DRACULA

The Atlanta Ballet doesn't put on Dracula every year, so it is always a treat to see this, my favorite among their productions--This wonderful interpretation is dark and sensual and hyper-theatrical--lots of moody smoke and anguish and blood and lust with a cool wolf carcas (and a child sacrifice!)--I attended the night of Friday the 13th at the new venue for the ballet, The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, a great match for the company--Just before the show, a handsome and earnest young guy proposed to his fiance in front of the entire theatre--Of course everyone was delighted--

The gifted Jonah Hooper (one of the tallest of the principle dancers)was an imposing and mysterious Dracula, his style both sinuous and athletic--He totally inhabited the role, putting his interpretation and the rich red robes of the charactor to perfect use--After the performance, patrons went upstairs for a cocktail reception with the dancers--it was a great evening with great art--

I do love ballet (like Edward Gorey--but I don't go as religiously he did in New York), and we have one of the better companies in the country here in Atlanta--I encourage everyone to go see one of the performances of the Atlanta Ballet--it's a treat and nourishes the soul--yes, I am serious!--

Firebird, a classic, is coming up March 26-28th, and in April-Don Quixote!--

Tara-Lynne Pixley

Box Luncheon.

Atlanta Ballet Events

Recently the Atlanta Ballet had their annual boxed lunch for the Corps de Ballet in one of the upstairs dance studios at their headquarters on West Peachtree in Atlanta--Typically, boxed lunches are more spartan than, for instance, the fall luncheon at the Piedmont Driving Club, which kicks off the new season each year--For this occasion, lunches are literally served to partrons in boxes, though of course the food, while less elaborate, is pretty fantastic, and good wine was available (yum)--Merry Carlos chaired the lunch, and the theme was Dracula, one of the company's most anticipated productions--

My talented friend Gailen and I created the table coverings for the luncheon--she had the idea of using scrim to create textured, wispy-looking table cloths on which we could stencil a pattern--I created a simple, yet graphic design that looked sort of grand and stylized and menacing at the same time, if such is possible--Another friend, Catherine Walthers, created the flower arrangements for the table--blood red roses--

After the lunch, we went downstairs to another, larger studio, to watch the company practice a key scene from Dracula--That was the best part of the afternoon, really--My two favorite dancers were there, John Welker and Jonah Hooper--Both alternate in the title role--The original choreographer for this particular ballet, Michael Pink was in town and put everyone through their paces--what a treat--

To see the company rehearsing for Dracula, check out Tara-Lynne Pixley's excellent photos--

Project Verse

Achipilipes by Shane Allison

There is a fantastic online magazine of art, prose and poetry with a gay sensibility called Limp Wrist Magazine, edited by Dustin Brookshire--Limp Wrist is debuting a Project Runway-style verse competition open to poets, would-be poets, and poetic posers out to prove themselves--

It's a free open contest--interested parties check out the details on Dustin's Blog. Check out Limp Wrist as well.