A to Z Blog Challenge -- A is for Adagio

Welcome Everyone to this year's A to Z Blog Challenge.

I joined this challenge for the first time in 2011. I've managed to meet several bloggers during this challenge who have become very dear online friends, and so I give much thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this challenge in 2010.

As of preparing this post on the evening of March 31st, there were 1992 participants signed up for the challenge. Amazing! Good luck to all. See you at the finish line on April 30th.

 I'm a longtime blogger who launched A Piece of My Mind in February of 2007 as an arts blog. You can sample some of my archived posts through the top menu bar or here:

Poetry 

My Weekly Look at the Arts

Arts Industry Interviews

Art Gallery

My Reviews of Great Reads

A writer myself, I had to significantly pull back my blogging schedule in order to release the two titles I currently have out, as well as serve for two years on the executive of my writers' group.

These days I post once or twice a week, focusing generally on the writing life and music.

For this year's A to Z Blog Challenge, I'll be returning to my original arts format, beginning with my great obsession -- ballet.

A is for Adagio

An adagio is a section of a ballet where the movements are slow and graceful, recalling the Italian root of the term which is at ease.

American Ballet Theatre's site describes adagios as "the opening section of the classical pas de deux [or dance for two,] in which the ballerina assisted by her male partner, performs the slow movements...in which the danseur [male dancer] lifts, supports and carries the danseuse [female dancer.] The danseuse thus supported exhibits her grace, line and perfect balance while executing developees, pirouettes, arabesques and so on, and achieves combinations of steps and poses which would be impossible without the aid of her partner."

The great paradox of the ballerina's art is the fact that all of her apparently floaty, ethereal movements are only accomplished through extreme control and strength. The Rose Adagio from the Sleeping Beauty ballet is the perfect example of her art and athleticism.

Principal dancer Heather Ogden describes the Rose Adagio in the video clip below. Keep in mind that she's in rehearsal and is not holding onto her balances in the same way as she would if she were on stage.

However, the rehearsal wobbles are a good indicator as to the degree of difficulty for this piece of choreography.   

Here is the Rose Adagio as performed by the Bolshoi's Svetlana Zakharova, who danced in the War and Peace segment of the Sochi Olympics opening ceremonies.

I've never seen such balances. This Rose Adagio is a masterpiece performance.  

Behind the Sugar Plum Fairy -- Virtual Advent Blog Tour -- 6th year

Welcome, Virtual Advent Tourists!

This is my sixth year participating, and I'm so glad that Marg and Kelly have launched such a wonderful holiday tradition into the blogosphere. It continues to be a highlight of my season.

I blogged previously during the 2009 Virtual Advent Tour about my love of ballet and The Nutcracker in particular. I can never get enough of it!

Is The Nutcracker a Christmas tradition for you, as it is for me?

Are you lucky enough to live in a large city with a professional dance company? Is a live performance of this ballet classic one of the things your soul can't live without every year, as it is for me?

I have a large collection of Nutcracker-themed Christmas ornaments, including a Clara, the Mouse King, a Sugarplum Fairy, some Snowflakes, some Waltz of the Flowers figures and a Harlequin doll. I'm always looking to add more.

Aside from writing and film, ballet is my truest passion. I studied ballet when I was a younger, uninjured version of me. When dancing myself was no longer an option, I was lucky enough to get a job as an usher at the theatre that was at that time the home of the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto.

For eight years, my Christmas season revolved around the performances of The Nutcracker, and I got to see so many wonderful behind-the-scenes aspects of what it means to be the Sugarplum Fairy in a production such as this.

For those of you who may already have your tickets for this year's performance, who may hum many of the pieces from the score by Tchaikovsky -- here is a backstage peek at one of the women who dons the famous tutu and tiara of the Sugarplum Fairy. 

"When I'm onstage, I'm not really thinking about the steps anymore," says principal dancer Heather Ogden. "I want to be hearing the music and letting my body remember the steps by itself and move with the music, and enjoy the story and bring a character to life."

"The Nutcracker in many companies is the staple at Christmastime, and it's rare to come back to a role every year. So it's really nice to do the Sugarplum Fairy, because you get to revisit it so often. I've found a level of comfort where I feel like I can really enjoy telling the story."

Ruth Bartel, resident cutter in the National Ballet of Canada's wardrobe department, gives an in-depth look at how a tutu is built: "We build our costumes to last for twenty-five to thirty years...A tutu something like this, the Sugarplum, could be as much as thirty-five hundred dollars."

Heather Ogden is the featured Sugarplum Fairy in this piece.

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Did you always wonder what it would feel like to be the Sugarplum Fairy?