The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company – Sasha Anawalt
The Joffrey Ballet is a comprehensive history of the quintessential American dance troupe and a textured portrait of Robert Joffrey, the creative maverick who led and inspired it.
Broadly researched, richly anecdotal, and elegantly written, The Joffrey Ballet probes the complex relationship that exists between a culture and its artists through the prism of this company’s story.
Today BB & GG are home from school. The school has admin day (I have no idea what that means – maybe they are collating all the reports for the parent-teacher meeting sometime soon). Then next week they have four days of school (maybe less because of the parent-teacher meeting) and then six weeks of holidays, the highlights of which is GG’s upcoming ballet performance and our trip to India the next day! We’ve so looking forward to both things.
GG modelling her ballet performance costume
GG got her performance costume, which is a gold lame leotard with a yellow/white stiff (tulle?) tutu attached to it. She modelled it for us on Sunday and she does look cute in it. This Sunday, she’s supposed to take it to class along with a face made up lightly so that they can have a class picture of all the little ballerinas! When I tried on make-up on GG, she hated it and I was so happy! Hope this keeps up and she doesn’t touch it till she’s 15 atleast! Will this continue or no???
On a completely unrelated note, I need to back up the photos on my iPhone (after deleting the loads that GG & BB take of their games) as I just realised I have 679 photos there!!
On Sunday evening, we went to my inlaws place for haldi Kumkum and it was a fun evening. BB & GG got to meet up with some old friends whom they hardly see these days since they’ve moved away and are in different schools. At one point there was so much noise, we couldn’t hear ourselves talk – there were about 9 kiddos in the house, including two little ones. It was funny seeing how they split themselves gender-wise – the boys playing with their cars in one room and roaring with laughter at bodily functions, something that only little boys are capable of finding humour in and the girls playing god knows what but which included loads of shouting, dancing and singining in one room. The two little ones shuttled between both rooms, somtimes scared as they saw the noise levels there.
Image source - Wikipedia
It was really fun catching up with friends like this and we have decided to do it once again soon (after the exams). While talking about the different activities our kiddos do I was stuck by something. Most of their friends who came visiting on Sunday were learning Indian things (classical music, classical dance etc) since they learn they non-Indian things in school, something which every self-respecting tambrahmkid does, but BB & GG are different. BB & GG have been
Image from Wikipedia
learning Indian classical Carnatic music for about a year now and GG as a counterpoint to this has been learning Ballet since the time she was around three years old. She enjoys ballet, but is not very good at it. It’s not something that she’ll be doing as a career, but it is something that gives her pleasure. I enjoy this dischotomy and it gives me pleasure that GG is blending the traditional with the modern, just like this world that is all hers!
Now I have to get BB to take something that complements what GG is doing – but BB is alll boy and so I am unsure if he will enjoy it. Well, there’s always hope. Next year, when they go to Primary 3, they need to take up some compulsary Co-Curricular Activities. Since BB is always at home – on the iPhone, on the computer or on the TV, both S and me want him to take up some physical activity like soccor, wushu or chookball!
Memories and Such 