ze Queen and ze firebird

How is the "no ballet in opera" scene from Amadeus not on Youtube? How am I supposed to make this post even vaguely related to ballet without a visual aid of the most ballet-related thing going on in my life right now? GEEZE, PEOPLE!
My husband has been gone to visit family for the past few days and I have spent my alone time eating entire pints of sherbet straight from the tub and watching movies set in the 18th century for fabulous rococo costuming inspiration (so depressing, all these movies! All of them! Why are there no happy movies with panniers and giant hair?) and because I am reading a biography about Marie Antoinette.
Did you know Marie Antoinette was a dancer? Ballet was different, naturally, than it is now, but she loved to dance. Here she is performing a ballet with her brother at a state wedding:

Last week my teacher gave me a copy of all the videos from last Summer's recital. All my costumes! Eeeee! The Firebird looked so cool! I wish I had stills to share with you guys, or that the videos weren't in such a shitty low resolution that I could take screen caps that weren't awful. It looked really nice moving around, with all the flamey bits swishing about. Sigh...

I would blur out faces but the resolution on these is so dreadful that I am pretty sure they count as anonymous.
PS: I am not responsible for the weird little poky-outy feathers at the edges.
Someone just did that. I had no control.

Ballet Where You Least Expect It

My city is known for it's public art. Public art that is, almost without exception, horrible. I mean, did the county admin building REALLY need that V-shaped fountain pouring water in to a red pool? Really? Who thought that a giant vajay was a great idea? And more importantly... who thought it was SUCH a great idea that they bought an identical one for every side of the building?
But, I digress.
I have quite literally been going to the same dentist's office since I was 7 (yes, really. I have congenitally crummy teeth so I have stared at the same grey acoustic ceiling tiles for hundreds of cumulative hours of my life.) and for years I have walked past the same bass-relief mural in the lobby staircase. It's huge. It's lumpy. And, most of all? It's ugly. My heartfelt apologies to the artist... but it really is ugly. Anyway. As I was leaving yesterday I noticed a little corner of the mural that I hadn't really paid any attention to before:

ballet in unexpected places!

PS: I wasn't kidding about the fountain:

contemplative

13th in an occasional series of ballet paintings that are not Degas:

Dancer with a Hoop (1881)

Jean-Louis Forain

The Firebird

Twelfth in an occasional series of ballet paintings/artworks that are not Degas:

 

 Ballet L’Oiseau de Feu (1913). 

by René Bull , 1872-1942

Snip snip

(possibly) eleventh in an (very) occasional series of ballet paintings that are not Degas:

  

Ballet Girl and Dressmaker (1930)

Laura Knight

Don't. Do. It. No. Don't.

A particular dance wear retailer (ahem) posted this photo to Facebook this morning. You have probably seen it on Pinterest already, it's been around for a while:

It's a little girl having a dance with Anna Pavlova in an art gallery. It's quintessential childhood. It's precious. It's nostalgic. It reminds you of the things you love about dancing.
And this is the comment that someone left on the post:

 

It is a jerk-bag being a Douchey Larue for no discernible reason. It reminds you of the things you HATE about dancing. It highlights two of the problems with dancers (and people in general) communicating via the internet. First, it's almost impossible to truly grasp a person's intent via the written word without any obvious social ques ("he said laughingly", "she said while rolling her eyes"). It is especially hard to grasp sarcasm. Is this sarcasm? There is a happy face, that could indicate sarcasm, I guess. But a winky face would be more indicative of jest. I used to know someone online that would say the most horrible things to people because he thought a winky face would make up for it. I no longer associate with this guy, for obvious reasons. But anyway. Soooo... this commenter really is just being an asshole?
The second problem of course is that people really do this. I have talked about this previously. Multiple times. When you see a photo or video of a dancer online your first reaction should not be "oh here, let me tell you everything you are doing WRONG" regardless of the air of perfectionism inherent in ballet. It is not okay. Do not do this. To anyone for any reason. I understand the urge (lord knows I have seen a few too many porcelain ballerina figurines with dreadfully awkward posture, thankfully pointing this out is not objectifying and insulting an actual person) but if you are not the teacher in a classroom full of students then you need to check your corrections at the door.
And for the love of god, if you MUST be a dickweed? At least end with a winky face. ;)

Chalk and Excuses

Oh, I know, I know. It's been a few days. But I have a good excuse! In the last four days I have taken my cat to the vet three times (including once at midnight) and my car got broken in to. Sigh... I am still going to class, though! And still being rheumatificated. So, I can count any down time as research and development, yes?

