Alicia Alonso is a Cuban ballerina who has defied time. Her early career took place in this country, but she returned to Cuba after Castro came to power and he rewarded her by treating Alonso and her company very well. … Continue reading →
Orwell knew full well how important this sort of erasure of history by the Obama campaign is, although he didn’t envision the help of the internet’s wayback machine in reconstructing the vanished past. Do Obama’s scrubbers realize that such a … Continue reading →
Rudyard Kipling is one of those poets known by people who don’t ordinarily read poetry. But what he’s known for differs from person to person. Some are only familiar with his tribute to cool heads under fire, “If.” Others see … Continue reading →
I was sent the following photo with a request that I offer an explanation of this riveting ballet tableau: I would be only too happy to oblige.
Continue reading →There’s a new star on the New York City Ballet horizon: Daniel Ulbricht. The fact that I’d never even heard of him (or most of the current dancers in the company) until I read this article reminds me how long … Continue reading →
I’m currently reading I, Maya Plisetskaya, the autobiography of the wonderful Russian dancer about whom I wrote this tribute. She was known for vivacity, smoldering sensuality, and her powerful yet graceful jump, the latter of which she describes as follows: … Continue reading →
They were called “novelty songs,” although I didn’t know it at the time. They occupied a special niche that doesn’t seem to exist anymore in this far less innocent age: a nonsensical bubble-gum type of music/lyrics, meant mostly to amuse … Continue reading →
You may recall my disastrous efforts to learn to tango, chronicled here. But I still enjoy the dance as spectator, and the other evening I had the good fortune to attend a thrilling tango performance. Which made me think of … Continue reading →
In recent decades, as the Presidential races have become more like advertising campaigns and less like contests about the issues, there’s been a great deal of attention paid to “acting Presidential.” Some of it is reasonable, an attempt to size … Continue reading →
I was listening to the radio the other day and heard an ad for a Pete Seeger concert. Pete Seeger? He’s still alive? And singing? I thought he must be a thousand years old now, because he already seemed old … Continue reading →
[NOTE: I’m trying to make this blog an Obama-free zone for at least one more day. One day at a time, they say.] This Atlantic article by Nicholas Carr is a recommended read, about the reported loss of concentration and … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Yesterday I wrote about literary style vs. substance. I concluded that it’s possible to have the first while lacking the second, especially in the realm of politics. Today I’m writing about a work that undoubtedly has both style and … Continue reading →