[It looks like I just started crying while editing old blogs, but really I am sick and my right eye just started watering like crazy and then I had to blow my nose. That feels kind of ironic too. Maybe.]

I'm feeling extremely wintery today yet it is about 77 degrees outside. In addition, I feel like I should write something here but find I really have nothing to say. Today's theme is apparently irony.

I desperately want to learn Italian and go to Rome.

It's funny, and I suppose ironic, that I have had this blog since the year began (ie over ten months) and I still have not fully decided what it is about. Is it about my life? Is it about my thoughts on random things? Is it about Christianity? I'd say it's about all of those things and yet none of them. It's as arbitrary as I am. Rather frustrating, really.

Alright then, I'll talk about life. I've been sick since Thursday night. That was the night I saw the Kirov Ballet (technically it's the Mariinsky again, but Americans can't seem to get used to that so here they're still being referred to as Kirov) do Don Quixote at OCPAC. It was stunning and so incredibly inspiring. Overall, the night was really amazing for several reasons. My mom and I went together, and the time alone gave us a great opportunity to talk. I foresee no more "big fights" with her in the future. We finally seem to understand each other, and I am so relieved about that. We got "student rush" tickets, which meant that we paid $40 for two seats in CENTER ORCHESTRA. Yeah. Freaking amazing. I was hyperventilating and my mom was chattering excitedly that she couldn't believe it. We were like two little kids with hundred-dollar bills in the world's largest candy store. Then there was the dancing. Beautiful. Perfection. The sets: awe-inspiring. The costumes: new ideas for Halloween. The whole thing reminded me why I want a career as a ballet dancer.

I basically spent all of Friday in bed, after suffering stuffy-nosed and achey through my Stats class for three hours. Saturday morning I felt so much better, I drove to the pier like the good ol' days and journaled. That night I went to church and then had an awesome lobster dinner made by my mom's boyfriend (he is constantly conspiring to make me fat, I swear). After dinner we (mom, her bf, Sean, and I) went to see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Yes. We did. My mom adamantly wanted to see it, and she would hear none of our protests and requests to see "Nick & Norah" instead. So Sean and I sat together, and for an hour and a half were stunned by Disney's ability to make a movie progressively cheesier when they started out with dogs in pink clothing (including shoes). I think we may have to see "High School Musical 3" though, because I just about died laughing at the preview.

Sunday was weird in a really not fun way. You know those days where you never change out of your pajamas or leave the house? Yeah. Gross. I did do my makeup just to feel a little better, but it didn't help much. I don't really know how I wiled away all those hours, but I did wonder every so often what everyone was doing. I woke up at eleven, and thought, "Overdrive just started. Wish I was there." 12:30- "Wonder where everyone's going for lunch." 5:00- "The band is starting practice any minute now." 7:24- "Time for the highlight of my week; oh wait, just kidding. I'm still home in my pj's." You get the idea. I hate lazy Sundays.

And now I am at school. In a moment I will leave the library and go outside to eat lunch and read my sweet new book, "Eat, Pray, Love." I swear the author is an INFJ (like me). If I weren't a Christian and were 30-something years old I would be her. Hence the strong desire to learn Italian and go to Rome. I wish I had money.

Have a peek at our adorable model in Tutu Girl BLING Baby Tutu and Tee Set in RED with clear crystals:

VISIT OUR ONLINE SHOP HERE:

Hannah Bateman updates us on news from the tour:

I have just seen it's a month since I last wrote so I have some catching up to do! The week's run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse went very well and with hindsight I think I should have appreciated the scale of the WYP stage a little more! The next two venues we took A Tale of Two Cities to were Nottingham and Sheffield and although these are wonderful theatres with very warm audiences, they are not known for their stage size and are also raked (on a slope)!

