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For those reading this article via RSS or email, you might not be able to view Steve Jobs's 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. If that is the case, please read view this blog article at my blog where the YouTube is displayed.

On Thursday, 24 March 2011, I attended Alberta Ballet's production of Serenade and Vigil of Angels. I thoroughly enjoyed both ballets, the first that I have ever attended.

At 6:45 pm, Jean Grand-Maître, artistic director, along with two elegant and attractive women Elyse Borne and Flavia Vallone began a half hour introduction to the two ballets. By just observing how Borne and Vallone carried themselves, I knew they were dancers and would have valuable insights to share.

Borne, who is responsible for staging Serenade for the George Balanchine Trust, provided her background and discussed her time working with George Balanchine. Through her discussions, I got a sense of the history of Serenade and her excitement and joy of working with Balanchine. She spoke of how Serenade evolved from Balachine's lessons and from some of the student's mistakes.

For those of you, like me, who know absolutely nothing about ballet, George Balanchine (1904-1983) is regarded as the foremost contemporary choreographer of ballet. Please see my earlier Wikipedia link for more information.

Vallone is from La Scala in Milan where she is a first soloist. Grand-Maître discussed that of the many dancers he has had pleasure of working with, only a select few were true muses, and Flavia Vallone is one. He instinctively knew when he first saw her that she would dance the lead role in Vigil of Angels when it opened in La Scala in 1995.

This ballet is more somber, more thoughtful as it concerns itself with how we learn to accept the inevitably of death. Grand-Maître mentioned that he created this ballet during the mid 1990s when many of his friends and colleagues were dying from AIDS. Vallone recounted her experiences with the ballet.

As I watched the two dancers reflect back on their careers, I enjoyed watching their reactions to each other. Through their sympathetic gestures, it was obvious that each understood the other's experiences. They share a common bond, an understanding and appreciation, that transcends what is able to be communicated to and understood by those of us who are non-dancers.

Through the discussions of Grand-Maître, Borne and Vallone, my most important learning was just to enjoy the beauty of the ballet. Grand-Maître encouraged the audience to superimpose our own life experiences onto the ballets because there was no definitive or correct interpretations. He further commented that these ballets are meant to soothe the soul, especially in these turbulent and troubling times. And Grand-Maître made one last remark where he quoted Balanchine's comment, "See the music, hear the dance."

I loved Serenade. There is so much to appreciate with the dance patterns and technical pointe work. The cool blues dresses together with the dancers' light movement created stunning imagery. I was amazed at watching how effortless the dancers moved through their dance. Of course, the easier it looks likely implies that it is extraordinarily difficult to achieve.

For those wanting or looking for a technical review of how the dancers performed Serenade, I am unable to provide such commentary. I can only comment that I enjoyed the whole visual imagery. While I enjoyed absorbing the beautiful movements, I am sure that I missed many of the finer points—pun intended. In fact, I would love to see this ballet several more times, for I am sure I would appreciate each new viewing more than the last.

Vigil of Angels was a more cerebral or thoughtful ballet. Having heard Grand-Maître's earlier description of his ballet and why it was created, I was able to understand the ballet. And as he mentioned, we could use our own life stories and imagination to shape our interpretation.

The interesting and beautiful backdrops and staging complemented the dancers graceful and effortless movements. I am still amazed by their dancing.

For those wanting another review, I recommend Bob Clark's Calgary Herald article Passage of time only enriches two great works.

Switching topics, you might be curious as to why I have an interest in ballet. Joe McNally piqued my initial interest when he showed his pictures of dancers in his blog Joe McNally Photography and his books The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters and The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes. While I cannot put into words what I enjoyed about his ballet photographs, I know that I enjoy them. And that began my interest in learning more about ballet.

Below are some links from his blog where he showed some of his ballet photographs:

• On Sugar Plums;
• Air Canada, Part 2;
• Air Canada;
• It's Raining Here....;
• GPP, Again....;
• Peachpit Q&A..Up and Running....;
• Short Hops....;
• BYE BC....HELLO CAL!;
• That Day, Again;
• Welcome Adorama!;
• Sometimes You Get the Shaft; and
• Location Lighting... in the Philippines!.

