The ballet world is small, and anything larger than a ripple can quickly become a tsunami. The passing of Paul Taylor was a wide ripple. His legacy will be large, carried by the dancers who have passed his teaching and choreography to the next generation. I didn't have to know the man to have been touched by his life. I saw his company perform. This is a legacy bright enough to ease the shadows of grief, for this was a life which had run its course.
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind
William Wordsworth
I never met Peter Frame, either, but both the boys did. He was known to be a sensitive soul, and often reached out to those near him when he felt their distress. During his memorial, nearly everyone in attendance pulled one or more healing crystals from their pockets, given to them by Peter. He was part of the village raising the next generation of dancers, and his loss hit all of them hard. Listening to the remembrances, I realized Wordsworth wouldn't do, and turned to Robert Frost:
Away
Now I out walking
The world desert,
And my shoe and my stocking
Do me no hurt.
I leave behind
Good friends in town.
Let them get well-wined
And go lie down.
Don't think I leave
For the outer dark
Like Adam and Eve
Put out of the Park.
Forget the myth,
There is no one I
Am put out with
Or put out by.
Unless I'm wrong
I but obey
The urge of a song
I'm - bound - away!
And I may return
If dissatisfied
With what I learn
From having died.
Biological parents, ballet parents, ballet teachers, coaches, accompanists, and artistic directors. We are the village that raises these talented children. We lead by example, in public and private, whether we like it or not.
Sometimes the village gets toxic, and the wrong examples are set. An old friend of mine often included something in his sermons that he learned from one of his teachers.
You are free to chose. But you are not free to chose the consequences of your choices.
Life is the most unfair teacher, giving the test first and the lesson after. How you come through the test, and what you take from the lesson, is up to you.
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind
William Wordsworth
I never met Peter Frame, either, but both the boys did. He was known to be a sensitive soul, and often reached out to those near him when he felt their distress. During his memorial, nearly everyone in attendance pulled one or more healing crystals from their pockets, given to them by Peter. He was part of the village raising the next generation of dancers, and his loss hit all of them hard. Listening to the remembrances, I realized Wordsworth wouldn't do, and turned to Robert Frost:
Away
Now I out walking
The world desert,
And my shoe and my stocking
Do me no hurt.
I leave behind
Good friends in town.
Let them get well-wined
And go lie down.
Don't think I leave
For the outer dark
Like Adam and Eve
Put out of the Park.
Forget the myth,
There is no one I
Am put out with
Or put out by.
Unless I'm wrong
I but obey
The urge of a song
I'm - bound - away!
And I may return
If dissatisfied
With what I learn
From having died.
Biological parents, ballet parents, ballet teachers, coaches, accompanists, and artistic directors. We are the village that raises these talented children. We lead by example, in public and private, whether we like it or not.
Sometimes the village gets toxic, and the wrong examples are set. An old friend of mine often included something in his sermons that he learned from one of his teachers.
You are free to chose. But you are not free to chose the consequences of your choices.
Life is the most unfair teacher, giving the test first and the lesson after. How you come through the test, and what you take from the lesson, is up to you.