Gerald Arpino obituary

Gerald Arpino passed away yesterday. The following is the obituary that was posted on the Joffrey Ballet website.

October 29, 2008 (Chicago, IL) -- Gerald Arpino, internationally-renowned Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of The Joffrey Ballet, passed away peacefully today in his Chicago home after a long illness. He was 85 years old.

Arpino was born in Staten Island, New York, and received early dance training in Seattle by Mary Ann Wells. He co-founded The Joffrey Ballet with Robert Joffrey in 1956 and served as associate director for many years. Upon Mr. Joffrey’s death in 1988, Mr. Arpino succeeded him as artistic director.

A leading dancer with the company in its early years, Mr. Arpino choreographed his first work for The Joffrey, Ropes, in 1961. Shortly thereafter, he became The Joffrey’s resident choreographer and created more than one-third of the company’s repertoire. His amazingly diverse work ranges from social commentary to pure dance gems. His ballets are in the repertoires of companies around the world.

Mr. Arpino was the first choreographer commissioned to create a ballet to honor the Office of the American Presidency: The Pantages and the Palace Present Two-a-Day. He was the first American commissioned by a city, San Antonio, to do a ballet, Jamboree. In 1993, Mr. Arpino produced America’s first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, set to the music of Prince. In addition, he was the only choreographer to have had four of his ballets performed at the White House.

Mr. Arpino served on numerous boards and councils including the national advisory council of the ITI/USA International Ballet Competition and the board of the Dance Notation Bureau. He was a member of the Arts Advisory Committee of the New York International Festival of the Arts. He served as an advisor to the Artists Committee for The Kennedy Center Honors and was also a member of the board of The Chicago Academy for the Arts. Among many awards and tributes, Mr. Arpino held honorary doctorates from the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and Wagner College. He was recipient of the 1974 Dance Magazine award and the Vaslav Nijinsky Medal. In 2005, Mr. Arpino received several prestigious awards, including the first award for Visionary Leadership from the Arts and Business Council of Chicago, the University Club of Chicago’s Cultural Award, and the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters’ 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also honored by the Chicago Tribune for the third time as one of the “Chicagoans of the Year” for his important contribution to the arts in Chicago and the world. In the summer of 2006, Mr. Arpino was presented with the prestigious Grande Ufficiale OSSI (Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana) by the President of the Republic of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Mr. Arpino became Artistic Director Emeritus in July 2007. He was succeeded in the position of Joffrey Ballet Artistic Director by Ashley Wheater, former Joffrey dancer and Ballet Master of the San Francisco Ballet.

Arpino is survived by a cousin and great-grand nephew, both of Staten Island, New York.

Memorial Service:
Monday, November 17, 2008
10 a.m. Service; Reception-to-Follow
RSVP to Jaclyn Stacy at 312.386.8927 or jstacy@joffrey.org

Gerald Arpino Studio (4th Floor)
THE JOFFREY BALLET
Joffrey Tower
10 East Randolph Street
Chicago

Donations in his name are being accepted by
The Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Tower
10 E. Randolph Street,
Chicago, IL 60601.

Readers of JPointe, the official Joffrey Ballet blog are being encouraged to share thoughts and memories of Mr. Arpino in the comment section of this post. He will be missed by many.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Toetap History

The following is a greatly appreciated guest post written by Paul Delorenzo, who is a maker of toetap shoes, in response to my earlier post explaining briefly what toetap, a style of dance done by tap dancing on the very tips of the toes in modified pointe shoes, is.

Before we begin, I want to say toetapping is for both men and women, just as pointe was and is for both men and women. To know toetap we are going to explore some of the events leading up to this fusion style of dance.

Toetap is a fusion of Toe Dancing and Tap Dance where the dancer male or female dances on pointe (using ballet pointe shoes with a metal tap on it's platform) tapping out a series of steps to music. I remember as Rosie Raditor said to me "Toe tap has very little to do with ballet and everything to do with tap!" A toetapper uses the same riffs, shuffles, and hops as a normal tap dancer, just does it on pointe. You can even do a coffee grinder. Buck and wing what ever you wish.