This production was slightly unusual as we only had two casts. We normally work with three to four casts and the corps de ballet are interchangeable within each one. I only performed in the first cast so I had the rare chance to sit out front and watch the show as an audience member. I tried to sit and watch the show as if it were new to me and not just look at the part I also perform. The only time I was caught out was when I was sat flinching in preparation for the gunshots! I have to say, I really enjoyed the show: I thought it was a very attractive piece, the costumes and the lighting. For us on stage the lighting felt very dark and didn't allow for much sight beyond the orchestra pit but from out front it looked fabulous and there were moments when Georgina looked like she had been borrowed from the set of a Jane Austen adaptation.

The week after the Playhouse saw us back at base at West Park in rehearsals for The Nutcracker and A Midsummer Night's Dream and, for the girls, La Bayadere. We also had a few rehearsals for Rhapsody in Blue from I Got Rhythm, which is one of the pieces we are taking to Milan. David and Yoko weren't there for the whole of the week as they had both travelled to Slovenia to set David's Nutcracker. So, while we rehearsed in Leeds for two weeks, David and Yoko were representing NBT in Slovenia and Kenny and Keiko were representing us in Miami. Out of the many couples in Miami, from major companies around the world including the likes of Stuttgart Ballet and Royal Ballet of Flanders, Kenny and Keiko were one of only two couples to be reviewed very warmly in the press. It was a huge accomplishment to be invited there and to be reviews so positively is the icing on the cake. It seems that NBT is becoming internationally recognised, not just for its dancers but also its director and his choreography.

Dan kept us all busy and base with the help of Andria Hall. She is a great coach and soon had all the Snowflakes and Flowers under control, looking clean, crisp and very together. She also worked a lot with the pas de deux couples and I watched a couple of those rehearsals; it still amazes me that we have four couples who can all do the pas to such a high standard - not bad for a company of just 40 dancers, The fouettes at the end of all that work for the girls are so hard and they can all do them so easily and actually make them look fun and exciting! Yi Song has come into his own this season and looks very Prince like - he must have been inspired by the Olympics in his home country. It's a joy to watch someone's talent really start to blossom.

Our next venue on tour was Nottingham. I love this theatre as it holds special memories for me. I loved dancing one of the sisters in Beauty and the Beast there in my first year; dancing the Nurse to Chiaki's Juliet and I also danced my first Juliet there as well. But it is raked so Tuesday tech days are always difficult. You get to the stage after two days off; it's raked so you know it will take double the time to get back on your legs after the weekend. It's always amusing spotting the new members faces as they realise they have to negotiate the rake. Some have never been on a rake before and it's scary at first but you soon get used to it. There will always be those who don't get affected by it though - oh to be Keiko for a day! Also, because the stage slopes down, you must remember to use the brakes on props. We almost lost Scrooge to the orchestra pit one year as his bed went wheeling down. The audiences in Nottingham, while not huge, were warm and it felt like they were really captured by the piece.

The week after saw us in Sheffield, again a lovely theatre but raked and even smaller than Nottingham. We had to change some entrances and exits of people and props but I think it worked well in the space and provided an intimate experience. Space is so important to dance; it can make the atmosphere cosy or cold and also help or hinder our work. It did feel like we were doing Flintstone runs at times (where you run on the spot imagining you are running a great distance at speed) but Dan assured us we didn't and he was pleased with the shows.

We are back at West Park now for another week and in full Nutcracker mode as well as keeping A Midsummer Night's Dream ticking over. Midsummer will see all the new members of the Company on stage and by the time we open The Nutcracker in Hull I am sure they will be feeling a lot more confident and comfortable.

Milan this week for a lucky few of us so I promise to write all about that and I may even test my technology knowledge and try to include some photos! The end of last week saw a photo shoot for Wuthering Heights, Swan Lake and La Bayadere pictures for next season, which will be on us before we know it. In the back of our minds is the thought that this year we will be at home in Leeds for Christmas and not on tour. But that is far off - before that we have over 50 shows of The Nutcracker - that's a lot of snow!

Till next time. Hannah xoxo

Before the performance.  Waiting for the doors to open.  Jenn with Allison and Vangie.

During Intermission.  Allison, Jenn, Vangie.

So there you have it.  Recent pictures of Jenn.

