Dance is one of those unique art forms that is totally transformative, or so they tell me. That’s because it is a combination of viewing both the body and soul. Your arms and legs become your instruments and your spirit leads the charge. This is what I learned recently when I was honored by […]
My granddaughter, as a child, always loved to go for dance lessons at Steffi Nossen School of Dance (SNSD). Not for the lessons necessarily, but she loved to laugh at herself in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. I always wondered why dance studios had so much “look/see“ space. Shelley Grantham, Executive Director at Steffi Nossen, explained to […]
It’s going to be a tough choice no matter how you slice it. No, I’m not talking about the election. I’m talking about the weekend. Jazz Fest is sizzling this weekend in White Plains with a terrific line-up of musicians from Brazil, Africa and New Orleans. Two outstanding evenings are Friday with the Gary Smulyan […]
The Rivertowns are a hotbed of dancers. I have that from a reliable source. Maxine Sherman, a former principal dancer with Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater and Martha Graham Dance Company told me so…and she should know. With the drop of a tiara, Maxine can reel off the names of dozens of well known ballet […]
Auntie Mame has nothing on Mamie Duncan-Gibbs. In fact, our Mamie is every bit as talented as the lady who made famous the name Mame. Mamie Duncan-Gibbs is the Executive/Artistic Director of Youth Theatre Interactions (YTI), an organization dedicated to teaching children the importance of discipline, confidence and creativity through the performing arts. She is […]
Perhaps I am dating myself…BUT…When I was just a kid growing up in the Rockaways, my mother and I would board the Long Island Railroad every Saturday for an hour trip into Manhattan for ballet classes and for Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s concerts at Carnegie Hall. The closest thing we had to culture was the […]
What is there about The Nutcracker that makes it such an endearing classic? For one thing, it’s a party. Beautiful people in elegant attire gather around a magnificently decorated tree, along with little boys in knickers, girls with starched white dresses, and magic in the air as toy soldiers and flowers come to life. But […]
Going global. That’s the plan for the fall season at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) (www.artscenter.org) at SUNY Purchase. I have this from a reliable source… Wiley Hausam, PAC Executive Director. “Our season is more robust than last year with 35 performances and more international programs, including those from Brazil, Venezuela, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Australia […]
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