Outside of Pandora's Box

There is something very unsettling about listening to the calming piano melodies of Erik Satie and the like on Pandora while reading an engrossing book only to hear a sudden, stark advertisement for Taco Bell. Off-putting.

Partial Reinvention

Greetings,
   I haven't written much in a while (I feel like every blogger has started a post like that, at some point in their blogging career). Things have changed. I now done with my freshmen year of college. There were many good times throughout the year. Enough of that. I originally created this blog in order to write about a great love of mine: ballet. That is what I started with, but now, I would like to spread my blog's horizons. I can do that because it's my blog.
   I will start writing about ballet again, but also start writing about music, movies, restaurants, trips, school, and whatever else I desire (see first paragraph, last sentence). Another big thing that will somewhat dominate my upcoming posts will be about becoming vegan. I watched a documentary about   a vegan lady who convinces 3 people to try it for 6 weeks. I decided to do it for 8 weeks, but the more I read and learn about being vegan, the more I feel that it will be long-term. I'm currently in week 4. Feeling pretty good.
    Sometimes, I find something cool online and want to post it on Facebook, but I remember that I don't like posting stuff on Facebook a lot. So, why not make my own place where I can post and rant whenever I want to and not have to worry about "friends" writing ambiguous statuses about how they hate when people abuse the ability to post on Facebook. Losers. I didn't know I had a tumblr. Turns out  I do. I will probably be posting stuff between here and there.
   As Tobias Fünke would say, here's to a new start. I'm glad to be taking advantage of this blog and using it for the things I enjoy.

Take care,
Juliane M.

My Tumblr.

Stupid Facebook Posts about Shakespeare and Other Things

The title pretty much says it all. These are comments that I would like to leave on these posts, but will put them here.

Post: "Romeo And Juliet is soooo cuteeee! ♥"

My comment: Oh totally! Nothing cuter than a tragic tale of youth that ends in death. <3

Post: "Yes, when I post a quote I probably googled it, but who do you think I am? Shakespeare? Last time I checked I was born in Louisiana not England so don't expect me to be that smart."

Wow. I don't even know how to respond to that one.

You went ahead & made me believe you were a "Stop" sign, but really you were just another "Speed Bump" in the "Road of Life"...

Here's a new one: "Dear uterus,

Stop shedding, your hurting me!
Sincerely, a mad tummy. -_-"

What makes people think it's alright to say these things?

Photo of the Day

Today, Darci Kistler is retiring after 30 years with the NYCB. She was the last dancer trained and hired by him, so in a sense, it's the end of a legacy.
NYTimes article

Mrs. Kistler dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy variation from Balanchine's The Nutcracker in 1993

Divertimento No. 15

Megan Fairchild and Jonathan Stafford

Sterling Hyltin and Jason Fowler

Divertimento No. 15 is a 1956 ballet choreographed by George Balanchine for NYCB. I really want to see the whole thing! I've only seen the Andante and one of the variations. And I don't even know which variation it is!

Tiler Peck and Amar Ramasar

New York City Ballet

Links-

NYCB Repertory page

Recent NYTimes Review

On the Webcast from Feb. 2, 2004, there is a video of Kaitlyn Gilliland performing a variation from Divert #15. I love this variation!!!!

In this wonderful video of Megan Fairchild talking about pointe shoes, there are excerpts from Divert #15.

And here is a video of someone I found on Youtube performing the previous variation.

Yvonne Borree backstage in costume for Divert #15

Ruby Gala des Etoiles

Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans in Agon

So, last Saturday was pretty much the most wonderful night ever! I went to New Orleans to see a Gala put on by New Orleans Ballet Association. The dancers were incredible! Paloma Herrera and Ethan Stiefel from American Ballet Theatre(ABT), Clairemarie Osta and Benjamin Pech from the Paris Opera Ballet(POB), Heather Ogden and Guilluame Cote from National Ballet of Canada(NBC), and Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans from New York City Ballet(NYCB) were all there! Leanne Benjamin and Ed Watson from the Royal Ballet were scheduled to come too, but couldn't fly out of London in time to come due to the volcano in Iceland. The couple from POB flew out in just enough time to make it! I was a little disappointed that they wouldn't be there because Ed Watson is one of my favorites from Royal, but I was so elated that evening that nothing could bring me down! But, as many know (if you've read my blog in the past) how much I love NYCB and Balanchine, I was so excited to find out that Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette were there instead! Two of my favorite dancers from my favorite company performing pieces from my favorite choreographer! Could the evening get any better at this point?!?!

Now on to the dancing! First off was the POB couple performing the first pas de deux in Jerome Robbins' In the Night with live pianist, Cameron Grant. It was absolutely breathtaking! It was so calm and simple and so smooth and flowing, the choreography and the music(By Chopin). Lots of touching moments! I found a video of the same dancers performing the same piece here and a recent blog post about the ballet- In the Night. Second was the lovely ABT couple performing the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake. It was really nice! Paloma is such an amazing dancer! I personally think that this particular pas de deux works better in context to the full ballet, but it was beautiful! I've always loved the music (Tchaikovsky). A video-Svetlana Zakharova and Miranda Weese and Damian Woetzel . Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans in Balanchine's Agon was next! This was one of my favorite pieces of the evening! Wendy Whelan is the single most extrordinary thing I've ever seen! This piece is wonderful, but not everyone's favorite. It's very different than most ballets, very neoclassical. But it's amazing! The music and choreography match perfectly! Then Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette of NYCB in Balanchine's Who Cares?. I loved it! Megan Fairchild was like a breath of fresh air! She's so joyful when she dances! I loved the music by George Gershwin! So fun and jazzy! Up next was the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake with the couple from NBC. This pas de deux is very technically demanding and they performed it wonderfully! Both of them turned effortlessly! The crowd loved it! After intermission, Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans were back in Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain. This piece was so mesmerizing! There was a live violinist and pianist playing Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel, which was very beautiful! Then Fairchild and Veyette were back in Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux. I love this ballet, the more classical side of Balanchine. The music, which was originally intended for the Black Swan pas de deux in Swan Lake, is great! Andrew Veyette's solo was incredible! His jumps were fantastic! And Megan Fairchild is can dance extremely fast! She is a very musical dancer and can phrase the music wonderfully! Then it was the POB couple in the Lady of Cammelias pas de deux. They are both lovely dancers, but I don't think it was the best idea to have them do this piece out of context. If you ever see it you'll know why! Then it was the NBC couple in the Summer section of James Kudelka's The Four Seasons, with music by Vivaldi. It was a very interesting piece which I had never seen before! It was a more modern! I liked it! Last, but certainly not least, was Paloma Herrera and Ethan Stiefel in the pas de deux from Don Quixote! They were incredible! Paloma held the longest balance I've ever seen! It was a miracle! She was pulling triple pirouettes in between fouette turns! And Ethan's jump were great!

Well that was the evening! Another great thing was that from our seats we could see into the wings! It was distracting, but so cool to see these dancers chilling backstage waiting to go on or watching others!