Catch a Rising Star

My DD and I went to the Spring Concerto Gala "Catch a Rising Star" of the Symphony Orchestra today. There were three French composers' pieces to be performed: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Paul Dukas and Maurice Ravel. The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Dukas is famous in the Walt Disney's casting of Mickey Mouse in the role of the apprentice in the film Fantasia. It was mix impressions of comical and gracefulness. I liked Pavane for a Dead Princess which was written in French and My DD could understand! Amazing! She's in her first year of French class! Anyway, I liked this piece which is composed by Ravel.

He was a one of the most successful French Impressionist composers at the beginning of the 20th Century. His style was distinctively his own, meticulous yet full of lush beauty, a brilliant combination of precision, balance and melting sensuality.

Ballerina Gallery

http://www.ballerinagallery.com/index.htm

This collection of ballerina photos is a tribute to all these great ballerinas. You can find your favorite ones from here. My favorite ballerina is Svetlana Zakharov. She has both great expression and high technique.

Svetlana Zakharova was born in Louzk (Ukraine), in 1979. She studied at Kiev Ballet School (ballet teacher Valeria Sulegina), and since 1995 at Vaganova Ballet Academy. Joined the Mariinsky Theatre in 1996. Promoted to Principal in 1997. She transferred to the Bolshoi Theatre in the summer 2003. http://www.ballerinagallery.com/zakharov.htm

Eifman Ballet/ The Seagull

I was thinking to go to The Seagull or not till very last minute and finally when I decided to go, the online ticket sales were closed.... I had to give my friends a ride to the place near the Orange County Performing Arts Center, so that I tried to be in the line of the rush ticket which starts one hour before the show. It was my first experience so I was excited being in the line.

When I got to the ticket window, the man said "show me your ID." I gave him my drivers license. He said "You are not a student. The rush tickets are for students and seniors only." I guess I was in the wrong line! Oh well, after all I bought a $25 ticket at Tier-1 in very back row.
Fortunately, I was prepared with binoculars so I could see very well and was totally happy to be there.

Eifman's choreography expresses the main hero's emotion with the corps behind him.
That's the amazingly unique stage structure. The story was unclear but the expression of the performers made it very satisfying. At the curtain call, Mr. Eifman got the biggest applause from the audience. There were many Russian guests who appear to be about Eifman's age (or older). I felt that Russian people were so happy to see the one of their countrymen having such success in the fine arts. PK

Eifman Ballet/Anna Karenina

I joined my daughter's school field trip to see the Eifman Ballet's dress rehearsal yesterday. The company rehearsed the second act for 45 minutes, but I could imagine what the first act would be like.

The guilt felt by the heroine, from cheating on her husband, was expressed by the corps dancers in many ways. The choreography was beautiful and the dancers' body proportions and techniques were just perfect. Especially their pas de deux was as if they are one tangled thread and untangled from both end smoothly... it looked like both dancers were in a single body. It was wonderfully well done! PK

Hand-made pillows

These are hand-made pillows. We put our tiaras on these pillows to prevent any damage when competitors are carrying them around. They are made with satin fabric trimmed with flourish lace which makes them very fancy. We love to imagine the happy faces the customers make when they first open the box. PK

French Dress

My daughter made a dress for her French class project. We started by taking an old fancy dress of mine, and used a glue gun to assemble it. Lace and cotton apron and long skirt were all glued on to the original dress. It came out pretty well. She might be able to wear it for her Giselle at a competition??? or She could wear it for the party scene in the Nutcracker!

GALA

My daughter danced at the Hyatt Regency Resort Hotel in Huntington Beach for her school's gala. The cost to reserve one table was $20,000...she said that there were about 20 tables. Her school's performing arts conservatories all performed: Commercial dance, Opera, Music & Theater, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Ballet Folklorico and her conservatory, Classical Dance.

She had a rehearsal at 11:35am and was on the stage after 7pm, finishing her performance at 9:30pm. It was such a long day for her today. The school must earned a lot of donations tonight.
Oh well, she went to bed with her heavy make-up still on....zzzzzzz PK

New Roses.........

We have created a new hair attachment for our Rose ornament. This design allows you to attach to the bun from any direction which gives you more flexibility to coordinate with a hairstyle. Red is the standard for Spanish repertories and Blue, Beige and Mauve are available at our Dancer's Choice showcase. We plan to release these on our website soon. PK

Fixing Maisey

We have received an invoice from the city animal control dept. for the registration of Maisey. The fee is $75/year. If she is "fixed", the fee will be only $21/year. Because she was the only female in 9 puppies when she was born, the breeder wanted to kept her not fixed.

However, Maisey has arthritis in her hip which started a year ago so her veterinarian recommended her to not have puppies. Poor Maisey.... We better get spayed to let her stop going in to heat. PK

Gasoline vs Milk

I bought the most expensive gas today. 1 gallon costs for $2.83 at the Mobile station in Garden Grove. It was $2.75 this morning at the same place and jumped up when I bought in the evening. I had a performance evaluation at work today and got a 2.4% raise. Does the increase cover my transportation cost? I guess not. According to my calculation, 1 gallon of gas is now the same price as 1 gallon of milk. When we buy 2 gallons of milk at most of supermarkets, we get a discount. I wish that I can get second, third gallon gas discount as well to avoid upsetting the cows, who won't be happy to know their product is being surpassed in value by a very stinky liquid... PK

The Diary of Anne Frank

I went to see the play "The Diary of Anne Frank" with my son today. It was at Turtle Rock Community Park and will be on till March 11th. The audience seats were with round tables so it would have looked like a dinner show at hotel, had it not been the community center in the early afternoon! :-)

The play was very good, with excellent actors. I really liked it, and cried at the very sad ending, reminding me I should remember the Holocaust. On stage, they put two beds on the same level as the audience's seats, so it was very close and real. I almost stood up to go stop the siblings on stage from fighting!

My son had to go this play to earn extra 20 points credit to make up an "F" on the last homework of his world history class... Well, I hope that he will be more interested in this history with this opportunity. :-) PK