havana nights

tonight i went to a new zumba class. for starters, i've been taking zumba for probably about four years now, off and on, and with a few different instructors. it's so much fun and has definitely loosened up this ex-ballerina. latin dance + hip hop is basically always a win in my book. surprisingly, i'm actually rather good at zumba. one of my prouder moments was during a class a few years ago when a man next to me wearing tighter workout pants than i will ever own and a legit sweatband stopped what he was doing and said to me "girl, you're tall, but you sure can shake it." um, thank you? i'll take that as a compliment.

that said, i fearlessly walked in to tonight's class with all the confidence in the world. as a disclaimer, i'm not terribly confident at the gym in general. i don't like weight rooms or classes with words like "blast" or "turbo" in them. i don't ever want to incorporate a tire into my workout and i think there's a reason that "burpee" sounds like a noise you make right before you vomit. i don't pretend to be hardcore. but when it comes to zumba, i'm good to go. i don't usually have trouble keeping up.

but then there was this class.

with the latin instructor wearing flames printed up the sides of her pants. who kept shouting commands in spanish and was impossible to see. where 60% of the other women in the class were latin. with literal non-stop salsa music and faster moves than i've ever seen. with no breaks or tutorials or overviews. where i faced the front when everyone else faced back and vice-versa. where i had to resort to trying to emulate the lovely latino girl in front of me with the backless shirt and the remarkably impressive beyonce booty shake.

at the end of the class, i thought it would be a good idea to talk to the instructor. for the record, her makeup still looked perfect and she was barely sweaty. she was painfully pretty and spoke with a heavy spanish accent. here's how it went basically:

me: "hi, this is my first class and i really enjoyed it! i've taken zumba before, but this is a little faster-paced than i'm used to. how long does it usually take newcomers to catch up?"

señorita: "you never dance before? that's okay. you can't keep up, you just march."(demonstrates marching in place for my benefit)

me: "well, no, i've actually danced my whole life. and i never usually have trouble keeping up in zumba. this is just a lot faster and different than i'm used to. how many combinations do you have in rotation on a regular basis?"

señorita: "that's okay you just practice." (gives me a sad, sympathetic once-over) "wow... look at you. you sweaty."


muchas gracias.

image via @glamourouscitylights on tumblr

classical ballet for the modern day

60 minutes is one of my favorite shows, but thanks to sunday football, i often forget to watch it because it's never on when it's supposed to be. their stories are always riveting, even when you don't think they're going to be, and generally i think they don't sensationalize human suffering or tragedy the way that a large majority the media does. instead, they create in-depth reports across a wide spectrum of subjects and provide thought-provoking stories that leave me wanting to learn more.

last night, however, 60 minutes knocked it out of the park with a report about the new york city ballet, peter martins and the legend that is george balanchine. it is fascinating and i could write for hours about it, but you should just watch the report. you won't regret it, i promise:

 

the 60 minutes page for this report also features a lot of web extras and lovely photographs of the nycb.

also:

fun fact #1: the north carolina dance theatre is fortunate enough to be able to perform balanchine choreography, as one of its artistic directors, patricia mcbride, danced with balanchine in the new york city ballet. the balanchine trust is exclusive and charlotte is extremely lucky to have access to his legendary choreography.

fun fact #2: peter martins choreographed two of the barbie ballet movies (nutcraker and swan lake). if you haven't seen these, they do not feature real people, but cartoon barbie. i didn't realize that they had actual original choreography. go figure. barbie's got all kinds of people in her corner.

image of nycb via paul kolnik

tomorrow's the day!

runway for the ballet has finally arrived - i couldn't be more excited!

someday i will blog again

but until february 11th, my life is consumed. quite frankly, i've never been more excited for something to end. nonetheless, the show should be super. come support dance theatre and all of our hard work please? see you then! (i'll likely be the haggard sweaty looking one among all the pretty people.)

