Valery Lantratov's Ballet Blog

Looking Forward

2012-01-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

I had intended to use a photo to illustrate this, but alas, our hotel's internet connection seems to be rather slow in the uploading department.

We are now in the Atlanta area about two weeks into our tour and we have had many wonderful classes, meeting new friends and old. We love the opportunity to travel America and work with so many great people. We're thinking about ways to keep the class tours coming even as we step out in new directions.

Looking forward to the summer of 2013, we are considering hosting a pair of week long workshops. We would like your feedback and ideas. Let us know if you think either of these workshops might be of interest and what you would like to see included in them, how far you think you might be able to travel to attend and so on.

The first would be a workshop just for teachers. The second idea is for a special workshop for the male dancer. Most studios have only a few teachers and a few boys, so having a workshop in one place, and bringing you together would give us an opportunity to give some focused attention. We would also be interested to hear from studios who might have an interest in hosting either of these workshops at your studio. Please send your thoughts and feedback to us at lauralee@doublevpromotions.com.

Apologies for not writing extensively about our travels here as I have sometimes done in years past. Doing the tour and writing about it at the same time is a bit much for me. You can keep up with some photos of our travels by "friending" Valery Lantratov on Facebook via the link on the right.

Tour Will Kick Off Soon

2012-01-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

The holidays have put us a bit behind in our preparations for our tour, but we kick off in three days ready or not. I am waiting to complete a few last minute details and then I will be sending out an e-mail with further information to all of the studios on our schedule. Many studios on the schedule for January will have received a message asking to confirm your class time or studio address. Please look for these and respond as quickly as possible.

If we have sent you a contract, whether for the current tour or our summer tour, we would appreciate it if you could get that back to us before our departure. Because there is no mail on January 2, if you have not already mailed the contract please call or e-mail to make arrangements to take care of the deposit with a credit card so it can be done before we leave. Studios that have been reserving a date for more than two weeks by the time we depart will be removed from our itinerary. Thank you for your help and consideration.

Two More Confirmed Winter Classes

2011-10-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce that we will be at:

Southern Crescent Academy of Dance in Peachtree City, GA

and

Beaumont Ballet in Beaumont, TX

More Confirmed Classes!

2011-10-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to be able to announce that we will be visiting the following studios this winter:

January 14: Trinity Arts Center, Johnson City, TN

March 5: Lincoln Park Academy of Dance, Lincoln Park, MI

We have also added a couple more tentative studios (pending contract) and dropped a few (because we didn't get contracts back.) You can see the whole schedule via the calendar link on the right.

Two More Confirmed Winter Classes

2011-09-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to be able to announce that it is now confirmed that we will be at:

The Glenda Moss Academy of Dance, Lake Charles, LA on 2/11/12
and Dance Carolina in Mt. Pleasant, SC on 1/17/12

See you then!

More Confirmed Classes: See You in Winter!

2011-09-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to be able to add the following confirmed classes to our winter schedule:

Columbia County Ballet, Augusta, GA January 22
Andalusia Ballet, Andalusia, AL February 6
The Opera House, Cheboygan, MI March 1
Ginny's Dance Works, Brighton, MI March 4

In addition we have another 11 studios penciled in (pending contract) which we hope to be able to announce soon. Our winter schedule is nearly complete and we've started working on summer. If you'd like to see Valery in summer please drop me a line.

More Schools to Announce!

2011-08-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

Our winter schedule is filling up quickly. We're pleased to be able to announce the following confirmed classes. If you live in one of these areas and are interested in attending, please contact the studios directly to see if they are open to outside students.

Wilson School of Dance; Charlottesville, VA
Cenla Academy of Performing Arts; Alexandria,LA
(Our first time in Louisiana!)
Priscilla's School of Dance and Fine Arts; Cabot, AR
Studio 93; Hadley, MI

In addition we have another 16 studios penciled in (pending contract) which we hope to be able to announce soon. (Check the calendar link on the right to see the places we're probably going to be.)

Thank You For a Great Summer. See You in Winter!

2011-08-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who helped make our summer tour such a success. (Above is our completed tour route from summer. Pshew!)

Our schedule for winter is filling up quickly. We’re pleased to be able to announce that we will be at the following studios in winter (listed in chronological order):

Classical Ballet Academy in Herndon, VA
Low County School of Performing Arts, Lady’s Island, SC
Dance Arts in Valdosta, GA
Volusia Dance Theater, Lake Helen, FL
Corky Bell Dance, Homewood, AL
New Albany School of Ballet, New Albany, MS
Stars in Motion, Southaven, MS
Ballet Tech of Ohio, Cincinnati, OH
Upstage Downtown Dance, Celina, OH
Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey, MI
Elizabeth Williams School of Dance, Williamstown, MI

In addition we have another 16 studios tentatively scheduled (pending contract).

