But on a very basic level, it is the hip that is involved. The looser the construction, the more turnout is available. I use the word “available” because that leads to the next question that I am asked the most often and that is – “How do I improve my turnout?” In my opinion it is possible to improve turnout to some extent with careful, gentle work under the supervision of a good teacher. One cannot alter the construction of the hip joint, but one can improve the stretch to allow more turnout and the strength to maintain it. The student must of course always be well warmed up. Nothing must be pushed or strained. The work must be done on a regular basis. Every exercise in the ballet vocabulary, if worked correctly – from the hips – will work toward that end. Specifically, I don’t personally recommend extreme exercise or stretch of any kind. Sitting on the floor with the bottoms of the feet touching, and having the student (not anyone else!) GENTLY pushing down on the knees toward the floor, is a help. Again, the student has to be well warmed up, and the key word is GENTLE. You can let gravity and relaxation do a lot of the work. I do not recommend lying face down on the floor with the bottoms of the feet touching. In my opinion that places too much pressure on the knees, and the weight of the body will be forcing open the hips. Other things one could do: stand in retiré and slowly swing the lifted leg inwardly and then out – feeling the hips opening. The student can lie down on the floor (not a cold floor!) on her side and extend the upward leg to a la seconde, again feeling the turnout in the rotation of the hips. Every tendu is an opportunity to improve turnout, by presenting the heel to the front, hiding the heel under the foot (from the vantage point of the mirror to the side) to second, and hiding the heel again, when extending to the back. This of course extends itself to every other exercise, degagé, rond de jambe, etc. Is it possible to improve turnout after puberty? In my personal experience, very much so. We all have limitations beyond which the body will not go, but if the student works thoughtfully, a great deal of improvement can be accomplished.

Famcandance2 - perhaps what the school is saying is not that your daughter has no talent - but that since she can only dance twice a week there is little chance that she can fix whatever problems exist. When it was suggested that she go on to other things like drama or music did not mean she has no talent for dance (since they did allow her into the associates program) but that other circumstances are preventing her from putting in enough time into dance to fix the elements that need fixing. Having her in the associates program was the "break" you would like them to give her. It is not the fault (or anyone's fault) that it is not possible for her to invest more time. If the school has limited space they have to give it to the student who can invest the time. It is not possible to move forward with only being able to attend dance class twice a week. None of this is anyone's fault - if I'm understanding it all correctly. My apologies if I am muddling this and missunderstanding what you've said. I surely wish your daughter the very best.

It is difficult to understand isn't it? It's also a difficult situation for the teacher - especially when it comes to grading and "giving a less advantaged dancer a break." I faced this when I taught at a college. The class contained students of varying abilities - anyone could sign up for beginning ballet. As the teacher, my dilemma was how to grade the student? And thus - how to limit who could go on to the next level? Do I grade by ability: ability that was inborn or by amount of dedication and work? How do I grade the less gifted student who worked hard but in the end really can't move on to the next level? If I give this student a passing mark - she/he will automatically be able to move up. What about the student with natural gifts - with poor work habits - but easily passes all the "tests?" How do I tell a hard working dedicated student - I can't give you a passing grade because you will then automatically be able to sign up for the next level - but technically you'll be lost. Should I reward a student who easily made the grade without much effort and really doesn't care? My heart really belongs to the student who works hard regardless of the result - but can I put that student in the front line in a recital or end of term performance? While the lazy beauty gets to bounce around in the front. There are some things in life that are truly based on dedication and hard work. But most things are a combination of hard work and natural gifts - a some luck thrown in. The first we can control the rest we can't. As for the teacher being honest - many people say they want the teacher to tell them honestly but when it comes right down to it - many reject that honesty if it not what they wanted to hear. We accept what we want to hear. I had a student who was lovely, sweet, hard working, and wanted to dance more than anything. She had every attribute but one: her feet were totally unworkable for pointe. She had the tightest arch/instep I've ever seen. No amount of exercise or stretch would alter this extreme kind of construction. As we got closer to the time when pointe would normally be considered I told the mother - but she refused to believe it. She and the student insisted that if she worked hard it would change. When she reached 12 yrs old and rest of the class was beginning to go on pointe, the mother bought pointe shoes for this very enthusiastic child. There was no way she could ever get close to being up on the platforms of her pointe shoes with her knees straight. She worked and worked - while the rest of the class moved on. My heart ached for her. I tried to save her from this embarrassment - but she and her mother insisted she try. Finally after a few months of this she realized it was hopeless. It was so difficult to watch this but I had to let her find out for herself since she wouldn't believe me. And other teachers see something like this and hesitate to "be honest."

I can't speak for RAD or IDTA - but yes, the foot can come from anywhere - and then go front/side/front or back/side/back. Its where you place the first step which determines what you call it - not where the foot comes from.

Well, I don't think anyone said it fully ossifies at age 12 - but it does harden enough to do pointe.

Unable to edit above: name of pianist was Karl Fogmeg not "Kark." Sorry.