can someone explain how people dancing around in underwear will make okc a “major league” city?

all this major league city talk is silly and beaten to death

Yeah, you’re right Justin. I prefer the establishments where the dancers wear no underwear at all.

Classy, guys.

Being a major league city involves a lot more than just providing entertainment for the “sports guy” and I am definitely a sports person but the Oklahoma City Ballet sure helps in showing OKC is more diverse than outsiders think.

Thanks Casey.

I don’t know Casey, I’ve seen some pretty good diversity in the club.

Just kidding guys. I think it’s great that this is offered as an option for the residents of this fine city. Will I attend though? Probably not. I guess I’m just your average “sports guy”.

did you ever think that the reason ballets attendance stinks is because no one cares anymore? people do move on from different venues of entertainment you know.

Mack, just remember, a lot of hot chicks like the ballet.

The value of “Art” in a city is what’s involved with this post.

I’m not a ballet lover and I’ve never been to a live ballet performance yet. But that doesn’t mean that I fail to recognize the value of the arts, including this type, in a cosmopolitan-metropolitan or strictly local city-sense.

Some posts, above, effectively trivialize the value of art, at least the ballet part of it, by condescendingly making references to the type of garments worn. At the same time, they put themselves on a pedestal of presuming to know what is, and is not, worthwhile for everyone else in the community, principally because they do not appreciate or like ballet.

Pardon me for saying so, but such comments represent a “hick” mentality which decries the value of those who might see matters differently than they do. It is not the type of mentality that embraces the diversity of all facets of the community — happily, that diversity includes, for many, those which value art and all of its forms, as well as Toby, partying, etc.

Some don’t see much value in symphony orchestras, the Oklahoma City Art Museum, artistic productions at the Civic Center Music Hall, etc., and they are very content with having a Toby Kieth’s I Love This Bar And Grill and the like or merely a good place to party at one of Bricktown’s many fine establishments, all of which I value and am glad that we have.

Steve’s point, I think, is that urban presuppositions, while they certainly are broad enough to include Toby’s, etc., are not limited to those who enjoy such types of things.

Urban presuppositions also include things like fine arts museums, classical orchestra, opera, and, yes, ballet, even though that facet of fine arts has yet to grab my fancy.

But I’m not so dumb as to not know that many others in the community DO value ballet, whether I like it or not. An urban community is diverse, and it full of fine arts in all of its forms. I’m all for supporting diversity in Oklahoma City, whether some posters here think that it is clever to belittle the garments they wear during performances or not.

If some think that ballet is not a many-centuries-established component of fine arts, they are representative of a small-minded group of yokels that others outside of our state seize upon when forming their own stereotypes of Oklahomans and then project that same view to their readers.

Frankly, what such non-Oklahoma writers may have to say is far less important to me than the value I place on those IN OUR COMMUNITY who embrace art in all of its forms. The MAPS (I) vote would not likely have passed without the support of those who supported sports AND arts and many other things. Diverse groups came together and supported the many-faceted proposal which would be beneficial to all.

It is the same today. To the ballet performers and to them who value it, I say, GO FOR IT and GOOD JOB, WELL DONE. Whether I, or you, are present at any of the ballet’s performances or not, is quite beside the point. Other members of our community will be, and that is enough.

Is that that so hard for those of you who are preoccupied with underwear to understand? What’s the deal?

As to the above, I see typos that I would like to correct, but can’t. It would be really cool, Steve, if a preview feature could be added before a comment was added.

Food for thought.

I want us to have a successful ballet. I just don’t want to have to go to it.

I have been to several ballet performances and I bet any ballerina, male or female (my father–in-law calls male ballerinas “ballerinos”), could out-jump, out-run, out-leap, out-whatever most other athletes. If you like sports, you really ought to be thrilled by ballet. It is the most physically demanding art form there is, period. You don’t see poets breaking a sweat, do you? Or painters? No. Being a ballerina requires strength, agility, flexibility, absolute discipline, and ambition–you could say the same of any professional athlete trying to make it in the big leagues. The physical demands of ballet make it exhilarating to watch, because the ballerinas make something so hard look so easy. And it means that certain stories are perfectly suited to ballet. My high school girlfriend stayed as Buffy in an OKC Ballet performance of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in the mid 1990s, and let me tell you, that was awesome. Low-brow and high-brow all at the same time, vampires doing pirouettes and my Buffy flying through the air with a wooden stake. It was incredible.

I don’t think I’ve officially been to a ballet, either, but I have been to Civic Center, Stage Center, Jewel Box, and Lyric Theatre productions and I see an OKC Ballet performance in my immediate future. Here in about an hour, as a matter of fact. I don’t go all the time, but when I want to go, I want there to BE a performance for me to go to. I want to live where there are diverse people that write, dance, play instruments, etc.

Wouldn’t it be fun if all of OKC celebrated OKC Ballet Day by wearing tutus and slippers to work? I love it!

Jessica – You don’t want to see these white legs in a tutu.

Wow! With the amazing outpouring of support for ballet, I’m surprised they have to resort to free street performances. Was anyone able to make it today?

Chad, I’m not saying they are not tremendous athletes. I’m just not a fan of ballet for the same reason I don’t follow soccer or marathon races… It’s BORRRING! I’m with you guys in that people should have the opportunity to see it if it strikes their fancy. However, I would just as soon not be called a “small-minded yokel” or have someone say that I have a “hick mentality” just because I happen to disagree with the general concensus of other posters.

I would guess with the “dwindling audiences the past several years”, during OKC’s “downtown renaissance” an the self proclaimed “big/major league city” status propaganda, that the two free 15 min. performances outdoors would be like moving towards a “world class” status. Way to go OKC, but don’t think it will draw Whole Foods interest. How hilarious and CLASSIC!

By the way, what ever came of the “vote on the best riverwalk” article. Any results from that?

Having worked for one of the major performing arts organizations in Oklahoma City, I believe the arts are an important piece of our city’s overall identity. Ballet is not my favorite performing art, but I understand that it adds value to our community and so I want it there. However, I also believe that if arts agencies want to grow their audiences, then they have to be willing to please both the serious art lovers and the casual arts patrons. This is why you see the Philharmonic offer a Pops and a Classics series. Some want all the Beethoven you can give them. But the majority of the populous will enjoy music from the movies. The Philharmonic gets this and so programs accordingly. There’s something for everyone. Some arts supporters have an elitist attitude that turns most others off. It’s that attitude of “If you don’t get this or don’t appreciate it, then you just aren’t cultured enough.” Mind you, most arts patrons I know are not that way. But they do exist. In my former organization, some would have preferred to have 200 people show up for a concert at the Civic Center for a performance of King David as opposed to 2,000 for an evening of Broadway musicals, simply to preserve the “classical art”. It’s a business and must be marketed as such. Give the aficionados what they want some of the time and the “sports guys” what they want some of the time.

Doug: at least on my computer what you asked for already exists, within the site. Typos are underlined in red and while not an exact preview (with line breaks) you can review it before you hit “submit”. Then there is always the option of composing your response in a word processing program, cleaning everything up there and copy/paste it in. Or are you talking about something else?

Doug: Really enjoyed your \6 handed\ post in the \Coffee Talk Time Again: MAPS 3\ thread.

Interesting…in my 1st post the quote marks are ok, in the second, they have converted to slashes