You may be capable of imparting great wisdom in 140 characters or less, but can you blow an audience away in 60 seconds? Ballet to the People is generally not a fan of dance competitions, but this one is different…
15 JULY 2011
12 JULY 2011
Jennifer Homans pronounces Ballet dead… Alexei Ratmansky performs CPR
Don’t miss the ballet event of the year: the West Coast premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Bright Stream at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles later this week (July 14-17). Ratmansky, artistic heir to both Petipa and Balanchine, former Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Theatre and now Artist …
11 JULY 2011
Don't say your dancing days are done…
Inspirational tidbit from this hilarious 1925 handbook: “Don’t say your dancing days are done. Your dancing days are never done until you are confined to a bath chair for exercise. If you can walk to the office in the morning and play a game of golf on Sundays, there …
1 JULY 2011
Adagio at Rodeo Beach
A crisp, blustery summer afternoon on Rodeo Beach, whose soaring bluffs and craggy coastline complement the majestic melancholy of Julian Lloyd Webber’s interpretation of Bach’s Air on a G String. Yes, it was a challenge not to fall over as the sand shifted under my feet on the sloping beach,
21 JUNE 2011
Start with a plié
We start with plié at the barre not just because it underpins all movement in ballet, but because it happens to be one of the most efficient ways to warm up the entire body. It is not a movement isolated to the legs; even without any accompanying arm movement, …