Bravo to Bill for completing his 7th marathon!!!! So proud of you hon!!!! It was a whirlwind trip to London but full of laughter and love, reminiscing about our time living here, incredible art and an passionate and riveting performance of the ballet Mayerling at the Royal Ballet, and some pretty amazingly meals!!!!! Best of all it was so amazing that the girls godparents could join us! Ron and Eve you are inspirational! 93 years young and going strong!!!! Heading back to NYC tonight! Like I said- a whirlwind!!!!!
Happy international pointe shoe week to all those who wear the boots! Personally I had a deep seated love/hate relationship with my pointe shoes that I dealt with my entire career. Born mostly out of a frustration with the feet I was blessed with- the kind of feet that people would say “well at least you use them well” in other words , not much of an arch to speak of. 😂. Still I managed a long and satisfying career at a top company with less than ideal feet and thanks to my amazing Freed’s of London maker F, who retired not too long ago, my shoes were as comfortable and as complementary to my arches as they could be! Thanks Mr F!!!!
Ballet dancers spend all their careers obsessing over their shoes- sewing them, prepping them, trying to prolong their lives (I once wore the same pair of pointe shoes for an entire week of Sleeping Beauty Nymphs- the pic of the extra dirty shoes- hail the wonders of spray shellac 😂😱), and staring at them in the mirror. For me wearing pointe shoes was an unhealthy obsession and I wasn’t too sad to say goodbye to them in 1998 when I retired from ABT (I can’t even get my pinky toe into my old shoes now). But these days I love to teach pointe classes and I love to watch dancers on pointe but I can’t say that I miss those torture boots myself! Sometimes I can’t believe I could ever dance in them. 😂😬❤️🥰
Photos in the white leotard are from the Smithsonian magazine (from my SAB days) article that focused on pointe shoes and how dancers prepped them. I never used a hammer or a door frame.😂 I always stepped on the sides of them with my heels. Near the end is a picture of me and my first pointe class at Alexandra school of ballet in St. Louis and the picture of me in a tutu is the last week I wore Pointe Shoes ABT 🥰❤️🥰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰
Happy pointe shoe week!!!!! ❤️🌸❤️🩰❤️🌸❤️
A little trip down memory lane in honor of April Fool’s Day from ye olden days @abtofficial Fun on, off and off off the stage! Good times for sure!!! Enjoy!!!!!
That 3rd slide is from a Japanese program from the 90s 😂❤️
Happy St Patrick’s Day!!!!! ☘️🇮🇪☘️
It’s time for the annual post of pics from Agnes DeMille’s 1988 ballet she created on @abtofficial The Informer. Set in early 20th century Ireland during a time when it was ruled by the English- this ballet marked the beginning of many of us getting to work consistently with Agnes as part of a “DeMille group”. We learned not only how to Irish step dance but best of all how to inhabit roles as human beings. Agnes really knew how to tell a story and this one was so rewarding with lots of drama and passion. ☘️🇮🇪☘️🇮🇪☘️
Photos by MIRA and @paulbgoodedance
What a beautiful trip down memory lane these past few days seeing @philadelphiaballet production of the Merry Widow and @abtofficial revival of Othello! These were both ballets I danced in my last season with ABT in 1998 and we had the opportunity to work with the choreographers themselves- Sir Ronald Hynde for Merry Widow and Lar Lubovitch for Othello (in the case of Othello it was a brand new full length so we were creating these roles in the studio). It was a beautifully creative and inspirational time and gave me so much joy in my last years at ABT- loved that there were chances for growth and challenge in my latter career as a dancer. And then seeing these beautiful very different ballets the past few days, discovering that my daughter Emily was dancing in the exact same spot in the waltz in act 1 Merry Widow that I used to dance, and reconnecting with John Meehan (the original Danilo in Merry Widow) and Lar, well it was just so special. Thank you Philadelphia Ballet and ABT for the joy and inspiration our art form brings. Nothing like live theater!!!❤️
Our first time to the Dominican Republic! What an amazing country- the people so kind, the island so beautiful, the food and drink sublime ( Presidente beer omg the best!), and everything so full of life, music and dance! I’m not kidding, people were dancing in our hotel, in our restaurants and on the streets. Still can’t get over what we did in two days! We will return! Thank you DR for the best weekend!!! Now back to a NYC blizzard 😆🥳🥰
What a super fun and slightly exhausting week my birthday week has been. From teaching a ton of ballet classes including @abtstudioco (what wonderfully talented dancers) to six hours of @abtschool summer intensive auditions today and a fun birthday class @peridancecenter It was a lot of work but some play too this week!!!! Sometimes living in NYC is just so gloriously vibrant. Ok now I need to go take an advil and get some rest. Happy February y’all!!!!! Xoxoxo ❤️🥰❤️
Happy happy birthday to our dearest Emily @emilywlson 🥰🥳We love you with all our hearts! We are so proud of you and continually amazed by your courage, intelligence, wit, beauty, and determination! May the year ahead be full of inspiration, growth, and lots and lots of happiness! Happy birthday, dear one! We love you!!!
First two pics by the wonderful thief of time.
Part two of @abtofficial spring tour! From exhausting, travel days to acclimating to new theaters to socializing all day and all evening and to fabulous galas!!!! ABT‘s spring tour was exhausting and we had to pack for about four different climates from Miami to Chicago in February but these were great times!!! the memories are amazing. Lots of love to you all!
Happy 85th birthday, American Ballet Theatre!!! thought it would be fun to do some posts that kind of chronicled a year at abt back in ye olden days!!!! while I was in the company in the 80s in the 90s we would go on a spring tour that began in January, usually in Miami, and and ended sometime in March or April typically in California or Washington DC with stops like Chicago, Detroit, my hometown St Louis (we had a company party at my house!) and even one year we did a bus tour of Florida. Went through the “Connecticut vault” and found a bunch of fun pictures so be prepared. This may take more than one post😂 ABTers be prepared for some flashbacks and kids, You may see your teachers back in the day. such good times!!!! Facebook friends help me tag because I’m not at home and can’t tag on my iPhone. Lots of love to all!
Phew 2025- you were a year of big emotions- big happinesses, big sorrows, big challenges and big triumphs, but ultimately it’s always the people who make it special so thank you to all of you out there who kept us sane, comforted, laughing, inspired and energized. Most of all thank you to my family- Bill, Emily and Caroline- I love you so much and am so proud of you all! Xoxoxo ❤️🥰
Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season to you all!!! You know you’re a parent of grown children when it’s 8 AM and not a creature was stirring in your home, except you and the dog. 😂I’m actually enjoying a coffee and some quiet time before chaos ensues. I wish you all a chance to relax and much peace for the holiday! Lots of love from our family to yours! XOXO.❤️💕❤️💕