in the middle, somewhat elevated

this past thursday, i had the pleasure of attending the north carolina dance theatre's first performance of the season, director's choice. the evening featured three pieces, chosen by artistic director and the most adorable frenchman i know, jean-pierre bonnefoux. the evening began with a world premiere ballet choreographed by dance theatre's own beautiful aussie, sasha janes; the second a piece, bolero, choreographed by mark diamond; and the third, in the middle, somewhat elevated, by william forsythe. and while the first two were lovely, in the middle completely and totally stole the show. the 1987 piece was created originally for the paris opera ballet and i couldn't help thinking while watching how angular, unbalanced and aggressive it was, but that for some reason it was still totally appealing and captivating. the wings of the stage are bare and the dancers wear skin-tight lycra. they come and go throughout the 25 minute piece, bursting into abstract, athletic movement before exiting again to the industrial, electronic thom willems score. i could go on and on writing about how wonderful it was, but here's a clip from the renowned houston ballet's performance so that you can see for yourself!

calling all fashionistas!

 do you live in the charlotte area and love fashion and the arts? do you like fashion shows? do you like parties and cocktails and delicious food? then we need you!

this year i am in chairing the north carolina dance theatre's runway for the ballet event, scheduled for february 11th, 2012. if you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably remember my posts about it last february, but it really is an exceptionally great event and i am so excited to be a part of it again this year.

that said, we are currently building our committee to help organize the event this year, and i would love to have as many fashionable, creative, enthusiastic people involved as possible. i'm assuming if you read my blog, you are definitely all of those things. our kick-off committee meeting will be held on september 26th at 6:30 at the patricia mcbride and jean-pierre bonnefoux center for dance in uptown charlotte and if you would like to attend (or know anyone who would like to attend), please let me know! the meeting will be very informative and allow you to better understand the role of the runway for the ballet committee. i know our event this year is going to be spectacular, but it would probably be even more so if you were a part of it! 

many fun fall blog updates and posts coming your way as soon as i get my massive to-do list under control. in the meantime, drink a delicious pumpkin spice latte and open your windows. it's fantastic outside today.

all images by gio alma of the miami city ballet company for ocean drive

ballerina project

 

violeta - tribeca 

i recently discovered the ballerina project, when north carolina dance theatre dancer anna gerberich starred in the project's first-ever short film. anna and kate ann behrendt (who was just recently promoted to ncdt first company) have both participated in the project, which features dancers from various companies photographed primarily in new york city and boston. and the photos are some of the most beautiful i've seen. i love the grace and beauty of the dancers against the urban landscapes. you can purchase any of these prints from the ballerina project and i'd encourage you to do so - each purchase further supports the project and artist dane shitagi. if you want to buy me one, i'll take the one above, my very favorite. below, enjoy a few more lovely images in the project. here's to hoping there will be a nice book of the collection in the future. you can see much more on the project's facebook page.

*all photographs copyright dane shitagi for the ballerina project.*

 andie - riverside park

 violeta - riverside park

andrea - central park

 anna - washington square

 kate - east village

 elina - east river

 christie - queens

 kate - east village

 mara - east river

 rachel - boston

 rachel - public garden (boston)

 violeta - central park

violeta - west side highway

"i tried to take pictures of the ballerinas – not of their dancing. i tried to stay focused on the dancers – not on their poses. i tried to portray their souls – not their steps. ballerina project is more about the dancer than the dancing. as photographers we often try to capture momentums of the dancing without really acknowledging the obvious: the camera is not exactly the best instrument to do it. the camera can only take stills of something that is in its essence a flow."  
- dane shitagi

*shitagi quote via my modern met. all images copyright dane shitagi for the ballerina project*

what are you doing this weekend?

i promise that after this post, i'll lay off the ballet-heavy subject matter, but, oh. my. gosh. i just returned from the opening night of north carolina dance theatre's director's choice performance and i can safely say that it is by far my favorite dance theatre show i've ever attended. basically, director's choice means jean-pierre bonnefoux and patricia mcbride get to pick whatever strikes their fancy and mash it all in to one performance. and they picked so well this year.

1. my favorite favorite was a piece entitled le souffle de l'espirit (or, breath of inspiration), choreographed by czech dancer jiri bubenicek (ncdt is only the second us company to work with jiri besides the new york city ballet). the piece was basically very modern choreography with very traditional music (lots of bach and pachelbel) with a very minimalist set/look (inspired by da vinci's work). the grand finale was canon in d with all male dancers. and yes, it was so beautiful i cried (just a little). like a moron.

