If you are a regular reader of Tights and Tiaras (and know that i love you!), you have probably noticed it is has been quiet around here for a while now. I know I’m letting you guys down, and I’m sorry. The list of reasons is long. I promise, I won’t rant, I won’t excuse myself further or complain, but allow me to explain a little.

The meniscus is the "bumper" in the knee softening the pressure between the tibia and the femur bone when moving.

It all started when I in December suffered an injury to my knee during a performance. A bad landing, a stabbing pain, and there I was. My right meniscus had given up, was shattered to pieces, and parts of it needed to be surgically removed. A light injury, the doctor said, “you’ll be back on your legs in a couple of weeks”. I wish it would have been so.  A couple of weeks later my knee was  swollen and stiff, and the results of the physiotherapy still had to present themselves. It wasn’t the doc’s fault, though, the surgery went well and all – my knee just turned out to be in worse shape than what they thought in advance.

Fast forward two months. My leg is developing (and developpé’ing ), I’m doing classes, jumping even. Training with a therapist daily, strengthening, swimming, eating all sorts of pills. Pills for the pain, pills for the cartilage, pills for the swelling… I wasn’t eating pills for my mood, but after a big set-back in the beginning of March, I might have needed some. The knee started hurting again, but now differently. The jumps I had been able to perform a week earlier now felt like someone put an axe to my patella, and mentally, I was loosing it – set-backs are horrible.

My boss, the director of the ballet company, didn’t exactly help to soothe my mood, either. By mid March, he told me he is unable to prolong my contract for the next season, and that I would need to find a new job to continue dancing. The audition “season” for dancers is from about christmas to approximately the end of February, I was late already, and my knee is nowhere ready for the stress a series of auditions produce.

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I have been through rounds and rounds in my head the last months, weighing my options, searching my feelings. I’ve been up and down, optimistic and on the edge of breakdown. Smiled, and cried – I did, I’ve cried at several occasions – not a typical thing for me to do, it’s been years since I last cried. The ballet studio has been the one set point in my life for as long as I remember. But all dancers know the time will come when things will change, and I think my time might be closing in. But it’s not because of the injury, nor the situation it has put me in. These are all things that easily can be fixed. Injuries heal (however slowly…), and there’s always auditions. The question is, can I still go at it with the same energy? Do I still have the fire, the urge I need to keep ‘breaking in’ my body daily, mentally prepare to present myself as good as I possibly can, shape a role, a feeling, a movement?! Can I keep making the sacrifices, knowing the scale never really ‘equals out’? I’m afraid I might not. I will write more about this, dear readers, explain to you, and perhaps, myself, what I mean behind these somewhat abstract words, but I wanted to tell you all, I haven’t forgotten about you. It’s hard to keep writing blog posts when your life is so drastically changing at the same time. I didn’t want to keep presenting you “factual” posts without any personal substance, but I couldn’t get myself to formulate my feelings into words, either. One need to identify feelings before it’s possible to write about them, and that’s been a hard process.

But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean I’m leaving the blog, or dance, for that matter. I’m just adapting. Broadening my perspectives. If you stay with me, I’ll take you guys with me on the road – it’s amazing, what opportunities opens ahead once the ostrich pulls his head out of the sand. Thank you for your patience, dear readers. Thank you for your loyalty, your comments and your support. I don’t think you realize what a support it actually is.

Until next time, keep dancing! Keep expressing yourselves, keep enjoying yourselves. Keep dancing. I will as well!

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Ta-Ta!
H

This week, I received the first Dance Gazette magazine of 2012 in the mail, and finally I had the same feeling as when I got their Black Swan issue last year: Yes! The exquisite cover is showing photos of the gorgeous Céline Gittens of the Birmingham Royal Ballet in several different poses and costumes, and leaves just enough text to make you curious of what’s inside. After some weaker covers, this is a magazine I would buy.

Editor David Jays introduction is as good as always, so is the ‘first things’ section I mentioned in an earlier review.

On page 11 (which is like page three, minus the commercials), there’s a great little feature – Royal Ballet star Edward Watson has written a short text, picking out his five best ballet deaths, the five coolest ways he has died onstage, that is. With Kenneth MacMillans (known for the brutality in his pieces, and his almost provocative way of showing all the details usually hid or sugar-coated in other ballet-choreographers work) ballets as the background, there should be a lot to choose from. Edward features the most famous ones (like Romeos poison and Mayerlings pistol), but the most brutal is from a ballet I have never seen performed, Different Drummer, where Edwards role Woyzeck drowns after being “driven to slash his wife’s throat, then goes to the bath to wash off the blood, gets in and closes the lid”.

Dance critic Deidre Kelly’s review ‘Beatle at the Ballet’ of the recent New York City Ballet production to me just known as “the Paul McCartney-ballet” – aka Ocean’s Kingdom – is one of the main features of the first Dance Gazette issue of 2012. And what a review it is. The ballet that premiered in September last year in New York, was ripped to pieces by most all dance critics in the world the following days, despite being made by a best of team of artists – Sir Paul McCartney wrote the libretto and the score, his daughter Stella designed the (hideous..) costumes, and the choreography was made by NYCB’s own director Peter Martins. Of the three, none seemed to have managed to create anything rememberable, Martins failing the worst if we shall believe Ms. Kelly, which I choose to do. Her review is a great article, showing both an objective and a subjective take on the show, harshly criticizing without turning it into a nag or a personal attack, but keeping a good and positive tone throughout the review. She really wanted the performance to be good. And even when she tells you how much it wasn’t so, the language of her article shows a true love of dance, and maybe even more, of the Beatles. A great review that lets the reader in on both the performance itself, the people that made it, and last but not least, the reviewer.

