Thank you, Mongi.  Since Care2 and its groups seem to be disappearing I said it would be okay to promote your group.   I love to watch belly dancing and at one time wanted to learn it but there were no dance studios in my area.

Here is a 'ballerina flat' with the ridiculous price of $89.00!!

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this topic " let´s go to the ballet "  reminded me of a group called " belly dance " I was a member of for a long time. I went to the group yesterday -thought, no longer existed- and joined again. In short, if any one is interested so we could re-activate it  by stopping by occasionnally and post a little word...So, just type in "belly dance " in the searching engine or go to my groups and click there on "belly dance " . it worked marvellously... 

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Born in Moscow in 1940, the son of a truck driver, Vladimir Vasiliev graduated from the Moscow Ballet School in 1958 and joined the Bolshoi Ballet. He became a premier dancer who made enormous contributions to the development of classical male dance; he came to embody the strong new Bolshoi male.

He is the only dancer to be given the title “World’s Best Dancer” by the Paris Dance Academy.

more to view:

http://www.bolshoimoscow.com/index.html?sid=%5Bsid%5D&lang=eng&perfomance=1134&page=catalog

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The Ballets Russes (French for The Russian Ballets) was an itinerant ballet company which performed under the directorship of Sergei Diaghilev between 1909 and 1929. Some of their places of residence included the Theatre Mogador and the Theatre du Chatelet, as Paris had a large Russian exile population. They performed in many countries, including England, the U.S.A., and Spain.

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History of ballet~

Ballet is a formalized type of performative dance, which originated in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form.

Neoclassical ballet is the style of 20th century classical ballet exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. It draws on the advanced technique of 19th century Russian Imperial dance, but strips it of its detailed narrative and heavy theatrical setting. What is left is the dance itself, sophisticated but sleekly modern, retaining the pointe shoe aesthetic, but eschewing the well upholstered drama and mime of the full length story ballet.

It is best known in the form of Late Romantic Ballet Blanc, which preoccupies itself with the female dancer to the exclusion of almost all else, focusing on pointe work, flowing, precise acrobatic movements, and often presenting the dancers in the conventional short white French tutu. Later developments include expressionist ballet, Neoclassical ballet, and elements of Modern dance.

The etymology of the word "ballet" is related to the art form's history. The word ballet comes from the French and was borrowed into English around the 17th century. The French word in turn has its origins in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance). Ballet ultimately traces back to Latin ballare, meaning to dance.

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