The theatre building (The Azerbaijan State Theater of Opera and Ballet) is really decorative compared to other buildings in Baku.  It isn't your typical tan concrete building.  This building actually has some character.  It has an interesting history too and you can read more about it by following the link I provided. 

We waited outside until about 10 minutes before 6, not wanting to get to our seats too soon.  Just before we went I said to one of my friends, "I wonder what the bathrooms are like".  Her reply, "Holes in the floor".  Great.  I already have to go and now I'm going to have to hold it for 3 hours!  This should make for an interesting evening.

We went in and Tonci asked if we wanted any snacks/drinks.  I really didn't want to drink anything because of the bathroom situation, but knew I would never make it in dry theatre for 3 hours with nothing to drink.  I got a bottle of water. 

Then of course I took a sip and that instantly pushed my bladder to the point where I had no choice but to check out the bathroom situation.  THANKFULLY, they had actually connected toilet seats to the hole in the floor so it wasn't all that bad.  I should say it wasn't all that bad if you didn't have to wipe.  The toilet paper was like no other I had ever used before.  I'm not joking when I say this stuff was ROUGH!  Kind of like a pumice stone rough.

Anyway, the theater was surprisingly beautiful inside.  There were actual chairs to sit in, not like movie theater style but round seat, round back kind of chairs in red velvet to match the stage curtain.  From our seats we had a great view...until the couple in front of us sat down.  It's too bad that they didn't stagger the chairs then we wouldn't have had heads in our way.  Poor Allison and I have sore necks from bobbing back and forth during the performance.  Vangie was a little luckier because her guy was a leaner.  He leaned to the left and gave her a PERFECT view of the entire stage. 

The lead ballerina, Tatyana Chernobrovkina was wonderful as were all of the performers.  I'm not sure but I think the Jester may have injured himself during Act 1.  There was a new guy as the Jester in the following Acts.  The version of Swan Lake that we saw was performed in 3 Acts and we had the ending where the bad guy is killed by the lake and the couple lives happily ever after.  Apparently there a many differnent endings depending on which theatre company is performing. 

Not many people were really dressed up for the ballet and that surprised me.  I see people more dressed up than they were tonight walking through streets during the week.  Most people were in jeans.  Now don't get me wrong, there were a lot of women in dresses and the men almost always wear button down shirts and slacks, but I think the majority of people were dressed casually.  Not one stiletto sighting!  We did see a backless shirt with a red bra and also a leopard print mini skirt, but other than that nothing worth mentioning.

So overall, the ballet experience was good.  I would go again.  Next time I'll definitely get tickets earlier so that we have a better choice of seats....

I love technology and I think that I might even do some reviews of technology that I have encountered, either through others or firsthand. Another passion of mine is ballet. So that being said there will be manyballet and contemporary videos of amazing people doing amazing things. 

I'm really excited about this, its a chance to have other people to connect to instead of just the people at school, cause frankly they aren't all they say their cracked up to be.

So in short, comment away and if you come across this just say high, it's good to know that people are out there.

Planners at Leeds City Council have given the green light to plans for a new centre of excellence for dance in Leeds. The new building will be home to Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) and Phoenix Dance Theatre (Phoenix) and will be built on Quarry Hill next to the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Yorkshire Dance, the BBC and the Leeds College of Music. The designs by the Strategic Design Alliance, a partnership of Jacobs Architecture and Leeds City Council’s in-house architectural consultancy, were passed at a planning meeting earlier today.

The ambitious plans are for a six-storey building consisting of seven dance studios including a 200-seat studio theatre, office space, a health suite and a costume workshop. Alongside the two professional companies the building will eventually house a full-time classical dance school as well as Leeds Metropolitan University’s dance degree courses. The building will open in summer 2010.

