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Ballet makes a statement at Neiman Marcus.

November 6, 2022

Ballet makes a statement at Neiman Marcus.

Max Mara celebrates milestone anniversary with a collection dedicated to ballet.

Last year, I resided in a place near Laguna Beach, Orange County… from here a several-mile scenic ride takes you to Newport Beach, where one day I decided to visit the Neiman Marcus.

 

I walked through the upscale department store, where on the whole, I found nothing new or noteworthy, apart from the high-end labels and steep prices. Practically on my way out, I wandered past a section on the upper floor when I did a double take: ballet dancers on a T-shirt ??!!

A little digging and it turns out these T’s are part of a Max Mara exhibit, launched to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Italian design company, which completed its international celebration tour at the State Historical Museum in Moscow over a decade ago. 

photo by Elena Alexandra, Neiman Marcus (2021)
Valery Katsuba at a Max Mara Boutique in Alicante, Spain, next to one of his T-shirts (c. summer 2011)

For the momentous occasion, Max Mara commissioned a photographer whose work, inclined towards the aesthetics of human form, is showcased in galleries of Paris, London, New York, Madrid, Shanghai, Belgium, Mexico and Russia.

In preparing to shoot the exhibition “COATS”, the Belarus-born visual artist Valery Katsuba came up with the motif Albatross, a concept that for him embodies moving forward while embracing your history.

In fact, the Albatross is a seabird that looks like a slightly larger version of a seagull. The artist finds awe in the flight of this bird, its gliding course above the ocean amidst strong wings reminds him of the most hauntingly beautiful moments in life… moments deeply etched into your memory, moments that accompany you forever.

And so for Katsuba, the fashion company’s milestone salutes the stance of moving into the future whilst carrying the legacy of the past on your wings, just as the Albatross.

VogueIT-Bolshoi-dancer

To create the impressive images on the cotton jersey T-shirts, the photographer worked with Bolshoi Ballet artists Anna Nakhapetova, Yury Baranov, Anton Savichev and Maxim Surov. An iconic image epitomizes the installation tableau with Anna in the forefront wearing the designer label’s camel colored coat, an Albatross above her, and male ballet dancers behind her caught in flight.

The shirts I saw in 2021 were attributed to the comeback of Max Mara’s classical dance collection as an “Anniversary Capsule” to celebrate its 70th year.

Valery Katsuba’s love for the human aesthetic enters into his work with ballet artists, inserted into settings that illuminate timeless themes of historical and cultural relevance. In one such project, the photographer juxtaposes a ballet dancer amidst the paintings of 18th & 19th century Spanish artist Francisco Goya.

Valery Katsuba, The Model: Classic and Contemporary. Ballerina and Goya paintings, Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. Madrid., 2016.

In another collaborative endeavor, Katsuba works with the exceptional ballet artist Oxana Skorik, in one instance showcasing her classical dance pose against an impressive marble statue captioned “Dioscuro.” The figure is one of two twin brothers from Greek and Roman mythology, the sons of Zeus and Jupiter, depicted as gods of horsemanship and protectors of travelers, the pair are referred to as “the Dioskouroi.

From the bird in flight, to a tremendous painter of our civilization, to semi-divine figures in historical mythology conceived by gods and humans coming together, it becomes evident that the photographer is transfixed by the idea of ascension — the state of a mere mortal aspiring and rising towards something higher.

Ballet fits this subject like a glove, or perhaps more aptly said, like a slipper, as in its very essence, the artform demands a complete devotion of mind, body and spirit, where all the realms of consciousness unite, enabling the human being to literally mold the self into an elevated version of oneself.

Skorik, a Ukrainian-born dancer who graduated from the highly-respected Perm Ballet School, a.k.a. Perm State Choreographic College, a classical dance institution known for its high caliber staff and training in the revered Vaganova Method, and who then rose to the top ranks of the classical dance world becoming a principal ballet artist of the globally treasured Mariinsky Theater, says in a recent clip where she is invited to teach a class of youngsters who aspire to her standard:

“It is not just about the physical work, it is about great mental work… and progress can only be made with the capacity to learn [in this league].”

So, what is the statement that ballet makes at Neiman Marcus, or anywhere else it arrives for that matter? It’s beyond words. It is a visual representation of ideals that most of us strive for.

Through the ballet dancer, qualities rarely seen together are combined into a synergistic working unit of consciousness.

toughness and fineness
stillness and movement
collectedness and fluidity
asymmetry and balance
absurdity and grace
science and art
masculine and feminine
All in ONE.

photo by Valery Katsuba, Albatross Exhibit (2011)

These perceived opposites work together in harmony, to comprise the alchemy of the underlying foundation of an expression that, with mathematical  precision, represents a supreme standard of beauty recognized universally.

Really, Valery Katsuba and his quest for beauty reflects the very same yearning that lives in each of us… we all seek to feel it and to express it… many of us don’t know any better than to try and possess it. 

But what is beauty, really?

The one thing we can probably agree on is that beauty is connected to an elevated state of being.

Perhaps the only thing we know for sure is that it involves evolving ourselves, evolving our consciousness.

Happy World Ballet Day 2022 !!!

Generation Um… Keanu Reeves & The Spectrum of Disconnection

June 12, 2022

Generation Um...

A revealing look into the world of Keanu Reeves & The Spectrum of Disconnection

KR-Gen Um-car

Keanu Reeves in Generation Um... (2012)

This piece addresses a peaking condition of human despondency in today’s world, substantiated by exorbitant mental and emotional suffering, and multi-faceted attempts to relieve it via substance abuse, crime, violence, suicide, mass school shootings, and the list goes on. We face a crisis of consciousness that an outdated system of education, parenting and social programming cannot fix.

This examination delves into the presumed root of our widespread suffering, attempting to illuminate the core of our dis-ease: disconnection from self.

The schism within the human psyche that prevents us from knowing the essence of who we really are, has been a pervasive affliction spanning multitudes of generations, appearing in various forms and growing with amplified force… an affliction emerging in endless episodes of detrimental history reloaded.

Lost Identity: this enduring universal theme is presented quite literally in the film through its leading man and the nature of his surroundings. Perhaps this is the actual state of ‘Neo’, or ‘The One’, as we have also known him… just the unfiltered, down-to-earth, gritty version of the circumstance of his being.

"John"

Through his character “John”, this film shows a central aspect of KR’s (Keanu Reeves) inner world where he is ultimately LOST & ALONE.

Near the beginning, we see John walking along the filthy streets of New York, polluted with all sorts of stuff – noise, fumes, trash, trash-talking people…it is just another day in the predicament of his existence. He comes upon a bakery and stands outside looking at it for a moment, then steps away and pulls out two dollar bills from his pocket, that’s all he’s got. 

A few scenes later, we see John sitting alone outside the bakery on some dirty street and eating the cupcake he has bought himself. There is profound innocence and sadness in his eyes and his demeanor as he eats what turns out to be something between a meal and a marker of his birthday.

