Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
If it’s not about classical music, ballet or the violin, you’ll find it here.
This week’s headlines… Boston Bombing Suspect Killed in Shootout Texas Fertilizer Plant Blast kills up to 15, with over 60 injured Death Toll Rises to 32 in Iraq Café Suicide Bombing These unfortunate headlines demonstrate a stark, inescapable facet of today’s world. Bombs. Violence. Death. Chaos. We live in violent times, bitterly relevant times. And … Read more
She was an American prima ballerina when the concept hadn’t yet been invented. She was a First Lady of dance, not just for the ambassadorship she provided for American dancers to the rest of the ballet world, but also because she was the wife of one of ballet’s greatest, George Balanchine, for six years. But … Read more
Over at Violinist.com, editor Laurie Niles has recently interviewed acclaimed violinist Elmar Oliveira who, in 1978, won the gold medal at the ultra-prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition. (Check out the interview here: http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20134/14574/.) In the years since, Oliveira has continued to thrive, through performing, teaching and recording. His most recent project is a recording of Robert Schumann’s … Read more
The arts world, as well as the larger movie-going world, lost a treasure yesterday. At age seventy, film critic and writer Roger Ebert died. It’s not unlike the feeling I got when the world lost Steve Jobs. It’s a loss that clutches at your emotions, your heart, losing this stranger but not. This genius of … Read more
You stop ballet, you start back up. Life gets in the way. You stop, you start back up. Now here I was in the longest stoppage, ten years, amid an understanding that maybe that was IT for me and ballet. Having a child changes you, changes your body, your priorities, your sense of what you … Read more