If you’re interested in attending one of these classes, check the calendar for the date and contact the studio directly to see if they are accepting outside students for the master class.

If you are a studio owner and are interested in booking a class with Valery Lantratov please drop us a line at lauralee@doublevpromotions.com. Much of our schedule is full, but we have classes available in certain areas. (Notably in Florida)

Hope to see you this winter!

August 2011

2011-08-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful tour! We hope to see you again in winter.

July 2011

2011-08-01T07:07:00.001-07:00

Autographed Books Available Now

2011-07-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

On our last tour we were not able to stock up on copies of our children's book A Child's Introduction to Ballet.

A Child's Introduction to Ballet was created by Laura Lee with technical assistance and advice from Valery Lantratov, the artistic director of the Russian National Ballet foundation, who was awarded Russia's highest artistic honor by President Boris Yeltsin-- the title "People's Artist of Russia." We believe we have created a book that makes learning about ballet fun for kids. (And their parents too!) Beautifully illustrated by Meredith Hamilton, it has illustrated ballet stories, fun facts, dancer biographies and explanations of ballet terminology and positions. It even comes with a CD with musical selections from the world's great ballets!

Here's a sampling of some of the fun facts you will learn with this book:

· How high can the greatest ballet dancers leap? (Page 27)
· What famous ballet company was originally made up of orphans? (Page 32)
· Which popular ballet was a complete FLOP when it was first performed? (Page 37)
· Name three ballets featuring toys that come to life. (Page 55)
· Which ballet music sounds as if it was written for stomping giants rather than pretty ballerinas?
(Page 58)
· Which famous ballet dancer did a duet with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show? (Page 81)

If you would like to receive a copy of this book autographed by the author AND Valery Lantratov please order via the link above before August 20. Copies autographed by Valery Lantratov will be available only while he is here in the U.S. and supplies last.

June 2011

2011-06-29T06:50:00.001-07:00

Communications Partial Black Out

2011-06-12T07:26:00.001-07:00

We will have only intermittent cell phone and e-mail for the next week. (After 1 PM Sunday) If you need to contact us, please leave a message by e-mail or cell and we will get back to you as soon as we are able. Do not worry if it takes a day or two.

Vladislav Lantratov featured on Russian Telelvision

2011-06-11T09:23:00.001-07:00

Follow Our Progress on Our Summer 2011 Travel Map

2011-06-11T09:19:00.001-07:00

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Last Minute Classes

2011-05-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Our summer tour begins in just a couple of weeks. We are still trying to fill some last minute dates.

July 6: Little Rock, AR
July 9: Tulsa, OK
July 13: Springfield, IL
July 16: Milwaukee, WI
July 19: South Bend, IN
July 23: Lansing, MI
July 24-25: Detroit, MI
July 29: Cleveland, OH/Pittsburgh, PA/Youngstown, OH
July 30: Buffalo, NY
August 7: Washington D.C./Baltimore, MD
August 10: Charlottesville, VA
August 12: Winston-Salem, NC
August 18-19: Atlanta, GA

If you have a studio, or know of one in one of these areas that would be interested in hosting a master class, please let us know right away. I would like to have the schedule complete before we start our tour.

Contact us at lauralee@doublevpromotions.com

Google Dances

2011-05-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

Did you check out the animated Google logo today?

Vladislav Lantratov Pas des Eventails Variation

2011-05-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ekaterina Maximova 1959

2011-04-23T16:27:00.001-07:00

Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma

2011-04-18T06:46:00.001-07:00

Dancing for the Mind

2011-04-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Dr. Lina Kaplan, Dance Psychologist, says that dance is the opportunity to tap into our most powerful emotions to express creativity and to feel truly alive. She also says that dance can be a bridge between the psyche and the body as well as the conscious and unconscious mind. Most of us think of physical exercise and personal enjoyment when considering the positive effects of dancing. However, as Dr. Kaplan pointed out, dancing with a partner - especially our romantic partner, can be a generative tool for deepening and expanding our sense of self.

-Spirituality and Health

They Dance

2011-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Found at Imagine the Possibilities.