In addition to Joe McNally's photographs, I have begun reading Jennifer Homans's Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet. If you have any interest at all in ballet, I recommend New York Times Book Review: 10 Best Books Apollo's Angels. I had expected a historical book on ballet to be rather dry with factual details. Instead, Homans wrote a wonderfully crafted book that drips with rich detail about the fascinating history of ballet. Rather than try to provide an adequate book review here, I urge to read some of the more eloquent and informed reviews by other readers on Amazon.

A friend who is a female adult ballet student shares her knowledge, enthusiasm, and passion with me. Whenever I have a question, she provides her thoughts and usually directs me to other resources as well, including two online forums: Ballet Talk for Dancers and Ballet Talk.The former forum is directed to those who participate in ballet as dancers or students while the latter is directed to those of us with an interest in ballet.

To enjoy ballet, you don't need to be schooled or proficient in the technical aspects of ballet, just as you don't need to read music to listen to your favorite songs. If you have knowledge of ballet, however, I expect you are able to gain a deeper appreciation of the art form. As mentioned, I would love to see Serenade several times because with each viewing, I am sure that I would learn and appreciate the ballet more. As with anything new, I need to seek several sources to deepen my understanding and appreciation.

Throughout all my learning, perhaps what impresses me most are the dancers themselves. They dance for the pure enjoyment and love of dancing. They don't dance for fame or fortune, because most will never know either. And, although ballet is not a sport, dancers are supreme athletes. Their training is difficult, challenging, and, at times, painful. So when I watched the dancers perform, I appreciated them for their dedication and passion of pursuing a their art form. I admire those who can put aside the usual monetary rewards to pursue a career they love.

Now, you are probably wondering why I have Steve Jobs's 2005 Stanford Commencement Address at the top of this blog article. There are two reasons: first, as much as I wish I had, I do not have any photographs of dancers to share with you; and second, there are parallels with Jobs's address and ballet.

By discussing his rise from humble beginnings to his present role of chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs mentioned three key themes: first, Connecting the Dots; second, Love and Loss; and third, Death. His life has been and continues to be an unimaginable journey. Ballets often reflect unimaginable and complicated journeys. In Connecting the Dots Jobs talked about following your heart and doing what you believe. Ballet dancers embody that very attribute. Love and Loss is something that we can all identify with in our lives. And, it is often a main theme in ballets. Similarly, Death is another common and shared experience. As discussed, a main theme in Vigil of Angels is death.

I want to elaborate further where Jobs, in his Connecting the Dots discussion, talked about his interest in and passion for calligraphy. He spoke how, at the time, there was no apparent purpose for his interest. Yet, as we saw, his interest in and passion for calligraphy provided Apple and the rest of personal computing universe with beautiful typography, something we take for granted. Similarly, while some might think that watching ballet has no purpose, I argue that it does. First, ballet allows us to reflect on our lives. Through their movements, dancers are able to portray events and emotions that help us question and understand our own lives on our own terms. Second, watching ballet dancers perform is good for the soul. There is something magical about their movements. And third, it is good to help, support, and appreciate those have chosen to pursue their creative passions. Jobs's comments about calligraphy resonated with me because my reasons for interest in ballet are similar to his interests in calligraphy—they are both beautiful and graceful.

Now you know why I am interested in learning more about ballet. Because it is a beautiful art form, I wish I had been more curious about and open to ballet when I was younger.

By the time my article is posted on my blog, it will be too late to encourage those of you in Calgary to see the ballets. However, those of you in Edmonton, I encourage you. And as new person to ballet, I believe these two ballets are wonderful starting places because you are able to use your own life experiences to create your own impressions. So, if you have the opportunity to attend, I urge you to see the ballets.

Stay hungry, Stay foolish.

For my benefit, below are the artists who performed on Thursday evening.

The asterisks represent those artists who are students of the School of Alberta Ballet.

James DiGiorgio recently highlighted a new and interesting blog StudioMarcotte.com by Bob Marcotte, a photographer in Fresno, California. With his latest article When Your Best Is Not Good Enough (Part 1), Bob has turned me into a loyal reader. Go and read his article, and I am sure you will become a loyal reader too.

