a duncan dance performance

chanda and i waited at columbus circle at 7 pm for greg to arrive with a print out of our tickets for tonight's performance.

she and morgana have several friends dancing in an isadora duncan birthday celebration this evening.

so . . you order your tickets online, and then you're supposed to print out the receipt to show the people at the door . . and then they give you the official tickets!! seems like a waste of paper to me. of course, we don't even have a printer that works to print them out on . . so greg does it at work . . 

tonight our friends tsamaret and moriah were dancing with the other little ones in the preshow performance. they were all very sweet.

after the show . . which was wonderful.

the high line and staten island

on our way to a cup of tea at la bergamot, janet and i walked along the high line and admired the rose of sharon.

i'm not sure what the shiny evergreen looking plant is, but the red flowers in the foreground are sundown coneflower, and in the background you can see black-eyed susan.

greg, morgana, chanda and i left the city at 1 pm to drive to staten island for the isadora duncan dance intensive performance at the alice austen house. thankfully, it was not as hot as the past few days, and there was a nice breeze off of the narrows. but it was a typical hazy summer day.

the dancers wore only their practice tunics today. morgana and chanda ironed theirs' on the last minute . . we hadn't realized that costumes were not being prepared.

we arrived early and greg and i had a chance to walk around before heading back to the city to see korrina's play.

once everyone began arriving we said good-bye. we left with a little rain beginning to come down. i wondered how the dancers would fare! we heard afterwards that the performance began at 4:30 pm, as scheduled. at 5 pm it began raining hard enough that they needed to take shelter under the trees and in the house. but it didn't pour, and soon cleared for them to finish the program with only two dances eliminated. overall, everyone was happy with the way the day turned out, and they had a wonderful time dancing outdoors.

park gates and celebrating isadora

i walked morgana to 59th street. she was on her way to a concert she was dancing in this evening. she went a little earlier than chanda, as chanda had a dance class. we passed the artisan's gate and the merchant's gate . .


the park's entrances had been named in the middle 1800's when the park was being built. however, the names weren't actually chiseled onto the stone and unveiled until 1999.

the concert was in honor of isadora duncan's birthday. it was held in a studio at city center and was given by the isadora duncan dance foundation. it was lovely, and everyone danced beautifully. here, chanda is holding one of the little girls she babysits for after the performance.

and morgana with chanda and both twins . . (morgana was excited to dance a new piece in this concert . . scherzo . . )

after party fun for the younger dancers . .

mamas and papas waiting for the younger crowd to tire out (which, of course, didn't happen) . .

a saturday that was too busy . .

why was it too busy? because we left chanda's violin at the ballet audition and we didn't realize it until we were on our way home after the duncan dance rehearsal at 7:30 pm!!!! actually, we're not even sure if it's at the gelsey kirkland school. they were closed when i called, and they won't reopen until 8 am monday morning. it's just too painful to think that we may have left it on the subway platform. we were just so starry eyed after meeting miss kirkland! chanda said the class she taught was "amazing!" in the photo above she has her violin strapped onto her back . . we're on our way to soho after group lessons at third street.

at the third street con spirito rehearsal. i like where i'm sitting here. it's a much better vantage point.



i think i need to sit here more regularly.

in the locker room at GKACB. the violin is outside this room, in a corner by a chair with all our bags. (exactly a week ago i left chanda's shoes in a bag on a chair in the church after the string stravaganza. i'm really battin' a thousand.)

we got on the train at canal street and took the Q to 57th street and 7th avenue . .

for the isadora duncan dance class and rehearsal. sam is on the left. he ended the class for lori, the teacher. the girls love when he leads class or rehearsal.

all the little girls from the dance class that came after sat down on the floor to watch the end of rehearsal.

they were adorable in their black tights and yellow leotards . . they looked like little bumblebees.

view from first house

when we arrived at the alice austen house today (for the isadora duncan dance company's annual workshop performance) and stepped out of the car, we were struck by the coolness of the breeze, and the wonderful open vista before us.

greg just laid on the blanket we had brought and rested his back and enjoyed the quiet of the neighborhood (his back has been having spasms from stretching to put the shelving up).

the dancing is always so inspiring for me. i'm always ready to audition, or to sign up for acting classes at HB, or to run the next day to a limon dance class and just dance or act or sing . . jump around in joyous ecstasy . . but then everything winds down again and i'm back to the normal chores and activities of my days . . like . .

right now i'm supposed to be writing an email to my nephew about what to expect at his arrival tomorrow (since i won't be here) . . but i will leave you with one last magnificent photo of the girls dancing with the verrazano in the distance, and the setting sun bathing all in a surreal glow . .

morning laundry

we have a busy day today. i'm trying to get the apartment to look decent for my nephew's visit with two friends from england, and also preparing for a performance on staten island today at the alice austen house. we're doing laundry, and making chili so we have some food to come home too, and making sandwiches to take along. i also ran to crate and barrel with chanda so we could get a rug to cover the oh so lovely watermelon stain in front of the frig.

1000 days welcome home party

reid stowe is a sailor and artist who took off in 2007 to set a record for the longest solo voyage (amidst other purposes). he returned on thursday to new york harbor, and his welcome home party was held this evening at pier 66. the beliloveables danced at the festivities, along with reid's son darshan (2 years old and the delight of all the girls). as a thank you gift for their joyous dancing, reid led them on a short tour of his boat, the anne. m and c were beyond ecstatic . .

an isadora birthday: city center

happy birthday, isadora! we continued the celebration at city center. lori created a beautiful and fun night of dancing and laughing. my friend cindi made the cake (which was a masterpiece) and numerous very busy, special and loyal people made it happen.

waiting to go on for the class/technique demonstration.

lori and cherlyn describe the class exercises.

the company and the beliloveables

the masterpiece!

after the class demonstration and the company performance, we ate cindi's incredibly delicious german chocolate cake. the girls danced while lori's childhood friend, peter mintun, played the piano, and sam surprised all of us by playing also! it was quite a night.

beliloveable fundraiser

rehearsing . .

my friend cindi and i worked the 50-50 raffle table

the hostesses with the mostesses

waiting to go on!