WEEK #1: Wednesday

It’s Wednesday, which means we’re halfway to the weekend!  Today’s Coffee Break With the Ballet feature is called “Then & Now,” where we’ll show you cool photos of the evolution of ballet from the past to the present.  We’ll also have a fun feature called “OBT Asks . . . ” where we’ll pick the brains of a member of the ballet’s artistic staff about the topic of the week.

Then & Now

Even in a democracy, you can still deport yourself like royalty.  Today’s dancers have that aristocratic bearing down pat!

Dancing Master and Young Student, 1745

Julia Adam in company class at San Francisco Ballet (Photo: Sandra Lee & Thomas Hunt)

Gentleman dancing at Louis XIV’s court (1660’s)

Brian Simcoe in Afternoon of a Faun at OBT  (Photo: Blaine Covert)

OBT Asks Principal Dancer Kathi Martuza:

“Tell us something about how you use your body in ballet that might surprise a non-dancer.”

“One of the things that is so satisfying about dancing is that dance uses the entire body.  Even when you may be focusing more on one section of the body, such as the lower body or the upper body, the ENTIRE body is involved in the movement. Dance is movement, nothing is ever stagnant. Even when it looks like a dancer is standing still, there is still an active energy swirling within the body that keeps the position alive.”