They start the day by warming up, and spend the rest of it trying to maintain a body temperature that keeps joints easy and muscles flexible. The minute they sit down, they cover themselves in layers of what is now called activewear, which used to be known as sweats. When they start to move, they begin to peel like an onion. It's no surprise, then, that summer is a favorite season for dancers. As well as the heat, summer offers dancers a chance to take a break from usual routines, work with different people, and learn some new repertory.
Summer is workshop and festival time, where intense study and rehearsal can make change happen fast.
For those of us in the audience, summer is a chance for something different as well. The result was a ballet with tap dancers, cabaret singers, a magic act, and a five-foot snake. We hear the snake is gone from this revival, but the variety-show ambiance remains. Sun at 7. Lavrovsky's version of Romeo and Juliet for the Bolshoi Ballet was the West's introduction to the new Soviet style in the 1950s.