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.
The world of COVID-19 restrictions introduced itself to me in a rather heavy-handed fashion. On March 6th, San Francisco Ballet opened a new production, Balanchine’s glorious A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I rose the next morning, eagerly anticipating my trip to San Francisco for the weekend to attend two performances. Turning on my computer, I opened … Read more
We are living in a time rife with uncertainty, upheaval and high tension, for which, I’ve decided, Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the perfect antidote. Created in 1962 to music by Felix Mendelssohn, it was George Balanchine’s first original full-length ballet, and quickly hailed as a masterpiece. San Francisco Ballet audiences haven’t seen it since 1986, … Read more
It’s February 2020, and you know what that means? The Classical Girl has turned seven! The Classical Girl, as longtime readers might know, was a concept I’d created on the eve of 2013. A New Year’s resolution of sorts. My ballet novels were long completed, out being shopped (or already killed on the editorial-board table), … Read more
At last the San Francisco Ballet has returned to the stage at the War Memorial Opera House, commencing with their 75th anniversary performance of Nutcracker, North America’s first full-length production, a fact we SFB patrons are mighty proud of. The Nutcracker run has finished, alas, and as we burst into the New Year, my eye is now … Read more
All right, a show of hands: who’s seen the 1832 ballet, La Sylphide? {{Looks around}} Yup. I’m not surprised. And for the record, I didn’t raise my hand either. But its importance came to mind last week, as I was researching for a Top 10 Classical Ballets list and found myself indecisive about the … Read more