Five generations of jewels - Readers' Forum - Letter to the Editor

Dance Magazine, June, 2002 by Virginia B. Clark

I love Dance Magazine and I have a story to share with you. I am a fourth-generation ballet lover. And my 5-week-old granddaughter will be the fifth generation!

My grandmother was taken to see Nijinsky dance in Europe in 1910 when she was very young. Her father would cross Europe to see him dance. He would pull my grandmother out of her convent boarding school, which was fashionable in those days, and off they would go. One of her earliest memories is seeing the royalty throwing their jewels--necklaces, tiaras, rings--onstage in appreciation and applause. Imagine what an impression that made on a little girl in a velvet dress!

Now, almost 100 years later, my husband and I attend American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Brandywine Ballet whenever we can. Furthermore, my daughter and her husband in Chicago are already devoted followers of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.

Thank you for all your great work, and congratulations.

Virginia B. Clark
Villanova, Pennsylvania