Two Biographies (G)

Two Biographies

Mistress V

From the InterGalactic Who's Who in Sports and Entertainment, 23rd Century Edition

T'Mara, the T'sai

Vulcan native, daughter of T'Pring and Stonn. Sister to Sklar. Prima Ballerina Assoluta and founding member of the Shi-Kahr Ballet Company. T'Mara started ballet at the age of seven with dance lessons in her home town of Go'an. She proved to be a natural talent. A few months later, when the Royal Ballet Company of London visited Shi-Kahr, she was selected as one of the young native ballerinas who presented bouquets to the principal soloists after the performance of "Cinderella." At a subsequent dance workshop given by the RBC, T'Mara's abilities were noticed by the Dame Elizabeth Martin, one of the company's principal instructors. She was encouraged to apply for a studentship at the Royal Ballet School when she reached the age of ten, and based on this recommendation, T'Mara received a scholarship to the Shi-Kahr School of the Arts, where she advanced rapidly in her discipline. She left for Terra upon being awarded her studentship, where she spent six years at the RBS in London. Upon completion of her course of studies, she joined the RBC as a member of the corps de ballet, which toured Vulcan the next year. Her breakout moment came soon after this, when RBC soloist Candida Solomon was injured in a fall during the company's revival of Rite of Spring in Boston. T'Mara, who knew the part and happened to be backstage at the time, continued the performance as an emergency replacement. From this impromptu but highly successful debut, she rose quickly to principal soloist, dancing roles in Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, Beyond the Stars, Sleeping Beauty and DragonMine to great critical acclaim. The New York City Ballet's intergalactic touring company then asked T'Mara to join them in a lengthy tour of seventeen planets and twenty two starbases. Upon completion of this hugely successful venture, she returned to Vulcan and helped form the Shi-Kahr Ballet Company, of which she is still a principal artist. T'Mara has been a principal guest soloist with the San Francisco Ballet, the Kirov, the ABT, Paris Opera Ballet, the Martian Theatre du Danse, and the Rigellian Ballet, to name just a few of her accolades, and she debuted the role of T'Khut in the ballet version of Songs of a Vulcan Spring at its Shi-Kahr premiere. She has performed for enthusiastic audiences from Vulcan to Terra to Qo'noS and continues to break ground by sponsoring work from rising new artists. She has established several scholarship programs throughout the galaxy for promising young dancers. T'Mara is married to the Vulcan musician Stromm, and they divide their time between their estate in Shi-Kahr, a Paris flat and a Manhattan townhome.

Kanou, Tuq of Kluth

Klingon native, daughter of Konat and Kluth, granddaughter of legendary Klingon hockey coach Kluth. Sister to Kando, forward of the San Jose Sharks hockey team. Kanou's grandfather, who coached the Klingon Defense Corps hockey squad to its first ever gold medal at the Polaris Winter SportsFest, put her on ice skates at the age of two. He taught her the rudiments of figure skating from training vids until she reached the age of seven, when she won a full scholarship to the first ever Vulcan Heat Winter Sports Camp, sponsored by two time snowboard gold medalist Stark. Here she met the Russian figure skating coach Tatiana Ludmilla Daragan, who was conducting clinics along with her husband, the assistant Russian hockey coach Valeri Aleksandrovich Daragan. Kanou was invited to come to Terra and train with the Daragans, who recognized her extraordinary talent and sought to refine her ability. Her first intergalactic appearance in the Lake Tahoe Games, when she was just twelve, earned her a spot in the ladies' final, an almost unheard of feat for a debut skater. Her strong eighth place finish was only a preview of a career which swung forth like a comet. Kanou won eleven straight Qo'noS national titles and helped introduce her sport to an entire generation of young women on her homeworld, a generation which produced no less than three intergalactic level champions. Kanou returned to Qo'noS where she continued to train, as well as finding time to visit the galaxy as an ambassador of sporting goodwill. She became a volunteer instructor with the Vulcan Heat Sports Camps on Vulcan, Terra and Qo'noS and helped establish skateships for talented youngsters who might not have had the chance to attend otherwise. Kanou won her first InterGalactic Winter SportsFest gold medal at the age of twenty two at the Arctica Games, then returned to defend her crown four years later in Calgary. She has just announced her retirement from competition but plans to coach and do broadcast commentary for many years to come. Kanou's designer, New York based Kala Koth-Dillon, worked with her to bring the vast richness of the Klingon culture to her competition costumes and now is her partner in a hugely successful line of activewear. Kanou is married to Thak, a goalie for the New York Rangers professional hockey team, and they divide their time between Qo'noS and Montauk, Long Island. They recently welcomed their first child, a daughter, Kluth'aa Mara.

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Who says you can't dream big?

The scenario I describe for T'Mara actually happened at the Royal Ballet years ago, and I saw it, around 1989. The soloist slipped and fell, and could no longer dance. She was taken offstage, and the coryphees re-danced a bridge piece. Then there was an interval. For the second act, an ordinary dancer finished the ballet. She had happened to be there, and had been practicing in the studio ... and she knew the part. She rose to be a soloist and I saw her in Swan Lake when the Royal Ballet toured Los Angeles. I believe it was Darcy Bussell, though it could have been Deborah Bull. At any rate, "Showgirls" was still in someone's computer, and, I suspect, this scenario has been around as long as there have been dancers.

RE: The scene of T'Mara in Paris. Back to London. I was lucky enough to have seen Gelsey Kirkland dance the role of Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" circa 1987 ish (she was in town to promote her book "Dancing on my Grave") and believe me, Covent Garden must have hired a bulldozer to haul away all the flowers from the stage. Unbelievable. It was like a rainstrom of roses. And I rank it as one of the best performances I have ever seen. Period.

OK, enough Pollyanna dreams. I have a honeymoon story to write and a birthday to celebrate. Give me Spock in jeans (nice fitting and well worn, please) and nothing else, and a cupcake with a candle. Ahhhh.

BTW I did spend time in Russia (and much of Europe) and it shows sometimes...