Sonoma Ballet Conservatory's The Snow Maiden

I've been working with Sonoma Ballet Conservatory for almost four months now, and have been impressed with their lovely dancers and fellow staff members and Artistic Director and Owner Patricia O'Reilly.  This weekend the school will perform The Snow Maiden, a traditional Russian folk tale with all the makings of a fantastic ballet: romance, magic, some humor, and good music.  In addition to being a ballet, The Snow Maiden has also been performed as a play and opera, first appearing in 1873 and underwent several revisions and there are still slight differences in plot and characters between the opera, play, and ballet.  Here is the version that Sonoma Ballet Conservatory will be performing this weekend:

There is a legend that says if you build a beautiful snow girl and wish hard enough,

 the Snow Queen will bring her to life.

In a little village in long ago Russia, a childless Old Woman and her spirit, The Domovoi, build a beautiful snow girl every year in the hopes that it will come to life as a Snow Maiden.  One year, during a skating party, a Gypsy Fortune-Teller comes to the village and reads in the Old Woman’s palm that her daughter will meet her future husband that night.  Everyone is upset that the Gypsy is so cruel, and they chase her out of town.  The Domovoi uses its magic to call upon the Snow Queen, who transforms the snow girl into a Snow Maiden.  The  Snow Maiden is warned that if the warmth of love should touch her heart, she will melt and return to the Land Of Snow forever.  The Snow Maiden’s eyes briefly meet those of Lel, the handsome shepherd, as the Old Woman guides her into the hut.

By Spring, the Snow Maiden has made many friends.  The 4 naughty older daughters of the Boyaress entice Lel and the Snow Maiden into dancing together.  He professes his love for the Snow Maiden, and she returns his affection.  But, as warned, the Snow Maiden melts and sadly returns to the Land Of Snow.  The village is despondent, but The Domovoi calls upon the 4 Winds to help Lel rescue the Snow Maiden.  The brassy West Wind appears first and gives Lel a magic axe that will defeat all enemies.  The elegant South Wind brings wine that will warm the coldest heart.  The playful East Wind brings a feather from the Firebird.  The remote North Wind brings a necklace of pearls that will keep the Snow Maiden cool forever and takes Lel to the Land Of Snow.

The Snow Maiden is presented to the court of the Snow Queen.  She is welcomed by the Frost Fairy, the Ice Princess, the Snow Flakes, the Snow Balls, the Icicles, the Ice Crystals and Mama Winter with her Snow Drops.  But even the antics of the Snow Man and Little Jack Frost can’t bring a smile to her face.  When Lel appears, he defeats the Snow Guards with the magic axe and warms the Snow Queen’s heart with the magic wine.  He puts the magic necklace around the Snow Maiden’s neck and uses the feather to call the Firebird.  The Firebird takes them back to the village where the Old Woman and The Domovoi are overjoyed to see them.  Everyone celebrates the love of Lel for his Snow Maiden.

The performances are Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th at 1:00 p.m. at the historic Sebastiani Theatre in downtown Sonoma.  Tickets are $22 for adults and $17 for children and seniors.  Here is the theatre's website,  buy tickets online or at the door!  Check out Sonoma Ballet Conservatory's website here, or their Facebook page here.  

Half-Pint & Kamara Designs

While browsing around downtown Sonoma the other day I popped into Half-pint, a cute boutique full of stylish clothes for little uns.  I have a niece and nephew with birthdays coming up, so Half-pint seemed like a great find to treasure hunt. Here's their Facebook page to see some of their goodies.  They have clothes, accessories and some toys for boys and girls sizes newborn to 14.

My eyes have an uncanny knack to spot whatever is dance related/inspired wherever I am (stores, parks, the grocery store, I'm sure it can get pretty annoying to whomever is unluckily accompanying me), and almost immediately I spotted some ultra cute baby ballet slippers.  Frosted in hot pinks and soft purples with ribbons and flowers, I was immediately charmed.  Upon closer inspection the brand behind the cuteness turned out to be Kamara designs.  After checking out their website, I found that this company makes infant Mary-Janes, tutus and hair accessories as well.  Check it out here.  

Last year some of my students did a ballet shoe decorating project for National Dance Week and it was a hit (here's the blog post), I can't imagine any little student or Ballerina Birthday girl and her friends that I've worked with who wouldn't love slippers like these.  They're perfect for a party or dress up (just so you know, most dance schools won't allow slippers like these for actual dance class due to uniform regulations), or just to wear around the house and feel pretty in!

Magnificent for your Monday

Just wanted to share, so beautiful!

So this girl walks up to the barre...

As previously documented, one of my New Year's goals is to 'Move More'.  So, I signed up for a ballet class at the local Jr. College.  I like the JC option because #1 I'm taking a few other classes so I'm already on campus, and #2 I know that if it's something I'll get a grade in, I'm more likely to really show up everyday than if the class was on a drop in basis.  So, this week is the first week back to school... everyone has their new bags and (overpriced) textbooks all shiny and new, and all the teachers are going over syllabi while the students digest it all and gear up for the semester.  In my ballet class I find out, ballet terminology will be tested (which as an instructor myself I'm glad to see), and my instructor makes a comment about students needing to at least try to learn the proper spelling for the French ballet vocabulary words.  As she tells us this I have a little inward chuckle, because I can imagine a beginners face as he/she tries to pronounce, understand, and spell ballet words.

