Vox pop.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Pimble pride

Dear editor,

In Eugene's galaxy of stars - and there are several of special note - none shines more brightly than Toni Pimble, the choreographic inspiration of Eugene Ballet. Her standing as a virtuoso of dance causes one to wonder at our good fortune in keeping her here.

One had only to watch the May 4 performance of "Common Ground" and "The Rite of Spring" to sense the virtuosity rubbing off on her dancers. "Common Ground" is a Pimble original that always seems brand new.

The graphic violence in Stravinsky's "Rite" was tough to stomach. At its 1913 premiere, it was like most great art: prophetic, ushering in the years of World War I, where trench warfare was not unlike the brutality we saw on stage.

I choose never to see it again. But I will choose to watch Toni's other work for as long as she honors us by making Eugene her home.

George Beres

Eugene

Pimble shame

Dear editor,

Having driven hundreds of miles to see previous choreography by Toni Pimble, I expected much from her version of Stravinsky's legendary "The Rite of Spring."

What I saw May 4 perches Pimble on the horns of a dilemma.

If she didn't know Stravinsky envisioned a young girl voluntarily dancing herself to death, she had no idea what the music was about. If she did know, she has perversely invented an exactly opposite version and foisted it off on us presumed ignoramuses.

And Stravinsky is famously on record - I own a copy - saying his topic was a chosen maiden dancing herself to death. Did Pimble fear to take on that challenge?

The dancers performed well; women gracile, men appropriately apelike. But Stravinsky didn't compose music for the rejection and gang murder of a protesting girl; it was about a girl's glorification and voluntary sacrifice.

Someone may be able to tell me what private agenda lurks behind Pimble's scenario where an outcast girl is kicked and beaten to death onstage, but I doubt it will renew our confidence in Pimble.

I feel as if I'd caught a trusted neighbor teaching my kids to smoke.

Should I risk more 400-mile trips to see feckless inversions of classics? Will Pimble give us "Romeo and Juliet" as a lunatic farce in a nursing home?

Dean Ing 

Ashland

Historic turn

Dear editor,

I was glad that Register-Guard reviewer Bob Keefer appreciated the exhibits at the Oregon Historical Society. I'm especially pleased with his comment that "you'll absolutely lose yourself" in our Maritime Gallery.

That Mr. Keefer seemed to have literally gotten lost in our galleries, however, is a bit disappointing. Had I found him, I would have offered the joke I tell so many of our museum visitors: "Instead of a map," I like to say, "we should give you a bucket of bread crumbs to find your way out."

In all seriousness, the complicated layout of our galleries has been a concern of ours for some time, and I'm pleased to say that a change is in the works.

Starting in September, the Oregon Historical Society will begin a major renovation and construction project that will dramatically change the museum - and the museum experience.

A new entrance building, located centrally, will allow easy access to our galleries, research library and museum store. Changes within the buildings will give the museum a much-needed "flow," a natural course from one exhibit to the next.

And, importantly, our improvements will be aesthetically pleasing, both inside and out.

We're working with Thomas Hacker and Associates, architects who designed the High Desert Museum in Bend and the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.

I encourage you to see our current exhibits this summer, before the construction begins in September, and then join when our doors reopen in August 2003.

Norma Paulus, director

Oregon Historical Society