Even before women dominated the stage, men were the first to go on pointe. In 1779 Gennaro Magri writes about a performance of a dancer who rises to a full pointe and , it is indeed a man. In his Theatrical Treatise of "The Art of Dancing", Margi relates how Antoine Pitrot raised " his whole body on the tip of his toe (extending) all the joints so, perfectly that the whole length and foot itself (fell) into one perpendicular line". It would be several decades before there would be a discussion of a women doing the same feat. ( source article Setting the Stage)

Ever since Marie Taglioni ( 1804-1884) raised herself on the tip of her toe's ballet had a new style of dance sur les pointes. In 1735 Ballet arrived in America. An Englishman Henry Holt stages the first production for the amusement of the Charleston, South Carolina elite. The production was not well received. In truth if it was not for the elite Americans, ballet would not have survived in America.

While ballet was on a respirator, a storm was brewing (Like all dances toetap needs a base to work from). This storm started small with a man called "Master Juba", a young African-American performer named William Henry Lanes donned rages, covered his face with burnt cork, and danced a foot stomping, hand clapping ditty called "Juba". One awestruck critic marveling at Lanes's ability to maneuver his legs and feet in a series of steps with such speed and energy decided this performance reflected the dance style of an entire people, which was later labeled "Negro Dance" (Source Tap History "Juba"). This type of Minstrel Show was common place through much of the civil war. Juba successfully brought out another African-American dancer named Johnny Diamond who performed at the Vauxhall Garden in about 1840 when he was 17.

In 1845, the Great Potato Famine struck Ireland . In my opinion, this event was a catalyst for toetap. It brought a people, the Irish with their love for rhythmic dances such as step, clogging, and the jig, to America. Even today clogging and tap dance share some of the same steps. The music halls of the day started to cater to the new influx of people. As this societal upheaval was taking place in America, a great force for tap and toetap was performing. This one person, in my opinion, was in part the father of toetap. I base this statement on a TV show called "To Tell The Truth" (1956-1967) where a woman who fooled the panel of judges said that she did Mr. Robinson's routine right as he did it step for step only on pointe. Then, to prove it, she performed the routine for the panel. Let's give a little "yeah" for one of America's tap masters. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1878-1949), famous for his soft shoe and tap routines and especially famous for his "Stair Dance", a variation of which was a toetapper's staple between 1920 and 1930. I read an article saying that he used wooden taps, and danced mostly on the front part of the foot doing shuffles and riffs.

If toetap had a father it needed a mother. Bessie Clayton's family were Irish immigrants who settled in Philadelphia. She was trained by George W. Smith and made her debut in 1891 in "A Trip to Chinatown" as a specialty dancer. Miss Clayton became famous for her pique turns and pendulum kicks while going down a STAIRCASE, which she did in "The Passing Show of 1913". She also danced in deshanked pointe shoes. [Not to contradict my guest blogger, but in everything I've read, she danced in steel shanked pointe shoes, not deshanked pointe shoes. This would have been extremely dangerous and uncommon, especially at that time.]

Now, we need a medium to fuse all theses elements together. That medium was Vaudeville. Vaudeville dance terms make it hard to determine who is toe dancing [dancing en pointe] and who is toetapping. Vaudeville's definition goes like this: anything outside the norm is called a "eccentric dance". In today's mind set, that is like when hip-hop first caught on in the 1970's. It was outside the normal dance style of the day, which was Disco. Thecatagories of "eccentric dance" are Eccentric Toe Dance, Specialty Dance, Eccentric Ballet dance, Toetap Dance, and Toe Drum Dance. You see what I mean?

The first toetap ad I found was in a Dance Magazine from May 1929, which advertised Haney's Toe Dance Tappers. The ad also stated that Ethel Norris Berkshire wore them in a play called "Rain or Shine" which she performed in 1928. By 1929 there were 1000 toetap shoes on the market. America was so tap crazy they just could not get enough. Capezio jumped on the bandwagon too by making their own toetap shoe with a wood sole and taps. Freed of London made taps till 2007, stopping mainly due to libility law suits. I am the only one left that still makes toetaps for pointe shoes. Selva made toetap shoes with steel shanks.The problem with this idea was when the shanks broke, they could enter the person foot cutting into the peroneus longus tendon, ending many a dance career. These shoes made it possible to go on to pointe with very little experience or training which was an accident waiting to happen.

