Readers' Forum

Dance Magazine, Sept, 2000

DM TO DANCER: WELCOME BACK

On December 20, 1999. I bought the January 2000 issue of Dance Magazine. During the next few days I emailed many ballet schools for information on their summer ballet programs. On the morning of December 30. I woke up at 6 A.M., numb on my left side, nauseous and with a splitting headache. As my parents awaited my diagnosis at the local hospital, they knew that something horrid was wrong with me. Soon the diagnosis came. I had a bleeding brain aneurysm and needed better care than our hospital was equipped to provide. I was put on a helicopter and sent to a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. I spent New Year's Eve in the ICU with a tube put in my skull to drain the blood off my brain. After a couple of weeks of high fevers, I had a craniotomy. Then a couple of weeks after that I was well enough to be sent to a rehab hospital to begin my road to total recovery.

I left the rehab hospital near the end of February, but I still had to have therapy to help me with my strength and walking. During my stay in the hospitals, I received all the brochures from the dance schools I had written. After nearly dying, I knew that it was too late to try to go to any of those places this summer. I was too weak. So I had to throw that dream away. In the past couple of weeks, I have gotten in touch with a local studio owner and she will be giving me private ballet lessons once a week. Even though it isn't exactly what I had planned, I'm thankful to be alive and able to take ballet classes this summer. I'm also thankful to be able to read your magazine. Keep up the great work!

Darci S. Kentucky via email

WHEN IRISH EYES ARE FROWNING

I must say that I was rather disappointed and disgusted with Clive Barnes's article on Irish dancing companies and their shows [in June's Dance Magazine]. While it is true that some of these performances are similar, no one ever bothers to put in mind other Irish dancing shows. For example, performances such as those done by the Trinity Dance Company, or other dance schools across the country. Or for even more diversity, people could attend an Irish dance competition. When people critique Irish dance they only think about popular shows such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. Maybe now people will think next time before they call Irish dance things such as "repetitive" and "small in the range of steps."

Caitlin Christian St. Brendan's School of Irish Dance via email

ADIEU, ANNA SOKOLOW

It was with sadness and pride that I read Don McDonagh's fitting tribute to the legacy of Anna Sokolow. I was one of those fortunate students to have arrived in New York and attended Juilliard School of Music when Anna, Martha Hill, Jose Limon and Antony Tudor were guiding the destinies of those of us wanting to follow in their footsteps. Her passion and compassion were instrumental in our development and the understanding of the demands of our art form. Her commitment to her beliefs was and is an inspiration to all of us. She could create exquisite lyric works, [such as] Ballade, yet chose to have her creations reflect more man's inhumanity to man. As a creator and teacher, she had the power to inspire, and that was why I brought her to Hartford, Connecticut, to re-create a couple of her works. Her presence allowed the young dancers to mature rapidly and was instrumental in their understanding of the theatricality of dance. I shall miss her smile, her growl and scowl, her speaking Spanish to me and her obvious pride when we, as students and later as artists, took her teachings to others.

Michael Uthoff Former Artistic Director Hartford Ballet, Ballet Arizona

BIGGER NOT ALWAYS BETTER

I have been a subscriber to your magazine since I was a very young dancer. Now I have been dancing professionally for three years. I am just wondering why all the articles you do in your magazine are about dancers in big companies like City Ballet or PNB. Why don't you do articles about dancers in smaller companies? Only a small percentage of the dance world is in those major companies. I think there are some great dancers in these smaller companies that are just as good if not better than in the big companies. I just feel that your magazine is truly covering the whole dance world and I think this could be very discouraging for young dancers that are trying to make a dance career. It is a very hard career to get into and I feel if you covered more of the dance world it may help some young discouraged dancer to know that someone else had just as much of a struggle as they are having, and that they made it. Just something to think about. Thank you!

Mishic Marie Corn Texas via email

SHE FOUND HER JOB IN DM!

As a long-term subscriber and avid reader of Dance Magazine, I want to thank you for consistent and coherent classified ads. I received my first full-time assistant professor position at Western Kentucky University upon responding to the job advertisement listed in Dance Magazine classified ads. I have always considered the schools and companies that list jobs in Dance Magazine to be serious about locating professionals in the dance field. Many other education professionals have urged me to subscribe to Art Search. I have always felt that if the institution was serious about its dance training it would submit a listing to Dance Magazine as well. Educators who are committed to the art of teaching dance would read and subscribe to Dance Magazine. It is through your commitment that the art of dance is kept alive and surviving in this age of technological breakthroughs. Continue the good work and success.