Talk:George Verdak

A fact from George Verdak appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 26 August 2022 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo dancer George Verdak was awarded an honorary doctorate by Butler University?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2022/August. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/George Verdak.

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Edits made by the below user(s) were last checked for neutrality on March 7, 2024 by P-Makoto. The article meets Wikipedia's standards of WP:NPOV.

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Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by 97198 (talk) 08:50, 17 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

(

Comment or view
Article history

)

... that several famous ballets were first performed in America under the direction of George Verdak? Source: "...as artistic director of the Butler Ballet, he staged the first American performances of Offenbach's Le Papillion, Adam's Le Diable a Quatre and La Jolie Fille du Gand." source: George Verdak papers, BYU
- Reviewed: This is one of my first five nominations.

Created by October(BYU) (talk). Self-nominated at 18:01, 18 July 2022 (UTC).[reply]

The current hook seems to be pretty vague and doesn't say much about Verdak or his life. Maybe some other suggestions can be given here? Also a courtesy ping to Corachow as DYK's resident ballet expert. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 11:42, 19 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the ping. I don't think "several famous ballets" is accurate. These are relatively obscure ballets that are rarely performed today as far as I'm aware. Also, Verdak did not bring the first performances of Cinderella to the U.S. He choreographed a version of it. There are other versions of Cinderella in the U.S. prior (Like this one in 1938). Maybe a hook about him going from Ballet Russe to Butler University? Corachow (talk) 12:29, 19 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the helpful feedback! How about one of these:

ALT 1 ... that after dancing for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, George Verdak was awarded an honorary doctorate by Butler University? Source: "Mr. Verdak... joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1943, performing with the troupe at the Hollywood Bowl for nine seasons... In 1958 Mr. Verdak began his 25-year tenure at Butler University...He had received an honorary doctorate from the school." source: George Verdak Obituary

ALT 2... that Ballet Russe dancer George Verdak founded Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis? Source: "The company, first known as Indianapolis ballet, was founded 30 years ago by George Verdak, who danced for years with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo..." source: Ballet Internationale

I prefer ALT1 but I'll let Narutolovehinata5 decide. I also added the links to the Ballet Russe and Butler articles. You still have to fix the Cinderella problem, and please sign after your ALTs next time. Corachow (talk) 12:11, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Article seems largely fine on my end. Are your concerns addressed Corachow? Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 08:33, 22 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

My concerns are resolved. Corachow (talk) 11:07, 22 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. The article was new enough at the time of the nomination and is of the appropriate length. No close paraphrasing was found. No QPQ needed for a new nominator. However, there are still some issues with the article. The year of birth and death are unreferenced and there's no information given about his personal life, including his early life and death. The main hook fact for ALT1 (that he was given an honorary doctorate) lacks a footnote. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 08:52, 23 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Corachow: The nominator hasn't edited in a few days and didn't respond to the above review. Would it be okay for you to address the remaining concerns? I can add you as an additional author if it's okay. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 03:11, 26 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I barely found anything about his personal life and the only thing I added was the exact date of his death. I also added footnotes for his birth year and the honorary degree. I don't think I should have an author credit since I contributed very little. Corachow (talk) 12:33, 26 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Everything looks good to go on my end. ALT1 is probably the best hook here, although admittedly it's not the greatest one out there. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 01:51, 27 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry to be pedantic, but ALT1 implies that the honourary degree was awarded after Verdak danced for Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but the source doesn't confirm when the degree was given. I'm suggesting some ALTs below:

ALT1a: ... that Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo dancer George Verdak was awarded an honorary doctorate by Butler University?
ALT1b: ... that George Verdak danced for Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Butler University?

@October(BYU), Corachow, and Narutolovehinata5: Thoughts? Z1720 (talk) 22:18, 1 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Slight preference for ALT1a, but I'll wait for the other responses too before approving. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 22:45, 1 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I also prefer ALT1a. Sounds good to me! October(BYU) (talk) 16:17, 3 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Narutolovehinata5: ready to approve any of the hooks? Z1720 (talk) 00:13, 17 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Really sorry for the delay! I completely forgot about this nomination. Yes, ALT1a is probably the best option here. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 01:04, 17 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]