If you really tune in, it hits you that you are watching a picture of a very sad SOUL… rundown, sunken, emptied, neglected… homeless in the deepest sense.

This is the soul of a NOMAD – ‘gone’ on the most fundamental level – no purpose – no connection – no Identity. He has never learned to tap into his own qualities, never been taught any kind of craft, never taught anything in fact… never seen for who he is. He is disconnected from himself at the core.

He is a universal figure who lives in every one of us.

You just get to a point where your disappointment in yourself becomes so much bigger than your parents’ disappointment in you,” John says whilst sitting at a cafe with an ‘associate’ from his job, whose only interests are ranking on John and the waitress’s booty.
[00:29:30]

"John" sitting with work associate "Charles" (Daniel Sunjata)

And what does John do exactly? He is the driver for two young women who make their way as call-girls at twisted bachelor parties and other dodgy events; the arrangements are made by a female pimp who works as a travel agent on the up and up.

Earlier this day, John’s mom sends him some sorry-ass annual b-day card with a check where in the memo area it says “medication”, followed by a smiley face configured out of punctuation marks.

You can see there’s definitely no connection, no understanding whatsoever between mother and child – never has been.

“It’s like that guy, with the fish…"

Somewhere between deep pain and acceptance of this inevitability, John’s pensive moment is interrupted by his cousin, who’s crashing at John’s rat hole of an apartment and comes in annoyingly to say “he’s on it” about finding work to help pay for rent, and with that sharing his take on networking:
[00:15:30]

“It’s like that guy, with the fish… you know that guy, like he’s hungry, but he doesn’t know how to fish and then the other guy was there, the older guy helping him out … teaching him how to fish,” John finishes the parable.

It’s clear that the fish fable is the central tenet of this film, threaded throughout the story, screaming to us from the screen in the most outwardly disengaging scenes which are oh so loud just beneath the surface.

Let’s spell out what it is we’re subliminally hearing:

I’m starving and I don’t know how to feed myself…
I’m starving for information, knowledge, direction.
I’m starving for connection.
I’m starving for meaning & purpose.

“Happy Birthday"

In a poignant moment, John is sitting in his run-down car, filming himself with a camera he stole earlier this day from a group of midwest fanatics hula-hooping to country folk music on a basketball court in a semi-slum neighborhood of the city. The camera he stole is his birthday present to himself.

Um, I ah, like that guy, with the fish,” John sighs, looking into his camera with a devastation even he is not fully aware of.
[00:46:24]

“Happy Birthday.  Happy Birthday.  Happy Birthday.” he says to himself, looking into the camera with a despondent existential sadness in his eyes.
[1:22:48]

John’s world

We see an unnerving level of descension, purposelessness, deteriorated values, morals and standards in all the characters of this film – they are just surviving in a godforsaken dimension of LOST SOULS… all revolving around John.

This is John’s world… always has been.

John’s cousin is basically another off-course, beaten down kid, who strays away from his so-called ‘home’ to escape the undermining judgement of his parents, who don’t seem to have the first clue about their son’s situation… of course not, he is the extension of their own unresolved search for Identity.

Doing dope and entirely in denial about the reality of his situation, John’s cousin is repeatedly promising to contribute (his share of the rent) and make something of himself – the latter, John makes clear, is not his ax to grind: “Ricky, it’s cool man, I’m not your parents.”
[00:16:13]

John’s ‘girlfriends’, Violet and Mia, are more so members of his survival unit than anything else.

We are first introduced to the girls’ world as they recupe from what is presumably the night before. We see their unkempt apartment, one of them is sleeping it off while the other goes out for some fresh flowers in an attempt at a ‘pick-me-up’. Arriving at the corner store, she responds to the male grocer’s compliments about her looks in a voice saturated with depletion: “today Prashad, I’m just tired.”

The girls eventually reveal the disturbing truth about their journeys to John and his camera. Protectively, even defensively, they open up the fragile underbelly of their tough exterior, divulging the cruel, vulgar and debasing recollections that have painted their life experiences. 

"... didn’t feel like I was human”

Drinking copious amounts of wine mixed with other medicinal substances, the girls get ready for their “event” that night as John films them.  

Mia nonchalantly shares a story from her abusive childhood, where her father kicked her fully pregnant mother to the point of inducing an emergency hospitalization which ended with the baby born dead, and where Mia’s mother in turn took the abuse out on her, in incidents such as the one Mia describes during her shower [00:56:06]:

“When I was growing up, really, I didn’t even feel like… I didn’t feel like I was human.”

“What prompted that?” Violet cajoles Mia to keep talking.

“You know, I was looking out the window and she told me not to look out the window – and she was ironing and… she came over to me and she said, ‘I told you not to look out the window.’ And then I remember this big iron just pushing it towards me.” Mia turns to Violet and makes a sound of scorching metal seering into her skin  “And I don’t remember the pain,” she continues, “I just remember this big, loud scream.”

“A bloodcurdling scream?” Violet tries to validate the trauma of an experience that Mia clearly wants to block out.

“Yeah,” says Mia.

At another point, Mia hints at an incestuous relationsip with her father in the way she alludes to their closeness, but refuses to confirm or deny anything outright:

I’m not discussing that,” she says flat out, when John prompts her to do so. Then she adds in a more excusing tone, “It’s just that I don’t know who’s going to be seeing this stuff.” [1:09:46]

"he loved me, so I left him"

Now it’s Violet’s turn.

The girls are practically ready for their gig, sitting down at the kitchen table, wine glasses in hand and John still taping: 

Violet graphically describes an abhorrent first experience with sex, revealing that not only was it a big deal for her, but also in this particular instance evidences her pattern of emotional escapsim:

“Apparently he really loved me, and he asked me to marry him. So of course I left him immediately for some other guy.” [1:11:07]

It would be a realistic guess that Violet’s coping mechanism is to run from any type of intimacy that bears the risk of her being hurt or rejected – a feeling we can presume she knows all too well. Put another way, the running is a form of protection from anyone getting close enough to see the ugliness, unworthiness and unlovability she actually feels within.

Inside of Violet, lives this pernicious picture of self constructed from the wounds of her past. And this is why her choice of friendship with Mia who in all likelihood is even more damaged, makes total sense.

Between the dismissive giggles and jokes deflecting the sting of dehumanizing first-time sexual encounters, Violet voices aggression towards their circumstances of exploitation and victimization:

“… I think it’s a lot different for guys…  that guy is not feeling your pain.”
[1:12:26]

“God is dead”

At one point, Violet is stunned into facing a moment of truth about her self-degrading life, incited by John’s innocent question regarding her disclosure of the “200 guys” she’s slept with: “Do you know all their names?” [1:16:10]

After a crushing silence, she leaves the room breaking down into tears.