The magazine also features a text by Raymond Stults, a dance critic of the Moscow Times, commenting the departure of the great ballet stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev from the Bolshoi stage to the smaller, younger and more modern troupe the Mikhailovsky ballet of St.Petersburg, directed by the famous choreographer Nacho Duato. I have to agree with mr. Stults when he writes “I can’t blame them – I would certainly want to go in that direction too if I were a talented young dancer”.

There’s also  an article on the increasing number of adults starting (or re-starting) ballet training. Even if I don’t necessarily agree on the authors statement that it was the movie the Black Swan that started this new boost, it is a fact that the adult ballet students are making their presence known in studios all over the world. If you want some insight info, check out Dave Tries Ballet or The AdultBeginner – two adult ballet students that writes rocking blogs about it!

A look into why “everything” in ballet is pink (I don’t think it’s so, though, but yes, I guess, some productions are very.. Pink), an good interview with star-dancer-turning-director Eithan Stiefel are two other reasons to get 2012′s first Dance Gazette. I enjoyed the magazine a lot, great content in a nice looking package!

Just for the sake of openness, I want to tell you I do not receive any payment for these reviews, nor does the RAD or anyone else have a say in what I write on Tights and Tiaras. I do receive a copy of the magazine to review, or at least when my mailman feels like finding my mail-box, which has proven to be rather difficult. If you are interested in the terms for product reviews here on Tights and Tiaras, check out our policy.

Just wanted to let you know I am featured in an interview over at Ballet Babble.com! Check it out!

Ok, I’m going to do another reader feature now straight away, although it’s been just a couple of weeks since the first one. You see, the timing for featuring Emilie Tendon (how cool a name is that for someone in dance?! Tendon! Yeah!) is just perfect. She is the person in charge of organizing the superb ballet competition Prix de Lausanne, one of the leading competitions in the world, actually. And she’s a Tights and Tiaras reader! And the Prix is on right now!
So, hurry up and read about Ms. Tendon (Can’t stop loving that name!), and then run right off to the Prix’s excellent multimedia buffet of young dancers – they have a rocking YouTube channel, and if that wasn’t enough, they stream the finals live on Saturday, an event not-to-miss! You will be looking at the future stars of ballet!

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Tell me a little about yourself – who are you? What do you do?

My name is Emilie Chavaillaz Tendon. I am the registrar and the person in charge of organising the Prix de Lausanne. Along with our Artistic Committee, I update the Rules and Regulations, follow up on candidate registration and pretty much make sure everything runs smoothly. Of course I couldn’t do any of this without my colleagues.

What is your connection to dance? (are you a dancer yourself, a part of the audience, just interested in dance or…?)

I have always been interested in dance, and I watch as much dance as possible. And of course, I deal with dance and dancers on a daily basis at work.

How did you find Tights and Tiaras? What was it about the blog that interested you?

I found Tights and Tiaras randomly, while researching ballet blogs in general. It has kept me interested because the articles are light and funny, but seem to really portray the world of ballet. Also, I never get spammed, and there is no aggressive advertising – both huge turnoffs for me.

Do you have a favorite TnT post?

It probably doesn’t qualify as a post, but I really like the Ballet Crash-course.

Are there anything you miss on the site? Anything you’d like to read about that isn’t there? Or a feature you miss? Don’t be afraid to criticize

Hmm, I’m not sure I feel that anything is missing… but sometimes your spelling is a little off.

How long have you been reading Tights and Tiaras?

Since the beginning of Summer 2011.

Anything you’d like to add? Something you want to tell the TnT audience? Front a blog or say hi to mom? Here’s your opportunity

Some shamless plugging: (I love shameless plugging! I always said, if you shall advertise something, do it shamelessly! In that way, people know what they are looking at. Not to mention, the plug is A-w-e-some! H)
Watch the Prix de Lausanne Finals online for free, commented in French, English, Japanese or Spanish, on our website www.prixdelausanne.org on Saturday February 4^th at 3pm Swiss time.

Also, keep the funny posts coming and I hope you get better soon.

Thanks a lot to Ms Tendon (yeap!), for being our featured February reader. Make sure to check out the Prix, and see you ’round the blog for more articles and featured writers in the near future!
Ta-Ta

H

So, Tights and Tiaras is two years old! Hurrah! Thinking of all the stuff thats happened here on the site since I started it, I realized an important fact in the “history” of Tights and Tiaras: Everything is driven by you, dear readers. You give me ideas, you put me on the spot, make me explain and tell stories, you inspire me and are inspired by my posts. In short, you, dearest readers, are Tights and Tiaras. To celebrate the birthday, I will feature a Tights and Tiaras reader every month of 2012. Because you bunch are a diverse, great lot of people, and you keep Tights and Tiaras evolving and developing way longer than I would have ever managed alone!

So, from the bottom of my dance-loving heart: Thank you all sincerely!! Now meet Mary Hu, the first featured T&T reader of 2012!

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Mary Hu, our January reader, with her brother

Mary Hu is our first featured reader, and a devoted one she is. Mary told me she printed out our Tights and Tiaras posters and guerilla-posted them in public places for the grand public to see. That is cool enough to make the cut for the January TnT reader! Thank you, Mary and all other T&T readers, for your support!