I'm going to get off toetap history and talk about toetap's bad reputation. Toetap has gotten a bad reputation over the years, mainly due to people who where not ready to even attempt even a toe-loop with regular shoes dancing on pointe in these shoes. You need strong ankles, even for a basic toe-loop and stronger ones for a pointe shoes. The mind set at the time was to put small children up on pointe before they were ready because their moms wanted their little girl to be a star. This was madness! They made books for home courses promising if you did what was in the book you too could be on pointe in two weeks.

A modern pointe shoe is a deceptively simple looking thing, yet it can harm you in unbelievable ways including black [bruised] toenails, bleeding feet, torn achilles tendons, popped hip, busted knees, stress fractures, to name a few. Yet, no parent will sue a pointe shoe maker from these injuries. [This is, if you go on pointe without the proper training and strength, or with ill fitting shoes. These things should NOT be happening and will need more than just bandaids and injury treatment to fix.] Now add a piece of metal to the toe and get the same injury... lawsuit. I saw a video clip where a ballerina slipped and fell flat on her face. Then and only then did the teacher from the side lines say "Be careful, the stage was just waxed". You can bet there were no law suits there; it was most likely put down to experince. Amazing! [You're going to fall. It's a fact of life for a dancer. Many, many studios have you sign a contract stating that you will not sue if you get injured while dancing there. Frankly, injuries are almost never "the shoe's fault". They are either a result of overuse, ill fitting shoes, bad training, an accident or any combinations of these.]

I still feel that a toetap dancers need to be strong in pointe [and therefore ballet technique] and tap, and then still be guided by a teacher. Yes, there are still toetap teachers to learn from. Then, understand there are going to be mistakes. Learn from them and improve, just like the system for pointe and tap [and any other dance form].


Here are just a few toetap dancers whom I have found:
Addam Sisters: A three sister act that did singing, Specality Ballet (toetap), and Theatrical Dance.

Errol Addison: English ballet and theatrical dancer.Addison and many American Cecchetti students were the innovators of eccentric ballet and tap techniques.

La Pete Adelaide: Performed in many plays including "Up and Down Broadway". She danced on tables, inside hampers, and on drums.

Edith Barstow: American theatrical ballet dancer and theatrical choreographer.
Besides doing all that. she often paired up with her brother Richard for a toetapping and exhibition ballroom act.

Richard Barstow: American theatrical dancer and Specialty Vaudeville adancer. Although born with a club foot, he became an Eccentric Toe Dancer, specializing in toetapping, long distance Toe Dancing, Russian pointe work and the down the staircase trick that was popularized by Bessie Clayton and Mazie King. In a old video clip, he jumps off a Baby Grand Piano, then lands standing on pointe.

Lina Basquette: American theatrical ballet dancer and child-star. In 1922, she made her New York debut as a Ballet Specialty Dancer in the Ziegfield Follies show.

Ethel Norris Berkshire: American theatrical and ballet dancer and speciality Vaudville dancer; did a toetap act in the 1928 play "Rain or Shine".

Bessie Clayton: American theatrical and ballet dancer. Was famous for doing pique turns on pointe while going down a staircase.

Dorothy Datton: 1930's movie star ballet and theatrical dancer. Starred in "The Idol of the North". Did a toetap number and was introduced by Glen Ford! (This can be seen in a vidfeo clip at www.efootage.com by typing in "Night Club Tap".)

Lily Elsie: Music hall artist and Specality Ballet Dancer. She did a ballet tap routin and one with a drum (Toe Drumming).

Harriet Hoctor: American theatrical ballet dancer. Miss Hoctor introduced the backbend on pointe sequence she became famous for while performing in The Bird Dance in "Topsy and Eva". You can see this sequence in the movie "Shall we Dance". She taught her students toetap until her death in 1977.

Mazie King: American Eccentric Toe dancer. She danced the "staircase trick" and labeled herself as the greatest novelty dancer in the world.

Iris Kirkwhite: English theatrical ballet dancer. Kirkwhite performed her specialty, a pizzicato waltz in a form of toetapping, in the London production of "The Blue Mazurka", ''Sunny", and "The Andre Charlot 1928 Revue" with Errol Addison. She also danced in the "Moonlight Ballet".

