You mean those ballerinas actually weigh more like 150 pounds? Yikes! Now I'm REALLY impressed!
Seriously, thank you for your kind words of welcome. I'm not really sure I have that much to offer by way of perspective, but I'm certainly glad to share my thoughts. Since I've never had a class in my life, you can be sure I won't venture any comments on technique! I'm just the guy who sits in my seat at the venerable Academy of Music here in Philadelphia, constantly picking my jaw out of my lap as I watch the guys in Pennsylvania Ballet do the most incredible things with their bodies. It's been well said that the male human body is God's noblest creation, and ballet certainly displays what that body is capable of doing. I would certainly concur in your comment that your art "glorifies what the male body can do."
You also wrote, "We need to know how people think of us." Well, I think of you guys as practially superhuman. I understand that there are grueling hours of hard labor that go into enabling you to do the things you do on stage, but during a performance you make it look so easy! As if the jumps and the turns and lifting a 100-pound (OK, 150-pound ) young lady with one arm are the most natural things in the world. I'm sorry if I'm gushing, but I write as someone who in my childhood was an absolute non-athlete, the proverbial fat kid with glasses who always had his nose in a book, so when I watch a performance I'm just awestruck by what those beautiful young men on stage can do with their bodies.I've run on long enough, but I would like to share something that happened to me this spring that I feel was really neat. I mentioned in my first posting that I had seen my first ballet when I was in college. That performance was actually a television appearance by Edward Villella. Well, this spring, Miami City Ballet did a two-performance stand here in Philadelphia, the complete Balanchine's "Jewels." For some reason, the theater moved me from my usual amphitheater seat to the main floor. During the first act, there was an empty box two rows in front of my seat. During the intermission, a group of people came and sat in the box--including Edward Villella. I recognized him at once. No, I didn't have the nerve to speak to him when the performance was over, but, still, even though his performing days are over, I think it was just so cool that I actually got to see, live and in person, the individual who first sparked my interest in ballet!Jeff[/i]
I've run on long enough, but I would like to share something that happened to me this spring that I feel was really neat. I mentioned in my first posting that I had seen my first ballet when I was in college. That performance was actually a television appearance by Edward Villella. Well, this spring, Miami City Ballet did a two-performance stand here in Philadelphia, the complete Balanchine's "Jewels." For some reason, the theater moved me from my usual amphitheater seat to the main floor. During the first act, there was an empty box two rows in front of my seat. During the intermission, a group of people came and sat in the box--including Edward Villella. I recognized him at once. No, I didn't have the nerve to speak to him when the performance was over, but, still, even though his performing days are over, I think it was just so cool that I actually got to see, live and in person, the individual who first sparked my interest in ballet!
Jeff[/i]