U.S. Tour

2011-03-01T11:08:00.001-08:00

January 2011

2011-02-11T07:13:00.001-08:00

Summer is Coming

2011-01-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

Are you thinking ahead to your summer intensive schedule? We are! We have filled about half of our summer itinerary, but we still have some flexibility in terms of what geographical areas we can visit. If you would like to have Valery Lantratov teach a master class or classes at your studio, please let us know right away. Dates are available first come first served and dates that are booked will determine our direction and what areas we can visit. Contact us at lauralee@doublevpromotions.com.

And We're Off!

2011-01-09T07:34:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful opening of the tour yesterday with a double class (technique and pointe) in Northville, MI. It has become something of a tradition for us to either start or end our tours here, so it was great to be invited again. Hope to see you next time!

Today we head to Western Ohio to one of our favorite studios: Upstage Downtown Dance in Celina and to a new studio for us Jeanne's Dance Studio in Lima. Hopefully it will be added to our list of new favorites.

We will endeavor to keep up this travel map to show our route as we go. Should be fun to visualize all our travels.

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

This is the Week!

2010-11-29T06:51:00.000-08:00

Dance School Friends:

Welcome back! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday with family and that you are not too overwhelmed with Nutcracker productions.

I know this is a busy time of year-- it is also the last few weeks before we start our tour. We have only a few open dates, and we've been talking to a number of schools about filling them.

If you have been considering booking a master class, please get back to us right away to firm it up. I would like to have the last of the winter dates scheduled by the end of this week.

Does Dance Education Matter to You?

2010-11-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

Dance is one area that tends to get short shrift in public education. Would you like that to change? Donors Choose is an online charity that allows public school teachers to post classroom project ideas to be funded by people like you.

Many teachers would like to make dance a bigger part of their students lives. By pooling small donations they can get the ballet barres, books and other supplies they need to make their programs viable.

Here are some of the dance related projects you can support.

Alexander Godunov Don Quixote

2010-11-17T07:57:00.001-08:00

Calendar Updated

2010-11-12T11:08:00.003-08:00

Our tour schedule calendar has been updated and we have removed a number of schools which have not returned contracts. If your school does not appear on our schedule and you have not returned the contract to us, we do not have you on our itinerary.

Dear Dance Schools

2010-10-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Our winter schedule is nearly full and we're fairly close to completing summer. We know winter is a busy time for dance studios. If you have been sent a contract for an upcoming master class, please get it back to us right away. We have some schools interested in dates who can't get on the schedule, so we will release the dates of any schools that do not get contracts back to us within two weeks of sending them. Thank you for your understanding.

Dancing Statues

2010-10-08T10:34:00.001-07:00

Communications Problems

2010-10-07T07:45:00.001-07:00

Dance Schools and Friends: We have just discovered that we were not receiving all of our e-mail over the past two days due to a technical problem. If you sent us something and we did not respond, please send again. Thank you.

Arts Make You Smarter?

2010-09-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Urbanite has a highly recommended article on a pilot program to test the integration of arts in teaching other subjects. The project is having good results.

At Roland Park, Hardiman created an approach in which students were enrolled in music, theater, visual arts, and dance programs—and encouraged to incorporate those arts into their core classes to reinforce the learning of key concepts. Faculty involve the arts in their lessons as well. Fractions might be taught using rhythm and beat to illustrate the concept of 3/4 time, the rotation of the planets around the sun via dance. While studying the novel Hatchet, students at Roland Park created a tableau to depict through their bodies what it would be like to be stranded alone in the wilderness, the theme of the book.

It may sound a little hippy-dippy, but arts evoke emotion, Hardiman points out, and the role that emotions play in laying down long-term memory (and thus learning) is well-established. Our brains take in enormous amounts of information each day and prioritize data to be stored in both short- and long-term memory. First priority is information related to survival, such as perceived threats. Second priority is emotionally-tinged data. Most new information is lost within twenty-four hours—unless the brain has a strong motive for converting it to long-term memory and rehearses or repeats the data to effect an actual change in the physical structure of neurons, a process called long-term potentiation. Arts integration, with its emphasis on repetition of information through both cognitive and emotional brain circuitry, theoretically helps facilitate that process.

Because the Performing Arts Matter

2010-09-29T01:35:00.001-07:00

Thought provoking, but I disagree with the statement that “the means of artistic production have been democratized for the first time in all of human history.” In fact, I would argue that the non-democratization of artistic production is a modern phenomenon, mostly dating back to recording of artistic works and mechanical means of recording and distribution.

For most of human history artistic production consisted of telling stories or dancing or singing songs within a community, around the fire, at church gatherings. Anyone who wished to participate could. That amateurs can be involved in arts-- that arts are not defined by consumerism but participation-- is actually a return to our roots, not something new and unprecedented.