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I’m an undergraduate business student at a private university in southern USA. I also really like economics, but unfortunately am not a huge fan of math, so that probably wouldn’t work out. J Outside of school, I play violin in my university’s symphony and love to read and travel! In fact, I just got back from an amazing winter cruise with my family—we went to Key West and Jamaica.

Besides all things dance and ballet, I’m also slightly obsessed with fashion, makeup, classical music, and Hayao Miyazaki movies. My absolute favorite ballet of all time is Swan Lake, even though I’ve never been a part of anything that has performed it, unfortunately. I really hope I can go to New York one day to see the ABT perform it—I think Gillian Murphy is beautiful and absolutely one of the best dancers ever.

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When I was 7 or so, I told my parents that I wanted to take ballet classes. Nothing special, really, just a typical little girl’s phase of tutus and twirling around. I ended up sticking with it for seven or so, and finally stopped taking classes right before high school.

Fast forward to freshman year of college, where I became re-obsessed with ballet: I signed up for ballet class again (thank goodness it’s part of our P.E. requirements), watched Black Swan, went to a show by the Atlanta Ballet, and decided that ballet is definitely here to stay in my life. J Right now I am all three of the above—dancer, eager observer, and 100% lover of dance.

It’s kind of funny, actually—I was shopping for tights for class last year, so I Google searched “ballet tights”, or something like that—and I suppose your blog popped up, and I clicked on it out of curiosity. What really struck me was the simplicity and honesty of the blog; there was nothing superficial or pretentious about it unlike other dance blogs you can find on the Internet. And because English is not your first language, the writing is more sincere and to the point, and a very pleasant read to boot! I also love reading the comments after each article from all of these other people who are related by dance through your website, and that’s how I truly realized how powerful a simple little blog can be, under the direction of the right person.

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I don’t have a favorite post, but my favorite column is “Life as a dancer”, just because it is really fascinating to me to see what the life of a real dancer is like. You can read interviews, of course, of famous ballerinas and their day-to-day activities, but only rarely do you see the whole picture the way Henrik’s blog gives it.

Oh, and also I lied—I think my favorite post is “5 reasons to date a dancer”. Which also applies to other artistic professions.

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About a year and a half: it was pretty new when I first came across it, I think!
Thank you Mary, for your devotion and support! Tights and Tiaras wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you and all the other, great bunch of readers!

Check back for the other featured readers each month, and of course, for new, interesting and funny content in the new year. I can tell you, there is more than one scheme going on ’round here now
Until next time,
Ta-Ta

H

Remember the posts on “dating dancers” here on Tights and Tiaras? Well, it made quite the fuzz when I published it – it seems, dancers romantic lives are something you are all quite interested in, aren’t you?! You gossipy little bunch

But it’s true, dancers romantic lives are somewhat different from “civil people’s,” as I mentioned in the How-to-date-a-dancer post (which wasn’t really a good list on how to date a dancer, sorry ’bout that. But I’m happy to tell you, this one will be!). What a person do for a living is not necessarily defining that person in general, but with dancers, it tends to give you quite a hint – we take our job very seriously, and it does take up most of our time. As a natural consequence, lots of dancers seems to be dating other dancers.

As promised earlier, Rebecca King, dancer of Miami City Ballet and author of the Tendus under a Palm Tree, and I wanted to continue our interactive chats, and share some views around the romantic lives of dancers, the dating other dancers vs “normal people” pros and cons and – wait for it – finally give you some real pointers in what to expect, and how to handle, dating a dancer yourself. Rebecca and I earlier talked about another way of partnering - an interactive guide to Pas de Deux, have you read it yet?

Enjoy

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On dating other dancers or not:

Henrik: I’m together with my lovely girlfriend for 6 years, who is also a professional dancer. I do enjoy living with someone that understand my profession and has the expertise to help me and discuss professional issues. On the other hand, we have a good “balance” in leaving the job in the theatre when we go home. That doesn’t mean we never talk about ballet outside the theatre, but if there was any problems or things we weren’t satisfied with at work, we will deal with it at work, and when we go home, it’s forgotten until next time. This is especially important since we are working in the same company, which sometimes results in issues coming up between us as dancers. These are important not to bring home afterwards. Also, it basically mean we are seeing each other ‘all the time’, which makes separating private and professional life even more important.

Rebecca:  To me, this is where work relationships can get a little tricky.  When you work together and see each other all the time, the time spent together after work could get a bit boring and routine.  There is no need for a “Honey, how was your day?” because you were there; you know.  When you are in the same profession you seem to have a lot in common, but sometimes, that is the only thing you have in common.  It can be nice to talk to someone about ballet who understands the art form, but spending time with someone who doesn’t know anything about your job and is willing to learn about it can be even more interesting.  Of course you can’t just say, “I had the hardest class today.  The grande allegro the teacher gave with the saut de chats really killed my calves.”  You have to translate.  “I had a difficult morning.  We did a lot of dancing with big jumps that made my legs tired.”

H: I guess I’m biased here, as my girlfriend and I don’t seem to have any problems with being together becoming routine, for which I am very happy! But I definitely can see the problem. One thing we are very good at is doing stuff separately at times. I’m not afraid to tell my girlfriend “I look forward to being somewhere else this weekend”. To be apart makes you miss and appreciate your partner for when you meet again.
Dancers that are together with other dancers often work in the same theatre, has the same friends, same routines – it can become a problem. Seeing your partner 24/7 is not necessarily a good thing. One need a little room every once in a while, something that is ‘yours’ only.

