a dance performance

 this evening's performance was held at st. mark's church in the bowery, built in 1795 on farmland that once belonged to peter stuyvesant, governor of new amsterdam from 1647 to 1664.

 st. mark's is the second oldest church in the city; became it's own episcopal parish, independent of trinity church, with the help of legal aid by alexander hamilton; and has supported the arts since the 1800's.

 waiting for the house to open . . catherine gallant had her company perform several of her recent pieces, followed by several of her reconstructions of the works of isadora duncan (dances by isadora). she studied with julia levien, who was a student of one of isadora's adopted daughters, and is considered one of the foremost experts on her dances along with lori belilove (who chanda also studied with from age five to age twelve). 

 the girls performed valse brilliante on their own, and presto with the company.

valse brilliante, music by chopin (photo by melanie futorian) (c is second from the left)

 presto, music by beethoven (photo by melanie futorian) (c is second from the left)

same dance as above with c the first person on the left (photo by melanie futorian)

time for an ice cream treat . . 

violin practice and lesson pages and asian desserts

i still get to hear the violin around the apartment. i don't think it's been as much fun for chanda this year as she hasn't been playing with an orchestra or with a chamber group. we didn't sign her up for the music school that she had attended since she was five. however, she did continue with her teacher all year . . well, until now. she hasn't had a lesson since march and i'm hoping that we can still do three or four more to finish the current piece that he gave her to work on. she's been busy, her teacher has been busy, and it's been difficult to schedule lesson times. we're supposed to call him next week when his schedule is less hectic to make plans for the summer. i hope it works out.

completed lesson pages that need to be sewn into a book.

 watercolor paintings . . 

 that will be added also.

 hermione is ever hopeful that food will magically appear in her bowl whenever i step into the kitchen.

 i've been enjoying the aroma of the linden trees . . i love this time of year.

 walking along sixth avenue . . 

 the "pamphlet guys." i keep running into them today. they're posting signs everywhere in the village that say "no parking on sunday." it's the annual gay pride parade.

 chanda had a 4:30 runthrough for her isadora duncan dance concert tonight. before attending the event, my friend janet and i visited a cafe where we had green tea ice cream with chocolate matcha lava cake. unfortunately, i didn't like it very much. i thought the green matcha stuff that came oozing out looked like dragon vomit. i like matcha tea . . but not in my chocolate dessert. however, it is all the rage now in the city.

there was a beautiful sky this evening on our way to st. mark's church on the bowery for the dance performance.

splish splash

 chanda had a field trip with our homeschooling group today. she went with several of our friends out to long island to the splish splash amusement water park. they all had a fabulously raucous and fun time. ha! i find this photo of them looking at the world through their cell phones very amusing!

after the sunny, hot and wet day, they stopped for ice cream in riverhead.

 the mamas enjoying their cones and their talk.

i think this photo of chanda and her friend is incredibly funny (to me c looks like a creature from another planet). her friend's attitude seems to say:

"yes, this is my friend chanda. yes, she may seem a bit odd, but we humor her."

breakfast with nana

morgana and i had breakfast with nana this morning before getting in the car and driving home. we brought jelly donuts and hard boiled eggs to her assisted living apartment, which we sliced and added salt and pepper too. it's so nice to hear the two of them laugh together and share their own little secrets.

in connecticut

morgana had off from the restaurant today, so we hopped in the car and drove to connecticut. my poor sister has been battling gypsy moth caterpillars. they've eaten all the leaves on the oak trees and discarded all their little brown pellet droppings all over her driveway and back deck. when you stand outside, the caterpillars fall from the tops of the trees and crawl along the deck railing. it's very unpleasant. she says it's an improvement from when they were crawling along the window screens.

 making lemonade.

 enjoying the eventide . . 

 here is an after dinner tea flower that morgana brought back from thailand. you add hot water and the corn flower and jasmine leaves slowly unfold.

we also had fudges popsicles from whole foods that my mom requested (morgana and i had taken her there for lunch). 

 special painted coconut bowls from thailand; gifts for my sister and i.

 candies that she saw being made in the bangkok mall. 

 they piece together the design and then stretch it very thin and cut it into small cylinders.

it was a wonderful dinner together.

solstice monday: twelfth night and midsummer madness

 our peonies are . . aging . . 

solstice breakfast: salmon and capers and fresh dill . .

 it was such a busy day. chanda left early to rehearse for her twelfth night performance while morgana and i got ready to have our friends over for lunch. korrina stopped by also and picked up two books about hiking and driving scenic roads upstate.

 this book listed common wildflowers and also favorite ice cream shops. good combination! she's very excited because she has a week's paid vacation coming up and is planning a fun road trip.

 lunch with our friends . . 

 we made anzac biscuits from our around the world cookbook (a recipe from australia).

 we miss have these two here in the city with us. chanda used to go over and read and knit with them every other week. they're eleven now and had lots of stories to tell us about their waldorf school friends and the books they've been reading and how they got their ears pierced.

 after we said good-bye it was time to get ready to go to uptown for the play performance. 

it was held in our friends' courtyard. 

play preparations. morgana has the script under her arm and i think she followed along in case someone needed a line.

they were a little worried since a few days ago they were still struggling, but today they were superb.

 the audience is ready.

 olivia with cesario (viola) and maria, who also played count orsino. olivia would don a trench coat and become antonio, friend to sebastian, viola's brother.

 malvolio in his yellow stockings and crossed gaiters (who also became sebastian with a different jacket). sir toby belch slinks behind malvolio with mischievous intent.

viola as cesario trying to defend herself from antonio's accusations.

poor viola . . being manhandled by sir toby belch who wants her to fight with the adorable sir andrew (played by the real life little sister of sir toby).

in act iii, scene iv, when viola as cesario claims not to know of the love sworn to olivia by her brother sebastian, olivia exclaims: "why, this is midsummer madness!" yes! what a perfect night to have performed this play on!

 fini! brava . . and what a relief . . 

 for all the drama i've heard about trying to memorize lines and trying to find a performance space and trying to find time when everyone could meet, they did a great job. we all enjoyed the performance and it looked like they were having a great time too. (it's been two years since they diid macbeth.)

we had a really nice potluck get together afterwards, but greg was very tired and happy to come home. we walked home beneath the light of an incredibly full and beautiful strawberry moon.