Joyce Murry: American ballet and theatrical dancer. Did a toetap number in the movie "Broadway Melody of 1929" listed under cast member as a Specialty Dancer.

Margret Turner: Movie and theater star. Toetapped on a wooden dru, on video.

Rosie Radiator: American ballet, tap, and toetap dancer who still teaches toetap to her students today at http://www.radtap.com/

Gypsy Rose Lee: Flim ,TV, Vaudville and Burlesque star. Singer, ballet dancer, actress, nd Specialty Dancer. In a play by the same name [Gypsy], a toetap routine is performed when Gypsy is a little girl. This has been switched to a regular tap dance routine in the modern version of the play.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Chelsie Hightower Sugar and Bruno line

Sugar and Bruno officially announced Chelsie Hightower's new line with a press release today.

Sugar and Bruno is proud to announce that the talented and inspiring Chelsie Hightower from this season's So You Think You Can Dance has joined the Sugar and Bruno Crew.

Hailing from Pleasant Grove, Utah, Miss Hightower has exploded onto the scene and into the hearts of millions of dancers and fans by finishing fifth on this season's SYTYCD. With her incredible dance background and love for learning and teaching, we knew that she would be a perfect fit to the team.

"When I first met Chelsie I knew that we had chosen the right young lady to represent us. She is so down to earth and has a great outlook on life, dancing and her future. We are very lucky to have her on the team," said Sugar and Bruno Vice President Steve Powers.

Chelsie will be working with the Sugar and Bruno Design Team to create a line of clothing that has a unique look and feel that is totally Chelsie. She will be joining our other Celebrity designers Lacey Schwimmer and Kameron Bink in creating dancewear and clothing that is always on the cutting edge.

Sugar and Bruno has just released Chelsie's first design, "Down and Groovy", a Pre-Shrunk 100% combed cotton jersey v-neck Tee with incredible soft touch graphics. You can check it out at www.sugarandbruno.com/chelsie

We hope the world is ready for Chelsie Hightower... because here she comes ... Ready or Not.

For more information on the fore mentioned wonderful works of all that is Sugar and Bruno, go to www.sugarandbruno.com

Sugar and Bruno is a "high fashion" dancewear company with styles for Youth, Guys, and Girls, a new Winter Collection, and celebrity designer lines from Lacey-Mae Schwimmer, Kameron Bink, and Chelsie Hightower. I personally can't judge how well anything holds up or is sized since I don't own anything of theirs other than some socks, but it all looks really nice.

While I'm thinking about, SYTYCD5 audition dates have already been announced. This year they're hitting NYC, Denver, LA, Memphis, Miami, and Seattle. I'm sort of shocked that they're not going back to Salt Lake City this year since they had soooooo many awesome ballet and contemporary dancers audition there last time around.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Monsters of Contemporary UPDATED

I recently received an email from Gene Burdette, Co-Director of Monsters of Dance Conventions. Their new Monsters of Contemporary workshop has been confirmed. The dates and locations for the Spring 2009 season are as follows:

1/10/2009 - Santa Clara, CA - Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
1/24/2009 - Baltimore, MD - Hyatt Regency Baltimore
5/2/2009 - Chicago, IL - Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare

Faculty for this event includes Peter Chu, Wes Veldink, Matt Cady, Jillian Meyers, and Sonya Tayeh. More information will be released next week via the Monsters of Hip Hop e-newsletter. You can sign up to receive their email updates at www.monstersofhiphop.com.

UPDATE: I just got word from Gene that registration for Monsters of Contemporary is now open as of this morning (10/24/08) at 8AM EST. The first 50 dancers that register for each city today through November 6th will get a $10 discount off their convention tuition. You can now register at the Monsters of Hip Hop website.

Also, if anyone plans to attend this event, drop me an email; I'd love to have someone guest blog it.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Zombie

Last February at The Pulse on Tour, everyone that attended the Pulse Performance Showcase was absolutely amazed by a piece called Zombie choreographed by Zandra Thomas. Since then, I've been mildly YouTube stalking the studio that performed this piece, watching all of their videos. I finally, after months of searching, found a video of Zombie.

