Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical Girl That Smuin Contemporary Ballet is celebrating its 25th Anniversary season is a testament to so many things. To its founder, Michael Smuin, who died suddenly in 2007 while teaching a company class, weeks before a spring performance. To the company members who decided, in the spirit of their founder, that “we’ve still got a show to put … Read more
Classical Girl Press is proud to announce the release of A Dancer’s Guide to Africa — recently named a quarter-finalist for the 2018 BookLife Prize! You can find it in print and electronic formats HERE or distributed through Ingram Book Company and Bookshop Santa Cruz. Want to preview the first 30 pages first? Click HERE, where you … Read more
I suppose it’s not all that curious. If you are a concert pianist and your right arm is a casualty in World War I, afterwards you have two options. One: give up your music career and calling, do something inferior and cry into your soup for the rest of your life. Two: tell yourself, “All … Read more
What a day World Ballet Day was! Did you miss it? Fret not! Archived footage links are below. And to help the celebration continue, enjoy Off Balance for FREE all week long! The award-winning Outside the Limelight is $2.99 and the brand new, just-released A Dancer’s Guide to Africa is only 99 cents today (tomorrow it will revert to its regular … Read more
Nothing in the classical music repertoire says “summertime” more to me than Aram Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto. I discovered this Soviet era gem three summers ago and my first thought, (after “WOW!”) was, How did this elude me up to now? Blame it on the fact that it’s rarely performed in concert halls these days. But … Read more