In February NBT and Phoenix launched momentum, the campaign to raise the remaining £1.5million of the £12million building. To date the campaign has raised more than £800,000 from a number of trusts, foundations and individual donors. Mark Skipper, NBT’s Chief Executive is spearheading the momentum campaign:  “The planning decision means that we have reached a key milestone in this project’s progress. With building work due to start on site in four months time we are now looking for a number of businesses and individual donors to step forward and help us meet our fundraising target and achieve our ambitions.” Anyone wishing to support the momentum campaign should visit www.building-momentum.co.uk or contact Melanie Aram at NBT at melanie.aram@northernballettheatre.co.uk

The new building has received wide support from across the region with Leeds City Council investing £6.7million, including a contribution from Yorkshire Forward, and Arts Council England, Yorkshire investing £3.5million through the National Lottery.

Andy Carver, Executive Director of Arts Council England, Yorkshire said: "It's great news that this exciting project has reached such a significant milestone. ­Two of the country's leading dance companies will have a state-of-the-art new home in Leeds, bringing great dance to many more people in Yorkshire and beyond."

One of the first pas de deux that is between two characters who are not love interests; here the hunter struggles to catch the legendary animal. Choreography by Mikhail Fokine and music by Igor Stravisnsky. Danced by Diana Vishneva.

I wasn't expecting any questions in the last presidential debate to address the candidates' arts policies, because, let's face it - the state of the arts doesn't affect most Americans on a daily basis. People want to hear about issues that hit close to home, like the economy and health care. Thus, funding for the arts and arts education is, sadly, set aside.

But for me and so many artists and art attendees, it's important to know where the candidates stand on funding for the arts. You can read Obama's arts policy here, which is "the most comprehensive platform on the arts" ever seen by Robert Lynch, CEO and President of Americans for the Arts. Obama explains how he will reinvest in arts education (which includes the creation of an Artists Corps to work in low-income schools), increase funding for the NEA, promote engagement between American and foreign artists, and provide health care to artists. Speaking of the NEA, check out this report from 2006 on the correlation between arts participation and civic engagement. Some of the results seem pretty obvious, but the statistics are interesting.

You can read McCain's arts plan here - all four sentences of it. It's very vague, leaving the specifics of arts education funding up to local entities without actually stating that there's a need for increased arts funding in schools. After waiting more than 18 months to receive an arts statement from McCain's campaign, Americans for the Arts put the two candidates' plans side by side and emailed a 6-question, yes/no survey to its more than 100,000 members. Obama came out on top. You can see the results and report here.

Thank you to Danciti for pointing me to many of these links.

Photo Credits: Skin - Skin Within - Ahawi - Shaman; Pose - Pixel Dolls - Ballerina - AO; Hair - Naughty - Public Affair - Sable; Outfit - Spirit - Fall Ballet Collection 08 - Baroque Corset, Cranberry

1 - Another Stallion football game tomorrow night ... at Providence ... at 7:30 PM in case you are interested! It's homecoming and it will be packed. And my handsome son will be leading his team as the QB!
2 - My mom and dad are coming for a long weekend ... it will be nice to see them SINCE THEY HAVEN'T BEEN TO FLORIDA SINCE CHRISTMAS!
3 - Hubby and I are getting away for a weekend alone for our 5-year anniversary ... WOOHOO!
4 - My one big project at work that has been going on since January will be FINISHED next weekend ... another WOOHOO!
5 - Tori proceeded to tell me this morning that she and MeMaw and Pop Pop (my parents) were going to have so much fun playing with her Barbie Dream House this weekend. This will probably be almost as good as Tori being their dance teacher trying to teach them ballet. I'll have to go back and find that picture sometime and post it ... she had Brent and my mom and dad all lined up in the kitchen teaching them ballet! I was laughing so hard I could barely take the picture.

That's about all for now ... my brain is officially "drained"!

Arghhhhhh, I dislike art, I can't draw . . . .

Am saving up my pocket money to attend a masterclass organised by SDT, NAC and conducted by ENBschool on 27October, so so so looking forward to it, yes!!

School's ending in two weeks time and syf dance practises will be starting soon after that. I'm skeptical about achieving anything for next year as our newcomers this year are not as strong in agility and musicality; moreover our seniors have made way for us juniors to take over the reign....... scared scared .......... stress stress........

