<BR><font size=1>Dancers with the innovative<BR>Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company <BR>perform, while attached to bungee cords.</font><P>William Littler - Toronto Star, 07/07/01:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Dance reaches new heights</B><BR>Aerial shows astound, but Toronto unlikely to attract such groundbreaking companies <P>It was also a sight not likely to be seen in Toronto in the foreseeable future. There was a time, back in the dance boom of the late 1970s and 1980s, when companies such as the Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company of Argentina could easily imagine turning up on a Toronto stage. Today, that likelihood is much diminished.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><B>more...</B>

<P>William Littler - Toronto Star, 07/14/01:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Expect the world at Kirov Ballet <BR>But don't expect company to visit a Toronto stage</B> <P>What do Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov most sensationally share in common? All three defected to the West from the ranks of the Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg, to the huge embarrassment of the Soviet Union.<P>Those defections are history now. So is the Soviet Union. But the Kirov endures. Better than that, it thrives at a level of cosmopolitan achievement those dancing superstars would have regarded as almost unimaginable in their day.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><B>more...</B><BR>

Thanks for posting these Marie!<P>I saw Mr. Littler's article in the paper yesterday (don't uusally get the Star however)...I had been wondering why we don't see a wider range of companies in Toronto...looks like he provided my answer! And I have to add that as much as I'd like to see companies other than NBOC I doubt that I'd pay $125 for a ticket!

You are most welcome, Mom2! I probably would spend $125 if I had it. (We all have our expensive habits, lol.)

I hope Mr. Littler does not plan on retiring to Vancouver; I don't think he would be very impressed with the meager corporate and institutional support there either. Or the programming for that matter (see Michael Scott's review of this year's Dancing on the Edge Festival...) Maybe the arts impressarios are just busy skiing at Whistler.

As a recent resident of Montreal, I am quite grateful to have the opportunity to attend the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse and the Gala des Etoiles. Both are well worth saving my loonies and twonies for...

<font size = -2><center>(Edited by salzberg to fix link)</center></font>

<small>[ 08-11-2002, 05:46: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>

for me it's not just the money for my ticket..with 2 dancing daughters I always have a sidekick or 2...that can make quite a costly evening. OK, I confess, I like the good seats. I'm not really happy in the back of the house, or high in the balcony. I'm still waiting (holding my breath) for my bill for the NBOC seasons tickets...<P>We are looking forward to the Erik Bruhn (sp?) competition this season. That should give a bit of a taste of what's happening in some other companies...

Yes, that competition does looking interesting Mom2. I found some more information about it on the National Ballet of Canada website: <A HREF="http://www.national.ballet.ca/productions/2002spring/erikBruhnPrize.shtml" TARGET=_blank>http://www.national.ballet.ca/productions/2002spring/erikBruhnPrize.shtml</A> <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and The National Ballet of Canada, the companies with whom Erik Bruhn felt most closely associated, each send one male and one female dancer to the competition. The dancers, all between the ages of 18 and 23, are selected by the artistic director of their company. Competitors appear in a classical pas de deux and variations and a contemporary pas de deux or solo repertoire. The artistic directors involved or their designates act as judges for the competition.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>

one daughter and I did go to the last competition, and it was a wonderful evening. There was quite a variety of dances presented...(don't remember them all now, but Jhe Russell and partner did a breath-taking Don Q. pas-de-deux. The female solo Kudelka chose from his then yet to be shown Swan Lake was somewhat less inspiring).<P>The audience was full of dancers, and the atmosphere considerably less formal in some ways than that of a typical performance. That is to say that the dancers demonstrated passionate support for their colleagues.<P>Again, a most enjoyable evening. I may have to find a way to bring both daughters! (instead of just one, that is)