My Novel
On Twitter
Recent Comments
- Jay on Is Pasha a Nureyev or a Baryshnikov: What's In a Dancer's Sexuality Anyway?
- Jay on Is Pasha a Nureyev or a Baryshnikov: What's In a Dancer's Sexuality Anyway?
- Jay on Is Pasha a Nureyev or a Baryshnikov: What's In a Dancer's Sexuality Anyway?
- Terri Robinson on Made My Acting Debut, on Gloria Allred’s WE THE PEOPLE!
- irene on Who Will Play Romeo in the Film Version of Anne Fortier’s “Juliet”?
- Kevin Whalen on YULIA AND RICCARDO TELL ALL
- Bella on Who Will Play Romeo in the Film Version of Anne Fortier’s “Juliet”?
- Nat on Who Will Play Romeo in the Film Version of Anne Fortier’s “Juliet”?
- Tonya on Ballet Arizona’s SLEEPING BEAUTY, and Phoenix Society For the Arts Reads SWALLOW!
- Tonya on Who Will Play Romeo in the Film Version of Anne Fortier’s “Juliet”?
Archives
Daily Reads
Dance
- A Life Less Examined
- Art's Place
- Ballet Bag
- Ballet News UK
- Bill T. Jones
- Black Swan Diaries
- Clare Byrne
- Counter Critic
- Dance Advantage
- Dance Beat – Ballroom News
- Dance Bloggers Directory
- Dance in Israel
- Dance On YouTube Dance Channel
- Dance View Times
- Dancing Perfectly Free
- Demicontretemps
- Explore Dance
- Foot in Mouth
- Haglund's Heel
- Infinite Body
- J Pointe
- Judith Mackrell / Guardian
- Laura Jacobs
- Living With Criticism
- Misnomer
- Move the Frame
- Movmnt
- New York Times / Dance
- Oberon's Grove
- Odette's Ordeal
- Off Center
- Ranting Details
- Saturday Matinee
- Seeing Things
- Shimmy Blog
- Tango Cherie
- Voice of Dance
- Watching Dance
- Wendy Perron / Dance Magazine
- Winger
Legal
Literary / Publishing
- A Newbie's Guide to Publishing
- Arts and Letters Daily
- Bargain eBooks
- Book Ninja
- Book Trib
- Bookslut
- Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
- Editorial Ass (Archives)
- Edward Champion's Reluctant Habits
- Elegant Variation
- Frugal E-Reader
- Galley Cat
- Guardian Books Blog
- Kindle Author
- Kindle Nation Daily
- L.J. Sellers
- Lev Grossman
- Literary Saloon
- Maud Newton
- Meghan Daum
- Narrative
- Nathan Bransford
- One Story
- Paper Cuts
- Publishing Perspectives
- Rap Sheet
- Read Russia
- Red Adept Reviews
- Rumpus
- The Millions
- White Readers Meet Black Authors
- Writers' Houses
- Zoetrope
New York
Writers & Friends
- Bear Mountain Books
- Closing My Eyes Helps Me to See Clearly
- David Dalglish
- Hello Kruel Kruel World
- In the Next Apartment
- Karly Kirkpatrick's Book a Day
- Learn Me Good
- Maria Romana
- Marie Mutsuki Mockett
- McAfee Land
- Michael Northrop
- Musings of a Mediocre Mind
- Paper Boats
- Rebecca Forster
- Schuyler's Monster
- Shelley Stout's Spiral Notebook
- Sibel Hodge
- Spalding's Racket
- The Right to Publish
- Thea J. Nilsson
- Two Ends of the Pen
- Victorine Writes
Disclosures
I oftentimes, but not always, receive complimentary press tickets to performances, and complimentary books, for purposes of review. These complimentary items in no way affect my reviews. Also, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.-
Tag Archives: Ballet
Former NYCB Dancer Sophie Flack Signs Her Debut Novel, BUNHEADS, at BEA
My apologies for my lack of blog posts this week. I spent Monday through Thursday at Book Expo America, the largest book industry trade fair in North America, held every year in NY at the Javits Center. (Nevertheless, I did … Continue reading
Posted in Ballroom / Latin, Dance News, Dancers, Literature / Books
Tagged ABT, Ballet, balletomanes, BEA, Becoming Ginger Rogers, Black Swan, Book Expo America, Bunheads, Colson Whitehead, Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, Javits Center, Latin / Ballroom, Michael Northrop, NYCB, Patrice Tanaka, Sophie Flack, the Winger, zombies
1 Comment
LEAP by Jodi Lundgren
I recently finished this sweet, very honestly written young adult novel by Canadian author Jodi Lundgren. Leap is a coming of age story about a teenage girl, Natalie, living in British Columbia with her mother and younger sister. Natalie deals … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books
Tagged Ballet, Burn the Floor, Canadian author, Coming of Age, Fosse, Gaga, jazz, Jodi Lundgren, Leap, Modern Dance, Petra Murgatroyd, young adult novel
