Dance of the day: Scherezade Grand Pas De Deux

For an arts-challenged guy that I am, well, I actually like to watch and listen to music and dance.  And, no, I am not talking about a Britney Spears jumping about letting out some constipated sounds, as a cousin recently put it :)  I am talking about real music and real dance.  It is like how I intentionally check C-Span and C-Span2--intentionally!

Anyway, there I was, yet again, checking to see what might be out there on the wonderful Classic Arts Showcase channel.  An aria from Lakmé was ending, and I stayed on to see what would be next.

Boy, was I in for a treat!

It was a wonderful dance, choreographed to the music from Scheherazade.  Months ago, I bought an old Scheherazade LP, and have played that only once.  The music did sound lovely to my caveman ears. But, listening to music was very different an experience compared to having my eyes and ears follow the music.

I waited for the piece to end--I wanted to know the dancers names, which, I didn't pay attention to when it began and I was confident, would lead me to the YouTube clip. 

"Ilze Liepa and Victor Yeremenko" were listed as the soloists.

A simple search for the dancers names and Scheherazade was all it took:



I blogged once earlier about such a serendipitous experience.  The craziest thing is this: that post was about Lakmé itself!  What a coincidence!  The Indian in me and Lakmé; well, luck me :)

Dance of the day: Don Quijote - Gran Pas de Deux

Would love to see this live ... It was by accident that I watched this entire piece on television--thanks to the Classic Arts Showcase channel that the Comcast cable carries.  It was so awesome that I kept applauding along as if I were in the performance hall myself ...
And then tracked it down on TouTube as well :)

The soloists: Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella

About this free cable channel ... I like watching it particularly because I never know what is coming up.  Like right now, as I am blogging, I am watching a beautiful video to the "Flower Duet" piece from Lakmé.

The FAQ at the Classic Arts website makes the same point:

We do not publish a program guide because our weekly 8 hour show is downlinked by hundreds of channels across the country at different times, with different schedules, and we can never tell you when any particular clip will play in any particular area. Also, if people knew what was coming up they would only watch clips they like, and perhaps never try anything new. Surprise is an important part of our strategy of creating a new audience for the arts.