“God is dead and no one cares,” Mia says after Violet walks out.

Connection above all else

The breakdown leads to a cathartic moment of relief for Violet “… to just be myself for a change,” as she puts it standing in the hallway of the apartment with John.

John asks another authentically simple and yet excruciatingly difficult question:  “Who are you usually?
[1:18:50]

Again, Violet is at a loss for words, she just stares at him with disarming honesty.

What follows is an immensely tender moment as the two awkwardly approach each other with naked vulnerability, coming together into a genuinely affectionate embrace… because the desire to connect supersedes all else.

The Sun King taps into the Supreme Power of Ballet.

March 27, 2022

The Sun King taps into the Supreme Power of Ballet

Discover the Underlying Origin & Purpose of an Unrivaled Artform.

The Sun King in David Bintley’s ballet production “The King Dances”

Forever heralded as The Sun King, Louis XIV of France brings Ballet to the world in the 17th century.

In 1653 he exhibits its supreme power with his eternally iconic performance in Ballet de la Nuit or ballet of the night. The production runs from sundown to sunset, lasting twelve hours straight. It is a picture of his country rising from darkness into light.

Discover the underlying origin & purpose of Ballet.

The Underlying Origin & Purpose of Ballet

Originating in 15th century Italy, belletti as they were called then, moved to the courts of France where they transformed into impressive court performances known as ballets de coeurs or court ballets.

“… danced by royalty, nobility and foreign dignitaries who aimed to entrance their peers in the audience” [D.Bintley] they served as political and cultural promo methods.

Besides being early broadcasting tools ”presenting events of the day with a twist” [Canova Green] and PR devices, promoting “the glory of France, the grandeur of the monarch” [Canova Green] ballet served a much deeper purpose: it denoted the profound strive towards understanding and expression of universal ORDER, through its mediums of leadership on earth, ie. royal figures and those in positions of power.

Prof. Canova Green says it another way: “… by performing dance you could bring down celestial influence… it was all about trying to recreate harmony on earth.”

The court ballets employed a form of conscious, or intelligent movement and posturing as a language used to define and convey the real dynamic and hierarchical order among the elite and ruling classes. This language defined the level of nobility, social rank, status of power and the expressions of respect, allegiance, recognition and obedience to it.

Bottom line: Ballet is the code of conscious, or intentional movement, with a visual, physical vocabulary representing the principles of presence, focus, order, purity, power, grace and integrity. 

Ballet is our active awareness through practice, of a higher state of being.

What is ballet?

Ballet is:

  • the essence of nobility, meaning to live a higher, more elevated way of life
  • a powerful tool with universal appeal – ballet ‘speaks’ to everyone because it is the language of:

— Beauty (pure and refined, requiring true strength and discipline to attain the skills of this high art)

— Power (a tamed and refined power over the lower animal nature of man)

— Order (it takes organization and coordination of many parts working together as one to express ballet poses and posture)

— Grace (moving in a stalwart, confident manner with intention and awareness of every movement)

— Integrity (this implies an ‘integration’ or ‘connection’ of multiple qualities within a person, resulting in actions that create harmony, prosperity and build-up people)

This defines why Ballet has the power to unite nations, cultures & politics like nothing else.

  • ballet is at the heart of civilized culture & social hierarchy because it reflects intelligence, pedigree and refined taste

Where did ballet originate?​

The Ballet we know today originated in the royal courts of France, in the mid 1600’s. 

Although the early roots of Ballet began in the regal palaces of Italy, Ballet was developed and refined into a visible artform being introduced to the world by the French King, Louis XIV.

Influenced by elaborate entertainment that took place in royal celebrations and aristocratic weddings of France and Italy, Ballet de cour or “court ballet” was the earlier name given to ballets danced at royal courts by nobility during the time of Louis’ reign.

Historically, dance has been an important part of the social hierarchy, and one of the most important skills for a gentleman (i.e. a noble, educated man) to master. As a king, Louis was expected to dance as soon as he could walk.

Who started ballet?

The Sun King Louis XIV in the 17th Century

Born in 1638, the longest-reigning monarch in French history, Louis XIV, who is known as the “Sun King” and the “King who invented Ballet”, gave birth to the ballet we know today.

Louis used ballet as the ultimate PR (public relations) tool to glorify his monarchy and place ballet at the heart of civilized culture. As a teen, his iconic appearance in “Ballet of the Night” (1653), where he danced the Sun King, conveyed strength and victory, bringing confidence and power to France on a national and international scale. He was like a political leader and rock star in one.

Most impressive, is the final ballet legacy that Louis XIV left to the world. Specifically, in 1661 he established the first formal national academy of dance called Académie Royale de Danse. The institution was comprised of 13 of the most experienced dance masters from ballet productions at his court. It is here that court dance began to be analyzed and codified into a teachable system of artistry and craftsmanship.

This opened the door to a closely related opera and ballet company that sprang up in 1669, and although the Académie Royale de Danse did not survive after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1789, the latter institution did. Today it is known as the Opéra National de Paris (aka,The Paris Opera Ballet) and it is the oldest national ballet company in the world.

How did King Louis IX get into ballet?​

Louis XIV was brought up and groomed to embrace the art of ballet by the Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin as part of his high-level education.

Louis XIV loved beauty and power, and as an extension and outgrowth of his love for the art of ballet, he expressed and cultivated his passion for fashion and architecture, which includes building the elaborate Palace of Versailles (1661 to 1715).

As France’s longest serving monarch, the “Sun King” reigned over a period of unprecedented prosperity in which France became the dominant power in Europe and a leader in the arts and sciences.

How can ballet affect your mind?

It is no coincidence that the “King who invented Ballet” had an exceptional mind which enabled him to have unprecedented and unbeatable success as a leader and world influencer.

Ballet integrates the mind and body, beyond separation, as one functional unit of expression.

Ballet integrates the left and right hemispheres of our brain, through poses and movements that require developing coordination, endurance, flexibility, strength, agility and conscious control of our expression.  

This creates and activates pathways in the brain unavailable to those who do not practice ballet. Therefore, those who practice ballet are at an advantage mentally and physically to be creative, constructive, excel in various activities and successfully pursue their interests.

on a last note...

Just after finishing this piece, I walk out to the parking lot of the cafe where I did my writing - when lo and behold, I see this magnificent SUN medallion hanging off the mirror of the car parked next to mine - our Great Self is always speaking to us!

Where US & Russia UNITE: The Remarkable Legacy of Royal Ballet Star Sarah Lamb

March 1, 2022

Where US & Russia UNITE:

The Remarkable Legacy of Royal Ballet Star Sarah Lamb

Sarah Lamb in photo by Francesco Guidicini

I’ve lately been enjoying a series of interviews with ballet dancers I discovered resulting from the COVID phenomenon, hosted on the platform Ballet Icons Gala by Olga Balakleets, a concert pianist turned international gala event organizer.

