"The Arabesque", 11x14, oil on canvas panelThe other day, I pulled out what seemed like hundreds of thousands of photos I'd collected of my students when I was the director of The West Chester Performing Arts Center some years ago in the suburban Philadelphia area. I never get tired of seeing the looks of avid concentration and dedication on their young faces. By now, those young girls are grown women, probably with active lives and families of their own. How the time flies by!
This past Christmas, I was incredibly proud to have had the chance to see my niece Kaitlin dance the role of Clara in her dance school's production of The Nutcracker. She was simply lovely in the role and I am delighted that a great deal of her Aunt Mary's passion for ballet rubbed off on her!
I was also very happy to see Melissa Sandvig's emotional performance on this week's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance". Melissa has been a favorite of mine since the beginning of the season, and although I think the remaining two girls are also quite talented and wonderful, the amount of maturity and abandon that was required to dance Tyce DiOrio's pas de deux about breast cancer could have only been done with such an incredible outcome by a lovely dancer like Melissa. I am very happy that this season produced a new awareness of classical ballet to the younger viewing audience, thanks to Melissa. I wish her luck in the final weeks of the show. My guess is that Janine or Brandon will win this year, and I am usually right!
This painting is sold, but if you are interested in ballet art, please visit my website at Maryanne JAcobsen Fine Art, and click on the ballet and portraiture page in the sidebar.
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