la sylphide is a strange ballet, isn't it? it was the first ballet to be danced en pointe, and while the pointe work seems uncomplex, almost rudimentary to to us now because the pointe vocabulary was not yet developped, it was revolutionary in its time. for me it is structurally frustrating in part because there are no real high points - and when what appears to be one does arrive it is over before it can even begin to fulfill that promise: within the very first moments of what could finally become a pas de deux - she dies - which is entirely fitting if you consider the ballet an allegory.in some ways then, for the modern ballet goer, the frustrated yearning of the one who watches must unintentionally but undeniably mirror that of the dancer. it is a ballet that presents to me the same problem that the snow queen does - which i shall forever now think of as "the danish problem" after bournville and andersen. i was just thinking of the little mermaid a few days ago, which if you haven't read or reread in recent years, you should. (i've started taking andersen to lunch at dudley - if i can get in early before the first years come in and find a less visible spot i can usually get in three or four pages every day before i am spotted and asked to join a table.)

to be continued, again. this is an exercise in trying to write a linear entry and to get myself to do work. for every two hours of work i can come back and add a paragraph.