August Collage

2010-08-13T02:46:00.000-07:00

Look Where We've Been

2010-08-12T18:22:00.001-07:00

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Find vacation rentals at TripAdvisor

July 2010

2010-08-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Click to see the full collage.

Photo Collage: June 2010

2010-07-02T00:31:00.001-07:00

From Collages

Tour Beginning

2010-06-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

We leave for our tour on June 7. If you have classes with us in June, you will be getting e-mail in the next couple of days to confirm class times and with any questions we have for you. July and August studios will be contacted a bit later. If you have any outstanding deposits/contracts please get them back to us immediately. It is much easier for us to take care of before we are on the road. If you are considering booking a class, and are still waiting for sign ups, it would help us out tremendously if you could set a deadline for registrations before June 5, so that we can have it firmed up before we leave. Everything is much easier to take care of before we are traveling.

Also, please note that if you have a class schedule with us, and you cancel less than two weeks before the class date you are responsible for travel costs usually covered by the class fee. We have had to institute this policy to prevent holding dates and being left with open dates that are too late to fill. Thank you for your understanding.

We are still trying to fill the July 4 weekend and are offering a special discounted rate on classes that weekend only. If you have a studio in a geographic region we can reach in that time (see our calendar via the link on the right) please contact us at lauralee@doublevpromotions.com to book a class.

We will be traveling with copies of our children's book A Child's Introduction to Ballet. However, we have limited space in our car and we are known to run out while traveling. To ensure you have copies for Mr. Lantratov to sign, I recommend pre-ordering books and having them shipped in advance. You can do so at lauraleebooks.com.

Diversion of the Day: Tap Dancing Cow

2010-05-08T10:10:00.001-07:00

Updated Calendar: Current Availability

2010-04-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

We have updated our summer class schedule calendar. There are still a few open dates we are trying to fill:

June 20-22. Kentucky/Southern IN.

July 2: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

July 4-5: Detroit Lakes, MN

July 7: Duluth, MN

July 8: Eau Claire, WI or Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

July 10-11: Michigan's Upper Peninsula!

July 13: Northern lower Michigan

July 28: Harrisburg, PA

August 3: Southern NJ/Philadelphia, PA

August 6: Lancaster, PA

August 8-9: Washington D.C./Baltimore, MD

August 11-15: Northern VA, WV, Western PA, Ohio

If you have a studio in any of these areas, or know of one that might be interested in having Valery Lantratov teach a master class, please contact us at lauralee@doublevpromotions.com

Contract Reminder

2010-03-31T07:18:00.001-07:00

We'd like to remind studios that have received contracts to please get them back to us in a timely fashion. Because it affects our routing, we cannot hold dates open. Thank you for your understanding.

Bolshoi Theater Soon to Reopen

2010-03-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Russian TV Feature on Bolshoi Ballet School Presentation

2010-03-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Valery Lantratov's Summer Master Class Schedule

2010-03-11T07:54:00.001-08:00

Thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in having Valery Lantratov come to your studio this summer. Our June and July schedules are largely full, and August is starting to fill up as well. Our direction will take us largely to the Midwest, as far west as Des Moines, Iowa and perhaps a bit further west, and ending in the Northeast in early to mid August.

Here are the time periods we still have available and the general geographic areas where we will be. If you have a studio in this area, or have a suggestion of a studio we should contact to schedule a class contact lauralee@doublevpromotions.com. Some of these dates, while currently available, are being considered by other studios, so please let us know ASAP if you have interest in a date.

June 21-22: Central Ohio

June 1-3: Potential areas for this date include Nebraska (Lincoln or Omaha areas); Kansas (Kansas City, Lawrence or Topeka areas); Sioux City, IA; Sioux Falls, SD or southern Minnesota.

July 4-5: We can offer a $50 discount for classes booked on these dates. We can get to any of the cities above or below.

July 6-8: Minnesota, Illinois or Wisconsin.

July 8-11: Chicago or Detroit areas.

July 13: Northern or central Michigan

July 22-24: Columbus, Ohio/Pittsburgh, PA area.

July 28-29: Harrisburg/York, PA area

August 3-4: Washington D.C./Baltimore area

August 6-7: Delware/Eastern MD

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to seeing many of you this summer!

February 2010 in Pictures

2010-02-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

U.S. Cities We've Taught In So Far...

2010-02-15T06:37:00.000-08:00

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Airfare comparison at TripAdvisor

January in Pictures

2010-02-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

Missed out on Books?

