In 2001, the Washington Post ran an article on amateur ballet.  I bookmarked it years ago and still find this analogy so funny and accurate:
“The common denominator,” writes critic Robert Greskovic in his encyclopedic and entertaining guidebook “Ballet 101,” “is perfection of participant and of execution.” Which may be why, he notes, for New York [...]

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this video.  Four times, today alone.  Polina Semionova is rehearsing an Act 1 solo from La Bayadere, under Vladimir Malakhov’s watchful eye.  Pay special attention to the incredible bourree starting at 2:10.  Are there wheels on the floor?  A string pulling her along?

What makes this solo interesting [...]

When I used to work for Lululemon, there was a strict, company-wide policy: no complaining.  Since complaining is sometimes amusing, adhering to the rule was far more challenging than I would have guessed.  Failure to do so resulted in fairly honest conversations, where words like “solution” and “grouchy” would get used.  Really, the idea sounds [...]

In second year university, I lived in Alumni House with Kate.  Within a month of living together, we were eating the same foods, pulling the same pranks and chasing the same boys.  Same music, same movies, same clothes.  As a testimate to our insular friendship, we had developed a coded language and at one point, [...]