This is going to be a quick one, but I must say that it has been another fantastic day in Paris! We started off with a wonderful lecture with art history professor Christopher Bioces at his gallery in the Bastille area. He discussed Edgar Degas’ paintings and gave me a brand new perspective that fostered a much greater appreciation for his work. I never realized how much depth there is to his paintings – they comment on the work, dedication, and routine of dancers lives’ (rather than just the magic of performance); they detail the technique and movement of human bodies; and they develop a specific feminine presence and comment on the sexual politics of the time. Christopher also discussed the Moulin Rouge and how it presented alternative forms of entertainment with dances such as the can-can. Overall, it was an amazing lecture (plus, he offered us coffee, tea, and cookies!) I am so glad that he will be accompanying us to the Musee d’Orsay to give us a guided tour. I think it will give me a deeper understanding of what I’m seeing and help me appreciate the artwork more!

Later, we had yet another fabulous ballet class with Jenny, a former dancer with the Joffrey ballet. I loved her focus on movement rather than positions, and was impressed with her musicality! She was very clear about accents, suspensions, and tempos, which seemed to make our dancing much more dynamic!

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow! We will be visiting the Musee D’Orsay, taking a contemporary class with Peter Goss, and finishing up with the Paris Opera Ballet’s performance of Romeo and Juliet! My family will also be flying in tomorrow morning, so I’ll get to spend some time with them! It all sounds wonderful to me!