Posting news of Frederick Wiseman’s film “La Danse: The Paris Opera” in ArtTracker, I am mesmerized watching a brief video clip of Chopin’s “La Dame aux camélias”. Indeed, dance is a language.

I’ve always loved camellias, without understanding their meaning.

Historically, the Chinese-born camellia expressed the most traditional of romantic visions. The petals reflect the spirit of a lady, and the holder of the petals (the calyx) represents the young man entrusted by the lady as her protector.

The Lady of the Camellias via Flickr’s magic fly paulaWith the death of the female petals, the masculline calyx falls also. This is unlike most other flowers, where the calyx seems to hang around the tree even after the petals have dropped. via LivingArtsOriginals.com