On August 18, 19 and 20, I returned to my old home of Charleston, WV, at the invitation of Kim Pauley, Artistic Director of Charleston Ballet and Ann Saville of Taylor Books. Taylor Books is a new and well-appointed but welcoming independent bookstore, Internet Cafe and Gallery, which displays Blenko glass as well as paintings, sculpture, photographs and crafts by local artists. The gallery was where I read the chapter on Alicia Alonso from First Position to friends old and new. Charleston Ballet is located in a former bank in the old Masonic building on Virginia Street. It has a performance space with vaulted ceilings that would be the envy of any small to medium-sized dance academy and there is a library that contains a treasure chest of dance books that were once part of the Andre Van Damme collection. I read from the chapter on Carlos Acosta and showed the film "Alicia" to the dancers there. The following day, Jacqui Haas, from Cincinnati Ballet presented a workshop on nutrition and gave a mat class featuring exercises designed to improve turnout. The results were immediate and measurable--one dancer improved hers by 15 degrees! Thanks Charleston Ballet and Taylor Books for welcoming me back to the Mountain State. Thephoto below was taken at Taylor Books.
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