the dying swan (scary ballet story--part trois)

Elvira, the director of the dance program in Saltoftheearth, CA, wrote back to me and was amazed that I had found the real Lorin Lufart only 23 miles away from me in Connecticut. She told me that Stasia (now calling herself Mme Lorin Lufart) told her that the real Lorin Lufart, (our esteemed former premier danseur-turned-pimp???) was actually very wealthy and as we know, living in Connecticut. (Has anyone else noticed that my life is veering over into that state more and more??)Elvira, then continued to say that Stasia and Lorin were still very close friends.  Hmmmm... wasn't this the guy who told her to "get over it" and then hung up on her when she called him, distraught over her firing early in 2010?

My ballet friend in Cali, Kim, who had danced with the Lufart's in the early 70s, told me a true story about performing with them (which was rare) and Stasia was performing "The dying Swan", one evening, when a baby in the audience started carrying on and crying (as babies often do) and apparently... as Stasia was down for the count, taking the famous "dying pose"... She lifted her head in one last desperate gasp of air...clinging on to her last precious moments of life.........

and managed to eek out... 

SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 hahahahaha!!!

Ya know... swans are not the fragile, gentle ethereal creatures we make them out to be...They are actually quite aggressive! LOL

In case you don't have any idea what I'm talking about and are curious or you do know and are curious, here is Uliana Lopatkina, who's considered to be one of the greatest present interpreters of the role of the Dying Swan--- enjoy!

Glorious... 

Now, where were we??? Oh yes... Miss Asteria's legendary SHUT UP!!! in the middle of her dying swan... classy.

But going back... to Elvira's words...
If M. Lufart is very wealthy, he certainly didn't attain his wealth teaching ballet. That much is for certain. A successful ballet studio in this area can gross in the neighborhood of 250,000-350,000, a year depending if they have an attached store or not and how large the studio is. But, out of that comes teacher's salaries, rent, phone, electricity, insurance, etc. and so perhaps the owner might end up with a low six figure salary. Its a living, (as this is one of the most expensive areas in the country to live in) but it is definitely not going to make anyone rich.

In the case of M. Lufart's studio, as I said before, there is nothing, but nothing concrete about this place. And ALL real ballet studios have websites in 2011. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF EM!!!!!!!!! That one thing right there, is a major red flag that something is just not right.

Now, Paula the oldest member of our little ballet cult of the 1970s told me a different story, over Christmas--

"They have no money, Lexie." She went on to tell me and that they were in such dire straights in the late 70s, that her parents helped the Lufarts out with the rent.

Fucking Grifters.

It would be impossible for him to "have no money" 30 years ago and be rich now, from teaching ballet and if they had no money back then, where did it come from?

I spent some more time, cyber staking- out (nice play on "stalking") -- where M. Lufart's "ballet studio" is, in Workingclass, CT... and you can do this too! 

I googled the address and found that he shares the building with a very high end and legit architect and

also a lawyer.

Oh, and here's the kicker...

A wtf--- STATE MARSHAL!?! But, then on closer scrutiny, he shares the same phone number as the lawyer, so maybe they are the same person? (or is it just another fraud?)

Strange stuff, isn't it?

Oh, and there's more intrigue I discovered, because there's another "branch of the ballet studio" in a neighboring town--- Bigcity, CT and folks, here it is...

Does this building in a residential neighborhood look anything like a ballet studio?

I realize that the pic is a bit distorted, but just to tell you...

There are six  double windows on the side and four double windows on the front and
all of the windows are completely evenly spaced.  I am an interior designer and I have never ever seen a home with such a configuration. It is suggestive of some sort of rooming house?

Indeed.

Smacks of whorehouse, don't it??? Most of the rooms have individual window air-conditioners. Oh, this is too, too much!

mmm... yessss... there's a very private entrance in the rear. What's great about google maps is that it can take you to an address and you can SEE the building and the surrounding area and then its not easy, but you can "navigate" down the street and get different angles of the building especially if its on the corner, as this one is. (but unfortunately, I can't copy those for you to see, just the tiny thumbnail)

I also googled the address and all I got was ONE listing as the address of the Sumthinsfishy Ballet School.

But, you get the gist.

Sumthinsfishy, alright.

I might need to take a little drive next week, or the week after... well, soon, anyway.

I will be sure to wear my hair down... It is doubtful that M. Lufart would ever recognize me, in any case, should I ever happen to run into him.

First of all, I was still only 19 when I left and then... well...

he never ever saw me with my hair down.

It was always in a bun, of course. ;)