READERS' FORUM.Send your letters to Readers' Forum, Dance Magazine, 33 West 60th St., New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY 10023, or e-mail us at editorial@dancemagazine.com. Letters must be signed with name, city, and state and include a weekday telephone or fax number for confirmation. Letters become the property of Dance Magazine, which reserves the right to edit them. OLDER ISSUES APPRECIATED I am an avid reader of Dance Magazine. Recently I was going through tons of old issues and they were wonderful. Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opéra Ballet is the official ballet company of the Opéra national de Paris, otherwise known as the Palais Garnier, though known more popularly simply as the Paris Opéra. , Sylvie Guillem Sylvie Guillem (born February 25, 1965 in Paris) is a French ballet dancer who has performed with the Paris Opera Ballet and is currently a guest principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. , Gelsey Kirkland Gelsey Kirkland (born December 29 1952, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is an American ballet dancer. She was reportedly inspired to dance by watching a performance of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. , Natalia Makarova Nataliya Romanovna Makarova is a retired ballet dancer. She was born November 21, 1940 in Leningrad in the USSR. When she was 13, she auditioned for the Vaganova Ballet Academy, and was accepted despite being significantly older than most applicants. , and dancers from New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. were on the cover or at least featured. I really miss that. Almost every magazine that I look at nowadays is about modern dance, jazz, dance competitions, and so on. Until recently, Dance Magazine was very different. Don't get me wrong: I still really enjoy it, but sometimes I just wonder why there is a five-page article on ice skating ice skating, gliding along an ice surface on keellike runners known as ice skates. Skating as a Sport Skating, besides being an important form of winter recreation and the essential skill in the game of ice hockey (see hockey, ice) has developed . I savor the articles on wonderful dancers such as Lucia Lacarra, Darcey Bussell Darcey Bussell CBE (born London; 27 April 1969) is a retired English ballerina. Biography She was a pupil at Fox Primary School. After studying at the Arts Educational School, Bussell began ballet seriously only at the age of 13 when she moved to White Lodge in the Royal , and Paloma [Herrera].... Anyway, thank you for your magazine. Rebecca Crawford via e-mail JO ROWAN TRIBUTE We are so pleased to see the article in your magazine that paid tribute to Jo Rowan ("Jazz Greats: Five Guys Named Joe" August 1999). Jo has worked for us for many years as one of our leading ballet teachers. She is definitely one of our most requested teachers. It is wonderful to see her finally get some of the fame she deserves. She is a credit to the dance industry. Art Stone, President Dance Olympus Smithtown, N.Y. RECYCLING POINTE SHOES 'Pointe shoes', also referred to as toe shoes, are a special type of shoe used by ballet dancers for pointework. They developed from the desire to appear weightless, and sylph- like onstage and have evolved to allow extended periods of movement on the tips of the toes A few months ago in "Advice for Dancers" (April 1999, p. 44), a student asked about recycling her pointe shoes. All of the suggestions given were good, but I'd like to mention something that might be of interest to her and other dancers. Recently, a dancer from Harrisburg Dance Conservatory went to Cuba with her director, Nana Badrena, to take classes while Nana choreographed Dracula. This dancer discovered that many dancers there had little or no dance wear. Most were in what we would consider totally dead pointe shoes. After leaving behind a pair of her old shoes with a student there with whom she had become friends, she returned home with a new appreciation for her life here. She asked her fellow Conservatory students to bring in any used dance wear and shoes that they had outgrown or worn out and send them to these very needy dancers. The response was overwhelming. I'm sure there are other areas of the world where dancers are doing without. Although it is not ideal to use used pointe shoes, I'm sure it beats bare feet or socks. Aimee Voegtle Dancer/teacher Pennsylvania THANK YOU, CLIVE BARNES A line in Clive Barnes's page in the July issue really struck me: "It is curious that as we get older we seem to acquire squatters' rights on our memories." People are afraid of change, the way they are afraid of happiness after a long bout of depression. Will I know what to do with myself if the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. alters? But the world is revolving constantly, even if we don't feel it. Our skin cells regenerate, our hair grows, dancers retire, new stars sprout in the fertile ground that is left. Nostalgia is wonderful, but it can also paralyze par·a·lyze v. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. . I spent two years in this state. After my father died, I clung to the dancer I was when he was alive, believing that it was the only way I could remain a dancer. I didn't see that the sadness could become a new facet, making me a more expansive performer. No, I was afraid of change, afraid of feeling happy again, for fear that the foundation would completely disintegrate. I think fate is like the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty Sleeping Beauty sleeps for 100 years. [Fr. Fairy Tale, The Sleeping Beauty] See : Enchantment Sleeping Beauty enchanted heroine awakened from century of slumber by prince’s kiss. . She can't undo the curse of the wicked fairy Carabosse, but she can give you something lovely to wake up to. I just wanted to write to thank Mr. Barnes for reminding me how far I've come from the woman who, even a year ago, was boxed into the cardboard construction of "remember when." Lucy Rupert Toronto, Canada DANCESCAPE APPRECIATED Every time I receive my new issue of Dance Magazine, I immediately turn to "Dancescape" for a dose of beauty and civility. My thanks to Harris Green and Bart Roth for their contributions to this most exquisite part of the magazine. Susan MacNeal New York, N.Y. |
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