Olga appears to be a sort of ambassador for the high arts – particularly ballet, the beauty of which she admires enough to dedicate herself to bringing the world together through its channels of talent… Olga is able to create and surround herself with an exalted reality in which she chooses to exist, and it seems many benefit from this endeavor.

I found Olga’s interview with Sarah Lamb particularly interesting, largely because of Sarah’s exceptional ballet legacy.

Today, a celebrated premier dancer with The Royal Ballet in London, Sarah talks about her serious training which started in Boston, Massachusetts at age 12, with heavy-weight classical dance educator Tatiana Nikolaevna Legat.

Tatiana Legat is the widow of the great Russian dancer Yuri Soloviev (1940–1977).

A member of the famous Legat family, Tatiana recalls that dance and theater goes way back to her great-great-grandparents – a Frenchwoman who danced at the Grand Opera in Paris and a dancer of Swedish descent – the two met through their career.

Her great-grandfather, Gustav Legat, graduated from a theatre school in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Notably, Tatiana is the granddaughter of Russian ballet icon Nikolai Gustavovich Legat (in Russian: Никола́й Густа́вович Лега́т).

Nikolai and his younger brother Sergei were prominent dancers, talented character artists, choreographers and ballet masters at the Russian Imperial Ballet, which eventually incarnated into the Mariinsky Ballet, as it is known today. 

Nikolai Gustavovich Legat
young Sarah Lamb with her mentor Tatiana Legat (Sarah Lamb archives)

Sarah talks about her teacher:

It took me time to realize how iconic her family is in the history of dance and Russian ballet and the theatre in Russia. It’s really like being of royalty.

Sometimes it was very rough, she was a very strict teacher, but she gave me so much… she gave us all so much of her passion, her dedication and instilled in us the love of detail and the real discerning eye to think about our technique as being the vehicle through which you can excel and even surpass technique into artistry.

When Olga asks Sarah about the difference in preparation and performance of classical vs contemporary roles, she again refers back to her teacher (Legat), who though usually thought of as a strict classical disciplinarian and not the obvious choice for a contemporary dance coach, brought out the optimal level of ability and expressiveness in her pupil for a contemporary solo in Sarah’s first competition.

Sarah talks about the quintessential nature of a dancer being inextricably connected to “…flexibility… malleability and… chameleon-like quality to take on a new skin… the ability… to… lose yourself in the character” of a story-based ballet or become the “essence [of] what are you projecting” in a more abstract piece, where ”you are the vehicle for this concept.”

The final portion of the interview focuses on the unique project to which Sarah’s family has dedicated itself starting with her grandmother, who established the first [US] camp for children with special needs in 1953.

“It has been every single summer since 1953,” Sarah smiles, until the camp was canceled for the first time ever in 2020 due to COVID related risks. 

Sarah lights up about the entire experience, as she fondly recalls incorporating the ballet segment into the annual play, where she would dance with the campers. “One year we even did an entire Rose Adagio…” 

From Sarah’s display, it is obvious that she sees ballet as a powerful tool with the capacity to build-up our Identity, integrating our mind and body into a powerful unit of creative expression — with multi-faceted benefits — and that this instrument can be applied to a broad spectrum of the human population.

Sarah talks about being a dancer as an “integral part” of who she is: “Anytime I’m not able to dance, I feel like some part of my Identity is missing…” She follows this, tapping into the significance of Identity, emphasizing the importance of ”…making yourself into a fully interesting… fully informed and fully vital human, so you’re not just simply a dancer.”

Sarah’s success story and the values she projects undeniably reflect back to her teacher and the roots of Russian ballet education, which produces world-class dancers, who reach this height of achievement precisely because they are well-rounded, highly-cultivated individuals with a solid knowledge of the fine and performing arts, languages, math, history and literature.

As many attest, a truly extraordinary ballet dancer like Maya Plisetskaya or Rudolf Nureyev, or for that matter, Yuri Soloviev, is a mind that dances, expressing itself through its physical instrument.

Tatiana Legat coaches Mikhailovsky Ballet Principal Dancer, Ekaterina Borchenko; photo by Nikolay Krusser

My non-profit partner and I recently attended several YAGP (Youth America Grand Prix) competitions in the Los Angeles area. While we saw many young dancers with much promise, ardently devoting themselves to this most demanding craft (along with the efforts of teachers, coaches & parents), we observed that what is missing in the scattered studios where ballet education in America predominantly resides is the deeper understanding, the consciousness, of what classical dance truly is.

And this awareness is the foundation of a strong, intelligent dancer, which is really a highly developed human being.

In Russia, there is a centralized system of education for classical dance, which is recognized and supported by the government as not only a serious profession, but a most noble one.

Our mission is to introduce this coveted knowledge and its core values into our system of education, providing young people with a practical method to develop our innate qualities that constitute a well-balanced, strong-minded, purpose-driven individual with a sense of Identity, the ultimate asset that can be applied to any career path.

The Nutcracker’s Prince & Princess Warrior

The Nutcracker’s Prince & Princess Warrior

December 20, 2021

There are many substories and messages in the famous fable of the Nutcracker.

The doll given to young Clara on Christmas Eve by her mysterious uncle transforms into a Prince who fights the dark forces of the mouse kingdom showing true warriorship with skills of strength and courage, protecting what matters most, in this case the young Clara.

Clara in her own right possesses the character of a Princess Warrior, displaying fearlessness in the face of great danger and grace under fire, saving her beloved Nutcracker Prince from a fatal finale by the Mouse King.

Mamuka Kikalishvili as the Nutcracker Prince
Clara holding her Nutcracker doll

This year we attended the Long Beach Ballet’s celebrated version of this holiday spectacle.

Apparently it takes an entire year for production members to pull together this amazing annual event for a growing audience of children, parents, families, ballet & arts lovers and those celebrating the season.

In fact, this adaptation of the show, in addition to utilizing professional ballet cast members engages kids, teens and even toddlers to participate in a uniquely exuberant and undoubtedly life-enhancing experience of expression, connection, community and pure joy of immersion into the world of ballet and the arts.

It is so exciting to see southern California audiences packing a large theatre with great enthusiasm as they are introduced to the culture of ballet through a spellbinding story growing more and more familiar.

What is not yet familiar to us is the understanding of the capacity of ballet to shape us into creative channels of expression living a life of value, purpose and joy.

Ballet is a most complex and challenging artform which demands olympian-level athleticism and the most refined artistic sense. In this unique realm, you are the canvas of your art, you literally channel it through your mind and body, bringing the two aspects of yourself together into one harmonious unit.

This caliber of mental and physical discipline takes a superhuman level of strength, behind which stands will, and in turn, behind which stands purpose. And this is where we are hurting: purpose.

In order to have this we must be educated in seeing ballet for what it really is, beyond the tights and tutus, and effeminate stereotypes.