2010-01-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

We ran out of copies of our book, A Child's Introduction to Ballet, towards the end of last week. If you were interested in getting a copy autographed by Valery Lantratov, but missed out, you can order directly from us online, and we will ship you an autographed copy as soon as we have restocked.

Going, Going... Gone

2010-01-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

We have updated our online calendar. Our winter schedule is now completely full and we cannot add any more classes at this point. Contact us now about summer, as our summer 2010 schedule is also filling up quickly.

We look forward to seeing many familiar faces and to making new friends in new parts of the country.

Comments on Comments

2010-01-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

We are leaving for our winter tour on Wednesday and look forward to seeing everyone. We love to hear your comments on our blog, unfortunately, we have been getting several spam comments per day and moderating them has become too much of a problem so we have had to turn the comments off. If you would like to connect with Valery Lantratov, look for him on Twitter or Facebook where you can still send messages.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T02:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T15:26:00.001-08:00

Bolshoi Ballet's Esmeralda

2009-12-31T10:05:00.001-08:00

Ballet Video of the Day

2009-12-30T08:04:00.001-08:00

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-12-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Today in Dance History: December 20

2009-12-20T06:50:00.000-08:00

On this date in 1585: A spectacle was presented for King Phillip II of Spain. As Maurice Esses recounted in Dance and Instrumental Diferencias... "...all the associations representing the manual trades presented dances near the gates of the palace so the ladies of the court might see them. On each side of the palace a stage was constructed on which musicians played for the dancers each day... using small drums, recorders and other lowly instruments, they played together well and maintained the beat very effectively for the dancers... In short, each trade association presented something new. They danced so much that they broke down a 25-foot wall located on the bank of the river next to the palace and many people fell into the water."

On this date in 1911: Swan Lake makes its U.S. debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

On this date in 1949: John Cranko's ballet Beauty and the Beast premiered.

And on this date in 1981: Michael Bennett's Dreamgirls opens on this date on Broadway. The musical will run more than 1500 performances.

Dance Video of the Day

2009-12-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

This Day in Dance History: December 17

2009-12-17T11:22:00.001-08:00

December 17, 1892- The Nutcracker ballet had its premiere at the Marinski Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Tchaikovsky was initially not pleased with the score. "And now it is finished, Casse-Noisette is all ugliness," he wrote.

However as time went on Tchaikovsky changed his mind about The Nutcracker, which had premiered on the same day as the opera Iolanthe. "Strange that when I was composing the ballet I kept thinking that it wasn't very goof but that I would show them [the Imperial Theaters] what I can do when I began the opera. And now it seems that the ballet is good and the opera not so good."

Dance Science

2009-12-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

Contracts Due!

2009-12-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

It is December and the sounds Tchaikovsky waft from dance schools across the nation as they prepare their full scale productions and winter recitals. Meanwhile, at Double V Promotions, we're making our final preparations for a two month tour that begins the first week of January.

We understand that for many of our dance school friends this is the busiest time of the year. Getting a contract back for a master class that will be held three or four weeks down the line gets pushed further and further down the to do list after "repair Mouse King heads" and "send out order forms for DVDs" and "make my Christmas travel plans."

We understand how busy you are, but because we have only a very short time before we have to get on the road, and we need to know that our class schedule is completely firm before we book hotels and plan our route, we are asking that you take a moment and put that stamp on that envelope. It will get a pesky item off your to do list, and assure that Valery Lantratov will be coming to your studio.

If we sent you a contract more than two weeks ago, and we have not received it by the end of this week, we will release your dates to ensure we have enough time to fill them elsewhere before we leave. Happy Nutcrackers, and thank you for inviting us to your studio.

This Day in Dance History: December 16

2009-12-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

December 16, 1937- A now famous dance step, "The Lambeth Walk" was introduced during the first performance of Noel Gay's "Me and My Girl" in London.

On this same date in 1977- the disco film Saturday Night Fever was released. John Travolta, who was also shooting the Welcome Back Kotter tv series during the filming, ran two miles a day and danced for three hours daily to get in shape for this film. The iconic opening sequence of Travolta’s feet strutting along the streets of Brooklyn was actually performed by the actor’s stand-in, Jeff Zinn.

On this date in 1987-Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a program designed to help fight the threat of the AIDS virus, was launched.

And on this date in 1993- The Red Shoes, a Broadway musical based on the 1948 film of the same name, opened at the Gershwin Theatre to unanimously unfavorable reviews. It closed after only five performances.

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

This Day in Dance History: December 15

2009-12-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

Dec 15, 1879- Rudolf Laban, inventor of the labanotation system of dance notation, was born.

