Nutcracker Season!

Nutcracker season can elicit an array of feelings. Some love it, some hate it. I was falling into the indifferent category. I don't live in a major city, so the month long onslaught of ballet school-civic rep level productions has me a bit bummed out…and ready to tune it all out. AND THEN…I stumbled upon this very interesting panel discussion lead by ballet critic, Alastair McCauley, comparing the original Lev Ivanov Sugarplum PDD to the Balanchine version, getting into the nitty gritty of the score and the choreographic language that can be found in both versions, pointing out the various ways in which Balanchine quoted Ivanov. This is so interesting and only available online until Dec. 17, so hurry and watch it while you can. Who knew about the original version of the Sugar Plum sliding across the stage on point on a hidden stage tracking device?! If you do anything, watch this first video with the panel talk and demonstrations. The videos I included after that are just if you want to get obsessive like I did to dig deeper. Panelists: Suki Schorer, Wendy Whelan, Sara Mearns, Jonathan Stafford. (Watching Suki coach is worth watching!) NYCB Dancers: Chun Wai Chan, Ashley Hod (Balanchine version) & Anthony Huxley, Emma Von Enck (Ivanov Version)

maya plisetskaya photographed by yevgeny umnov

wimter fun

Carla Fracci and Margot Fonteyn take their bows after a performance of Romeo and Juliet, 1981. Photographed by Linda Vartoogian.

Living Room at Night , December - Dmitri Cavender , 2002.

American, b. 1957 -

oil on canvas, 38 x 36 cm.

i hate to be this person because i used to roll my eyes at people who told me this but finally making myself go through uncomfortable situations for the possibility of joy has resulted in me being happier than i ever could have imagined being. i do think that you should always listen to yourself but i prevented my own happiness for a long time by not knowing how to tell intuition from overthinking and being too afraid and sticking to negative what if’s when i should have been sticking to positive what if’s. not every venture outside your comfort zone will result in some revelation that moves the earth under your feet but the probablilty of it is zero if you never venture out

oh my god there are people who use this website that are younger than slumdog millionaire. there's probably people on here that were conceived while their parents were watching slumdog millionaire on the couch. it did a lot of dvd sales, as streaming wasnt a thing at the time

Skating on an outdoor rink in Sun Valley

(Eliot Elisofon. 1959?)

The beauty of Gaza and its people, 20 October 2020, photographed by Motaz Azaiza.

Just want every young person terrified of becoming older than 23-25 to know that I'm currently 32 and my 20s were fucking miserable and while life isn't wholly perfect right now I wouldn't trade my 30s for my 20s for the LIFE of me. The idea feels as ridiculous as trading my 20s for being in high school. FUCK no. And I'm sure at 42 I'll feel similarly to my 30s and so on and so forth. Embrace the passage of time and be grateful that you get the privilege of growing old, bitch. Life's sooooo much better past your mid 20s.

Yū Aoi photographed by Takahashi Yoko

"Patience"

I have distinct memories of falling asleep while getting my mehndi done as a kid. This piece is based off of that. How much time and care goes into the practice, and it's always worth it.