The ultimate purpose of ballet is to elevate ourselves and inspire an elevated state of being in others.

Without being presented with the real picture and value of what ballet really holds for us, we see it in a limited capacity, evidenced in the scarcity of male dancers and a lacking presence of power – which is actually an inherent part of true classical ballet.

In a new, more comprehensive light, the end goal of ballet training is not necessarily to become a professional dancer, it is to become a more elevated being with the capacity to express your unique talent and share it with the world in a most gratifying way.

Pictured in this article is Mamuka Kikalishvili, who is both a ballet dancer and martial artist combining the two facets of his composition in an exemplary manner. He is both prince and warrior, embracing each aspect of himself and taking his art and his state of being to the next level. Mamuka’s inspiring mentor is ballet dancer, choreographer & multi-discipline black-belt martial artist George Birkadze.

Wishing you a delightful holiday season!!

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Story

December 15, 2020

I find that this post is worthy of sharing not only on the pages of Facebook, where it was published earlier today, but also on this site.
I believe that the subject matter herein speaks to us all.

There is nothing more beautiful than ballet, with all the artforms that it involves… and at times like this, I think, nothing more beautiful than having Elizabeth Kaye talk about it.

The Music Center’s presentation of “The Unexpected History of The Nutcracker” did not disappoint!

Yesterday, the Center’s esteemed speaker Elizabeth Kaye delivered an uplifting and well-researched talk that confirms her status as a celebrated ballet historian.

Elizabeth Kaye with Susan Baumgarten, President of "Center Dance Arts" at The Music Center
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

It was an interesting and impressive choice to tell the Nutcracker story through a focus on its composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, revealing elements of his character, life and work process that went into creating his timeless masterpieces.

Given the fine and unprotected nature of this artistic genius who soars above others also classified as such, it may be no coincidence that the name Tchaikovsky is a derivative of the Russian word “tchaika”, which means “seagull”.  A bird is often a metaphor for a higher, finer vibrational state. Not only do birds fly above the ground we humans walk on, but it is also a known fact that birds sing within the highest frequency octaves of the human range.

As is often the case, the most beautiful things created in our visible world are “out of this world”. Extraordinary works are usually conceived through individuals who literally live in another realm, and see through an uncommon measure of perception. We can probably concur that it is no easy feat to bring such rarified forms of information through, from one dimension into another.

Waltz of the Snowflakes in the original 1892 production:

Yet for all our differences, we are all made of the human cloth, and Tchaikovsky’s story is a testament to the universality of the struggles we each face in our personal journeys.

And so, to present the history of the Nutcracker through such a tribute to its musical author — with appreciation of the angst and tribulations endured throughout the creative process that yielded this world treasure may be considered a most valued message.

A message most timely and eternally relevant, it also serves to encourage the importance of moving through our challenges, knowing that we are each here with a unique purpose and contribution.

share your thoughts!!

image sources: (1) snapshot of zoom presentation (2) https://tch16.medici.tv/en/piotr-ilitch-tchaikovsky/ (3) https://petipasociety.com/the-nutcracker/

Ballet Shapes a Style Icon: The secret ingredient in the making of Diana Vreeland

Ballet Shapes a Style Icon

The secret ingredient in the making of Diana Vreeland

I know what prompted me to write this. What I don’t yet know is where it will take me. … I wrote back in January of this year.

CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY

When I think about why I got started on writing this piece in the first place, I immediately know it’s because I was drawn to the story of this unusually creative luminary in the tapestry of our culture.

Yes, Diana Vreeland is an undeniably unique figure in our history who has gifted us with the visual and tangible jewels of her imagination, inspiring countless souls around her and infusing life into our societal institutions.

But what is most interesting is how it all got started. What captures my attention is the soil of Diana’s upbringing… and how this spirited girl in danger of being broken by her own mother and a world she did not belong to, got the strength and spark to become the force that we know of today as Diana Vreeland.

This was the very question on George Plimpton’s mind during his ’80s interviews with the iconic fashion editor: “How does one become Diana Vreeland?”

Diana Vreeland early years in the Victorian era

“I certainly didn’t learn anything in [traditional] school. My education was the world…” she confesses gleefully.

Vreeland proceeds to tell her biographer that her ‘gypsy’ family settled in New York when she was about 10, at which time her parents enrolled her in an all-girls private school called Brearley, where she lasted only “3 weeks”, she slips — “3 months, months!” she corrects her wishful thinking:

Really, they kept me there out of kindness to my parents, who obviously didn’t know what to do with me, cause I didn’t know any English… wasn’t allowed to speak French, and I had no one to talk to, and started to stutter, and the whole thing became really very serious… stuttering is quite a serious thing. 

And then one day I went to a Russian school, and then I was happy, and that’s the only school I was ever happy in because all I did was dance. And it was a great education.

In fact, it is cited that Vreeland’s education was with one of the great ballet masters of Imperial Russia, dancer and choreographer Michel Fokine. The young socialite born as Diana Dalziel even performed in Russian prima Anna Pavlova’s “French peasant dance” called “Gavotte” at Carnegie Hall.

“I was dancing, that’s all I cared about,” she tells Diane Sawyer in an interview (circa 1980s) when the reporter asks her what she was like in her teens.

As it did in her formative years, again ballet enters Diana’s life playing a critical role in the development of her Identity — her self-image, confidence, the construction of her relationship with the world. Ballet allows her to get in touch with who she really is… and apparently helps to repair significant social anxieties that lead to a great scare surfacing through her speech. 

Short version: Diana uses ballet to build the basis of her Identity. 

Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine

ROOTED IN BALLET

Diana was born in the beginning of the 20th century in Paris, into the very center of an era we can only cinematize these days, known as “The Belle Epoque”, which she joyfully recalled to her biographer George Plimpton:

The first thing to do is arrange to be born in Paris, after that everything follows quite naturally.

I was brought up in a world of great beauties, a world where lookers had something to give the world.  Paris was the center of everything. I saw the whole beginning of our century there. It was the Belle Epoque.

She was right of course, if for no other reason than the early 1900’s in the City of Lights were the perfect time and place to catch the emerging phenomenon known as The Ballets Russes.

But Diana got even closer to the action, as the company’s founder Sergei Diaghilev was a family friend:

I was always mad about the Ballets Russes. Mad about it!  Diaghilev and his dancers… I remember him (Diaghilev) and Nijinsky coming over all the time.   –– DV

on the stage of the Grand Opera in Paris from left to right: dancer Nicolai Kremnev, artist Alexandre Benois, dancers Sergei Grigoriev and Tamara Karsavina, Sergei Diaghilev, dancers Vaslav Nijinsky and Serge Lifar (c. early 1900s)

“Did you realize at the time that you were lucky?” talk show host Dick Cavett asks her in a 1978 interview?  “Oh, yes. We adored them… A great deal of my upbringing was in all those evenings when I saw a lot of fun.”