Also on this date in 1944- Ballet International performed Mad Tristan choreographed by Leonide Massine against a set painted by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali. Time magazine wrote of the performance: "When Salvador Dali's ballet, Mad Tristan, opened in Manhattan in 1944, it provided one critic with 'a 25-minute yawn.' Most other balletgoers yawned, too, if not so long-windedly, and Mad Tristan flopped."

And on this date in 1986-Serge Lifar passed away at age 81. "Universally dubbed one of ballet's greatest egocentrics (even by his admirers)," wrote Anna Kisselgoff, "he has also been recognized (even by his detractors) as the major figure in the renewal of 20th-century French ballet. Yet, perhaps in the long run he will and should be remembered for the ideas and actions that were forerunners of many of the premises we now take for granted in dance." (You can read the entire obituary by following the link above.)

This Day in Dance History: December 14

2009-12-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

December 14, 1844: English ballerina Clara Vestris Webster's dress caught fire during a performance of The Revolt of the Harem at the Drury Lane Theater. She died three days later.

And on this date in 1954: Danish ballet dancer Ib Anderson was born. The former New York City Ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Danish Ballet is now artistic director of Ballet Arizona in Phoenix.

This Day in Dance History: December 13

2009-12-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

December 13 1826-Carolina Rosati, ballerina with the Paris Opera, was born. "Mile Carolina Rosati is a dancer of the very first order," wrote Sir Bernard Burke in 1847, "her style is intellectual and varied her grace and agility of motion are most striking She enacted to the life the charming creation of Fouque so closely indeed did she copy the original that the very words of the romance itself describe exactly her appearance on her first coming on her performance and the wonderful effect it produced."

Dec 13 1998-Charles Laskey, performer with the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Ballet passed away.

Today in Dance History: December 12

2009-12-12T00:32:00.000-08:00

Dec 12, 1882- The Bijou Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, became the first theatre to be lighted by electricity.

On this date in 1995- Tap dance instructor Mary Bruce passed away at age 95. Her students included Josephine Premice, Ruby Dee, Martina Arroyo and Marlon Brando.

And on this date in 2000- Costumes and other memrobilia belonging to Dame Margot Fonteyn, one of Britain's best loved dancers, brought in ₤640,000, six times more than expected, at Christie’s auction house.

Today in Dance History: December 11

2009-12-11T04:15:00.000-08:00

Dec 11, 1901-Choreographer Lev Ivanov passed away. Ivanov was best remembered for his work on two of the world’s most popular ballets, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The Nutcracker became Ivanov’s project when Marius Petipa fell ill. An early version of Swan Lake created by choreographer Julius Reisinger was a failure. After Tchaikovsky’s death in 1893, Ivanov staged a one act version in honor of the composer. The success of Ivanov's choreography for Act II led the company to stage a complete new production in 1895, under Petipa's artistic direction, in which Ivanov created the choreography for Acts II and IV and Petipa for Acts I and III. It is now the most popular ballet in the world, providing the most iconic images of classical ballet.

And on this date in 1916- "The Mambo King" Pérez Prado was born. One of the most influential pop orchestra leaders of the early 1950s, was the first to market his compositions under the name "mambo," and his "Mambo No. 5" took Latin America and the U.S. by storm.

And on this date in 1923-George Balanchine, still known by his Georgian name, Balanchivadze, as the ballet master of the Maly Opera Theater, staged the dances for the company’s production of Le Coq d’Or, which debuted today.

And on this date in 1929-Sir Kenneth MacMillan was born in Scotland. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet from 1970 until 1977, but continued to choreograph works for them until his death backstage at the Royal Opera House in 1992.

This Day in Dance History: December 10

2009-12-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

Dec 10, 1958- Ekaterina Maximova made her first solo appearance in the Peasant pas de deux in the first act of Giselle. The English ballet critic A.V. Coton called her “a happy and lovely girl, who moves like a wondrous bird… she has the most appealing smile I have ever seen in a dancer in performance.”

This Day in Dance History: December 9

2009-12-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

Dec 9, 1963-The Joffrey Ballet returned from a tour of Russia consisting of thirteen sold out performances. Russian critics were generally more favorable to the company than they had been to a visit by George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet the previous year. The Soviets felt that Balanchine’s abstract style, which stressed motion over story telling, diluted the classical legacy. Tass, the official Soviet news agency wrote that the tour was “the greatest success of all the American companies that have danced in Leningrad.”

And on this date in 1990- Boris Kochno passed away at age 86. Kochno’s artistic direction in major companies and scenarios for Serge Diaghilev, George Balanchine and Roland Petit. One of his most enduring contributions to ballet was the Balanchine ballet "Prodigal Son" on which he collaborated.