Regardless of our methods and techniques, we’re all striving to create a soul in our images. So it would seem to be an easy task to shoot a town filled with souls. It would seem…

California is filled with millions of souls and personalities. Most of the world only hears about the fruits, flakes and nuts that make up the Granola State. I would like all of you to know that there are heroes who live here, too. They don’t get headlines. In fact, I couldn’t get these pictures or this story published by the one major newspaper or the two local magazines in Fresno. Anti-heroes get press, the story of these volunteers wasn’t considered news.

The souls I refer to are the pilots, doctors, nurses, translators and volunteers of an organization called the Flying Doctors of Mercy. I was fortunate to fly with the Fresno chapter. The short version of their story is that the first weekend of almost every month, private pilots fly their own planes filled with volunteers and supplies to impoverished towns in Mexico. Planes fly from San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno and other cities to adopted towns deep inside Mexico … far from prosperity and medical expertise.

Just wait to you see his picture that accompany the beginning of his article. They drip with soul. I especially love the photograph of the husband and father with his child and wife.

My photograph of Jasper National Park is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to my Flickr account where you can see more pictures.

As a follow-up to my prior post on photographer James Nachtwey, I encourage you to view the video by XDRTB.org.

Thank you to James DiGiorgio, also known as JimmyD, for bringing James Nachtwey and his cause to my attention.

I highly encourage you to visit James Nachtwey over at I, Shootist blog by James DiGiorgio, also known as JimmyD.

Photographer James Nachtwey is considered, by many, the greatest photojournalist of the past three decades. Many of his images--disturbing, poetic, often haunting--shame us. Leastwise, they should shame us. They should shame us because the moments they so artfully capture depict the worst of humanity: From the human toll of war to the ravages of disease and famine to the misery of poverty and the atrocious consequences of intolerance.

JimmyD has posted a terrific video that lasts for about twenty minutes and that leaves us with a question as to what James Nachtwey will announce on 3 October 2008.

I would post that video in my article, but then you might not visit his blog to read his article. That would be wrong. JimmyD is both a gifted writer and photographer, and I urge you to visit his blog and make it part of your normal reading experience.

I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year 2008. I hope everyone enjoyed their festivities last night and arrived home safe and sound.

As those who regularly read my blog know, I usually comment on business and finance. I expect 2008 to be rather interesting. While there are a lot of economic headwinds as we enter 2008, I expect that the housing crisis will dominate the investment landscape for at least the first half the year. For the latter half, I am not sure. From an investment perspective, the year 2008 promises to be more volatile and exciting than recent prior years.

Earlier this last year on Saturday, 15 September 2007, I photographed the picture above of Lake Louise in Banff National Park, which is located in Alberta near the Alberta and British Columbia provincial border. I believe the top of the mountain in the picture is on the continental divide, which is also the border between Alberta and British Columbia. In Banff National Park, the rivers on the British Columbia side flow west to the Pacific Ocean, and the rivers on the Alberta side flow east to the Atlantic Ocean. There might be some rivers from Banff that flow north to the Arctic Ocean, though I am not sure. The Athabasca River begins in Jasper National Park, which is to the North and shares a border with Banff National Park, and does flow to the Arctic Ocean.

This picture itself is a composite of two pictures. When I originally photographed this scene, I bracketed my exposures. I took one photograph one ƒ stop below exposure, one at proper exposure, and one photograph at one ƒ stop over exposure. I did not use the overexposed photograph. I used the sky from the underexposed photograph and used the remainder from the properly exposed photograph. Out of the camera, the photograph had a slight bluish cast, which I have tried to remove. In more technical speak, the original white balance had too much blue. The sky has been darkened, and the rest of the scene has been slightly manipulated as well, mostly contrast adjustments to bring out the detail better. Lake Louise itself has a magical color in that the fine silt from the glacier runoff produces this amazing bluish turquoise color.

In making these adjustments on the photograph, I used some of the techniques that I learned from Chromasia Photoshop Tutorials. I tremendously enjoy his photoblog and his tutorials, so I am happy to promote his site.

On a somewhat related note, I am still working my way through my Flickr challenges. I will have more to say in a few days. For now, I have restored some of my photographs on Flickr and my weblog. I still have much more work to do, however.

The above picture is hosted on Flickr. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to my Lake Louise picture on Flickr. Almost all of my Banff and Jasper National Park pictures are missing, because I have not had an opportunity to reload them yet.