Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical Girl San Francisco Ballet dancers in Caniparoli’s “Lambarena” I never thought I’d get the chance to mention San Francisco Ballet and my two-year African experience in the same breath, much less blog about it, but here we are. Tuesday night I attended San Francisco Ballet’s 2015 season opener, a program that featuring Serenade, RAkU and Lambarena. … Read more
Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” is one of those pieces of music, like “Beau Soir” and “Girl With the Flaxen Hair” and “Afternoon of a Faun” (all Debussy compositions, BTW), that has condensed its flavors and sensuous textures into one delicious, snack-sized morsel. A brief five minutes, … Read more
*Editor’s note: mourning Paris’ loss a second time, after the horrific attacks on Friday, Nov 13th. I can only bow my head and offer all involved my heartfelt sorrow and support. STORY This weekend, I mourn in spirit with my favorite city in the world as Paris rallies and attempts to recover from the massacre that commenced last Wednesday, when … Read more
Do I want this blog to be the story of the fiery, relentless energy of the ten years in which I produced five muse-inspired novels? The aching loss as the decade-long dream of being traditionally published got pounded down into nothingness? Nah. The New Year is a great opportunity to end a pity party over … Read more
Willem Christensen and Gisella Caccialanza, 1944 It hadn’t been intended as a “timeless holiday classic,” that first year, on Christmas Eve day, 1944, when Willem Christensen, artistic director of the fledgling San Francisco Ballet, presented to audiences his complete, two-act Nutcracker production. He’d known he was doing something relatively new. The only other complete Nutcracker ballet outside Russia had been in … Read more