| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 12:56:56 PM
ballet related because she's CRAZY over tutu's and pretty ballerina's right now. And, I was a professional ballerina up until my early 20's, so I thought maybe Ava might like a photo of me, taken in my tutu or something. I have some lovely photos that were done by several professional photographers in NYC, and a journalist in London--they're just sitting in boxes.
Is that narcissistic or silly? She'll be 4 in December, and is a VERY intelligent, advanced 3 1/2 so I think she'd get it.... I just thought she might like to make the connection because she always says, "Now I look like a REAL ballerina!!' when she has a tiara on or something, and maybe she might say, "Aunt Jonni looks like a real ballerina!"
Her mother has told her that I used to be a dancer and she's always so excited to talk about "plies" and first position, so I was just thinking....
Any thoughts?
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| wooliespinner |
Posted - Jul 24 2008 : 04:57:18 AM
Jonni,
you look absolutely positively elegent !!! Beautiful pictures.
Whatever you decide to give her will be wonderful to her.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 23 2008 : 7:01:40 PM
Thanks, Kelli--what part of Michigan do you hail from? I went to school at Interlochen, near Traverse City. I surely love it there...
Miss Janice, thank you, kindly. Means a lot to me. I found the 30's-esque one, but the victorian still is somewhere in a box...like the rest of my life it seems :) Will post it soon.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| kelliraeb |
Posted - Jul 23 2008 : 5:58:50 PM
I think that is a beautiful idea! Your pictures are gorgeous! |
| Miss Bee Haven |
Posted - Jul 23 2008 : 12:23:57 PM
Wow, Jonni! Just plain, flat out WOW! Please post the Victorian and the 40's ones sometime, when you find them.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 23 2008 : 07:12:30 AM
The Nutcracker!!! The score plays non-stop in the grocery at Christmas, in the elevator on muzak in the courthouse, and on the IRS EIN helpline, where I often sit for 30 minutes at a time awaiting assistance for our clients. I know it's my own private H*** :)
Jeannie, you have a wonderful background in the arts! I'm very impressed that you're affiliated with FSU, a very prominent program, for sure. And, that you are on the fundraising end--with all the cuts of arts programs in our schools, children have to be able to be exposed to dance, music, visual arts, etc...someway. The Sugarplum Fair sounds like a wonderful thing, for sure. If ever I am in Florida (I have an aunt who keeps demanding me to visit) I'd love to come...is it held near the holiday? Thank you, Jeannie, for the compliment about my dancers body--I still retain the great calves, feet and posture, but at 34, I've put on the 30 lbs. that eliminated the rest :) I'm very healthy though, and not disappointed in me (now) thought it took a bit of time to get there :)
Ms. Farrell, being from Cincinnati, has always been a favorite of mine, but I also love Violette Verdy (a lovely, bubbly French dancer of Balanchines), who taught me at Interlochen, and Allegra Kent (who my teacher, Mona, attended NYC's famed School for Creative & Performing Arts with--and consequently disliked GREATLY), who also taught me and staged a ballet on our level at Interlochen. She was...flighty, and difficult, but the piece was wonderful.
I didn't really know that I wanted to dance professionally until I was 11 or so...when I had begun taking class with Mona. She was a protege of Vera Nemtchinova, a Ballet Russe dancer under Diaghilev. I was instructed the way Mona was instructed--intense discipline, and very little outside influences. At one point in my young life, I was really spending more time with Mona both in and out of the studio that I was very absent from my own family life. Her approach to training wasn't just in the classroom, but it also involved taking me to the theater, introducing me to the "right" people, people who could help me or get me somewhere, teaching me how to dress for the theater and grand gala's, etiquette, etc...She was a mentor in every way.
I think now, if I ever have a little girl--would I want her to be a dancer? Maybe. Do I want her to have love for the arts--absolutely--but do I want her to go through what I did to get there...the self absorption, the backstabbing, the yo-yo dieting and self image issues combined with just-enough of an ego to spur that desire on to succeed, to be on stage. In the end, after I stopped dancing and my father passed, and my "world" as I know it sort of crashed, I realized what a masochistic narcissist I was--and I can only speak for dancers, I'm sure in other genres of the arts, it is the same, though. I even went through a period where I refused to go to the theater...thankfully that's over now, and I enjoy the magic like I did when I was small. Now, if I ever had a little boy--he'd be in a dance class in heartbeat! We were ALWAYS lacking in boys!!!!
Lisa, you are very sweet. And Linda, thank you so very much for your compliments. It means very much to me as I don't take these photos out very often....