That. Was. Marvelous. This version is slightly hard to see because their black costumes really blend in to the black background and the choreography is minutely different than it was, but you get the idea.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

SYTYCD Kansas City

On Wednesday night, I attended the 2008 SYTYCD Tour at Sprint Center in Kansas City. I had amazing seats (thanks to presale) in the 5th row. I actually enjoyed the show more than I expected to. This has been my least favorite season, but I had a lot of fun seeing all of the dances live. I didn't take notes, so this isn't going to be a formal review by any means, but just some general notes/comments.

• Kherington needs to close her mouth. Instead of smiling at inappropriate times like she did on the show, most of her facial expressions are approximately :O This was actually one of the first things I noticed during the show.
• After the requisite video montage of Nigel's Top 5 "memorable" (aka bad) auditions, the dancers came out and performed Shane Sparks's Elevator group number. The dancers were introduced by Cat on the huge video screens and did mini-solos. They then re-introduced themselves live, saying what style they specialized in and their hometown. Katee announced that she would not be performing at all that night due to injury. I knew she had hurt her back, but I still had hope for at least the Will/Katee Complexions Pas De Deux or maybe No Air.
  
• Twitchington performed first with their "We're Escaped Convicts" hip hop by Napoleon and Tabitha. Among many other dances, they did a "world tour" of dance styles from around the world featuring Thayne and Chelsie's Cha Cha, Josh and Twitch's Trepak which Gev introduced in Russian (and a dress), Courtney and Mark's Viennese Waltz (once again, Gev wore a dress), and the group Bollywood number.
• Some of the highlights of the night for me were Bleeding Love, Five Guys Named Moe, The Garden, The Dance, Twitchington's "Bed" contemporary (which I have rose petals from in my purse), Money Money, and pretty much anything involving Chelsea H., Courtney, or Mark. Despite the odd facial expression, I was actually really impressed by Kherington.
• Because all of the dances involving Katee except for group numbers were cut, some "emergency backup dances" were added in addition to the ones on the normal set list. These included Courtney and Josh's Frankenstein hip hop (which I have no recollection of ever seeing before), Courtney and Gev's Rumba, Jessica and Will's "Shirt" contemporary, Marksie's Kiss Kiss jazz and Twitchington's Too Darn Hot Broadway. I think there were a coupe other Courtney dances added, too. Because Katee did not perform, Jessica King did her solo which I was not at all impressed with.

I know there's a lot I haven't talked about, but it's really hard to remember everything. However, if you have any specific questions, it would probably make it a lot easier for me to come up with an answer than to post every single little detail that I can dredge up.

At one of the merchandise stands, I bought a tour t-shirt (just the regular one, not anything dancer-specific), leggings, and a program, all of which were ridiculously overpriced, but super cute.

After dances with props or some type of streamers, people were going crazy with grabbing fake money, rose petals, and confetti when they swept the stage off. I managed to grab some rose petals and ended up with a random lost bobby pin from the stage in an attempt to get confetti.

I took a lot of pictures before intermission, when my camera's battery "conveniently" died, but I'm fairly sure my camera is broken. They all turned out massively blurry and most of them had weird lines across them. I tried to pick out some of the better ones though.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

First Peter and the Wolf Rehearsal

We had our first rehearsal for PATW today. We didn't actually do much, but it was a first rehearsal, so I didn't really expect to. Mostly we sat and talked about Sergei Prokofiev, what his life was like, and why he composed Peter and the Wolf.

We learned the introduction section where the narrator introduces all of the characters and the musical instruments that represent them. Since I'm the wolf's understudy, I spent most of this time standing in the back of the studio marking choreography.

We also learned the first scene where Peter dances merrily about, the Bird comes out of her tree, and the trees/meadow plants greet Peter and the Bird. Our director seems to be very fond of en de dans turns with arms in high fifth and a whip through second for this ballet. I'm pretty sure in the 3 minutes of actual choreography we learned today, each character does at least one.

