How likely is it that a young girl would be enrolled in ballet lessons anywhere in the United States in the early 1900s, recreationally or otherwise? Also, if a girl were going to begin seriously training as a ballerina around this time period, at what age would she generally start? The story is tentatively set in San Francisco, if that matters at ( Read more... )

Got a quick question for a fic I'm working on:

Where could I find examples of dancing done to big band music? I'm having a bit of trouble finding related videos for reference. The style of music, if that helps, is in the vein of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I already tried Youtube and a bit of Google.

Alright, so first things first: I've started a story wherein the major character is taking a beginner's dance class. I am, however, relatively unfamilar with dancing, and I need a few ideas of dances that one could do with a partner that aren't extremely complicated. Also, is a waltz a good idea for a beginner's class? As I recall, the version I ( Read more... )

One of my characters is very widely read and has a head full of all sorts of trivia that he can pull out at a moment's notice. He's talking with a woman who's practicing dance (possibly ballroom dance -- I haven't decided, but this is a woman with two left feet, who's got a chart down on the floor that she's trying to follow; she's deliberately ( Read more... )

Is it true that you can bleed through the toe of a Pointe shoe?

Okay, this community was an amazing resource last time, so I'm hoping you guys might be able to pull through for me again: I'm looking for an artist, preferably Dutch or who spent time in the Netherlands, preferably working around 1795 (but not necessarily in that year; a little bit before or after is fine--even preferable), who painted realistic, ( Read more... )

i'm at liberty to fudge most of this anyway, as the world has gone kablooey on page one, but i thought i'd ask just in case it comes up in conversation somewhere ( Read more... )