Anyway. This story is vaguely ballet related:
Over Labor Day weekend my city holds an annual chalk art festival that is a lot of fun and usually means that I will be spending at least two of the three days eating massive snow cones and listening to indie music. My husband and I have gone every year since we met (awwwwww).
This festival involves a lot of people creating large works of sometimes-art-sometimes-I-just-don't-even on the sidewalks around a park. The art is sponsored by various businesses and organizations around town. There is almost always a ballet themed piece because the local professional company is a sponsor. Sometimes the final piece of art is really cool. Sometimes... errrr... not so much. But it's chalk, dudes, you don't have to feel  bad about it. When we stopped by on Sunday afternoon I didn't see any ballet art being made, though, and I was kind of bummed. So when we went back on Monday to check out the now finished (or nearly finished) art I didn't bother bringing my camera, or even my phone. Which I immediately regretted when I saw the three or four adorable teenage dancers in (now horrifically covered in colorful chalk dust) dead pointe shoes over ankle socks gridding out their tardy but quite ballet-themed hunk of sidewalk. It would have made for some really amazing close-up cropped photographs, I am sure.
I contemplated going back home and getting my camera... but then the sky opened right the heck up and suddenly it was POURING rain. And all those lovely, ephemeral artworks... trickled away in to the grass.

To my infinite disgust I have been unable to find a single freaking picture of it online. How is it possible that  of the hundreds of people wandering around taking photographs at the drop of a hat not a single one of them thought "hey, this would be a cool picture!" when they saw those girls. It kills me, it really does.

Not a real blog post

Just a video. Because I was compelled to watch it three times in a row yesterday...

Edward Gorey

I was a little surprised that this morning's Google doodle was in honor of Edward Gorey's birthday. I thought I was the only one who knew (not because I am a weird super-fan, but because I happen to be using an Edward Gorey wall calendar that marks the day)!
Anyhow, if you are not familiar with his work you ought to be. Aside from having one of the most recognizable (and wonderful) styles of illustration in the past fifty years he was also a huge ballet fan and did a lot of work for the New York City ballet as well as several other ballet-themed projects. Go read the Gilded Bat, a treasure for ballet students and people who know just enough French to get themselves in trouble.
He was also a cat lover, and you will rarely see a picture of him at home without at least one cat sitting on him or nuzzling. That is my kind of guy.

Dancers Don't Care About Boobies

Tenth in an occasional series of ballet paintings that are not Degas:

 In ballet dressing room (Big ballerinas)

Zinaida Serebriakova, 1922

En Deshabille

Ninth in an occasional series of ballet paintings that are not degas:

  Ballet Dancers in the Dressing Room

Serebriakova, Zinaida, 1923

I quite like the use of shading on this one, especially the back of the dancer in the middle.

Pretty Pictures

I just found these photos online and thought I would share them here, as there is at least a tenuous ballet connection.
The photographer is Gregory Maiofis, and he has lots of great (and sometimes pretty weird) stuff out there. As for the ballet-related ones I was particularly taken with these two, of a ballerina and bear (you can get down with the symbolism all up in yo bidness or not, up to you):

Taste for Russian Ballet

Figurative Painting

I love them both for different reasons. Anyway, check him out!

Basically Everyone Painted Ballerinas

Eighth in an occasional series of ballet paintings that are not Degas:

 

The Blue Dancer

Pablo Picasso, 1900

Toulouse-Lautrec

Seventh in an occasional series of ballet paintings that are not Degas:

 Ballet de Papa Chrysantheme

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892

Also:

Ballerina - The First Tutu

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1890

 I kinda love this one because you just know what she's thinking, am I right ladies?

Art For Art's Sake

Sixth in an occasional series of ballet paintings that are not Degas:

"Ballet"

By Laura Knight, 1936

I quite like the shine on the satin shoes

Fifth in a series of occasional ballet paintings that are not Degas:

The Ballet Dancers (AKA The Dressing Room)

by Willard Leroy Metcalf

1885

god save the queen

So, who else thinks that Queen Elizabeth II is awesome? And how many of you are like "Woot! Diamond jubilee! There will be big hats!" or is it just me?
One of the things that HM did for the occasion is release the complete digitized collection of Queen Victoria's rather exacting private journals. If you are in to that stuff you can check 'em out right here.
So anyway, I've been reading them here and there when something in particular grabs my attention (though, to be honest, her handwriting is pretty taxing) and eagerly waiting for any mention of the big exciting news that was the world of ballet in the early to mid 1800s. I was hoping there would be some written mention, but instead we all lucked out, because she was an artist:

 

Pauline Duvernay in Sleeping Beauty. March 12th, 1833

 “The Viennoises”, at Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket. 1845

And, of course, the ballerina who will live forever, Taglioni:

 

Marie Taglioni as La Bayadère, 1832

 

"Mlle taglioni as she appeared in the ballet of Le Pouvoir de la Danse, ou la Nouvelle Terpsichore" 

1834 

And closer because it's prettier that way:

'Taglioni danced quite exquisitely', wrote Victoria, ' … she positively almost flew'

 

 

 

Darn Near Degas

Part three in an occasional series of ballet paintings that aren't Degas:

Danseuse, 1874

 Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Oh Dear, I Discovered Another Thing to do With Polyvore...

Princess Grace: flower fairy by iwillfly

You may as well just hook me up to an IV, because I don't think I am ever going to get up from in front of the computer again...

I like the cat especially...

Part two in an occasional series of ballet paintings that aren't Degas:

"Ballerina With a Black Cat"

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse