walking milly and a film uptown

it was another warm day so we took it slow and visited soho . . 

i had peach iced tea again . . so refreshing on a hot day.

we stopped in at the pet store for cat treats and a treat for milly. do you see lulu lounging in the photo above?

 such a life! i sometimes see her sister, princess, lounging around.

i believe this is a london plane tree . . i thought its trunk looked so beautiful in the afternoon light.

the lincoln center film society was having a special program of "history italian style," showcasing twenty nine films examining the evolution of modern italy. i chose to see "the illusion," a film by roberto andò made in 2025 about two sicilians who join garibaldi's volunteers to liberate sicily, but then immediately desert, and the consequences that ensue. i was hoping it wouldn't be anything like the ballet . . and it wasn't! it was such a wonderful film - funny and dark and ultimately hopeful and inspiring in a somewhat fatalist way.  i loved it! it was fun to see a film on the big screen again too.

lincoln center had a big stage in the plaza for their summer events.

lots of dancing!

coop shift and half of a ballet performance

this morning greg and i had our first coop shift since we rejoined. we worked stocking, which was fun (our first ever coop shift together! of course when the girls were young, we did our shifts separately.)

afterwards, we did some shopping.

heading back home . . 

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we were actually on a time crunch to get home quickly as chanda and i had matinee tickets to see "mary, queen of scots" with the scottish ballet. we arrived a little bit late and waited about ten minutes for the late seating with several other tardy audience members. it began well and we really enjoyed the music and the  company's dancing . . they were wonderful! (chanda said she felt intuitively that the music was composed specifically for the ballet - she thought it had a particular dynamic quality to it). but by the time the first intermission was coming around we were growing disillusioned. the story line and dancing became very violent and didn't let up . . we also weren't sure which dancers were portraying mary and which ones were elizabeth. we did finally realize there were two elizabeths, but we couldn't figure out the story line. we had no idea what was happening, and it certainly wasn't good. when intermission came, we both obtained a program from the usher and were able to read the synopsis to understand the events in the two queens lives that we had just watched. in reading about act ii, it appeared it would be even more violent than act i. i knew that she was executed, but much of the other heavy action felt gratuitous to me. maybe this was how her life was, and i should have read more about her before purchasing tickets? however, the choreography should be able to convey the story with some clarity without having to read a synopsis. while reading the program, we also finally saw the "trigger" warning sign by the entrance to the house seats which we had been standing next to when first waiting to go in: "warning, scenes in this afternoon's show include child abuse, sexual abuse and execution." i decided i did not want to stay and chanda agreed to leave also. on the way out, the security guard at the door asked me if we were returning, i apologized and said, no! i'm so sorry! chanda laughed and said he only asked the question to know if he should look out for us - to let us back in for the rest of the ballet. i felt stuck in some strange world and was glad to walk awhile before hopping on the bus.

anyway, we took the bus to la bergamot cafe to sit and talk for a little while and then we walked home.

at the ballet and a recital

this is the coat check at lincoln center. i was waiting along with twenty other people to be ushered into the first ring for a rehearsal of a midsummer night's dream with the new york city ballet. my friend is a member and wasn't able to attend so she offered me her ticket. it was fun watching the dancers mark their places on the stage and run particular sections of their pieces repeatedly. the artistic director and ballet masters and mistresses stood along the edge of the stage watching and commenting and the stage hands adjusted the set pieces. the conductor was there but not the full orchestra. a rehearsal pianist played all the music. 

i met greg afterwards at the flame diner as we had a friend's daughter's recital to attend (after getting a bite to eat) at the school for strings. he's looking very happy as the verdict was just announced. it was the talk of the street as i walked downtown to meet him . . everyone was feeling a little bit chipper and there were many conversations about what it might mean and how the punishment might work out.

getting all the latest tweets . . 

at the recital . . a few of the songs that were sung were:

wer hat dies liedlein erdacht (gustav mahler), five melodies populaires grecques (maurice ravel), bei mir bist du shein (sholom secunda) and the light in the piazza (adam guettel).

walking home afterwards we passed a mounted police officer. we had just been talking the other week about how we rarely saw them these days. you can read an interesting article about the full new york city police department mounted unit here on the noelle floyd website.

the sky was beautiful this evening.

the best laid plans . .

morgan and i were supposed to see the new york city ballet's nutcracker this afternoon at 2 pm. we arrived only to find that all shows are cancelled through december 27th. i was so disappointed . . just really disappointed!

we used the bathroom at the performing arts library before heading downtown to rockefeller center. they had a photo display of the limon dance company from the 1960's and 1970's. morgana enjoyed seeing their dance teacher, betty jones, in the company photos.

betty is the smiling face in the center of this pic. they were visiting columbia in 1961 and meeting columbian president alberto camargo.

the company arriving in santiago chili . . 

betty is in the center with a scarf around her shoulders.

heading out to walk downtown to see the christmas tree . .

this year's tree is from elkton, maryland and is a 79 foot long norway spruce.

fortitude at the 42nd street library . . 

we then caught the fifth avenue bus downtown and i rode it to 10th street and made some shopping stops as i walked home (bigelow, the florist for paper white bulbs, pink olive and grove drug store). the walk home was incredibly windy and cold!

dinner was einkorn pasta with greens and shitake mushrooms.

at the ballet

i bought my thirty five dollar ticket to see the new york city ballet in july. at that time october ninth seemed so far away, and then all of a sudden it was here.

after a year and a half of no live performances, i couldn't believe i was on my way to see the ballet again. i rode up on a citibike (uphill and against the wind (i really didn't think i was going to make that last block) and arrived at 1:20 for a 2 pm show. there were two lines: one for those with the new york excelsior pass - id and vaccination added to a special database - and one for those without the pass. neither line had people waiting on it. i walked right in and showed the guard my vaccination card and driver's license, and then showed my ticket to the usher (wearing my mask, of course, as everyone else was). before going to my seat i walked out on the balcony and took these photos. two concession windows were open with wine, champagne and sparkling water. i found out when i sat down and looked at the program that there wouldn't be an intermission. clever!

 

i was there on this particular night to see lauren lovette's farewell performance. she decided to leave to pursue other dance and choreographic opportunities. she had been with the school and the company since she was fourteen years old (she's currently thirty).

taking a bow after dancing jerome robbins' opus 19/the dreamer, danced to prokofiev's violin concerto no. 1 in d major.

company bows after performing balanchine's serenade (tschaikovsky's serenade for strings).

saying good-bye to her colleagues . . .

it was such a wonderful day at the ballet, such a beautiful and heartfelt event. i'm so glad i went.

it felt so freeing to be at lincoln center again.

and now i feel exhausted. i had a good hour of cleaning up after the kittens when i got back, and then i made a ratatouille as i had so many vegetables in the refrigerator and i didn't want them to go bad . . and then i sat with the kittens again, hoping to help them go in the kitty litter and not to walk in their loose poops. i've been having trouble getting them not to be so loose. it's such a mess. i think i'll try boiled chicken and plain white rice tomorrow as suggested by a fellow foster volunteer.

and on that lovely note i'll say good night!

veggies, minerva and swan lake

i was out early this morning . .

to take care of minerva . . 

 and to visit the green market . . and then . .

home again . . morgana made this sign years ago . . 

 i love the little shoes . . 

 and boots . . 

 pluto is always at the door, ready to greet me.

 the green market haul . . 

 shitake mushrooms, fingerling potatoes and turnips (and eggs . . ) . .

after breakfast i took the train uptown to lincoln center and the new york city ballet to see tiler peck dance in swan lake.

i was also looking forward to giving more attention to the art exhibit by lauren redniss, which i find so interesting that i wish they had published a book with her drawings and interviews.