You could say that this was Diana’s first and most critical exposure to the world of great arts with ballet at its core, and this would influence the rest of her life – and reflect in her perception of it.

Not less importantly, it would prove a mighty force in counteracting the injured self image Diana grew up with based upon the traumatically difficult relationship she endured with her mother.

“I was always her ugly little monster… she used to say it’s too bad you have such a beautiful sister and you’re so extremely ugly…” Diana divulged to Plimpton in their conversations for her memoir. 

DIANA’S BEAUTY

Diana Vreeland wearing her signature turban adorned with brooches gifted to her by friend, Coco Chanel

Diana’s beauty was anything but skin-deep.

Diana had an intrinsic sense of aesthetic that shown in her ability to play with style which, no matter how eccentric or bizarre, always retained an attractive coherence, and flair of elegance.

It was her effortless poise juxtaposing her whimsically unconventional character, it was her irrepressible effervescence and quirky sense of humour paired with toughness and unstoppable focus in her approach to work and life.

She was a compilation of contradictions perfectly coheased together – something to the effect of Gary Cooper’s line to Audrey Hepburn in the film Love in the Afternoon, when Audrey’s character says: “I’m too thin! And my ears stick out, and my teeth are crooked and my neck’s much too long,” and Cooper’s persona replies:

“Maybe so, but I love the way it all hangs together.”

Above all, there was a lightness of heart that prevailed over all of life’s other morose voices so convincing in their realness.

Perhaps this was a source of her unfailing lovability. 

All in all, within her lived the spirit of a dancer… in some aspects akin to Audrey Hepburn, who also happened to study ballet in her early years and always credited her discipline, work ethic and other attributes (that we’ve all delighted in) to this artform — and that’s to say nothing of her profound love for it.

Audrey Hepburn featured in center of spread on pages 154 and 155 of Harper’s Bazaar September 1959 issue, with Audrey wearing a puffed, white crystal beaded tunic by Dior, and diamanté collar necklace, a signature of Dior’s Edwardian jewelry.

It was Diana’s real beauty that attracted her loving husband whom she adored and who made up for how she felt with her mom:

I never felt comfortable about my looks until I met Reed Vreeland.  He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, very quiet, very elegant… Reed made me feel beautiful no matter what my mother made me think.

Diana with her husband Reed Vreeland

SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE

Coco Chanel in early 1900's

At the end of the 1920s Diana and her husband moved to London, where she learned many things including the language, and where she was now closer to her precious, native Paris which incited her passion for fashion and gave her Coco Chanel.

I learned everything in England. I learned English, but of course the best thing about London is Paris… The clothes! That’s where I really learned about fashion.  No one had a better sense of luxury than Coco Chanel… She would always fit me in her private atelier, we were very close, you know. –DV

Diana understood beauty and with her enterprising mind, nothing could keep her from her first business venture, a lingerie boutique in London attracting distinguished clientele such as Wallis Simpson, soon to be known as Duchess of Windsor.

Back in New York, Diana’s style and moves on the dance floor of The St. Regis famously got her noticed by Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief and Board Chair, Carmel Snow. Diana’s  confession of never having worked a day in her life did not detract from Snow’s confident decision to hire based upon the impression the young socialite made at the 5-star Manhattan hotel — that was her resume.

And Mrs. Snow was right on because Diana was off and running in her new role that fit like a glove:

Editor-in-Chief Carmel Snow and Fashion Editor Diana Vreeland reviewing magazine layouts at Harper's Bazaar office in 1952

It hadn’t crossed my mind to work… But I loved it, loved it! I was so mad about working in those days… –DV

IMAGINATION & RHYTHM

I think your imagination is your reality… Only what you imagine is real.  — DV

Diana’s early years with the Ballets Russes and her education in classical dance no doubt infused her world with imagination, which she in turn infused into everything she did.

Everything! …including her very own molding process. After all, it was Diana’s foundation in dance that enabled the upper-crust misfit to find her place in an offbeat community decisively matching her eccentricity factor.

This in turn, prompted her to forge her own way in discovering inspirational influences and allowed her to open ever-new doorways to a sense of inventiveness, which fueled her inner visionary:

At the time I was 17… young snobs didn’t quite get my number.  I was much better with …the odd ducks around town who liked to dance as much as I did… I didn’t care what anyone else said, I was never out of Harlem in those days.

The music was so great and Josephine Baker was simply the only girl you saw in the chorus line. All you could feel was something good coming from her. She had that… that thing … that pizazz.
–DV

Josephine Baker in 1920s
Josephine Baker is one of Diana Vreeland’s eternal inspirations, which Diana finally got to showcase in her 1975-76 Costume Institute exhibition “American Women of Style”

Diana’s upbringing also ignited her understanding and sense of movement – not just in the physical arena – but applied to every act of creation.

American art writer and editor Ingrid Sischy reflects on Diana’s unique trait in the 2012 documentary about the multi-faceted icon:

It appears as though she didn’t edit herself, but of course she knew what had the sound of rhythm, she knew what had the sound of madness and surprise…

Her understanding of rhythm is huge …you see it with the sentences in magazines, where a magazine has to have a pause… a crash… a blast of color… a big headline.

This is something Diana knew perfectly well: ”I think any form of rhythm is absolutely essential…”

CONNECTION

Another outgrowth of Diana’s ballet background which nourished her natural faculties, was her uncanny ability to connect. Diana could connect with people, things, places, ideas… enough to emanate, to even “become” them:

20th century fashion photographer Lillian Bassman attests to this unique trait, sharing a personal anecdote from her experiences with the unforgettable Mrs. Vreeland who once indoctrinated her on capturing the authenticity of the Japanese Kimono for a photo session:

Lillian Bassman demonstrates her connection to the grace of female form in this silhouette photo of Missouri-born 50s and 60s model Evelyn Tripp in Barbados (1954), swimming leotard by Claire McCardell

… I used to love to get an assignment from her because she would get in front of the mirror and become the model that she wanted you to photograph. I remember I had a group of kimonos to do, she got in front of the mirror and showed me … she just took on the whole aura, you really felt that she was a geisha girl in front of that mirror.
— Lillian Bassman

MODEL OF STYLE

Diana’s embodiment of style was an essential part of her Identity as she explains to her biographer:

Style is everything George. It helps you get up in the morning, it helps you get down the stairs. It’s a way of life. Without it you’re nobody. And I’m not talking about a lot of clothes.

And what Diana learned in her schooling, she demanded and passed on to those she worked with. In her own words:

They [models] have to do a great deal for themselves.  Their skin, their posture, their walk… their education.

Breakthrough model China Machado was in awe of the woman who gave her a deeper understanding of beauty:

She said, even if you were in closed shoes … your toenails have to be perfect. It was like every single detail, she knew …maybe you’d walk in a different way, I don’t know, but it was there, a special woman… a sense like that…

One can make fashion, or one is. Diana was fashion. It’s different.

