My dear readers --
This week’s newsletter is a little light, as my brain is completely waterlogged from the 24 fascinating interviews I’ve done in the last two weeks.
I’ve talked to a dozen dancers, five choreographers, two teachers, two nutritionists, a gender equity researcher, and a historian of fitness culture. And I’ve still got another twenty interviews - with dance parents, artistic directors of dance companies, a costume designer, a PT, and an orthopedic surgeon - scheduled in the next few weeks.
Each of these interviews is about an hour long, and lots of them require prep beforehand and note-taking afterward. I’m excited about what I’m learning from listening to all these smart people who work in parts of the ballet world where I’ve never spent much, if any, time. But in the evenings, when it’s over, all I’m really fit to do is put on a face mask and an episode of The Office.
Today, for reasons I can’t get into just yet, I’ve been down a ballet-on-Sesame Street rabbit hole. Ballet dancers have been appearing on Sesame Street at least the mid-80s, when The Count counted Suzanne Farrell’s piqué turns. Would you like to see what Big Bird looks like in legwarmers? You can do that. Watch Grover learn to pirouette? Got you covered.
By far my favourite example of ballet on Sesame Street, though, is when in 1996 New York City Ballet’s Jock Soto and Lourdes Lopez used a pas de deux to demonstrate what it means to cooperate.
Thanks for reading,
Chloe.