Thursday, August 20, 2020

My Weekly Checkup (#19)

 A Collection of Some Things I Found, Some Thoughts I Had This Week


You may have noticed, I skipped last week's checkup. I mentioned it in this past Monday's post. This week I intend to share three videos about dance. And an interesting but sad take on the history of ballet.

(For the record, I am wary of any article published on the internet, especially one about history that was posted by the History Channel. However, for the moment, I am going to assume that the overall theme is true: 19th century ballerinas were sexually exploited to some extent. At some point, however, I will have to do more research.)

(Although the painting below is not a Degas, I came across this article about him from Vanity Fair which I have found insightful. Also, I covered some of my fascination with Degas' paintings and a sculpture of ballet dancer in a previous Weekly Checkup. This article has helped me to understand these particular pieces better.)

Le Cafe de Paris by Jean Beraud
 

This is a series of dances performed by a Russian ballet company. The recording includes parts of rehearsals from five different pieces. The music is delightful, and the dancing beautiful. And it is only ten minutes. 



This is a scene from the Royal Ballet's performance of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I watched this with my two daughters months ago, but it came back to my mind after seeing the Russian dancer above. Great costumes and set pieces. This particular piece is fun and exciting. I love everything about the Queen in this video.



And this one is a clip from a rehearsal for another scene. It is only ten minutes, and is worth watching to see the level of work and intensity that goes into a professional production. Also, you get to see the dancers up close, without costumes.




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