We haven't started Carnival of the Animals, and the rehearsal schedules are unclear as to when each ballet is being rehearsed, it just has a list of names and times. I think they said we would start individual choreography for Carnival next week. It should be a lot easier and quicker to learn because there are only two scenes where a large group of people is on stage, unlike PATW which has almost the entire cast onstage for most of the ballet.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dolls

I'm not quite sure who the dancers are, but my best guess is Bolshoi Academy. I could be totally off.

This video is a really good example of what all ballet could be like. Ok, not that I want all ballet to be exactly like this, but you'll understand in a moment. Ballet could be classical without being boring to a lot of the general public. It could also be contemporary without being so much "I'm in such a state of distraught that I'm going to do 32 fouette turns". And, its cute, fun and entertaining with some serious technique thrown.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

PATW Casting was posted and...

I am a tree and a hunter with people that are about a foot shorter than me and years behind me in training and technique. This is what happens when I talk about the two parts that I would absolutely hate: I get those parts, just because my luck is like that. BUT, I got Lion in Carnival of the Animals (which we're performing at the same time as Peter) which will be the opening solo, and new choreography made on me. I'm also understudy for Wolf. So, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but it didn't turn out too badly either.

Carnival of the Animals is a 30 minute suite by Camille Saint-Saëns in 14 movements. Each movement represents a different animal, which in turn is played by one instrument, and in the ballet, danced by one or one group of dancers.

These movements include:
"The Royal March of the Lion" played by strings and piano.
"Hens and Roosters" played by strings (excluding double bass), pianos, and clarinet.
"Wild Asses" played by pianos (which are called "Quick Animals" in our production while "Characters With Long Ears" are called "Donkeys").
"Tortises" played by strings and piano.
"The Elephant" played by double bass and piano.
"Kangaroos" played by pianos.
"The Aquarium" played by strings (excluding double bass), pianos, flute, and glass harmonica or glockenspiel.
"Characters With Long Ears" (or "Donkeys" in our production) played by two violins.
"The Cukoo" played by pianos and clarinet.
"The "Aviary" played by strings, piano, and flute.
"Pianists" played by strings and pianos.
"Fossils" played by strings, two pianos, clarinet, and xylophone.
"The Dying Swan" played cello, which is by far the most famous movement of Carnival, often performed solo and made famous by Anna Pavlova's interpretation.

I'll keep you guys updated on our choreography and rehearsals. We start learning choreography this Saturday!

Stay on your toes,

Selly

It might be too early to say this, but...

I think I got a solo part in Peter and the Wolf. Casting goes up tomorrow, so I don't know for sure yet, but judging from things I know I'm good at, the people that auditioned, and the number of solos in PATW, I think I nailed. You can never be sure, though, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Peter and the Wolf is a narrated children's ballet about a little boy named Peter who lives with his grandfather. Against his grandfather's warning, he ventures in to the woods one day, even though there is a dangerous wolf in the forest. Along his journey he meets a duck, a bird, a cat, and eventually the wolf (who eats the duck). A party of hunters are chasing the wolf through the forest. Peter ties a rope around the wolf's tail and he is taken to the zoo instead of being killed. If I remember correctly, at the end of some versions of this ballet, the wolf regurgitates the duck (still alive and perfectly fine) and they all live happily ever after.

I'm hoping that I either get Cat or Bird (LOVE both of those variations), but I'll be happy with pretty much anything that isn't like gunshots/hunters corps.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

What has been the most useful piece of dance advice anyone has ever given you?

For me, this question is fairly easy. My answer isn't something spiritual or inspirational or life changing; it's actually rather simple. It's something I had never been taught before that helped my dancing infinitely. When I was 10 years old, my ballet teacher taught me how to lift up in the core, thereby straightening the back and stabilizing the rest of the body.

So that's my most useful piece of dance advice: Lift your center! What's yours?

"Dance because you love it, dance because you live it, dance because you have nothing to prove, and everything to share." -dancekarl

"Keep dancing, even if a bomb goes off next to you onstage." -Megg Wilson

"When I danced with Judy Jarvis, a modern dancer and choreographer in Canada (now deceased) she told me to dance like my face, or the focus of energy of my presentation, was in the top of my chest. It made everything 'bigger'. It certainly made me feel different dancing." -Diane

These are all really good valid points. Keep 'em coming!

Stay on your toes,

Selly