Cherilyn

6 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

I enjoyed reading that article & could relate to it.... albeit I trained in dance up to age 18, then stopped, re-started classes at 40 & now at 50 am beginning my journey into training to teach ballet.... the comment about that ‘special internal spark’ rang such a chord of truth with me! No matter the journey we take in life, once that spark is there it never dies & it’s such a joy when it reignites & ballet is once more a big part of life! 

This is all so wonderful, @Peanut68! Are you training to teach a specific method? It makes me so happy to hear that you and ballet have reunited

I hadn't really thought about this in a while, but today was inspired to share what retirement was like for me. I am sure that many of you out there are retired professional ballet dancers - what was your process like?

1 hour ago, Scheherezade said:

More productions like this please over here!

Well I am envious of your access to the likes of Royal Ballet and ENB! I've yet to see them perform live. 

1 hour ago, Don Q Fan said:

Thank you for the review Travelling Ballerina! I really like Ratmansky's work and love that he is carefully restoring older classics. Harlequinade looks wonderful!  I was fortunate to see his Bayadere in Berlin and his ABT Sleeping Beauty in Paris and his restagings are great. I hope we might see some Ratmansky in the UK but I'm not sure we will so it's good to read reviews such as yours. 

You're welcome, @Don Q Fan! I hope to see more of Ratmansky in the future because I really enjoyed what I saw the other night. Question: I find Sleeping Beauty to often be a bit lengthy for my taste (Prologue, Act I, Act II, Act III...!) Does Ratmansky magically make it move along at a quicker pace? If so, I'm in! Thank you for appreciating my review

10 hours ago, Sim said:

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on American ballet performances;  for those of us who aren't on that side of The Pond it is great to be able to experience them through you!

It makes me happy that you enjoy reading them! Thank you

I attended the opening last night and think that Harlequinade is precious. The evening flew as I was thoroughly enjoying myself the entire time. If you're interested, here's my review  Anyone else attend?

I searched the forum to check if anyone else has seen or commented about Bourne's Cinderella but couldn't find anything. I went to the performance last night at The Kennedy Center, and I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed. I really wanted to love it considering the high praises I have heard from colleagues and reviews of his other productions. If you're interested, here are some of my thoughts about the show. And I would truly appreciate reading the opinion of others, especially from those who enjoyed it.

4 hours ago, Sophoife said:

I think the link you're looking for is this one. 😉

Actually, for some reason the link in my original post didn't work...it was supposed to be this 

In case you haven't heard the news yet...

8 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Very well written piece that concisely sums up much of this issue which is not discussed nearly enough I fear....

Want to share with young dancers but I know many will react with first thoughts/words ironically being “Great, so you must think I’m fat then!”

But it is talking about it & equipping those with ‘power’ to communicate more effectively & - dare I say? - change their own mindset towards being more accepting & rewarding of womanly bodies (& of course must also remember this is an issue for Male dancers too) 

Attitudes need to change by parents, teachers, choreographers, audiences & dancers themselves.

Thank you, @Peanut68. This is definitely a sensitive issue no matter who may be having the conversation - parent/child, teacher/student, director/dancer - and I believe it is one that needs to be tailored to each individual; because there are deep psychological repercussions, there is no cut and paste way to approach, if it needs to even be approached at all. And I think that's part of the attitude change you reference: Is it really worth saying to a dancer that s/he needs to lose one pound? In my opinion, absolutely not.

You mention debating whether to share or not with young dancers - are you a ballet teacher?

A colleague of mine, Eugene C Barnes III, has decided to share a part of his journey related to substance abuse caused by pressures in the ballet world. This is a very serious topic and I applaud is courage; perhaps someone out there needs to hear his words to know s/he is not alone.  

2 hours ago, Katia05 said:

Great piece, Cherilyn. As you say, such an important conversation and I would so love it to see the upcoming generations of dancers find role models like you.xx

Thank you so much, @Katia05, for your kind words! Being acknowledged as a positive role model is one of the biggest compliments I could receive - thank you 😊

21 minutes ago, alison said:

Thank you, Cherilyn.  I think this is something which a lot of dancers and dance students will recognise, so I'm going to move it to Doing Dance.

Ok - thank you!

As any new year approaches, there tends to be much buzz about losing weight. This inspired me to write about the specific emphasis that is placed on dancers to have just the right body. I hope we can keep this important conversation going.

I wish I could have seen Graham dance, but alas I have only worked with him in his role as choreographer.

42 minutes ago, Darlex said:

Enjoyed his ballet, Paramour, for SWRB in the 80s - a cast that included Galina Samsova and Marion Tait. 

I danced in Paramour! It is a wonderfully-stylized ballet, isn't it? And Graham's partnering choreography is always super challenging and effective. And...Eva Evdokimova was the principal dancer - what a luxury to share a stage with her.

I had the opportunity to chat with Graham after about 20 years since last seeing him! I had the honor of being cast in several of his pieces while at Hartford Ballet and loved dancing each and every one of them

The Nutcracker has been a huge part of half my life, but there are some interesting facts that I only just recently learned. So I decided to put together a quiz that includes questions about the history, music, and plot of the ballet. Hope you find it fun and perhaps educational, too!

29 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Your link doesn't seem to be working.

Oh, thanks for letting me know! Here it is

I didn't see the performance, but I have contributors to The Traveling Ballerina who did. This is their review. Personally, don't think it's my cup of tea.

7 hours ago, Melody said:

Thanks for the review, it brings back happy memories!

I'm so glad, @Melody! I see you are located in DC - perhaps you can make it to their final performance here tonight?!

9 hours ago, Sophoife said:

@The Traveling Ballerina How great that despite a lifetime's experience, one can still revel in a different take on an old favourite. Funnily enough BW cdb member Dominic Ballard comes from the Albury-Wodonga area, my current home, and he told me in mid-year it was a Nutcracker to delight in!

I really was pleasantly surprised that this production sparked that inner child wonder again - it's definitely a Nutcracker to delight in!

6 minutes ago, Anna C said:

TTB, just fyi I have changed the “Ballet West” tag to “Ballet West Utah” to avoid confusion with the ballet school in Scotland. ☺️

Great!

14 hours ago, Sim said:

Thanks so much for this, TB. It sounds like a truly wonderful production, and for those of us far away who can't see it, this is the next best thing to being there.  P!ease keep the reviews coming!  

Thanks for the kind words, Sim! Although I will always post here in the forum, all of my reviews reside on this page. 

There are so many more details of the production that I am just in love with but I hesitated to share too much in the review for fear of ruining any element of surprise for potential viewers. I hope that one day you are able to witness this in person

Cherilyn.

I realize that this a strong proclamation, but I'm going to go ahead and say it: I have spent over half of my life in some capacity or another (dancer, choreographer, director, audience-member) involved with The Nutcracker and watching this production was like seeing it for the first time; I even surprised myself by how in-awe I was. Here's my review

Anyone else with opinions about this production?