Anyone mentioned nice legs?! Picture from modelsandmoguls.com

R: Dancers always end up spending their time with other dancers.  I guess there is just something about the comfort of something familiar and people who really understand you, and are kind of “crazy” in the same way.  Of course spending too much time together is never a good thing; either with your co-workers, friends, or significant other.  This is where, for me, when dating a “normal person”, you get to meet their friends who are also “normal.”  It can be so refreshing to meet new people and have conversations about something other than ballet.  Sometimes we allow ballet to consume our lives, and it is important to take a step back and enjoy some time away from it all.

H: Absolutely. My absolutely closest friends are all “non-dancers”, and I think without them, I’d go nuts. I don’t think it’s healthy, in any profession, to be too caught up in what you do. It’s great to be devoted, but if you don’t allow yourself impressions from the rest of the world, you are denying yourself lots of inspiration, which can be alpha and omega in developing further.

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One thing is for sure, the romance you see on stage often do blossom also backstage, and many dancers tend to find their spouses from within our own ranks. But how many is it really? I’ve tried to gather some figures, let’s have a look, shall we?! How is the situation in Miami, Rebecca?

R: Here in Miami City Ballet we have a pretty astounding statistic: Almost all of the men date or marry dancers from the company and the rest are single.  About 80% of the women date or marry people from outside the company.  Of course this statistic is drastically affected by the fact that there are more women in the company, but these are not scientific numbers, just an example for my demonstration.

H: Wow, that is really high numbers! There’s not a single guy that has a “normie” girlfriend?! Here in Győr, the situation is quite different. About half of the guys in a relationship has spouses from outside the dance-world. As for the ladies, about 70% of those in a relationship are together with outsiders.
Being a dancer together with another dancer, I can definitely sign off your statement about being surrounded by lovely ballerinas – it’s hard not to fall for any of them

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Romeo and Juliet, the classic love story. But is it just play, or do the dancers bring their affection with them also off-stage?

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To widen our “survey” a bit, I asked a couple of other dancers what it’s like in their companies. The numbers we got back are interesting:

• Anne Marie Melendez from the Ballet Austin tells us that of the women in the company, 3 are dating or married to other dancers, 7 to non-dancers, 2 are single. Amongst the men it’s about opposite, 4 are dating other dancers, only 1 dating a non dancer, 5 are single.
• A dancer from the Stuttgart Ballet who prefers to remain anonymous, tells us the balance in their company is pretty much equal, but that maybe a small majority of the dancers are dating outsiders. There is no big difference between the genders.
• Chris McDaniel of the Los Angeles Ballet says: “Id say most of the girls date guys outside of the dance world. So 80% maybe. There are only two couples in the company. And the other guys are single…”
• Jean Marc Cordero from the Philippine National Ballet gave us a real specified update:
  42% in the company is in a relationship, 11% are married
  53% of the dancers in our company are men. About 60% of the men are in a relationship, and amongst these, almost everyone (83%) are in a relationship with co-dancers.
  About half of the women in the company are in a relationship, 25% of these women are in a relationship with non dancers. 75% of the women in a relationship are dating other dancers.

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So what’s the conclusion? Well, it seems the numbers are varying from place to place, but in general, I think we can say there is a stronger tendency for dancing men to date other dancers, than amongst the dancing women. Understandably enough when you think about it, as there are more women dancing, than men, so the ones who doesn’t get a “dancing man” (and don’t feel like sharing) pretty much has to find themselves spouses outside the ballet ranks.

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How to date a dancer

Here comes the part you have all been waiting for, dear readers. How is it like dating a professional dancer? What can you expect? Earlier, I’ve written a post on 5 real reasons to date a dancer that you might want to check out. Dating dancers are great! Although, we might be a little hard to handle sometimes. Rebecca and I sat down and summarized a couple of typical situations:

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R: Be prepared to attend numerous parties; not only galas post-performances, but also dancer get-togethers. Dancers can form a pretty crazy and unique crowd: after-all, we are artists.  So be prepared for ballet talk.
H: Yeap. Actually, I think one of the things you need to do if you want to date a dancer for any longer period, is to start to care about dance. You don’t need to be as crazy about it as your partner, but be prepared to talk about dance from time to time! It’s logic, really. I think Victoria Beckham cares just a little bit about soccer, Tiger Woods wife probably knows the basics of golf, and we know Hillary Clinton’s husband also is just a tad interested in politics..

No premiere without a banquet

R: You thought you would always be the person going out for drinks with friends on a Friday night?  Think again!  Now you will be going to the ballet to support your significant other.  Hope you enjoy it, because there are many performances during a season!
H: It’s always a good feeling to know your partner is in the audience watching and cheering for you. But I think this is a point where the dancer also should be able to make some compromises. There really is a lot of performances in a season…

H: Like I mentioned in the other posts on dating dancers, I don’t think there is a dancer in the world that appreciate a pick-up-line like: “oh, you’re a dancer? So you are really flexible, huh?”. Plus point for choosing a dance-related pick-up line. Minus for being pervy. Try making a remark about the positioning of his or her feet instead, say it’s hard to not notice she (or he) is a dancer, the persons posture, movements – those are all cool, a compliment even!
R: We definitely stand out like sore thumbs.  Not hard to miss us!

R: If you have Sunday off work, you may want to go enjoy your evening.  But remember, chances are your dancer is performing the next day and will have to get home early.  Dancers need to be rested and ready to dance all day long.
H: Unfortunately, this is true. I love a social event like anyone, but there is always class in the morning. It’s a fact of our lives, and something you’d have to relate to if you are dating a dancer. Another day, Another Tendu!

