The Stardance Project

[Jan]

CAUTION: Following is an invitation to help a dream be fulfilled (yeah, a plug for donations)

Two of my favorite people in the world are Jeanne and Spider Robinson, authors, dancer, artists and all-around delightful people. Together, they wrote the Hugo and Nebula award winning Stardance trilogy. Somehow, the two of them managed to actually convey zero-gravity dance in print in the Stardancer books. Until the Challenger disaster, Jeanne was on the short list for NASA's 'Civilian in Space' program.

With today's advances in CGI, it's now possible to do justice to a film of zero-gee dance. Jeanne has written the script and put together what sounds like a great production team. A private patron has provided seed money but the film is looking for the rest of the six figures needed to make this film a reality. All donors will be listed on a Roster of Honorary Stardancers, given screen credit and get the personal thanks of Jeanne and Spider.

You've seen how beautiful space can be in the backgrounds Babylon 5 used. Wouldn't it be cool to see the grace of dance not hindered by gravity? That's Jeanne's dream and you can help make it a reality.

Please check out The Stardance Project for more information, some lovely art and a button to donate to making this dream come true.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum....

Jan

[Dr Maturin]

Dear Moderators:

Plz ban this spammer thx.

[Towelmaster]

Don't forget to bring your copy of 'Fifty-three more things to do in zero gravity"...

[Jan]

Since the last time I posted about this project, things have started picking up steam.

Last year at the Heinlein Centennial celebration Jeanne Robinson gave a presentation on the proposed Stardance movie and was offered two places on the G-Force One plane which allows people to experience microgravity by flying in parabolic arcs lasting 16 to 20 seconds each.

Today at 11:00 AM Pacific time Jeanne, her dancer Kathleen McDonagh and James Sposto will be going on the flight and will be filming the first ever dance in zero gravity. This is truly a dream come true for Jeanne and I couldn't be happier for her.

I can't wait to see this film.

Jan

[colonyearth]

Dear Moderators:

Plz ban this spammer thx.

Um...ahem! Don't really know how to tell you this...but....Jan is a moderator. And I don't think she's spamming. If you don't know much about Jan..ask me...and I'll tell you about a wonderful person who has had a real (not fanboy) impact on B5 and its universe and fandom. She's one of our ambassadors. Be kind.

CE

[frulad]

I believe LiM was joking.


(hard to tell sometimes, I know...)

[colonyearth]

I believe LiM was joking.


(hard to tell sometimes, I know...)

Yes it is...and if LiM was joking...my deepest apologies! But not for saying Jan a wonderful!

CE

[Capt.Montoya]

Jan:

The Stardance books were very good, I liked them really.

Except for that ending bit where they bring back the original Stardancer, that was almost Walt-Disney like schmaltzy, it cheapened the impact of her original sacrifice. In fact if you asked me to name one thing I don't like much about Spider Robinson it would be his propensity for tacking on happy endings... Telempath is another example where I think the happy-ending return of the father felt forced, and actualy lessened the drama (to me at least).

But heck, the Stardance Trilogy story was quite good overall, and the concept was original.

I'm glad they are trying to make them a movie, and I hope they get to make it.
When it's out in theaters I'll be sure to go see it.

I just hope it doesn't take so long as to have an actual real life zero-G ballet dancer in outer space in real life before the movie is made.


CE:
I don't know much about LiM (the poster previously known as Z'ha'dum Dweller), but I'm sure he was joking.

I don't know much about Jan... will you tell me?
(What I know is that she helps make this a nice place)

[SmileOfTheShadow]

This is almost cool and exciting enough to make me forget about Spider-Man

I can't wait to see it.

[Jan]

The Stardance books were very good, I liked them really.

Except for that ending bit where they bring back the original Stardancer, that was almost Walt-Disney like schmaltzy, it cheapened the impact of her original sacrifice.

I can understand you feeling that way but I disagree. The sacrifice was still made, it just didn't turn out the way that Sharra (and we) expected. I really do need to read the second and third books again, though. I don't know them nearly as well as the first.

In Spider's latest podcast it was delightful to hear him read from Stardance. (That sequence also features my all-time favorite insult: You suck. And not particularly well. )

In fact if you asked me to name one thing I don't like much about Spider Robinson it would be his propensity for tacking on happy endings... Telempath is another example where I think the happy-ending return of the father felt forced, and actualy lessened the drama (to me at least).

Yeah, that I could have done without, I agree. The 'going off to be ambassadors', too. But I still wouldn't mind there being a sequel to Telempath some day.

But heck, the Stardance Trilogy story was quite good overall, and the concept was original.

And the fact that Spider and Jeanne managed to get some glimmer of the emotions of dance through was nothing less than genius.

I'm glad they are trying to make them a movie, and I hope they get to make it.
When it's out in theaters I'll be sure to go see it.

I'm going to be following this closely so stay tuned here.

I just hope it doesn't take so long as to have an actual real life zero-G ballet dancer in outer space in real life before the movie is made.

Amen to that. Perhaps the movie will help restart the Civilian in Space program that was scrubbed after the Challenger tragedy.

I don't know much about Jan... will you tell me?
(What I know is that she helps make this a nice place)

Thanks for the kind words, Capt.Montoya and Tony. As for me, there's not much to tell except "I have no life and I must Babylon".

Jan

[SmileOfTheShadow]

You know...I agree with Montoya that bringing her back at the end felt pretty darn cheesy-disney-ending. It was so impactful that I felt the book could have ended with Shara's death originally. And that detracted from it. Not quite as bad as Aunt May's dying being a hoax from the then also presumed to be dead Green Goblin just to piss off Peter lol. At least they didn't kill her again (groan.)! I'm about halfway through Starseed now, and am enjoying that, liking the supporting cast more than the original book. I'm excited to finish the trilogy.

[Jan]

The original novella *did* end at Sharra's death as I recall.

Jan

[Capt.Montoya]

The original novella *did* end at Sharra's death as I recall.

Jan

Indeed, and I read the original novella first (in a Hugo Award anthology), it was only many years later that I read the whole novel and sequels. The original, powerful, ending of Sharra's sacrifice stayed with me for years, and I think is part of what made it Hugo Award material.

Same happened with Telempath, I read the original novella ("By Any Means Necessary" also in a Hugo Awards book), which ends with the protagonist killing his father and returning to the city to help Carlson study the "muskies", it was a powerful ending. It was only years later that I read the full novel.

After reading the happy-ending expansions of those two and some Callahan stories I became inured to Spider Robinson's penchant for happy endings, but those two were disappointments.

Still, the Stardance Trilogy is good overall, and Spider Robinson, while not a favorite, is an author I have enjoyed reading... even if some of his puns are atrocious.

[Jan]

... even if some of his puns are atrocious.

Isn't that the point of puns? ;-)

For those interested, Jeanne Robinson and her Stardancer Kathleen are scheduled to be on Canada AM tomorrow morning and they'll be showing some short footage captured on their Zero-G Corporation flight. http://stardancemovie.blogspot.com/ for more details.

Jan

[Jan]

The additional footage of Kathleen McDonagh and the Canada AM segment are now posted http://stardancemovie.blogspot.com

Jan