Only two more days…

She’s coming! She’s coming! She’s coming! My sister, in the most blasetone imaginable, told me the best Mobile Arts news of the year. Just as I’d hoped, Wendy Whelan is coming for Mobile Ballet’s “Gala Evening of the Stars” show. I posted previously about it, jokingly writing that I’d faint if Wendy Whelan was coming. I didn’t faint, I just jumped around the kitchen. (But I had just eaten, so maybe the full stomach kept my knees from giving.)

Mr. Corey, the artistic director, gave Dione the whole run-down. Supposedly, the program is going to be “Who Cares,” a pas from “Swan Lake,” “Tchaikovsky Pas de deux” and a few other pieces by Balanchine.

The other big stars include: Charles Askegard, Rachel Rutherford, and Nilas Martins.The rest are undetermined, I though I’ve heard Sterlin Hytlin, Tiler Peck and Joaquin DeLuz might make an apperence. Supposedly some “newly promoted principal dancer” is supposed to come too, but I don’t know enough about NYCB to guess.

A highlight of the upcoming Mobile Arts season will definitely be Mobile Ballet’s “Gala Evening of the Stars.” A group of dancers from New York City Balletwill descend upon our somewhat sleepy southern town for one night of famous ballet excerpts.

This doesn’t happen until November, but I am already excited. Rumors have been flying around the Mobile Ballet studios as to who is going to come, though no names have yet been finalized. The only whispers I’ve heard so far are Tiler Peck and Joaquin DeLuz, and if they came I’d definitely be happy. If Wendy Whelan came, I’d most likely faint (of happiness of course).

I get an “insider” experience from my sister, who is a principal dancer at Mobile Ballet. Every day she comes home with no gossip about the gala the more I get antsy! Of course, as soon as I know anything, I’ll post it!

One major annoyance of mine is how little attention the major press in Mobile pays to the ballet stars that come. David Hallberg is a big deal, and his arrival was met with very little press. His visit is of the same caliber of some of those semi-known musicians that come to play with the MSO, and yet, no notice! How incredibly odd. I think perhaps there is a general ignorance of the major key players in the dance world (like David) amung people, and more knowledge of the major musicians, opera singers, etc.

An e-mail in my box today invited me to the Stokes Prize awards ceremony, for myself and the other scholarship winners. Reading the opening line of the e-mail made me want to die. We will each give a five minute reading of some of our work.

Public speaking is not my forte, and if possible I’d go my whole life without speaking entirely. However, I did get a scholarship and I should sing for my supper, so I’ll have to swallow all my pains and do it.

Why can’t I be fearless like Tonya who read her book “Swallow” aloud in a restaurant? I am honestly not made for public appearances.