SEARS (Mapleview Centre)- very old room located in the baby section.

• Has 2 rocking chairs
• Has change table
• Has a sink
• When I was in there nursing my daughter, every announcement over the loud speaker was ridiculously loud and it startled her every time.

Mapleview Centre (mall) - FOOD COURT

• Private area with a bench seat, a door that locks and a play area for older siblings
• 2 private bathroom stalls
• Change table
• 2 sinks
• Not bad... clean most of the time
• The mall is going through extensive renovations and management tells me they're building a really nice BF room complete with tv's & comfy recliners! To be completed in 2009.

IKEA - Plains Rd. off the QEW

• Family room just inside the front entrance
• Private nursing area inside the cafeteria
• Both are clean most of the time

JOSEPH BRANT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - Lakeshore Rd.

• Breastfeeding clinic
• Appointment needed
• They will help you with any questions, problems or concerns you have
• FREE!
• Hours and more info here: http://www.inform.hamilton.ca/details.asp?RSN=69955

BURLINGTON MALL - Guelph Line

• "Family Room" located in the food court
• Detailed information: http://burlingtonmall.shopping.ca/cambridge/jsp/cs_fs.jsp?mallid=bur

OTTAWA ONTARIO

“In Canada, "anytime, anywhere" is the slogan. That said, just about all malls in Ottawa have nursing rooms

Bayshore mall - not that nice

Carlingwood mall - pretty nice

St.Laurent mall - pretty nice but often crowded

Rideau Centre in Sears - okay if it doesn’t smell like poopy diapers). I’ve used them to pump before, but rarely would to nurse. I just nurse in the food court or on a bench.

- Thank you phdinparenting!!

TORONTO, ONTARIO

These restaurants were recognized by Toronto Public Health as Breastfeeding Friendly!

http://www.toronto.ca/health/breastfeeding/friendlyrestaurants_south.htm

Boston Pizza 900 Dufferin St. (Dufferin Mall) 416-531-6879

Cambalache - 505Mount Pleasant Rd.

George Bigliardi's Dining Lounge - 463 Church St.

Churrasco Portugril - 480 Danforth Rd.

Commensal Vegetarian Restaurant - 655 Bay St. 416-596-9364

Golden Griddle Family Restaurants - 3080 Yonge St.

ki modern Japanese and bar - 181 Bay St.

Quail & Firkin - 1055 Yonge St.

River - 413 Roncesvalles Ave.

Sammy's Eatery - 158 O'Connor Dr. Unit 1

Second Cup Forest Hill Village - 415 Spadina Rd.

Siji Restaurant - 143 Dundas St. West

Suba - 292 College St.

Sushi Garden Japanese Restaurant - 30 Eglinton Ave. West Unit 1

Ten Feet Tall - 1381 Danforth Ave.

TOGO Food Bar - 1133 Yonge St.

A&W Warden - 1585 Warden Avenue

Agora - 3015 Dundas St. West

Kingsway Fish and Chips - 3060 Bloors St. West

Lone Star Texas Grill - 930 Dixon Rd.

Rebas Cafe & Gallery - 3289 Dundas St. West

_______________________________________

throughthemonsoon
http://canadianlactivist.wordpress.com/

I wanted to recommend a fantastic ballet school in the North Toronto area. Victoria Ballet Academy - is not only a great place to for young dancers, the atmosphere is exceptionally family and very breastfeeding friendly. I have nursed my 11 month old son there since he was born while I attend my daughter’s ballet classes.

There is no particular room for breastfeeding, but the parents waiting area has a couch and a lounge chair that I have often nursed in. No one here has so much as batted an eye at breastfeeding and when I commented to the director about how open an environment it was, he seemed flabergasted saying that breastfeeding is normal and it never even occurred to him!

People have always offerred me a spot on the couch or chair and have gone out of their way for my comfort.

I have always felt more than welcome there and would highly recommend this school to any parent looking for a great place for their child to learn to dance and a place that is completely welcoming to parents and to nursing mothers.

What a great atmostphere and a great business!