*****Yes, Lisa, I still want to take class with you...and you're NOT going to have to drop 40 lbs to take a class!!! Here's a goal for us both: March 2009, you and me in a dance class. Cuz, I'm going to need it :)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| nubidane |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 7:08:18 PM
Oh Shirley what an impressive resume you have. YOu need to come to OH & give me a private lesson. So neat that you know Suzanne!
I have a dvd about her life & she details her relationship with Balanchine. I relish photos & film footage of his rehearsals, & am especially fond of any time that he was with Stravinsky.. Two strong Russian artists, it doesn't get any better than that! I am also a big Gelsey Kirkland fan(LOVED her feet), but her & Suzanne are such opposite styles I started ballet at 35 but was a frustrated ballerina through my teens (figure skater)& young 20's & now would need to lose 40 lbs to even be in a respectable adult class WAH!
I am also lucky to be close enough to Jonni that we can occasionally socialize. She is a beautiful girl & if I can dump those 40 lbs she might even venture out into a class with me.. Wouldn't that be fun.
Here is a link to the lady I took classes from, Claudia Rudolf Barrett, http://ballettechohio.org She was also a good friend of Suzanne's (see the tribute link) She has a young little phenom dancer Serena Sovdnes who looks pretty impressive to me.
Jonni
Look what you've started!!! |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 6:31:08 PM
Jonni - I know what you mean about having enough of the Nutcracker!!!! Year after year, it can grow old.
Here is a little of my background in dance. I was a member of a small company in the mid-west when I was a teen. Copper Coin Ballet in Illinois. I studied from the time I was 6-19. Since I moved here, I have been on the fund-raising end. I chaired a large arts and crafts fair (72 vendors) called the Sugarplum Fair for over 16 years, with all proceeds going to the Tallahassee Ballet. Now I am president of the Friends of Dance for Florida State University. http://dance.fsu.edu
If you research it, you will find FSU has one of the best collegiate dance programs in the country. I have met Suzanne Farrell (she is so nice!!!), who teaches at FSU, and I love dance, and have since my youth. I never had the body of a true dancer, but it certainly appears that you do. But I love it anyway, and try to help young dancers. My daughter never felt the fire and love of dancing, but maybe my granddaughters will. It does not really matter. I just like to give them the opportunity to understand the loveliness and discipline of dance. I have seen the Joffrey twice. Great company. So glad you had the chance to be a part of that. The Cincinnati Ballet is a great company. Hope your niece can go to a performance there! To her, Tchaikovsky will be new! :)
My dance teacher from childhood studied under Balanchine but also had an injury that cut short her career. She was skating at Rockefeller Center, and someone skated over her foot and permanently injured her arch. So she came home and started a local company, whcih I grew up in.
Suzanne Farrell was Balanchine's muse, which I am sure you know. She and I are near the same age (she is older, but you would never know), and she is still wonderful, beautiful, kind and lovely.
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| wooliespinner |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 6:06:10 PM
Jonni,
you are absolutely positively elegant !!! I think those are amazing pictures. You are truly beautiful.
I think whatever you decide to give her will be wonderful.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 11:58:19 AM
Thank you, very much :) What a great idea, Laura!! I just happen to have a few of those old pointe shoes lying about at my mother's. Hopefully, the smell is gone by now--still one of my favorites (rosin + feet) :0
Jeannie, I was with the Joffrey Ballet's junior company after I returned home from England, but only for a short few months before my injury completely disallowed me to even take class. When in England, I originally auditioned for the London Festival Ballet, and had several callbacks, but instead, joined a small, modern company that my friend, Erika had started. I was 17 and it was a working pass to stay in a country I loved :)
So wonderful that you take her to the ballet and that she meets the dancers afterward! I loved that as a little girl, too. Ava will turn 4 this year, so maybe this Christmas we can go to the Nutracker performed by the Cincinnati Ballet--I surely wish they'd do Sleeping Beauty though--after you've danced the Nutcracker so many times, the music kind of "gets to you" :)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 10:46:45 AM
wow - those photos are just lovely, as are you. What company did you dance with? You may have already said, but I missed it. Love them so much!
There are some nice story books out now about ballet. And I found a 30 minute CD of a real ballet class filmed at the Royal Academy in London, and she watches it and gets her leotard on and dances along. She loves that CD.
I also got her a child's membership to the Tallahassee Ballet. She gets to go back stage after the performances and meet the dancers, and she loves that!!! Is there a company near where she lives that you could get her tickets for the Nutcracker and maybe even take her along?
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| summerbreeze |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 09:29:37 AM
Beautiful pictures. My friend runs a ballet school. one of the crafts they do with the little kids is letting them decorate old toe shoes with glitter and paint. The kids love it and then hang them on thier wall.
