2 3 Ballet Webb: August 2019

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Saturday Superstition Good Night



Saturday Superstition Good Night

Olive Thomas was a Ziegfeld girl who died tragically. See my blog about her here: http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/search?q=Olive+Thomas.

If you should perform at the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway (where Olive once performed) you will see find her portrait hanging beside the stage door. This is so the cast and crew can say “good night” to her as they leave the theater.

Since Olive is said to haunt the theater, wishing her a good night and blowing her a kiss is believed to appease her spirit and prevent any mischief.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Superstition #169:
“Say good night and blow a kiss to Olive.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“I’m the first on either side of the family to delve into the mysteries of the footlights.”
-         Olive Thomas

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Friday, August 30, 2019

Fun Friday Epaulets



Fun Friday Epaulets

Keeping the shoulders level and square can be challenging. Here is an idea that might help.

Imagine wearing a costume with epaulets on the shoulders. Epaulets are, according to lexico.com: “An ornamental shoulder piece on an item of clothing, especially on the coat or jacket of a military uniform.” And the origin of the word will sound familiar: “Late 18th century from French épaulette, diminutive of épaule ‘shoulder’, from Latin spatula in the late Latin sense ‘shoulder blade’.” See the Link of the Day below for an example of epaulets.

Thinking about these shoulder pieces, and imagining how their weight would feel can help keep the upper body level and square.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Secret #1eee:
“Imagine wearing a costume with epaulets.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“The burdens in our minds are always heavier than the burdens on our shoulders!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

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Thursday, August 29, 2019

Throwback Thursday and Ann Pennington



Throwback Thursday and Ann Pennington

Only 4 feet 9 inches tall, Ann Pennington was born into a Quaker family on December 23, 1893 in Wilmington, Delaware. She trained in dance with the Professor Wroe Dance School and her first performances were with the “Wroe’s Buds”.

Her Broadway career began in The Red Widow in 1911, and in 1913 she joined the Ziegfeld Follies. Here she became very popular. Because of her short stature her friends called her “Penny” and she called herself “Tiny”. She was close friends with Fanny Brice and she appeared beside many notables such as Will Rogers and Eddie Cantor, among others. She was also known as an accomplished tap dancer (see today’s Link of the Day below).

Pennington introduced the African American dance Black Bottom to general American audiences, and it soon overtook the Charleston in popularity. Her rehearsal pianist was George Gershwin and he wrote several songs for her. Pennington was a singer as well as a dancer.

According to the New York Times, Pennington was also a practical joker: “Once, when a man she didn't particularly like, telephoned, asking, "Is this Miss Pennington?" she replied, "This ain't me." Her dressing room door bore a sign, "For Men Only." Despite this, she was said to be rather shy offstage, and although linked to several famous men, she never married.

She also worked in silent films, but few examples of her dancing survive. Her dances in Gold Diggers on Broadway (1929) are lost, and her role in The Great Ziegfeld was cut before the film was released. She performed in the movies Believe Me, Hello Baby and Tanned Legs.

At the end of her career she toured in vaudeville, but retired completely in the 1940s. She died of a stroke on November 4, 1971 in New York City. She was occasionally recognized as a faded star as she shuffled down Broadway.


From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Secret #236:
“Ann Pennington was famous for doing the Black Bottom Dance.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“But I do not want to spend all the rest of my life dancing. I want to do some more serious work and I sincerely believe that I can get ahead faster through the medium of the motion pictures than any other way.” 
— Ann Pennington, Ziegfeld star, in 1916.

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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Wild Wednesday S



Wild Wednesday S

You see it all the time in many pas de deuxs. The ballerina is in attitude (usually), with one arm over her head. She is promenaded by her partner who holds her other hand as they face each other. Sounds simple, right?

Actually, it can be pretty tricky. If the ballerina’s arm is loose or mushy, the male dancer has nothing to steer her with and the whole operation falls apart. The female must maintain a strong arm position.

