Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
If it’s not about classical music, ballet or the violin, you’ll find it here.
Over in Q&A, someone asked what my biggest onstage gaffe had been, in my dance performing days. Ooh. Now that’s a good question. You don’t hear ballet dancers talk about that too often, do you? Most performers have their share of the little stuff, such as falling off pointe, having a sloppy pirouette turn, even … Read more
Today is the day I will pack up my duffel bag of stuff and head over to the Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek for my annual silent retreat. Usually this takes place in August, a warm, still time in the Santa Cruz Mountains that sort of lends itself to drowsy, bucolic contemplation. But this August … Read more
There was no gimmick, no magic formula, no knowing of the right person. I simply called the San Francisco Ballet’s ticket office, back in mid-March and asked about the availability of various seats for the 2:00pm performance on Saturday April 20. I had a ticket already for the San Francisco Symphony’s 8:00pm performance that night, just across … Read more
In the midst of my efforts to produce a blog-worthy review of San Francisco Ballet’s Program 6, which I attended last Saturday, this dance news arose, something too important not to blog about. Adrianne Haslet-Davis is a dancer, a ballroom dance instructor who was running the Boston Marathon when a bomb exploded right next to … Read more
This week’s headlines… Boston Bombing Suspect Killed in Shootout Texas Fertilizer Plant Blast kills up to 15, with over 60 injured Death Toll Rises to 32 in Iraq Café Suicide Bombing These unfortunate headlines demonstrate a stark, inescapable facet of today’s world. Bombs. Violence. Death. Chaos. We live in violent times, bitterly relevant times. And … Read more