trying to stay hopeful . .

the situation for businesses and out of work new yorkers feels more hopeful today. news organizations, public radio hosts, congresspeople, state and federal representatives, are all talking about measures that can be taken to try and hold the economy together. korrina thinks her online application got through correctly to unemployment, though there was some glitch about being eligible next week and not this week . . she'll just have to see.

it's been a busy day of talking on the phone with friends and family. my nephew called and i found out that my sister and brother-in-law are only four hours from home (they've been in florida). i'm so glad.

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here's some more of the workers behind the scenes at the new york city ballet:

the drawing in the center is of christine redpath, ballet master:
 "i was a dancer with the company beginning in 1969. when we were on tour in 1972, we went to russia--kiev, leningrad, tbilisi, moscow--and to poland, to lodz, and warsaw. we went to the mariinsky school in leningrad. as we got off the bus, balanchine was really tense. there was a press conference and the russians wanted to claim him as their own. they were toasting with vodka and saying, oh, he's ours and how great that he's come back! he said, 'oh, no. i'm american.'
"when balanchine would choreograph, his eyes would get very black. the pupils were huge. he would have the pianist play a few bars. he'd think about it, take one person and say, 'okay, try this.' if it didn't seem to fit the dancer, he would give something else. even though we would be saying, 'wait! i can do this!'
"today, when i'm in a studio with the dancers, and i'm working on one of jerry robbins' ballets, or mr. b's ballets, i'm filled with joy. my whole life, i've been happiest in the studio."

on the right is suzy alvarez, hair and wigs:
"everybody's face is different. some people have round faces, some  people have long faces. obviously, if someone has a long face, i will not give them a middle part.
"you change according to the show. for midsummer night's dream you use a lot of glitter. glitter on their eyes, glitter in their hair. it's a fairytale. for romeo and juliet, you are in 15th century verona. i give the girls braids that they can wear in different ways. in the cage, by jerome robbins, everybody wears crazy hair. they're like cave people.
"sometimes in the middle of a show, a dancer has to take her hair down on stage while she's dancing, so i preset it. i use products. i use a curling iron and a flat iron. i put in two huge pins. then, when she's doing a turn, she pulls the pins and the hair comes tumbling down."

on the left is hank lavaia, stage carpentry:
"i was in vietnam for two years, 1968 to 1970. in 1970, right out of the army, i went to broadway for two months. worked at the majestic. then i came up here, and i stayed.
"george balanchine was a sweetheart of a guy. he was big on the crew. very efficient. he wanted no big scenery,  no big sets. towards the end of his life he had a problem with his equilibrium. i fixed a railing in his apartment and we did some work on his steps.
"i'm a blessed man. i love my job. i was born to this. my grandfather and my father were stagehands. i fell right into the groove. stagehands work in the morning and then at night. it's two full jobs. same with dancers. they rehearse all morning, and they're on stage at night. days and nights, days and nights."

veggies, minerva and swan lake

i was out early this morning . .

to take care of minerva . . 

 and to visit the green market . . and then . .

home again . . morgana made this sign years ago . . 

 i love the little shoes . . 

 and boots . . 

 pluto is always at the door, ready to greet me.

 the green market haul . . 

 shitake mushrooms, fingerling potatoes and turnips (and eggs . . ) . .

after breakfast i took the train uptown to lincoln center and the new york city ballet to see tiler peck dance in swan lake.

i was also looking forward to giving more attention to the art exhibit by lauren redniss, which i find so interesting that i wish they had published a book with her drawings and interviews.

 i first wrote about this exhibit on february 8th. the artist drew and interviewed over one hundred behind the scenes people associated with the ballet: engineers, lighting designers, ballet masters, porters, dress makers, make-up artists, call center operators . . etc.

i took some photos of the few interviews they included along the wall on the mezzanine level:

(drawing on left) jean-pierre frohlich, ballet master

"i've been in this building since it was built. 1964. there are images in my head of balanchine and robbins rehearsing. images of my childhood. running the hallways in between the matinee and evening performance. images of when balanchine choreographed a small section of don quixote on me. i was ten years old. he was extremely gentle, extremely kind to children. i have memories of working with jerry robbins on watermill. i was 16, at school of american ballet. robbins wanted to use me, but he didn't know if it was possible because i was at the school. so he asked balanchine, 'is it okay if i use jean-pierre for this production?' balanchine said, 'of course, he's family.'

"when you teach the ballets, you have to make sure they don't become a museum piece -- that they evolve with the times we are living in and how dancers dance today. balanchine did that and so did robbins. robbins said to me many times, 'j.p. don't look at too many videos, because you start making dancers look like the person who's on the video.' in other words, the dancer won't find their own voice in the role. when robbins entrusted me with his ballets, i felt at ease. i felt prepared, because robbins prepared me. balanchine prepared me."

(drawing on the right) norma attride, wardrobe

"there are about 4,000 costumes in the storage area downstairs at the theatre. there are another, say, 10,000 costumes at a great big warehouse up in new jersey.

"i maintain and elongate the life of a costume. we change elastics in trunks, shoulders, waistbands. it's a lot of laundry, a lot of woolite. we are constantly cleaning, especially if dancers are sharing the costume and it has to be worn in the afternoon and again in the evening or the next day. you're wiping it down and getting little make-up stains off.

"tutus are easy to maintain. but after awhile, because a lot of partnering, the oil from the partner's hands will get on the tutu bodice, so you're constantly trying to get the oil, or the rosin, off. the dancers put rosin on their side seams to help their partner have a grip, and rosin stains really badly. if that's what the partner has to do in order to keep steady, you can't say no. you want the dancers to be safe on stage. you just have to do your best to clean it."

ms diaz, box office

"it all started with my grandfather, rafael diaz. he worked for the company many years ago, in the 1950's, before lincoln center was build. he worked here all his life. when i was born,  he brought in my father, virgilio diaz. they were porters. they made sure everything was in order--the garbage was picked up, the brass polished, all that stuff.

"one time, my father invited me and a cousin of mine. we were about eight or nine years old. it was winter. we got up real early, about 3:30 in the morning. my father had to be at work at 5:30 am. there's almost nobody here that early. we went into the ballerina's dressing rooms, into the theatre, sat in the seats. we went on stage. you know what? when i walk into the theatre now, it's the same smell. the wood. the velvet. it takes me back.

"when i was 18, my father said to me, 'there's an opening in the box office.' i started off as a mail clerk. i did customer service on the phone. i grew up here. i started off with braces. i bought my house. i had my kids. i have a grandchild. i couldn't see myself anywhere else. imagine! i've been here all my life."

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i have two more photos with drawings and interviews which i will try and post another day. it takes awhile to copy the text!

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warming up . . 

 on the balcony at intermission . .

 i enjoyed seeing the audience mix with the portraits . . 

it was a beautiful show. tiler peck danced exquisitely, and joseph gordon was wonderful as her prince siegfried. since ms peck just recently recovered from a herniated disc, the audience was doubly supportive of her and extremely enthusiastic about her performance this afternoon. there was a very good article in the new york times about her injury and subsequent recovery which can be read here. another incredibly beautiful performance this afternoon was from kurt nikkanen, the violin soloist. you can see  him all the way on the left in the above photo, with the conductor, andrew litton.

 i'm so glad i bought my ticket early for such a great seat!

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my exhausting afternoon of re-caulking and re-grouting the shower tiles is here, and my afternoon clearing out a bookshelf with korrina is here.