So today I'm offering up a mini lesson in ballet vocab, hopefully to shed some light on what those words actually mean, and why they're called what they're called.

First off, the ballet barre is not the same as a bar.  I know, it's pronounced the same and its an easy mistake to make, but the ballet barre is the long handrail that runs down the sides of a ballet studio where dancers take their warm up.  It's a tool to test their placement, balance and should really act as a partner (as in pas de deux), not as a crutch.

Which brings me to the next word: pas de deux - dance for two.  Usually a man and woman (a la the pas of the Sugar Plum and her Cavallier in The Nutcracker), but can be for two women as well, or for two men.  Pas de tois = dance for three, pas de quatre = dance for four, and so on.

Plie (or as my friend Kristina likes to say: pee-lay) - means to bend.  If I had a penny for every plie I did in my life I'd be a rich rich woman.  Plies are one of the first exercises dancers do at the barre for warm up, demis (little) bends of the knee, or grands (bigger) bends.

Releve - lifted, or raised.  When a dancer rises on to the balls of the feet.

Reitere - to withdraw.  Also known as passe in some ballet vocab methods.  When one toe is placed at the knee of the standing leg.

Pirouette - to whirl about.  Priouettes are turns on one leg though, one leg is doing the turning on releve, while the other foot is placed in retiere, with the toe underneath the knee of the turning leg.

Pointe - the type of shoes women wear to stand on their toes, and the epiotme of what most people picture when they hear 'ballerina'.  Good to know though, that pointe shoes weren't worn by dancers until about much later into its history.

So there you have it, a few French words and your ballet vernacular is on its way; if nothing else now you can hold a conversation with any balletomane and know for certain that a bar is really not a barre at all.  : )

A Few Book Reviews

I've already blogged before about how I love a good children's book (check out Summer Reading, Ballerina Style), and as it's a new year, I'm hoping to make it to a few bookstores in the near future to scope out some new children's material.  Today though, I wanted to share a few adult ballet book reviews.

First is a link to a fantastic looking book and nice review from ballet.co by Jane Simpson on a new publication on The Royal Danish Ballet.  Check it out here.  I've never had the chance to see The Royal Danish Ballet, but would love to should they ever make a Bay Area appearance.  The Danes are known for their magnificent jumps and clean technique.  The Royal Danish Ballet in Photographs looks like it has some gorgeous photos and interesting history and documentation of the company's 2006-2007 season.

For my birthday a few months back my brother and his family gave me Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet.  Now, having been required to ready many a ballet history books for various classes I've taken, or projects I've done I'll admit that they can be kind of dense.  But I'm about 100 pages in to Apollo's Angels and can tell you it's anything but.  It's well written by Jennifer Homans, not to mention well researched.  It's a vast and complete history of the beginnings of ballet and I'm learning things that I never knew before about its history, which I'm loving.  I also skipped ahead to peruse some of the later chapters and was pleased to find that Homans addresses the future of ballet with honest opinions and facts, discussing the recent decline of new balletic works and where the future of dance is headed.  (I can't wait to get to those chapters).

So if you're in the market for a good ballet read, check some of these out, or do a quick Google/Amazon search.  There's a plethora of ballet literature out there, so I'm sure there's something that'll tickle your ballet fancy.  Happy reading!

Bag Lady

I’ll admit it; I’m a bag lady.  Going out to my car in the mornings and coming home at night I typically lug no less than 3 bags in and out with me.  In my defense, they are organized, and they are all necessary.  There’s my teaching bag – with my lesson plans, syllabus books, music and teaching shoes.  My school book carries notebooks and text books for the classes I’m taking, and I would be one grumpy woman if I didn’t tote around a lunch bag with me, when my blood sugar is low I’m not the most cheery of people.  Now I don’t really mind being a bag lady because I’m a fashionable one; my bags are just paper and plastic grocery bags (although those do have a time and place), my bags are cute and fun as well as functional. 

Love this bag! A gift from Janice - she knows I love a bag.

Lucy tote- compliments of The Dailey Method Benicia

A handmade gift from my friend Kristina!

Check out the cute lining!

Maybe my love of bags stems from my early dance training.  As a young and aspiring ballerina, you are taught that it’s important to have a dance bag – one place where all of your dance things (shoes, leotard, hair pins etc) go so that when the time comes to dance, you’re organized and ready to go.  Here are a few cute ballet bag options for the mini ballerinas you may have in your life! (These are all from discountdance.com).  It's a well known truth that the grown ups end up carrying these totes for their tots, you might as well look good while you’re doing it!

New Years Resolutions Collage

2012 is here!  And as promised, I tackled my new year collage of goals and wanted to share the results here.  It was fun putting this all together, kind of like putting together a puzzle of my own creation.  

I guess I've always enjoyed making collages; I may just have to put together a Ballerina Birthday collage in the near future to bring together all the fun, whimsical and special things that make a Ballerina Birthday so great!