You only live once,if you do it right once is enough. |
| Jami |
Posted - Jul 18 2008 : 07:47:46 AM
Wow, Jonni...breathtaking photos.
Jami in WA
Okay, so now I have a blog. http://woolyinwashington.wordpress.com/ |
| miss wilma |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 7:51:26 PM
Jonnie these are so pretty I am so proud to call you my adopted daughter,I need one of these so I can see it everyday, WHAT A BEAUTY
Farm Girl #96
http://www.picturetrail.com/misswilmasplace
http://misswilma.blogspot.com/ |
| nubidane |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 7:18:25 PM
Those are memories that you can show generations to come!!
When Ava gets a little older, show her the films of Nemtchinova w/Katherine Healy at a young age(courtesy of YouTube) I loved Katy's lines, & although she was not a beautiful girl, she exuded joy... |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 7:10:07 PM
A la Madame Nemtchinova :) I will send you the black and whites that were taken in London when I find them. I wore a real Victorian gown for a performance and the photo still was taken in that dress, and another is just a still of me in a long, white satin 40's nightgown for fun. Jus really likes that one :)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| nubidane |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 7:07:25 PM
Love it!!!! I gotta tell Linda to check these out.. She rarely ventures out of barnyard buddies & garden gate! I see Russian hands, no? |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 7:02:47 PM
Thanks, Lisa...the tights are those seamed Capezio pink "hold and stretch" which I LOVED! My legs were never tired...well, almost.
These were all taken on the same day, and the other larger, black and white photos, I have moved but will find and send to you. They used to be up and now they're somewhere in the "storage" room (aka, the soon to be-no more dining room, and now the future__________)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| nubidane |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 6:57:54 PM
Jonni you look gorgeous! In white tights no less...Post some more!! |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 4:45:15 PM
Here's one that I was thinking of using...It reminds me of the posters I had on my wall as a young girl. Ava is still a LITTLE Angelina Ballerina, but it might work 
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| City_Chick |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 08:33:36 AM
I think that would be a wonderful gift. Especially if you could find one of those fancy little silver or beaded frames to put it in. I have the same photo of my great grandmother sewing in a beautiful old frame that was given to me as a young girl. Yours is a gift that can be treasured for generations to come. Maybe you could add a secret special note inside the frame for her to find someday when she is older... telling her of your amazing ballerina days. I think that telling our "her-story" to the next generation is the most important gift we can give to our families.
Christina
Farmgirl Sister #195
Although no one can go back and make a brand new start; anyone can start from now
and make a brand new end.
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| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 08:30:31 AM
Great idea, too, Kathie...I wonder, since I'm not a quilter, if I could get by with some sweatshirts and do the transfer on to squares like that? Pink, fuschia and white sweats should be easy to come by at either thrifts or cheap enough new. I'd really like to try to do this for little Ava, she's soooo sweet.
The only picture I have seen thus far with her dance "attire" is on their little blog where she has her first ponytail EVER and says, "Now I look like a REAL ballerina, Mommy!" I'll see if Liv, my sil has any others that I could use.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| Jami |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 07:18:10 AM
Real cute idea, Kathie.
Jami in WA
Okay, so now I have a blog. http://woolyinwashington.wordpress.com/ |
| Kathie |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 06:58:18 AM
IO Love the idea of a Tote bag too.. The picture was the same line I was going with jonni.. But i was thinking a Quilted Picture Throw..
Do you have any photo's of her in any Ballet things yet?
If you do.. you could have HER pics added to the Quilt too & some of Yours AND even a few Artist ones.. Like a couple copies of Some Degas Prints.. You knows.. These. Yours.. & hers all printed & copied on the fabric for a really sweet little quilted throw for her!
Talk about something awesome to cuddle up with!!
Kathie..
Farm Girl Sister #29
"In a World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.."
www.nitegardener.blogspot.com
www.NitegardenerLite.blogspot.com
http://www.nitegardener.etsy.com/
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| Jami |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 6:15:45 PM
Awww, shucks (kickin' the dirt) , you girls just inspire me, that's all.
I really can't wait to see what you create Jonni. Please show us when you get it done.
Jami in WA
Okay, so now I have a blog. http://woolyinwashington.wordpress.com/ |
| kissmekate |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 6:11:03 PM
Jonni,
I think the dance bag is a greatt idea too, only don't tell her it is you in the photos. See if she can guess.
I kept my toe shoes from when I danced, and my daughter drools over them.
I loved being in pointe class, until my second toe grew longer than my first toe. *sigh*
Don't miss out on a blessing, just because it isn't packaged the way you expected. ~MaryJo Copeland |
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