Cristiano Meets Roberto Bolle

From Cristiano's blog:

Finally I met my ballet idol ! Last night my friend Irina Dvorovenko, Russian principal of the American Ballet Theater, invited me to the Met to see her performance as Juliet next to Italian ballet dancer sensation Roberto Bolle. It was the first time for her to dance next to him. It was pure love and elegance ! The crowd went crazy with a standing ovation of half and hour ! Imagine the Russian technique of Irina and the passion and masculine stage presence of Roberto ... the best Romeo and Juliet I have ever seen ! Both of them not only are amazing dancers but also incredible actors. The chemistry was there.. they were in love on stage. After the show I met both backstage and of course I melt when I talked ( in Italian ) to Roberto. He is so adorable!





Go to Cristiano's blog to see a video of the Dance of the Knights with Roberto Bolle.

Friday Fantasy - A Night at the Ballet

When I wrote the Nutcracker post, I had to keep it G rated so that my 13 year old niece could read it. Typically she is not allowed to read her Auntie’s blog, for reasons I am sure you can understand. Here is the real dirt. In one of the dances, the male dancer was bare-chested, even showing a bit of trail below his navel, and the female was wearing a harem-type outfit (but who cares about her). As my sister whispered to me, “Lose the skirt.” The whole dance was so sexy and seductive, to quote a fellow blogger, it made me feel funny in my pants.

When Evie and I went back stage, that dancer was still shirtless with all of his male buddies all around him and having his picture taken with female fans. Still your hearts guys, he has a girl friend. We were about to head over there, when our husbands showed up. So close, and yet so far. Although, it would have been really bad had we been caught. They also had two West Point Cadets in the performance that played the soldiers and they were just adorable. One was blond and one was brunette. At the cast party the next day, they showed up in tight tee shirts and were both very muscular. The brunette knew the samba, and danced the salsa with the 60 year old wife of the company owner. He was running his hands all up and down her front and back and I guess it was quite a thrill for her. Who wouldn’t it have been a thrill for?

So for this week’s fantasy, I offer a male ballet dancer. Ethan Stiefel came to my attention in the movie Center Stage. I have always liked ballet because there are men in tights and you can just see everything. Little is left to the imagination. All the muscle groups are readily apparent, buttocks, quadriceps, and calves, just everything. Then there is the bulge. Yum. Nothing is better than that. So, without further ado, here is Ethan:

Click on any image to enlarge

I thoroughly enjoyed Center Stage and if you like oogling the men of dance, you might like it too. Another movie with ballet dancers you might like is The Turning Point with Mikhail Barshinikov. So, check out these two movies and spend a Friday Fantasy night at the ballet.

The Nutcracker

Yesterday, Sean and I drove down to my twin sister Evie’s house so see my 13 year old niece perform in a local production of the Nutcracker. On our way out of town we saw Santa Claus rushing off to an engagement. No kidding. He drives a black Volvo station wagon, I’d say 90’s vintage. We also saw a half a dozen cars with Christmas trees tied to the roof on our side of the road only! It must be that time of year. When we got to her house, I rushed in to see her clivia and compare it to mine. I think mine is better. What do you think?

Anyway, we had a great lunch, just the four of us, Evie, her husband Adam, Sean and I, and then we had to rush off to the auditorium to get the best seats. We got great seats. We were in the reserved section for parents, balcony, first row, and my seat was on the aisle. Perfect! Of course, then we had to wait an hour for the ballet to begin. But, anxious stage mothers were saving whole rows and we would never have gotten those seats had we not gotten there when we did. So we chatted away happily to pass the time.

Then the lights dimmed and the performance began. Act I was mesmerizing and magical. It just sped by. I was entranced. Then there was an intermission. After that, Act II began. My niece was a crystal flower and on stage for most of the second act. The flowers enter in a garland dance on point with arms linked and this is extremely difficult.

A garland dance

But, it was done flawlessly. Of course, she was the best one (no bias here). She had to stand absolutely stock still for most of the performance, right in the middle of the stage to one side of the throne that Clara sits on, while another flower was on the other side. All of the other flowers lined the sides.

Anyhow, Act II is when the principals of the company get to show their stuff. Some of the dancers were really quite talented. One professional dancer was quite the leaper. We saw him on the street entering the auditorium and he just looked like any other guy. But wow. On the dance floor was another thing. This guy is a star.

After the performance, Evie and I, we had backstage passes since Evie is on the board of the dance company, went back stage to get my niece. The whole cast was back there with relatives and the energy was amazing. I met the head of the dance company and told him this was the best performance yet and he had outdone himself. The niece was understandably reluctant to leave and while we were standing there with her, the man who played the Nutcracker took her photo and gave her a hug. He had accidentally brushed her nose with his toe during a rehearsal one day. Evie knew him, she knew everybody, and introduced me as her twin. All evening people were giving us double take looks and asking if we were twins. At this point in my life I am so accustomed to it I don’t even mention it. I shook his hand and told him he was fabulous. It was really a thrill to meet and see the dancers up close.

After that, we all went out for sushi. It was a perfect end to the day.