Grand Rapids Ballet Presents The Prodigal Son from Grand Rapids Ballet on Vimeo.

And on this date in 1997-Tamara Geva, the Russian-born dancer and actress passed away at age 91. Born Tamara Gevergeyev in St. Petersburg in 1906, she studied ballet at the Marinski Ballet School. There she met George Balanchine and the couple married in 1923. They left Russia the following year and were separated soon after. Geva found a new career in Broadway musicals and authored an autobiography Split Seconds in 1972.

Kultura Feature on The Bolshoi's Bright Stream

2009-12-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

Featuring Vladislav Lantratov and Ekaterina Krisanova

Vladislav Lantratov: Soloist of the Bolshoi Ballet on the Russian cultural program "Who's There?"

2009-12-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

Vladislav Lantratov, soloist of the Bolshoi Ballet, (and son of Valery Lantratov) is interviewed on the Russian program Kto Tam? (Who's There?) to promote the performance "The Bright Stream." The interview is in Russian, but it also shows some nice performance clips.

Funky Futuristic Ballet Image of the Day

2009-12-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

Ballet Too the Electric Boogaloo

2009-12-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

If you are one of our dance school friends-- if we have visited your school or will be coming this winter or summer--check the list of schools on our blog to be sure we have your URL listed. If your school is on Twitter, follow @lantratov so we can follow you back and hear your latest news.

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-12-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Sleeping Beauty in Cyprus

2009-11-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Valery Lantratov's Russian National Ballet Foundation (billed in Cyprus as Russian State Ballet) will perform Sleeping Beauty at the Rialto Theater Heroes’ Square, Limasso on Saturday, December 19. Here is the description of the program.

Extreme Closeup: Vasiliev and Osipova Corsaire

2009-11-21T15:43:00.001-08:00

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-20T21:49:00.000-08:00

Weird Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

Summer's Coming

2009-11-20T07:56:00.001-08:00

We have updated our calendar. We have posted our master class schedule through June. Our winter schedule is almost completely full. There are only one or two more slots available. We're actively working on summer, which is filling up quickly. We have the most flexibility in July and August. If you are interested in a longer intensive in the summer, please contact us right away to book your slot.

Vaudeville is the Default Condition of the Mind

2009-11-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

Old newspapers, magazines and ephemeral books have always held an interest for me. That is why the site The Hope Chest is on my RSS feed list. The compiler of The Hope Chest finds oddities from old news and posts them with comments. Today its author proposed the following observation: "Vaudeville is the default condition of the mind." Not only did I enjoy that line enough to want to share it, it reminded me of an essay I wrote about a year ago when I came across some video clips of Al “Rubber Legs” Norman, which I have yet to post or publish, so here it goes:

Rubber Legs

On the web page of Henrik Eriksson, a square-jawed Swede who blogs about his career as a swing music D.J. I discovered Al “Rubber Legs” Norman.

In a series of embedded clips from You Tube, Al performed his greatest hits from 1930s movies. The double jointed dancer whipped his legs around so they created waves which he expertly surfed. Not quite Broadway or tap style, his dance was part comic, part acrobatic and would bring a smile to the lips of even the most downtrodden Depression-era audience. He reminded me of Ray Bolger, but without the Wizard of Oz Scarecrow costume.

Seventy years after he performed his quirky dance, he is a star of the Internet. The “Happy Feet” clip has popped up on dozens of blogs. It’s been seen by 44,639 people. I wanted to know more about him.

I looked him up in all the normal places, The Internet Movie Database, The Internet Broadway Database, Newspaperarchive.com. I even went so far as to get up from my computer and look in some real books. All I was able to come up with was that Norman had been an “eccentric” dancer on the vaudeville circuit before his Internet stardom.

“Novelty dancers,” wrote Ian Driver, author of A Century of Dance, “were perhaps the performers who were totally rooted in the culture of their day. Novelty dancers or ‘eccentric’ dancers were, in effect, dancing comedians.”

Such performers were often the glue that held the mosaic of a vaudeville performance together. A vaudeville show had no cohesive theme. On one bill you might find a juggler, a comedian, a singer, a toe dancer, a ventriloquist and an acrobat. Odd acts that defied categorization found an outlet in vaudeville.

Al Norman’s viral video status makes perfect sense. You Tube is the new vaudeville. We often think of YouTube, with its 10 minute slices of entertainment, as being a product of a short-attention-span culture and the downfall of literacy, but it may simply be a return to the diversity that we enjoyed in days gone by.