 i first wrote about this exhibit on february 8th. the artist drew and interviewed over one hundred behind the scenes people associated with the ballet: engineers, lighting designers, ballet masters, porters, dress makers, make-up artists, call center operators . . etc.

i took some photos of the few interviews they included along the wall on the mezzanine level:

(drawing on left) jean-pierre frohlich, ballet master

"i've been in this building since it was built. 1964. there are images in my head of balanchine and robbins rehearsing. images of my childhood. running the hallways in between the matinee and evening performance. images of when balanchine choreographed a small section of don quixote on me. i was ten years old. he was extremely gentle, extremely kind to children. i have memories of working with jerry robbins on watermill. i was 16, at school of american ballet. robbins wanted to use me, but he didn't know if it was possible because i was at the school. so he asked balanchine, 'is it okay if i use jean-pierre for this production?' balanchine said, 'of course, he's family.'

"when you teach the ballets, you have to make sure they don't become a museum piece -- that they evolve with the times we are living in and how dancers dance today. balanchine did that and so did robbins. robbins said to me many times, 'j.p. don't look at too many videos, because you start making dancers look like the person who's on the video.' in other words, the dancer won't find their own voice in the role. when robbins entrusted me with his ballets, i felt at ease. i felt prepared, because robbins prepared me. balanchine prepared me."

(drawing on the right) norma attride, wardrobe

"there are about 4,000 costumes in the storage area downstairs at the theatre. there are another, say, 10,000 costumes at a great big warehouse up in new jersey.

"i maintain and elongate the life of a costume. we change elastics in trunks, shoulders, waistbands. it's a lot of laundry, a lot of woolite. we are constantly cleaning, especially if dancers are sharing the costume and it has to be worn in the afternoon and again in the evening or the next day. you're wiping it down and getting little make-up stains off.

"tutus are easy to maintain. but after awhile, because a lot of partnering, the oil from the partner's hands will get on the tutu bodice, so you're constantly trying to get the oil, or the rosin, off. the dancers put rosin on their side seams to help their partner have a grip, and rosin stains really badly. if that's what the partner has to do in order to keep steady, you can't say no. you want the dancers to be safe on stage. you just have to do your best to clean it."

ms diaz, box office

"it all started with my grandfather, rafael diaz. he worked for the company many years ago, in the 1950's, before lincoln center was build. he worked here all his life. when i was born,  he brought in my father, virgilio diaz. they were porters. they made sure everything was in order--the garbage was picked up, the brass polished, all that stuff.

"one time, my father invited me and a cousin of mine. we were about eight or nine years old. it was winter. we got up real early, about 3:30 in the morning. my father had to be at work at 5:30 am. there's almost nobody here that early. we went into the ballerina's dressing rooms, into the theatre, sat in the seats. we went on stage. you know what? when i walk into the theatre now, it's the same smell. the wood. the velvet. it takes me back.

"when i was 18, my father said to me, 'there's an opening in the box office.' i started off as a mail clerk. i did customer service on the phone. i grew up here. i started off with braces. i bought my house. i had my kids. i have a grandchild. i couldn't see myself anywhere else. imagine! i've been here all my life."

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i have two more photos with drawings and interviews which i will try and post another day. it takes awhile to copy the text!

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warming up . . 

 on the balcony at intermission . .

 i enjoyed seeing the audience mix with the portraits . . 

it was a beautiful show. tiler peck danced exquisitely, and joseph gordon was wonderful as her prince siegfried. since ms peck just recently recovered from a herniated disc, the audience was doubly supportive of her and extremely enthusiastic about her performance this afternoon. there was a very good article in the new york times about her injury and subsequent recovery which can be read here. another incredibly beautiful performance this afternoon was from kurt nikkanen, the violin soloist. you can see  him all the way on the left in the above photo, with the conductor, andrew litton.

 i'm so glad i bought my ticket early for such a great seat!

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my exhausting afternoon of re-caulking and re-grouting the shower tiles is here, and my afternoon clearing out a bookshelf with korrina is here.