The combined arm position of both dancers forms an “S” shape, and this shape must remain constant during the promenade. If you watch a pas de deux couple closely during this move, you’ll see what I mean (see the Link of the Day at 1:00).

“S” power!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Partnering Secret #27d:
“Maintain an “S” shape during a one-handed promenade.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“The strength of individual greatness makes a great team.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Terminology Tuesday Voyagé



Terminology Tuesday Voyagé

There’s no real surprise here. Voyagé [vwah-yah- ZHAY]means traveled or traveling. For a dancer the word means that the performer, in a particular pose (often arabesque) moves by a series of small jumps, each one landing in a demi-plie with the heel slightly raised.

Voyagé is often seen during the coda of a grand pas de deux (see the Link of the Day at 4:32).

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Terminology Secret #56:
“Voyagé means traveled.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― St. Augustine

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Monday, August 26, 2019

Mad Monday Bottle Turns



Mad Monday Bottle Turns

Here is a fun prop to help your pirouettes.

Hold a water bottle (containing water) in your following hand as your prepare for a pirouette. Feel the downward weight of the bottle and resist it upward with your arm and body. Then, during the actual pirouette, switch the bottle to your other hand. What fun!

This helps you feel resistance up and down as well as maintaining control of the arms (keeping the hands centered in front of the body).

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Secret #20cc:
 “Use a water bottle and switch hands in a pirouette.

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.”
― Wallace Stevens

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Sunday, August 25, 2019

Sunday Kindness




Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Saturday, August 24, 2019

Saturday Running Superstition



Saturday Running Superstition

A dance superstition I witnessed was running laps around the stage. It probably started as a way to warm up right before curtain, but for many dancers it became a ritual.

Every dancer who does this seems to have developed their own set of rules for having it produce a good performance. Running clockwise, or counterclockwise; or running a set number of laps.

This is usually done in costume, right before the curtain goes up. And of course it is done very quietly. I guess that’s why I usually saw male dancers doing it – not the women in pointe shoes.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Superstition #168:
“Running laps around the stage is thought to assure a good performance.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Coffee in the dawn
With books open like our hearts,
Our weekend ritual”
― Eric Overby, 17: Haiku Poems

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Friday, August 23, 2019

Fun Friday Flash



Fun Friday Flash

There is a comic book hero called The Flash who is known for his ability to move at superhuman speeds. If you don’t read comic books, you may still be familiar with this character if you watch the television show The Big Bang Theory.

That being said, The Flash is a good image for frappés. Imagine striking the floor at superhuman speed – like The Flash would do, if he did frappés. Then remember that although the movement stops at end of the frappé, the energy continues outward.

Fun Friday Flash frappés!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Secret #10j:
“Frappé like the comic book character, The Flash.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“We can never learn to fly without crashing a few times.”
-         The Flash

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Thursday, August 22, 2019

Throwback Thursday and Valda Valkyrien



Throwback Thursday and Valda Valkyrien

Adele Eleonore Freed was born in Iceland on September 30, 1895. She became a prima ballerina with the Royal Danish Ballet under the name Valda Valkyrien. In addition to being a ballet dancer, she was also an actress who performed in silent movies.

She began her movie career playing small parts for the Great Northern Company in Copenhagen. But in 1912 she signed with U.S. producer David Horsley, but soon joined the Thanhouser Company who filmed many works in Jacksonville, Florida.
She was promised star billing if she moved to the William Fox Company but he failed to deliver and she ended up suing him. Thus, her movie career was short-lived.

She appeared briefly with the Ziegfeld Follies but soon she retired permanently. She died after a long illness on October 22, 1956 in Los Angeles.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Secret #235:
“Valda Valkyrien was a ballerina and silent film actress.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Most people are unhappy since they fail to get what they want in life. However, even when they actually get what they want, their happiness is short-lived because very soon they raise the bar to a higher level and again start struggling to achieve the next level. Their happiness level thus comes back to the original level as before.”
― Awdhesh Singh, 31 Ways to Happiness

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