Two Lives in Two Worlds

Rating:
Summary: Devoted to his art -- and Maria
Review: Iacob (pronounced "Jacob") Lascu, a celebrated dancer, choreographer and ballet master, left his native Romania in 1972 to live a freer life as an artist of Jewish birth. He and his wife Maria and their son Eugen settled in Detroit, where he gradually re-established himself as a premier teacher, choreographer and director. For 20 years, until 1997, he coordinated the annual holiday ballet, "The Nutcracker," with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Providing him with inspiration and encouragement throughout his remarkable career was his wife, Maria. She sadly succumbed to cancer in 1988.

Lascu's subject matter outshines his writing ability. But he has a story worth reading. He is a man totally devoted to two things in life: perfection in dance (especially ballet) and Maria, the woman he loved at first sight.