Our former student is going to school in NY. An accomplished trombonist, it is his generosity of spirit and willingness to engage with the community that makes him such a notable alum.
I would have balked if a former teacher reached out to me when I was in college. I needn’t have worried, I was never the kind of student who would inspire such a reaching out. Ehren however graciously takes some time to meet up, and on my way home Sunday with bags in tow I settle into a seat in the back of a Juilliard theatre and with enormous pride get to hear our former student play the trombone.
As a surprise and gift before the performance he extends to me and Chaltin tickets for the upcoming Juliard Senior Dance Production.
This will be a life-changing and life-affirming event!
I have little exposure to dance before this, especially contemporary dance. I am floored! As excited as I have been about opera, I just discovered how special dance also can be and I want more.
The dancers make me think of two sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One has been eroded on one side by external pressures while the other has puffed cheeks like Dizzy Guillespi, the result of internal pressure. Time has made them a metaphor. We are changed from within and without.
Dance is not just the body in space and time, it is a response to internal and external pressures. It is a moving metaphor: To close or to open, to avoid or attack, to interact or isolate. The dancers tonight demonstrate these interactions with creative variation.
The physicality of the dancers is humbling, I avoid mirrors for a week. What moves me more than this raw strength paired with grace is the trust between the dancers to be so vulnerable with one another. How do they do that? Humbled again.
Chaltin see’s influences from Pina Bausch and Martha Graham and I’m impressed with her knowledge… These names are new to me.
This experience put dance on my radar more than ever before and we’ve seen quite a few since. I’ll try to fill in the details for them at a later time.
Giselle
Swan Lake
The Nutcracker
Agon
Orpheus
NY Expo Opus Jazz
Songs from the Spirit
Apollo
The Cage
Deco
Fall for Dance: Marc Bradford, Dyptik, Karl l’engrange, Sishing the Ballet, Malew
Fall for Dance: Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Sara Mearns and Taylor Stanley
Belles-Letters
Firebird
La Bayadere