2. the second number, choreographed by salvatore aiello (former artistic director of the ncdt) was this strange but very alluring tribal "wind dance" which included some insane lifts/acrobatics and in which sasha janes wears a thong. i'm just saying.

3. after two very unique pieces, george balanchine's tchaikovsky pas de deux is about as traditional classical ballet as you can get. and it was, of course, absolutely beautiful. there are few places around the country where you can see original balanchine work, and charlotte is fortunate enough to be one of those places.

4. and finally, dwight rhoden's ballet based on the work of artist romare bearden. very upbeat, very swingy, very colorful and very wonderful. it was fun to see everything come together after the sneak preview and the music - old spirituals and swing/jazz - was fantastic.

all this to say, if you're wondering what you should do this weekend, you should go to the ballet. you will not be disappointed. buy tickets here and you can thank me later.

all images by t.ortega gaines via the charlotte observer

dress up

tomorrow night is the north carolina dance theatre's 40th anniversary gala, paris meets new york in the queen city. the event celebrates husband-and-wife artistic directors jean-pierre bonnefoux's and patricia mcbride's backgrounds: hers in new york, his in paris. they are both world renowned ballerinas and one of the lucky few included in the balanchine trust, an elite group of dancers and choreographers able to reproduce george balanchine's work. they are pictured above, dancing together in balanchine's theme and variations.

i'm pretty excited about the event - especially considering i had the opportunity to help with it this year. otherwise, you can bet with a $250/plate ticket, i wouldn't be there. the front of the knight theater is tented with a gorgeous, heated 5,000 square foot tent and the lobby has been transformed with amazing flowers and tables covered in damask and silk linens. setting up today was so exciting and i can't wait to see everything tomorrow with the final touches. the only problem? i don't want to wear any of my dresses. instead, i want to wear this one:

or, perhaps i could go a little less fancy and choose one of these two?

or maybe this one? kind of cool:

or perhaps a little less frumpy version of this one? i loved the idea of this marc bower design at the oscars, but it seemed ill-fitted. i'd like a tighter, more mermaid style version (see silhouette above). with no front slit. who thought that was a good idea?

unfortunately, i need to stop procrastinating and make do with what i already have...sigh...

images: 1.martha swope via ncdance.org 2.pinterest 3.-4.modcloth 5.asos 6.buzznet

the coolest thing i did all week

yesterday evening i attended north carolina dance theatre's sneak preview of their upcoming director's choice ballet. this year, among a balanchine piece, dwight rhoden has choreographed a 30-minute world premiere ballet based on the works of artist romare bearden. this is cool for several reasons.

first of all, romare bearden is from charlotte, although he moved to new york city when he was young. many of his colorful collages and paintings center around the civil rights movement and african american culture, as well as the harlem renaissance and scenes from the passion of the christ. i learned about him in college and studied his work with the great susan carlisle bell, so it was exciting to see dance based on his work.

second of all, dwight rhoden is a huge deal. if you're wondering where you've heard his name, it's possibly from so you think you can dance, where he has choreographed many pieces. he has also choreographed for cirque de soleil (by the way, if anyone wants to take me to see totem in charlotte, that would be okay), kelly clarkson, lenny kravitz and prince. from what i've seen, i love his choreography.

third of all, i've seen one other company rehearsal before at ncdt, but sitting in on one is about the most insanely fantastic thing ever. it's like all of my ballerina books and movies as a child coming to life before my eyes. last night i realized i was smiling like a fool just watching. it was fascinating watching dwight at work (who, by the way, wears the skinniest jeans i've ever seen on a man. i'm pretty sure they wouldn't fit me.) and just as fascinating watching the dancers as they learned the steps and the emotions dwight was trying to convey. i also really enjoyed hearing dwight discuss how he translated bearden's pieces in to choreography. it was a magical evening that came with really delicious free local cheese and a really delicious free merlot (which i normally don't like). i can't wait to see the actual performance in a few weeks!

all images via jeff willhelm for the charlotte observer
bearden piece: "one night stand" mixed media collage on masonite, 1974