R: Can’t handle the sound of joints popping? Then a ballet dancer is not for you because EVERYTHING pops!
H: Oh yeah, joint-popping. Don’t sleep very deep? I don’t really think a dancer is the right choice for you. When I try to quietly go to the bathroom at night, my body pops like a decent beat-boxer. No joint-popping? Forget about dating a dancer! My right big toe pops with EVERY. SINGLE. STEP I take. Thats just what ballet does to you..

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See you guys around. Don’t forget to like Tights and Tiaras on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. If you’re interested, there’s even a Tights and Tiaras newsletter you can sign up for – you get the exclusive e-book “Ballet Crash” I wrote for the job, how’s that for a deal?
Ta-Ta
H

I was sitting in my couch today, as I have done a lot recently, reading the always entertaining Dave Tries Ballet’s latest blogpost about his achievements in the first week of 2012. Since Dave is all “yay, pirouettes and performances and stuff”, I figured I’d level things out a bit with a similar post of my own…

No ballet makes me Grumpy!

My first week of 2012 has sucked! Big time!

The first week after holidays is always fun, everyone gets back in the studio, back in their tights, back on their pointes. We talk about muscle strain and christmas dinners, laugh about padding ’round the waist and pirouettes that won’t realize the brake is over. It’s all very nice and cozy, really, getting back together with colleagues and, most importantly, back in the ballet studio, doing your ‘thang’.

Only problem is, the only time I was in a studio this week was to say ‘hi’ to my colleagues between their classes, before heading to physiotherapy or the swimming pool or back home to the couch or wherever it was I was going… I won’t whine a lot about it, but being injured sucks. Big time!

If you are following my Tights and Tiaras rambles on Facebook or Twitter, you might already know the story behind why I still haven’t done a single tendu in 2012. If not, here’s the shorty:   In the beginning of December, my right knee started hurting. It all came to a peak when I landed badly from a jump onstage, and weren’t able to walk much afterwards.. Bummer. Couple of doctors later, I got the great news: I broke a piece of my meniscus, and need surgery. Double bummer. During surgery, the doctor found that the ‘situation’ in there was worse than expected, pieces of the meniscus had to be removed from both the inside and the outside of my knee, one an older damage, one new. Anymore bummers?!

Still a bit to go before my knees look about the same…

The good news is, this kind of surgery is very common, especially amongst sportsmen, and most of them return to their full abilities after recovery training. So I’m doing my lifting and stretching and bending, hoping to get back in shape as soon as possible. But first, my knee  needs to regain a normal shape..

So, my first week of 2012 has been a shitty one. The computer and the playstation keeps me entertained, but you know, it’s only fun for so long… Not being able to dance when it is all you have ever done is actually really hard. It got me thinking a lot, too, but I’ll let you in on that another time. For now, you know you can count on me for getting some grumpy groans out there on the ether.  People, enjoy your classes, your runs in the hills and your bicycle rides. And mind, I’ll catch up on you guys – once I’m able to bend my knee with some weight on it!

Because spending more time in the doctors office than in the ballet studio sucks. Big time!

Dear readers,
I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, regardless if you celebrate it or not – I wish you peace, love and happiness, the whole idea behind christmas for me (I’m not a religious person). Enjoy the people around you, take care of each other and be healthy.
Peace!
H

Jock Soto is a remarkable man, with a remarkable story. He was an acclaimed ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet, one of the worlds most famous companies. But as I turn the pages in his memoir Every step you take (written with Leslie Marshall), it is not the dancer Jock Soto he presents to me – it is the person. His background is indeed an interesting one, and the book is personal and involving.

The book starts out where Soto’s dancing career ended – with his retirement. An interesting tweak for a memoir, often written more chronologically. Through the chapters of the book, Soto takes us on a ride through his childhood, the situations that made him who he is, his training and the life as a dancer with the NY city ballet. He has a personal, honest tone through the entire book, you really get the feeling he is sitting in front of you, telling his story.

And what a story. The life in the ballet company of the famous Balanchine, aside stars like Peter Martins and Jerome Robbins, mingling with the celebrity elite of the time – his tales from in- and outside the theatre are most enjoyable. What a time it was – at one point in the book Soto tells about how the dancers would finish the barre, then have a cigarette in the studio before continuing on to the center exercises. This would, as he also says in the book, never, ever happen today. Spiced with family clashes and turbulent love affairs, every step you take is a story worth reading.

Unlike fellow writer Catherine Tully from 4Dancers.org, I wasn’t too thrilled with the included recipes in the book. I like the idea, to use food to back up a story or a feeling described in the book. But I found myself jumping the recipes parts of the book, as they simply break the flow. Maybe a compilation with the details on how to cook the meals in the end of the book would have done better?!

My biggest problem with Soto’s book is one that frankly shouldn’t exist. But, unfortunately, it does; Soto is a personification of all the stereotypes connected to male dancers. Exotic, a bit artsy, homosexual, slightly extravagant, fond of cooking and well schooled in fine art – it is almost like the prejudice 101 for male dancers. And however much I enjoyed getting to know his story, I can’t help myself but thinking that his book, read by someone outside the ballet world, will only help increase the prejudices male dancers meet every day.

Of course, Soto is not responsible for these prejudices, and it’s not like I mean he should have changed the book because of them. The memoir is great at letting you get under the skin of this remarkable man. But as an advocate for male dancers, I would perhaps chosen another story.

That said, the book is a well written, personal tale of a man with a tale quite different from most of us, and a great read. Maybe a christmas present for a ballet fan? Just give them a link to Tights and Tiaras as well, and the prejudice issue should be handled.