China Machado in Harper’s Bazaar, February 1959, with photos by Richard Avedon; on right: China is wearing a dinner dress and jacket by Ben Zuckerman, New York, Nov. 6, 1958

Diana’s son recounts how the 1960 presidential candidate’s wife Jackie Kennedy turned to his mom for inaugural wardrobe advice, subsequently granting Diana’s magazine first photo opps of herself and newly elected husband as a token of appreciation to her fashion confidante.

Her son shares what Jackie wrote:

Dear Diana,
Everyone is wondering why we chose Harper’s Bazaar, and they invent a million reasons, and no one says the real one, which is you.

John and Jackie Kennedy in Harper's Bazaar, February 1961

SEEING BEAUTY IN OTHERS

Diana was her own greatest creation.

With her foundation in classical ballet as a springboard for discovering her Identity, Diana was able to connect with who she really was in life — another words, she was able to access her innate qualities and express her truth.

Diana was able to mold herself into something beautiful and this phenomenon became a most precious gift she could then extend to others.

It came through in different ways, one of which was Diana’s ability to transform our so called faults into assets as Joel Schumacher points out:

She would push their faults… if they have a space between their teeth, make it the most beautiful thing about them… She celebrated Barbara Streisand’s nose and made it into a renaissance statue…

Mrs. V’s ability to see the essence of a person is something fashion empress Diane von Fürstenberg reveres:

She saw something, and that’s what was extraordinary about her. She saw things in people before they saw it themselves.

60s fashion model Penelope Tree says it in her own way:

She would fix her gaze on somebody and then they’d start to blossom.

Perhaps American writer and film critic Bob Colacello recounts it best:

She would say: “Bob, you’re not supposed to give people what they want, you’re supposed to give them what they don’t know they want yet!”

This image is from a layout in the March 1966 issue of Vogue, featuring a posh Barbara Streisand modeling the couture collection of the season, from the Paris photoshoot that Diana Vreeland arranged for her with Richard Avedon; Barbara is wearing silk chiffon evening pajamas by Marc Bohan for Dior in a photo by Richard Avedon.

Diana was all about showcasing individuality with a spotlight on distinctively unique personas, and that’s what came through in her magazines. 

She shares this focus with George Plimpton:

You see, George… Ravishing personalities are the most riveting thing in the world. Conversation, peoples’ interest, the atmosphere that they create around them – these are the only thing worth putting in any issue.

Vogue always did stand for peoples’ lives. I mean, a new dress doesn’t get you anywhere, it’s the life you’re living in the dress.       –DV

“In those days, it was a real story, that’s how you referred to a layout. You didn’t refer to it as just a series of photographs, it was a story…” Vreeland’s one-time muse Angelica Houston points out.

The strong face comes not only from the bone construction, but from the inner thinking.      — DV

TURNING POINT

The passing of her cherished husband certainly took a toll, but as is usually the case with life-quakes, it also marked the ending of one period and the beginning of another.

By all accounts, her period of grief was deep, complex and not passive. In line with the deeply held beliefs constructing her character, she could not merely fold into what the material world dealt her.

And even her revolt at being separated from her beloved was expressed through style,  when she wore white attire to the post funeral reception at her home.  

She then totally immersed herself in her work,” recounts her son.

Diana didn’t know it yet, but something new was knocking at her door, and this reflected at the magazine where things were no longer the same and the empress of Vogue was asked to step down from her throne.

It didn’t take long for her next calling to arrive.

I was only 70, what was I supposed to do, retire? And then one day I got a call from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  –DV

A NEW CHAPTER

A friend came up with the idea to create a special consultant position for Diana at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the funds to make this happen were quickly raised by friends who gave money to the museum’s Costume Institute.

The dormant, conservation-focused branch was about to go through a major revival!

“George!” Diana exclaims to her biographer: “I was so excited. Back in business! I could show everything I’ve loved all my life!”

With Diana’s arrival, the clothes were ready to leave the shelves and come to life in front of an audience anxiously awaiting their display at the fashion diva’s famous annual exhibitions running 6 months long.

Diana Vreeland at the Costume Institute

“It was greater than a magazine, it was a magazine that was alive and 3-dimensional!” Vreeland’s grandson remembers.

From the get go, opening night was an international extravaganza for celebrities and elite socialites with guests lining up around the block.

But the success of this venture was owed not only to the former editor’s eye for beauty – it was, once again, all about connection and Identity.

Diana’s ability to connect and see the essence of others, enabled her to harmonize people creating a collective synergy, which translated into an uncommonly enjoyable atmosphere for all.

“This was really the party of the year, but all due to Diana because she knew how to mix the people,” astutely noted Carolina Hererra in DV’s 2012 documentary.

Opening night of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit, also known as the Met Gala (circa 1970s)

True to herself, Mrs. V deeply cared about reaching a universal audience through the language of fashion, a medium encompassing the entire bundle of culture, history, art and style.

“She wanted everybody to understand her shows. She used to say: ‘If an 8 year old girl from Harlem doesn’t understand what she’s looking at, I’m wasting my time…’ that girl was important to her…“ stressed Simon Doonan, Creative Ambassador at Barneys in NYC.

Diana knew this in her bones because, along with all her other personas, she was that girl — and not just from her days in Harlem!

Diana Vreeland, c.1914

“She didn’t have a college education; she learnt history, art, literature, she learnt civilization through fashion and she wanted to share it,” conveys private librarian Kurt Thometz.

In fact, Diana’s ability to find sympatico with all human consciousness was about much more than her unconventional education.

TRANSCENDING DUALITY THROUGH DANCE

Her profile is a study in the entanglement of uncompromising opposites. 

An oddball born into a life of privilege where she was condemned by her own mother, she was a socialite with a pass to the top tiers of an elite world where she found herself an awkward breed that never quite fit in.

Sophistication and simplicity pulsed through her in equal measure.

She exuded the graceful and grotesque, all at once.

She found herself at the bottom of the barrel amidst the crème de la crème.

In all evidence, the only thing that brought it all together for the Dalziel girl, surpassing all the hopeless contradictions, was the world of ballet.

Vaslav Nijinsky is considered the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century; of Polish origin, Nijinsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine and grew up in Imperial Russia

Everything else came after.

Because all that followed was constituted on a system of order, coherence and integrity, a structure which built up a broken girl looking for her place in the world.

And this most precious knowledge lived in the innermost recesses of the fashion icon, piercing the very soul of her listeners, when they would hear her stories and be privy to traits that belonged to a superhuman race.

“We’d go back into her office and she would tell me the story of when she saw Nijinsky dance the “Specter of the Rose” and I even get a chill now talking about it. The description of the stage, and the window blowing open and Nijinsky flying through the room,” says Tonne Goodman, who began her career as special assistant to Diana Vreeland at The Costume Institute.