2 Comments
Misty Copeland on Tavis Smiley
Apropos of our recent discussion on race and ballet, ABT’s Misty Copeland was recently on the Tavis Smiley show. She talks about race, ballet, elitism, her training, her recent appearance onstage with Prince, the immense difficulty of ballet, and of … Continue reading
Ballroom Kids Win “Live to Dance”
Apparently the young ballroom dance duo, D’Angelo and Amanda, won the first Live to Dance championship last night. Coming in second place was the 11-year-old contemporary / jazz dancer, Kendall Glover, and placing third were the ballet pair, White Tree … Continue reading
Roberto Bolle on the Intersection of Fashion and Ballet
Here’s an interview with Roberto Bolle backstage at Dolce & Gabbana’s 20th anniversary show in June. He talks about ballet and fashion, saying both have to do with the aesthetics of the body and movement, and that fashion is very … Continue reading
Posted in Dancers, Fashion, Interviews
Tagged Ballet, Dolce & Gabbana, fashion, Italy, Roberto Bolle
1 Comment
THE INFLUENCE OF SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE ON DANCE STUDIOS
Interesting article by Claudia La Rocco in the NY Times about the influence of SYTYCD on studios. (I missed SYTYCD this week; had really wanted to watch Thursday night but was at New York City Ballet all settled in my … Continue reading
Posted in Ballroom / Latin, Dance Classes / Dance Studios, Dance Criticism / Discussion / Reviews / Blogs, Dance on Television
Tagged Alvin Ailey dance studios, Alvin Ailey extension, Ballet, Broadway Dance Center, Claudia La Rocco, Dance Times Square, Hip Hop, Jason Samuels Smith, Mandy Moore, Natalia Osipova, New York Times, Nigel Lythgoe, Salsa, Samba, Savion Glover, So You Think You Can Dance, SYTYCD, tap dancing
Comments Off
THE WILIS ARE REAL: THE DANCING PLAGUE OF 1518
I was browsing around in the bookstore yesterday and spotted this. Apparently in the summer of 1518, in Strasbourg, one woman began dancing and couldn’t stop. This “hysteria” spread until a great number of people had literally danced themselves to … Continue reading
Posted in Dance Chatter, Literature / Books
Tagged Ballet, Giselle, John Waller, Strasbourg, The Dancing Plague, the dancing plague of 1518, Wilis
Comments Off
SLSG IN THE WESTSIDE INDEPENDENT
My recent rant about opera crowds being more respectful of a performance than dance-goers is featured in the Westside Independent, an online magazine about all things Upper West Side.
Posted in Media, Music and Opera, New York
Tagged Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, opera, The Westside Independent
Comments Off
TO APPLAUD OR NOT TO APPLAUD
Here’s an interesting article on the BBC’s website about audience applause during classical music performances that I found to be at least somewhat apropos of our earlier discussion about applause during ballet. They’re a bit different since applause at the … Continue reading
Posted in Dance Chatter, Music and Opera
Tagged audience applause, Ballet, BBC Proms festival, classical music
2 Comments
DANCE YOUR ASS OFF SERIES PREMIERE
Thanks to a comment from the executive producer on my prior post, I remembered to watch the series premiere last night of the newest TV dance show (Oxygen network). It was sweet. All of the contestants are “real people,” some … Continue reading
"A DESSERT BAR JUST EXPLODED IN MY MOUTH!"
Woo hoo — Gary Vaynerchuk just gave the big thumbs up to my friend’s wine. (That’s the Esporao one; the middle “pansies on the nose” one he tastes). Can you imagine someone setting up a table in front of the … Continue reading
Posted in Restaurants / food, The Blogging Life / The Writing Life
Tagged Alentejo wines, Ballet, Esporao, Gary Vaynerchuk, Metropolitan Opera House, Portuguese wine, wine, Wine Library TV
Comments Off
CONGRATULATIONS SHAWN JOHNSON
On bringing home that big ole disco ball See, I was right in calling this the Mark Ballas Show! I really thought it was going to be Gilles. I guess since they said there was less than a one percent … Continue reading
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR? NO, MELISSA RYCROFT IS MORE LIKE A GLAMOROUS OLD-TIME HOLLYWOOD STARLET!
