Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
Musings of a former ballet dancer who’s returned, years later, to the studio as a student.
Story has it, San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Yuan Yuan Tan’s career once hinged on one precipitous toss of a coin (ironically and coincidentally a Chinese yuan). She was ten, born and raised in Shanghai by traditional-minded Chinese parents. Her father was against the idea of her training to become a ballet dancer (too Western, … Read more
Recently I did some hiking in Big Basin State Park, an 18,000 acre enclave of old growth redwoods tucked into the Santa Cruz Mountains. As one might expect from mountainous terrain, I encountered hills. Steep hills, long hills, hills that never stopped climbing. The sun beat down, bathing me in sweat. The scenery was gorgeous … Read more
There is a wonderful blog called Grown-Ups at the Barre and when I saw it, I instantly fell in love with the concept, the collaborative effort and different points of views from various contributors. (Not to mention it’s a fun name with a great-looking graphic on the home page.) They have allowed me to chime … Read more
Ten years ago it was African music and not classical, that had me so infatuated. It was African dance and not ballet. I know, right? Doesn’t make much sense in light of my current music and dance obsession. But I’d started writing my first novel, loosely set on some of my own experiences as a … Read more
Interested in my ballet fiction? Check out Off Balance and the award-winning Outside the Limelight, as well as my newest, A Dancer’s Guide to Africa. Just click on their titles! The dare, of course, was to me, thrown out by me. And once the thought had been floated out there, I sensed I had to do it. … Read more