He didn’t leap up, he leaped across the stage, to the far end. We knew it was amazing. –DV about Nijinsky

Epilogue

So… where has this piece taken me?

I believe, a step closer to understanding Identity… its limitless creative expression, its enormous power to integrate people, ideas and qualities, and its timeless contributions. Just as the legacy of Diana Vreeland, it stays with us for eternity.

But there must be a framework for Identity to emerge.

An instruction manual of sacred knowledge on how to build up consciousness, passed down through the ages, from one generation to the next, from master to apprentice, classical ballet has the content and substance to provide the very framework that begets Identity

Identity in turn gives rise to a more enlightened, elevated species of man that generates more than consumes, nourishes rather than depletes, and transcends a state of fear to one of radiant beauty.

Meeting Ms Olga

Meeting Ms Olga

Our destined meeting with the prima of Perm

who's sharing her gift with American youth

Olga & Christine pose with older student

This meeting had been a long time coming, more than just the several weeks between the call to Olga and our arrival at her studio several weeks ago. 

It was some two years ago when we first found out that a Vaganova trained dance professional was teaching in LA. Shortly thereafter we drove over and stepped into a vacant studio with no one at the reception desk… so we thought we’d return another time… and we did, two years later. 

We finally made it to Olga’s studio on December 13th in 2019 … it turns out just in time for her annual Nutcracker recital featuring her ballet students from Arabesque.

Following our acquaintance, Olga ushered us in to watch her class and group rehearsal for the Nutcracker taking place that weekend. It felt great to connect with someone who understood the world of ballet.. even moreso, the world of Vaganova.

Afterwards, Olga invited us to her production taking place that weekend in a venue next to the Hollywood dive called Paper or Plastik. It turns out the two joints are connected under the same owner who happens to love the performing arts.

On December 15th, we arrived with enough time to check out the hip cafe… along with a bunch of others attending the event. As we looked for a table to enjoy a hot latte on what was an unusually cold, windy LA day, and pondered on a drink to choose from their unique specialty offerings, my eye fell upon the perfect cup of frothy white, plant-based milk… a novel choice!

As it turns out, the table we found was right next to that enticing drink.

It was not until several minutes later when Olga came out of the performance hall to get us audience members (mostly parents and families of the ballet students) to take our seats for the show, casually introducing us to her star student, that we realized we had been sitting next to ABT principal Christine Shevchenko.

Olga & Christine in rehearsal; photo by Michael Cornell

After the show we went over to congratulate Olga and spoke to Christine who turned out to be as unpretentious as her drink.

We chatted a bit and Christine graciously offered her contact info telling us she’d be happy to provide us with backstage tickets for an interview during our visit to NYC in May. “Just tell me which performance you’ll be attending,” she smiled.

I conveyed my appreciation to Christine about her refreshing simplicity and ease with which she conducted herself… an admirable trait given that, for anyone who knows anything about ballet, beneath the lovely exterior of a classical dancer lies an interior of steel.

It takes a warrior in mind and heart to reach and stay on top of your game in this arena.

It is a life of dedication to a higher beauty that requires the ultimate discipline, willpower, unrelenting devotion to the craft and abstinence from most desires in which our human animal nature partakes.

Passing on a Priceless Legacy.

Aside from these gifts of the evening, the greatest joy was to see Olga’s work.

It was really something to watch young girls of different ages, different backgrounds being molded into a beautiful version of themselves. 

It was also palpable to see the inordinate amount of effort the girls expended into fulfilling what they were taught on stage – focusing on their steps and repertoire, while keeping in mind all the instructions their teacher instilled about correct technique, musicality and presentation.

And the courage to go out on that stage! — which was quite scary for many – was altogether an extraordinary feat.

You could see that this experience would change the rest of their lives – they were no longer who they were when they started out, they were already something greater.

To see this transformation before our eyes, was to see the result of teaching a precise framework built on principles of presence, focus, order, strength, balance, coordination and such through the ballet system of Agrippina Vaganova

… a system with the power to transport our mind and body to a place of greater awareness, integrity… a higher caliber life.

... may this year bring the magic of ballet into your life!

image sources

https://www.olgakova.com/the-miss-olga-blog/2019/3/3/0j8cmxmnhfy1tquw4i90jj0ohuyjro
https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-coffee-scene-20110714-htmlstory.html
https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/israeli-kitchen/paper-or-plastik-cafe-los-angeles-dance-studio-michelson
https://medium.com/@erin_5063/behind-the-counter-with-anya-michelson-and-family-of-paper-or-plastik-cafe-b639f5b982bf
https://mimodastudio.com/

San Francisco’s Nutcracker

San Francisco’s Nutcracker

Here’s a rundown on our short, but memorable trip to the way-steep hilly city with the famous golden bridge.

As we are in the R&D phase of The First Guild School of Ballet & Arts, our focus is on exploring ballet schools and programs that exist in the US. With this in mind, we drove up direct from LA, just in time to make it to San Francisco Ballet School (at the Chris Hellman Center for Dance) before their closing for the holiday break.

It was indeed a frantic day with everyone either getting it together for the Nutcracker performances starting that night, or busy wrapping things up at the end of the school session.

In the midst of it all, the receptionist was happy to share her take on the school’s modern approach to ballet, in attitude, structure and training style — emphasizing a clear departure from the virtues of more traditional classical dance education.

A few snapshots, a take-in of the environment, a brief but telling conversation with the receptionist — and we were off to find our Airbnb pad!

The next day, before the main event we discovered a great French restaurant located right across the entrance to SF’s famous Chinatown district adorned with a lavish store complex called Michael’s featuring rich stone sculptures, statues and high end art pieces.

The French bistro really hit the spot! Café de la Presse was a happening place with just the right amount of Parisian culture – including my drink called “April in Paris”.

A wall of photos featuring great chefs including Julia Child and Jacques Pépin adds extra flavor to the authentic charm of the establishment founded by a French chef who learned of his zest for culinary art from cooking with his grandmother.

Bottom line: they know how to make food and they know how to do business!

The performance itself was a bit of a letdown due to a foundation lacking in technical strength and seriousness of principles taught in more traditional ballet schools.

There were of course exceptions… the male clown doll, clearly a talented dancer in energy, artistry and unusual bending ability; the ‘middle-man’ of the Russian trio at the Sugar Plum Fairy Palace with over-the-top acrobatics; and the princess ballerina into whom Clara transforms for the finale, evidencing a more serious classical training background – showing in both technique and stage presence… still, this level is soloist, not principal material for a top-tier world ballet company.

But with that said, ballet is ballet, it is an artform like no other, and just being in a climate where there is such a focus and striving towards what is basically an elevated state of being, is enough to commend a genuine appreciation for all involved.

... here's to exploring the extraordinary world of the arts!