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Learn more about Jock Soto’s book or purchase a copy.

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Choreography is the art of making dances, be that classical variations, modern pieces or contemporary performances.
That said, I believe choreography is more than just combining movements. To make a truly great choreography, theres got to be something more behind it than just fancy moves – there’s got to be substance. Not necessarily a story, but after seeing a performance, I don’t want to be left with nothing but the impression of the movements, I want to get something more – an idea, a statement or maybe just a sense of a mood, but there has got to be something.

This is also the reason why I never choreographed myself – I don’t feel I have anything to communicate that I could get out through movements. Not that I don’t have any ideas that might make good dances, but as of today, I have still not felt the urge to realize them. I truly appreciate watching good choreography, and I deeply respect the work and effort that lies behind it. To be able to make a great choreography is a gift not all people possesses, and requires, apart from lots of creativity, a great understanding and knowledge of dance that I don’t feel I have.

Eric Trottier working with the dancers creating the ballet "U2 - you too?!". Photo by Tamara Cerna ©

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You might remember my post a while back with some tips on how to better memorize the steps of a choreography?! To keep an open mind and focus on what you are doing is alpha and omega for any dancer learning a new piece. But that learning experience can be very different at different situations – learning an already performed piece is quite different from working with a choreographer developing a new performance as you go.

While a “fix” set of steps are easier to relate to in terms of memorizing and grinding the movements, it’s always exciting to work on something new, something that never has been performed before. Working like this also demands more from the dancer – one constantly has to learn and re-learn movements as the piece takes shape – what was the situation yesterday might be quite different today. To be able to keep up to date and fresh in each rehearsal can make a very demanding task. While a choreographer is the “creator” of the new piece, the dancers he or she is choreographing the piece on are like the clay from which the sculptor shapes his works – your ability to perform and personalize the movement given to you from the choreographer may have a huge impact on how the dance finally turns out.

Alexei Ratmanski, resident choreographer, American Ballet Theatre and maybe our times best classical choreographer?!

There are big differences on how much a choreographer wants you to make the movements your own, though. While some choreographers stress the ability to take the movements and perform them in your own way, add your own personality into it, others wants their dancers to be as “plastic” as possible, and wants to shape them by his or hers own expectations. Some dancers has the ability to perform almost any movements just as they are told, and will perform best with this sort of a “plastic” choreographer. Others, on the other hand, tends to personalize any movement, making their own personality shine through the movements. Those kind of dancers probably will work better with a choreographer that focuses more on each dancers unique performance.

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Nureyev was known for his ability to learn any choreography by just watching the movements once

Like anyone, choreographers are different. A dancer might have to work with several choreographers during the career, and you might work better with some, than others. To find a choreographer you work great with is like finding a romantic partner – one might have to kiss a few frogs.. But when you do, lots of great things might come from it.

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Do you have any questions about choreography, or how the dancers work with it? Why don’t you post a comment?

Until next time,
Ta-Ta
H

Hi there, dear readers.

Today I’d like to share a quite personal story with you.

I was born with a severe hip displacement, a rotation in the femur-bone in both legs, causing my knees and ankles to face severely inwards towards each other. As I grew older, the angle of my feet and legs were causing difficulties while walking and running around with the other kids, and I kept stumbling over my own feet, hitting them into each other.

From the age of 6 until I was about 8, I went through a series of hip-surgeries. In simple words, the doctors cut open my upper thighs at the side, cut the femur bone, twisted it to a “normal” position, and fixed it there with two massive metal plates bolted together. The metal plates and bolts were later removed (I still have them in a drawer back home), after the tissue of my femur bone – now with my knees and ankles facing front – had grown together in it’s new position. The surgeries made me dependent of crutches or a wheelchair for about two years, depending on where in the process my two legs were at the moment. But it also made me able to later use those legs to follow a dream, and make it my living.

But let’s turn the clock back a little more, first. I am a four year old kid, with legs facing in all directions. After seeing some girls dancing ballet in a local ballet-studio during one of my little family’s daily walks around the neighborhood, I tell my parents I want to be a ballet dancer. Now, let’s face it, I didn’t exactly have the perfect starting point. I was an active kid, keen on doing anything and everything, at once, and completely and happily unaware of my handicap. But my parents were not, they saw that I was stumbling, that I was hitting my feet and kept falling. But they also saw that I got up every time, back on my legs, and kept running. Where some parents might think that the kid doesn’t stand a chance, my parents supported my idea of dancing ballet, and enrolled me at a local ballet school. They might not have known at the moment what a pillar this should become in my life, but they supported my idea then, as they have kept doing every step of my bumpy and curvy road towards becoming a ballet-dancer. They have always been my strongest support, and that four year old kids idea grew into the passion of my life.

This is me performing at my graduation concert. When I left the stage, I was, officially, a ballet dancer. Never assume you can't do it!

When I was 19, I was back at the doctors office for a routine check, 10 years after finishing my surgery. I’ve had close to no problems with my legs ever after, and rarely think about the surgeries. The doctor looked at my scars, tested the flexibility of my joints and found everything to be working as it should, much to my pleasure. He continued to ask what I was doing, what my hobbies were, just for small-talk, I guess. I had just been accepted into the Hungarian Dance Academy, a full-time professional dance academy, and proudly pronounced: ‘I am going to be a ballet-dancer’. The doctor started laughing, thinking I was joking, and said: “well, we sure didn’t operate out your sense of humor”. I assured him, I was not joking at all, and now it was my time to laugh. The doctor assumed what my parents didn’t back when I told them I wanted to be a dancer – that it would be impossible. How could he know?

