WEEK #5: Tuesday

Back at the office after a three-day weekend?  Is this Tuesday feeling like a Monday?  Never fear, we’ve got another fun installment of “Let’s Get Technical” on today’s Coffee Break With the Ballet with fun historical facts and another Google Challenge.

Let’s Get Technical

An impeccably precise performance can still be dry and lifeless if the dancer doesn’t fill it with passion.  Here are a few of our favorite examples – you can feel the dancer’s energy leaping off the screen.

Cocktail Party Trivia: The current world record for “Most Consecutive Pirouettes In 30 Seconds” is held by 19-year-old Alicia Clifton, a former Miss Teen Oklahoma.  In 2005 she executed 36 pirouettes in a row to claim the title.  Now THAT takes energy!

Merce Cunningham (1940)

Artur Sultanov, Oregon Ballet Theatre (Photo: Andy Batt)

George Balanchine dancing with his cat, Mourka  (Photo: Martha Swope)

Pearl Primus, Folk Dance (Photo: Gerde Peterich)

GOOGLE CHALLENGE!

Find a link to a photo or video of somebody performing some non-art-related task with an unusually high or low amount of energy.  (Here’s an example to get you started.)  Post here or on OBT’s Facebook page.