Local Ballet Event

CHARLOTTESVILLE BALLET PRESENTS
WINTER SOLSTCE OF THE HEART
AN ECLECTIC SHOWCASE OF ORIGIONAL CHOROGRAHY
CREATED FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE AUDIENCES

On Friday, January 30th, at 7:30pm and Saturday, January 31st, at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, Charlottesville Ballet will present Winter Solstice of the Heart at The Theatre at Ix. Come be a part of the first full length evening of the year with a performance that encompasses a large spectrum of stories and styles created just for Charlottesville audiences.

Beginning with a work inspired by Edward Hopper's painting Room in New York, 1932, two dancers explore what it is to live in one house, yet be worlds apart. Drawing on Hopper's distinct style of isolation among a crowd this dance mirrors the painting's journey. A journey put into motion with original choreography by Artistic Director Ariadne Conner.

Switching modes, who's it all for anyway? tells the great tradition of tango through ballet's eyes. A project Ms. Conner began two years ago now comes to completion this January. Be a part of the sinuous story woven with the magnetic music of Astor Piazzolla.

Finally, look for The Oracle of Ma'at, an homage to the company's first incarnation. Charlottesville Ballet began as Ma'at Ensemble, and this work pays tribute to the ideals of truth and balance inherent in the Egyptian name.

Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. Run time for Winter Solstice of the Heart is one hour.

For ticket reservations please call 434.227.7592 or visit www.charlottesvilleballet.com.
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As a side note, Theater at IX has a links page you'll want to check out--it's got other local performing arts pages listed.

Calling All Grammar Phreaks!

Ok, this is just so funny I felt compelled to write about it. I was reading from The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Every Said, by Robert Byrne (some aloud to Eddie cause they just had to be shared), when I came across this doosey:

Well, I would--if they realized that we--again if--if we led them back to that stalemate only because that our retaliatory power, our seconds, or strike at them after our first strike, would be so destructive that they couldn't afford it, that would hold them off.

Ronald Reagan when asked if nuclear war could be limited to tactical weapons.

Huh? Please, if you feel compelled to diagram that sentence, I would love to see it. What did he say? Is there an answer in that? Is this actually a complete sentence? There must be dangling participles or something in there.

Enjoy. There are more where that came from.

What's Up with no Posts Recently?

I have no idea. ;) I have been doing more on Facebook, and reading, and playing WoW, of course. The kids are taking an art class with Pam at Artworks. She's a great instructor! They're also still taking riding lessons with Patty Swygert. I haven't had a lesson in a while--maybe next week if it's a bit warmer!

I was flipping through a couple old photo albums the other day and found this picture:
This was my first time on a horse! I was in Cassino, Italy, at the time, though I don't know where the stables actually were--a friend drove me there. This was back in the summer of 1989! When I got back to the USA for my junior year at college, I took a few English riding lessons, and that was about it till now.

Emily is still studying jazz with Kelly at the Dance Barn. She also had three classes to make-up, so she is doing those in a ballet class. I started ballet there too, in a class for adults--first time in my life! No laughing. :) I'm enjoying it more than I did jazz or tap. I think that the structure of ballet reminds me of martial arts in a way, and I do better if I have a framework to understand the movements, rather than a more free-form style. At least for now. Maybe after more training I'll be ready for jazz again--though modern is what I really love to watch, so who knows!

Emily wants to enroll in the ballet class as a regular student--not sure if we can handle more classes though. She's also taking the Fundamentals of Filmmaking class through the Community Homeschool Enrichment Center (CHEC). Some of the girls from CHEC have been going ice skating afterwards, too, at the Ice Park. Busy girl!

Thomas wants to start playing Pokemon again at The Place, but that's at the end of a long day for us, so we've got to figure out how to work it in. He's mainly having fun playing with his friends, his Playmobil and Legos, and video and computer games. What a life!

Make TV Premiering on PBS

From my brother:

I'm very excited about it, and I've probably blathered on to you enough about this, but in case you missed it (or tuned me out) the Make: television show premieres today. It's a wonderful show based on Make: magazine.

Each episode leads off with a documentary-style maker profile, such as Burning Man favorites Cyclecide, or kite-aerial photographer Cris Benton. I host the Maker Workshop segment, so you'll get to watch me build things like air cannons, tiny robots, a Wii nunchuck-based flight recorder, and a VCR-powered cat feeder. And there are many other short videos to follow about some incredible, artistic, odd, practical, impractical, and insane things being built by creative makers everywhere.

You can check the schedule linked below to find out when Make: will air in your region, or watch it online or in iTunes.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/watching_make_television_on_tv_and.html

Yours,
John

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I missed the first episode! Argh! But it's TiVo'd now, so I won't miss the next one on 1/10/09.