I’ve always known that there is the opportunity my legs wouldn’t manage the strain ballet training causes. I still do, I know someday it might be my hips that finally causes me to end my ballet career. And so what? If it isn’t my hips, it would be something else. Nobody dances forever. But if I were to think like the doctor, I would never had danced at all. And that would be a shame.

The only thing left to remind me of my surgeries today are the two large scars on my thighs. I have been offered to have them removed, but I kind of like them where they are – a proof that it is possible, a reminder not to give up without a fight. And a reminder how important my parents endless support is.

Kirven James Boyd in "Sinner Man," also Ailey's 2011-12 season poster image. Photo by Andrew Eccles.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

..was founded by Alvin Ailey himself who received his training from Lester Horton and pursued dance with the Ballet of Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham dance company.
Outside of rehearsal, I’ve sometimes checked Ailey’s Facebook page and have read fans’ comments about our season poster. I’m very appreciative of all of the kind words people have left. To be honest, I was shocked when I learned that I would be the featured dancer on the poster. I’ve been fortunate to have been invited to the marketing shoots since my first year in the Company and I’m always excited to see what will come of the images taken.

One of the pillars of American Modern Dance, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company  has had an incredible impact on American society as a whole.  Designated to be the “Cultural Ambassador to the World” by President  John  F. Kennedy, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed for around 23 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents promoting the uniqueness of the African American culture and the importance of preserving our American cultural heritage.

Kirven James Boyd, photos by Andrew Eccles.

Kirven James Boyd, a dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 2004, has had the privilege of being a cultural ambassador by performing at the White House in tribute to Judith Jameson and around the world. In this interview, Kirven gives us his take on this upcoming  season at the City Center under newly appointed artistic director, Robert Battle.

“Right now we’re rehearsing Arden Court by Paul Taylor and Home by Rennie Harris, both of which are premieres for the Company. This experience is one of many reasons why I wanted to be a part of Ailey. We get to work with so many choreographers; it challenges us to forget what we know and become something different. If we fully commit to that, then we learn a great deal about ourselves as artists and people”.

Kirven James Boyd, with Rachael McLaren. Photos by Andrew Eccles.

Pátkai Balázs and Sebestyén Bálint in "Dans la port Amsterdam" from Ben Van Cauwenbergh's piece "La Vie En Rose", to premiere with the Győri National Ballet this saturday. Photo by Jekli Zoltán ©

This saturday, the Győri Ballet company is presenting the performance “La Vie En Rose”, choreographed by Ben van Cauwenbergh, for the first time. Which means the dancers are working day and night this week, grinding the last steps down to a best possible result – the performance.

But what is else happens in the theatre the last week before a premiere?

Let’s have a look at some of the work that lies behind the what’s presented on the premiere-night, besides the steps themselves;

Dimitrij Simkin, former great dancer and father of the famous Daniil, is the designer of the scenery and lights on La Vie En Rose.

Technical adjustments.

By the last week before a show, all the props and scenery are (hopefully) all at place, but there is still lots of adjustments to be done. A theaters stage is usually a busy place, and there is seldom room in the performance-schedules to practice a new show on stage, with all  the props, scenery and costumes on place, before the last period. Now, let me assure you something: Nothing works as it was thought to. That is a fact of life. That umbrella that was supposed to open, doesn’t. Or it does, and pops out the eye of any poor dancer nearby. And that bench is in the way. And that dress looks dreadful in the light set on stage. And that picture is too low. And…  There is always a million things to adjust for the stage to work, look and feel the best on the grand opening.

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The technicians are adjusting a projector used in the performance. To me, it looks like third grade math!

Clothing

Costumes are complicated stuff in the dance-business. They are supposed to look a certain way, to reflect a certain period or create some sort of frame for the performance. But they should also fit the dancer, without restraining the movement or revealing something it shouldn’t, be that an un-stretched knee, a prop or worse, parts of the body one doesn’t usually show off in front of an audience. In the last week before a performance, the flaws and changes of the costumes becomes clear as well, and there is a lot of adjustments that has to be made. And then there’s the prima-donna issue. Just ask The Adult Beginner – dancers love to complain about the fit of their costumes. And usually, they are wrong. Yes, the waist is supposed to be that tall. No, we can’t make it lower for you because you usually buy your jeans like that. Deal with it.

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Mariya Mizinskaya anb Bede-Fazekas Csaba is Edith Piaf and 'Jef'. Photo by Jekli Zoltán ©

Lightning

The hazy, dark fog that was planned for a scene might look awesome when designing the lights. But dancers running into each others because they can’t see anything suddenly makes the scene a lot less awesome. As with the scenery, and the costumes, the light-technicians has a lot to do in the last period before a show. And what we often don’t realize is how much work is behind a small change in the lights on stage. The choreographer tells the technician he needs more light in that corner back there. And then expects the technician to turn a knob, and there will be light. But the truth is more often than not, the tech-guy has to run up to the seventh floor, and move a spotlight from one rod to another. And make room for it there. And change the run-sheets for the latter numbers because of the change. And re-calibrate the spot. And… The rehearsals setting the lights are often the longest ones of all before a premiere.

