Letters from Friends

When the mail arrives and contains a letter or a thought-filled card, it makes my day! Yesterday was a banner day. My friend Gretchen sent me a funny card with a page torn from the weekend pictorial. She knows I write about  ballet and the article was called New York City Ballet : By the Numbers. Here are a few of the numbers that may surprise you.

NYCB has performed The Nutcracker 2,342 times. In the production they use 50 pounds of fake snow during each performance. The lovely ascending-descending curtain at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater weighs 1 ton.

As far as their dancers go:

Corps dancers dance an average of 40 hours per week.

Male dancers jeté leap an average height of 4 feet.

Female dancers use 8,500 pointe shoes a season with the average pair lasting 2 days

Now, here are a few ‘numbers’ for you to guess about NYCB. I’ll help you narrow your thinking.

** How many band-aids does the company use in a week?  178     254       334      529

** How many over-the-counter pain pills are consumed in a week?  215      397      460     622

** What percentage of (all) professional dancers smoke?   12%   26%   40%      52%