Ballet live: biggest onstage gaffe

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

How I attended the San Francisco Ballet for $14

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

Dancer warrior hero: Adrianne Haslet-Davis

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