What’s a ballet dancer to do when faced with a career-threatening injury? Take to the Web, of course, and begin evangelizing the ethereal dance online to a new generation.
When I met New York City Ballet dancer Kristin Sloan at an LVHRD event (see Sonia Zjawinski’s’s stories from last week on LVHRD and their new mag) I was somewhat skeptical about actually attending the ballet. After my rather lame jokes about muscely men in tights and pirouetting waifs, she suggested I put aside prejudice and check out www.tragiclovenyc.com, the promo site for the NYC Ballet’s latest production, Romeo + Juliet.
Sloan has spent the past six months putting together a quality, behind-the-scenes film documenting the year-long process that brings R+J to Lincoln Center tonight for a two-week run. This unprecedented access to one of the world’s great ballet companies can be viewed online in eight chapters. Episodes on weapons, choreography and the 73-member orchestra seriously piqued my interest.
When LVHRD invited several members to a special dress rehearsal of R+J last week, I leaped at the chance. And I was not disappointed; with its excellent Prokofiev score and loads of sword fighting, I’m not ashamed to admit the Shakespearian tragedy en pointe ranked right up there with any action flick I’ve seen recently.
As for Sloan, she’s scheduled to make it back to the stage this summer after rehabbing her hip for nearly two years. Also well worth checking out is The Winger, a thriving online community for ballet and other professional dancers that Sloan founded just after she was sidelined.
