Gosh -- you CAN flunk home ec and still stitch a thread! <P>Allright then, let's get started here. For those who wish to articulate more than their feet in the coming year, I'm hoping we can share some recommended dance related reading:<P>1. As stated in another thread, "The Unmaking of a Dancer" is a good read, and not terribly long.<BR>2. "A Winter Season" is the diary of a dancer in NYC Ballet corp who, essentially, shares what she penned each day during her first year with the company, uncensored.<BR>3. Because I love and collect children's lit, I must include, for any of you who have actually missed Noel Streatfeild's shoe books, which Meg Ryan paid laud to in "You've Got Mail." I've read and loved "Ballet Shoes," "Dancing Shoes" and "Theater Shoes," and would love to get "Skating Shoes," but as Meg says, it's out of print.<BR>4. The wonderful Rumer Godden wrote years ago "A Candle for St. Jude." Please do yourselves a favor and order a copy (it's in paperback).<BR>5. Again, on the children's track -- we've all got children in our lives, one way or another, and a good series to share with them is Elizabeth Enright's books about the Melendy family, 4 motherless, talented children, who grow up in a New York Brownstone before moving to the country with their dad and beloved housekeeper and adopting a fifth child. Interest in these books has enjoyed a resurgence. I particularly recommend "The Saturdays." The kids, each with an artistic bent of his/her own, pool their allowance money and give it to one of them to have a Saturday adventure and come back and tell the rest about it. One of the three, Randy, is an aspiring ballerina. Incidentally, Elizabeth Enright is not only the author and illustrator of these books, but is the niece of Frank Lloyd Wright. <P>I've got many more to recommend, but will wait to see what else you all come with up before adding to the list. Happy New Year!

Is this just for dance reading for Children?<P>If not - here is one that I think is a "must" read ...Diane Solway's epic "Nureyev". She did a tremendous amount of research on it. She even traveled to the city in the Urals where he grew up and interviewed anyone still alive who knew him - teachers - neighbors - family.<P>It is a sad book - there were parts I really cried. A scene where he is carrying Margot Fonteyn into a theater gala - she is dying - and it is the anniversary of their first Giselle together.........oy - <P>------------------<BR>Approach life as a dancer approaches the barre, with grace and purpose.<BR>

this 'oy' thing seems to serve many purposes - i thought you were using it as an expression of annoyance, then elsewhere as a kind of startle-ment, now here....? obviously something different.....please can someone explain what 'oy' means?

"oy" is a kind of all round word - in the phrase "oy vey iz mir" it means - "it hurts me"<P>but that "hurt" can mean all sorts of things:<P><BR>actual pain<BR>or - this is unnecessarily complicated<BR>or - annoyance (but in a gentle way)<BR>or - oh no!!<BR>or - a sort of fake annoyance<BR>or - fake pain - more for comical effect<BR>or - just a sort of catchall <P>it depends on the context - it's one of those words that is difficult to really pin down - and I grew up with it and it seems to be transmigrating into English (at least in the US) via the large number of Jewish comedians.<P>

No -- not just for children. The Joan Brady book, "The Unmaking of a Dancer," is pretty gritty stuff. And, incidentally, about half the book deals with her trials and tribulations at San Francisco Ballet School before she finally gives up (she got injured, and upon her return, was never treated the same way again) and goes to study with/dance for Balanchine.<P>Rumer Godden's book will appeal to all teachers. She is an exquisite writer. Ask our Brit friends, if you're unfamiliar.<P>Also, the book "Ballet" by Kate Castle (former dancer with Royal Ballet), is glorious for children and adults alike. A wonderfully illustrated overview of ballet steps, dancers, costumes, performances and stories. At $15.95, it's a steal. <P>Order Info:<BR>"Ballet" by Kate Castle (1996): ISBN 0-7534-5001-1<BR>Kingfisher<BR>Larousse Kingfisher Chambers,Inc.<BR>95 Madison Avenue<BR>NY, NY 10016 <P>"The Unmaking Of A Dancer (An Unconventional Life) by Joan Brady (1982): ISBN 0-06-014972-8<BR>Harper & Row, Publishers, New York<BR><p>[This message has been edited by Christina (edited December 29, 2000).]

Re: "oy"<P>While learning a suite of Uzbekistan dances, my fellow female colleagues were having a heck of a time trying to figure out the musical counts on the audiotape at a segment where the rhythmn shifted and the singer went wild. At one point, she sounded like she was singing "Oy girl," and so from then on, we referred to that part of the piece as "Oy girl," which helped us all stay together in the piece. Yet another meaning for "oy."

Christina - you are right Unmaking of a Dancer is quite a gritty book - I read it twice. Once long ago and again recently.<P>As for "oy" - it can also be like a "sigh" - <P>and we sigh for many reasons. In laughter and in tears. Like after hearing a really bad pun - a normally erudite person might be reduced to "oy".