Check out my (somewhat ironic) post on “characters in the ballet theatre” for some background info on some of the people mentioned in this post

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Music

Oh, the music. Depending on if you are dancing with an orchestra or with recorded music, there are different things that needs to be adjusted, but there is always something. The conductor is making the orchestra play too fast, too slow, too loud and with the wrong punctuations, all at once. At least if you ask the dancers performing their jumps and turns. And like Mike commented in my post on the characters in the theatre, the sound-technician is deaf. And the light technician is blind. And the music starts before the dancers are on stage. Or it doesn’t start at all. I think you can all imagine the issues here.

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Szendrei Georgina and Sebestyén Bálint in 'Natalie'. Photo by Jekli Zoltán ©

All these things are important factors to a successful show, and stuff the audience don’t necessarily know about. Everytime a dancer goes on stage, there are hours of work behind it, not only by the dancer, but by a lot of others, too. And I haven’t even started talking about those who promote, administrate and plan the performances – another large, and by the average audience, forgotten group.

One of the points where ballet has taken a lot of criticism is on being too conservative. From some points of view, the critique is absolutely called for – ballet can renew itself on several fields to become more modern, up-to-date, relevant and interesting (for example how I commented on ballet companies complete lack of social media skills not long ago). However interesting a discussion, this post is not going to be about whether (or how) ballet should renew itself or not. I mention it because the old-school way of thinking might make ballet dull and outdated on some fields, but it does bring some good things with it, too;

I just had to put this in here - it is my sister and I dancing at about 5 and 8 years old

Shaping a person

When I started ballet as a little kid, we had to line up outside the studio door before each class in first position and be quiet as mice. We were dressed according to the dress-code, and behaved according to other codes. When the ballet-mistress took us into the studio, the first thing we did was a collective greeting, to the mistress and each other. The last thing we did before leaving the studio was to bow, thanking the mistress for her class, she thanking us for our work and concentration.

This might all sound a little authoritative for a group of six-year-olds, but it did teach me some major, important lessons on behavior and etiquette, not necessarily taught to kids as much today as it was earlier. The teacher talked to us as ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ (well, gentle-man actually, I was the only boy at the studio for a looong period), and apart from the balletic terminology, we learned that the gents wait patiently while the ladies go first, we learned to hold the door for the girls, to say thank you and please – we learned to behave, basically, and thats got to be a good thing, right?

That said, I don’t think my group of six-year-old ‘colleagues’ were much different from the other kids that didn’t go to Ms. Hebbert’s ballet studio three times a week for lessons in movement and manners. When leaving the studio, we were probably as loud, rebellious and naughty as any group of kids. But these lessons shapes a person, and today, I consider myself a quite decently polite guy. I think I even would have passed the grandmother-test on politeness, and it is all thanks to ballet lessons. I believe these standards are a good remain of an old and conservative legacy, a tradition we ought to keep and take care of. It gives ballet students something to use in life outside the studio as much as inside, and quite frankly, it’s a good characteristic!

Where not to keep old ideas and perceptions of ballet is still something we ought to discuss, though, do it here in the comments if you please. I might do a follow-up post on that here on Tights and Tiaras, too!

Until next time,

Ta-Ta

H

As you might remember, I wrote a post on how me joining twitter changed the whole way I hear about news and happenings in the world of dance. Twitter remains my number one source of information, and a great resource both as an audience member, a dancer, and an author.
Lately however, I have become increasingly annoyed by some of those same twitter-feeds that provide me with that sweet information.

See, I never tried to hide the fact that I do promote Tights and Tiaras on the Facebook and Twitter accounts connected to the blog. If I do a new post, if the blog is featured in an interview, anything that has do do with the blog, really – I tweet it. I post it on Facebook. I tell my friends about it. Basically, I promote the shit out of it.
But I do also use the social media accounts assimilated with Tights and Tiaras for other things, and this is where my point comes in. I use the social media constantly to share opinions and updates that might be too short, small or insignificant for a blog post. Thus, the social media accounts connected to Tights and Tiaras gives my readers that wishes to follow them something more than what you can find on the blog - daily updates from me, as the blogger behind TnT, as a professional dancer, or just as another guy with an opinion. I have discussions, I comment on other people and pages updates – I interact.

Social media is cool. Actually, it's fantastic when used right. But misused, it's just boring, not to mention annoying.

Lately, I see more and more dance-related twitter- and facebook-feeds, doing nothing but self-promotion. Tweeting only when they have something to sell, updating their facebook-profile only to give their “likers” info on where to buy tickets. Otherwise, they’re just re-tweeting other people’s positive reviews of their shows and happenings. And it’s boring me. And it’s annoying me. Guys, you have misunderstood the point of social media, and it’s killing anyone trying to use it well. When social sharers like @TheBalletBag, @4Dancers or @DanceAdvantage tweets about happenings, video’s, blogposts (their own and others) and performances, they are giving their readers something to look at, enjoy, share and discuss. They are interacting with their readers. But when my twitter-feed is filled with retweets of “Great performance by XYC ballet-company last night in Neverland”, retweeted by that company, it’s not giving me anything. And I lose interest for other tweets by legitimate, sharing individuals that has seen something good. I get bored, and that XYC company has killed my interest for good, shared information for a while. It’s boring at best, terrible for the readers, and, dear XYC ballet company, it’s bad for business. See, your twitter-feed wasn’t giving me nothing but annoyance. So I unfollowed you.

Here is what I think of using social media for thoughtless self-promotion only

So here’s to self promoting – follow me on Twitter. Or “like” my Facebook page. They’re both filled with random thoughts, pictures, meanings, discussions, photos – and promotions for Tights and Tiaras-posts (which, frankly, you all like, right?!)

whew, good to get that one out there.
See you all soon.
Ta-Ta
H