Well, I was on a train late last night and missed watching the Dancing With the Stars semis on TV. Now I realize how hard the show makes it for you to catch re-runs. Geesh. Rickey doesn’t have everything posted, … Continue reading
Posted in Dance on Television
Tagged Argentine Tango, Ballet, Bruno Tonioli, Cannes, Carmen Miranda, Carrie Ann Inaba, cha cha, Chelsie Hightower, Cheryl Burke, Dancing With the Stars, Dancing With the Stars Season Eight Semi-Final, Fred Astaire, Gilles Marini, Ginger Rogers, Guillermina Quiroga, Jive, Latin / Ballroom, Latin dancing, Len Goodman, Lil Kim, Mark Ballas, Melissa Rycroft, Quickstep, Rickey, Rita Hayworth, Salsa, Samba, scam, Shawn Johnson, Tony Dovolani, Ty Murray, Viennese Waltz, waltz, Watching Dancing With Stars, YouTube
11 Comments
THE MARK BALLAS SHOW: SEMI-SEMI-FINALS
Sorry, am compelled to call DWTS the Mark Ballas show now, because whenever he dances, it is so all about him. Mark! Can the man ever learn to be the frame? “Oh baby, what’s wrong?” he says to Shawn in … Continue reading
Posted in Dance on Television
Tagged Anna Demidova, Argentine Tango, Ballet, Blackpool Dance Festival, Bryan Watson, Carmen Vincelj, Chelsie Hightower, Cheryl Burke, Dancing With the Stars, Derek Hough, Emerald Ball, Foxtrot, Gilles Marini, Lacey Schwimmer, Latin, Latin / Ballroom, Len Goodman, Lil Kim, Louis Van Amstel, Mark Ballas, Mayo Alanen, Melissa Rycroft, Paso Doble, Quickstep, Rhumba, Salsa, Shawn Johnson, Tony Dovolani, Ty Murray, waltz
12 Comments
GREAT GATSBY BALLET
BalletMet Columbus, based in Columbus Ohio, is currently putting on a ballet version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. Says 35-year-old choreographer Jimmy Orrante: ” The story has parallels with today, with the cycle repeating of people going to parties, … Continue reading
Posted in Previews
Tagged Ballet, BalletMet Columbus, Columbus Ohio, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gerard Charles, Great Gatsby, Jimmy Orrante
3 Comments
ONLY WHEN I DANCE
This Brazilian documentary about two young, black, underprivileged aspiring pro ballet dancers that will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month looks good.
TWO DANCING WITH STARS CELEBS PULL OUT WEEKEND BEFORE SHOW
Katrina alerted me to this. Apparently, two Dancing With the Stars celebrity contestants have had to pull out of the show due to injury, and just the weekend before season eight is to premiere. It was first rumored that singer … Continue reading
Marie Antoinette Ballet About to Premiere in Houston
Apparently the artistic director of the Houston Ballet, Stanton Welch, whose work — that I’ve seen anyway– I’ve really liked, has made a new ballet based on the life of Marie Antoinette, which is just about to premiere. See a … Continue reading
Posted in Previews
Tagged Ballet, Houston Ballet, Marie Antoinette, Marie Antoinette ballet, Stanton Welch
2 Comments
DAVIDSBUNDLERTANZE!
Say that five times in a row (Above photo of Sara Mearns in Davidsbundlertanze by Paul Kolnik, courtesy of New York City Ballet) Last Wednesday, my friend Judy and I went to NYCB for their Founding Choreographers II program, which … Continue reading
New York City Ballet: Founding Choreographers I
(photos by Paul Kolnik, taken from NYTimes) Tuesday night I went to see New York City Ballet’s Founding Choreographers I program (I know, I’m very late; it’s been a nasty week of migraines and sanity-destroying upstairs neighbors — more on … Continue reading
Posted in Dance Performance Reviews
Tagged Angel Corella, Ballet, Benjamin Millepied, Charles Askegard, Dances at a Gathering, George Balanchine, Igor Stravinksy, Jerome Robbins, John Philip Sousa, Julie Kent, Kathryn Morgan, Maria Kowroski, Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, New York City Ballet, Other Dances, Paul Kolnik, Sara Mearns, Stars and Stripes, Suite of Dances
Comments Off
Superstars of Dance Finale
Well, I was going to say it didn’t bother me this week as much as last, but then I watched the first 15 minutes (I had a legal seminar tonight and didn’t get home until after the show had already … Continue reading
Superstars of Dance is Completely Degrading to the Art Form
And you know I haven’t said that about any of the other dance shows. I’ve been very open-minded so far. But the judges tonight seem pretty open about rewarding ass-shaking over artistry, subtlety, dance skill, interpretive skill, ingeniousness of choreography, … Continue reading
Posted in Dance on Television
Tagged Ballet, Irish step dancing, Salsa, Samba, strip dancing, Superstars of Dance, Tango
12 Comments
Superstars of Dance, Semis Part I
I’m loving Maria Kochetkova! (She’s the ballerina dancing for Russia). I love how polished and perfect she was — all those turns! And her technique and precision were incredible. But I also love her personality — that she said she … Continue reading
Sweet Coppelia at New York City Ballet
Image taken from Explore Dance, photo by Paul Kolnick; dancers: Yvonne Borree and Robert La Fosse. New York City Ballet doesn’t often put on full-length story ballets, but when they do, they do very well with them. Coppelia was very … Continue reading
Posted in Dance Performance Reviews
Tagged Ballet, Coppelia, Joaquin De Luz, Megan Fairchild, New York City Ballet
5 Comments
Nutcracker on PBS This Wednesday
If you don’t want to miss a Christmas classic, but don’t want to shell out the money in this crap economy, no worries. San Francisco Ballet‘s Nutcracker is going to be on PBS this Wednesday. I viewed an advance copy … Continue reading