In the early days of television Ed Sullivan would present a group of performers so diverse that no modern programmer would dare copy. The Beatles would leave the stage to make way for a juggler and a scene from a Broadway show.

Over the years, eclectic family programming gave way to market driven programming geared towards specific demographic niches. Programs with a highly identifiable audience could serve as a vehicle to advertise certain products. Randomness no longer reigned on the airwaves. Yet our interest and our curiosity has remained as wide as it ever was.

Our personal blogs reveal individuals who do not fit as nicely into demographic niches as marketers would have us believe. A television programmer would never pitch black and white movies for an audience of 20-somethings, but there is many a blog that displays videos by Pink next to clips of Fred Astaire and bluegrass picking along side Stephen Colbert.

In just a few days, embedded YouTube clips have introduced me to beatbox flute, cut paper animations and Al Norman. Welcome back vaudeville. We missed you.

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-15T21:24:00.000-08:00

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

Video of the Day: Don Quixote Coda, Vasiliev, Osipova; Bolshoi Ballet

2009-11-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

Ballet Image of the Day

2009-11-06T21:18:00.001-08:00

Moscow's Desire to Dig is Cracking the Surface

2009-11-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

Russia Today reports that the front yard of the famous Russian Bolshoi Theater in central Moscow has suddenly collapsed into a two meter deep pit, after underground construction started nearby.

A Musical Heart

2009-11-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

-Health Magazine, 1904

Dancing Weatherman

2009-11-06T12:33:00.001-08:00

Public Domain Russian Ballet Images

2009-11-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

Google Books has been slowly digitizing the dusty tomes in university libraries. Books in the public domain are available to download in their entirety. Here are some public domain images from a 1913 book called The Russian Ballet by Dame Ellen Terry. (The embedding clipped a few of these images. Click on them to take you to the original if you'd like to crop them differently.)

The Pet Milk Can Effect

2009-09-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

So here's something fun. Anyone remember the old Pet Milk cans? They had a picture of a Pet Milk can on them, which had a picture of a Pet Milk can on it and so on and so on.

So here is our version. We've added a widget to the blog which displays our Twitter feeds and are now using an ap to automatically post our blog posts to our Twitter. This may create some kind of loop that eventually envelops the entire universe. We're not sure yet.

Benefits of Ballet

2009-09-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

I recently uncovered an article from the 1997 issue of Creative Living. "Wellsprings of Health" by Paul J. Rosch, M.D. notes that attending cultural events may help you live longer.

People who frequent concerts, theater and art exhibits are healthier and live longer, according to a recent study by Swedish researchers... the researchers surveyed 13,000 people, ages 16 to 74, about their health, living conditions, income, education and lifestyles. Eight and nine years later, they found that those who generally attended some sort of cultural event fewer than 40 times per year were almost 60 percent more likely to have died, compared to those participating in such activities twice as often or more... Going to the movies, attending a sporting event or singing in a choir provided similar rewards.

(This is an advertisement for the Bolshoi's performances at the University of North Carolina this past summer. Valery Lantratov's son Vladislav Lantratov was part of this tour)

Winter Schedule Now On Line

2009-09-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

We have updated our calendar (you can access it via a link on the right) to show the classes for our upcoming winter tour. Our schedule is filling up quickly. The studios that are listed on this schedule are all those to which we have sent contracts, if you are listed, but we have not yet received your contract, you may still be removed from the itinerary. We look forward to working with many studios, both new and old, this winter.

Patrick Swayze 1952-2009

2009-09-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Walpurgis Nacht Female Variation

2009-09-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

Some students will be familiar with this variation, which Valery Lantratov taught in his variation classes this summer.

August Collage

2009-09-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who made our tour such a success. We look forward to seeing you again in winter and next summer.

From Collages

Michael Jackson's Tribute to Fred Astaire

2009-09-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

July 2009: The Tour in Pictures

2009-08-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

We are close to wrapping up another successful U.S. tour, and we're grateful to have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful students in so many new and familiar places. As we roll into our final cities, we are looking to the future and beginning to plan our itineraries for both winter and summer 2010.

In the winter our route will take us primarily south through KY, TN, MS, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA with a few more northern cities as well. Unfortunately, we will not be able to get to all of our favorite studios and cities. If you are in one of the states on our list, and are interested in having Valery Lantratov come to your studio, please contact us.

For summer, we are starting now with schools that would like intensives of three days to one week. As of now, our direction is completely open, but as schools commit to dates, it will determine (an limit) our direction for summer. If you are interested in classes for summer or winter please contact lauralee@doublevpromotions.com.