Word of the week: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, 26 letters that spell a word that means examination of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. It was learned while I was undergoing a procedure that is far more pleasant than the prep. I’ve spared you photographs.
Studio 5 at City Center: Damian Woetzel hosts a series that examines various aspects of dance. The series is held in a space that reminds me of a high school auditorium. It holds about 200 people. On Sept. 24 he introduced Analia Centurion and Gabriel Misse. Both are extraordinary tango dancers. They demonstrated how the tango has changed over the years. According to Mr. Misse, the 1950s were the golden age of the tango. You can’t see Ms. Centurion’s very high heels.
Gabriel Misse watches Damian Woetzel and Analia Centurion dancing
Damian Woetzel, Gabriel Misse, Analia Centurion
Off to the Met to see the Balthus show.He’s so much an artist of his time, so European, so bourgeois – even his landscapes seem interior. The artist’s focus on naked young girls gave one of my friends the creeps.
Balthus’s The Cat of La Mediterranee
And, finally, a bouquet from Lila Acheson Wallace’s bequest to the Metropolitan to contribute fresh flower arrangements.
There were glorious fireworks on Sept. 19. They were as good as the ones on July 4th, but no one can tell me what they were in honor of. What was the occasion? It was a full moon but so what.
The bride and her father
The Father of the Bride, the Bride and the Groom
The fireworks were nothing compared with the beautiful wedding I attended in Bucks County. Near the banks of the Delaware is a beautiful farm house with an oxblood red barn. Only a few minutes late thanks to the Pulaski Skyway, we sauntered across the lawn, greeting different family members not seen in years. We were gently herded passed a shimmering pool and the jazz band. Then, the ceremony began. The bride floated across an open field toward the groom and us. It was in Spanish and English, adding an inclusiveness to the occasion. The rain had the good manners to hold off until late in the evening. By then we were fortified by great company, delicious food, a heavenly setting and an open bar.
New York has switched into high cultural gear. From music and drama: Juilliard, Carnegie Hall, New York City Ballet to architecture and history: Municipal Arts Society, the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation.
At Judson Memorial Church’s The Gym, Al Carmine’s THE BONUS ARMY is being performed. This photo is of Tony Perry, one of the wonderful singers and dancers in the production.The contortionist at the piano is the production state manager, Morgan Eisen.
Morgan Eisen
Tony Perry Cutting a Rug
Here’s Elijah Tucker, the Rock and Soul musician, giving an impromptu West Village performance on The Backpacker.
Uptown has the semi-annual fashion week. Downtown has the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit.The former was started in 1943 during WWII. Since the fashion world couldn’t get to Paris, New York fashion invented the Press Week. The art exhibit is 83 years old. It too is held twice yearly, two weeks around Labor Day and two weeks around Memorial Day. Centered around University Place. with tourists, NYU students and the
Washington Square Art Show
Glass for sale!
Union Square crowds from the north bustling past, it’s a busy area.
Remember the song, “Autumn in New York”? It might have been written before Lincoln Center was merely a twinkle in some developer’s eye and when Broadway was the glitzy, glamorous place to be seen, but the song’s lyrics still ring true even if cultural events are now shared by the two locations. One of the most prestigious of the Lincoln Center organizations is Juilliard. You know it’s fall, when you receive your on-line Juilliard catalog.
Want to hear French? Go to the Guggenheim. Want to be part of the Millennium generation? Go to the Guggenheim. The building’s architecture means more to me than its exhibits. I get a thrill romping up the white painted rotunda’s incline, poking into niche exhibits and then looking down from the top at the circles I’ve just climbed. The James Turrell exhibit has drawn such large crowds that looking down from the top tier was impossible. So I contented myself with shooting a photo of people basking in the irridescent colors of Turrell’s other world- E. T. installation.
Sun bathing at the Guggenheim
This is the time of year the Y does its spring cleaning. The pool is emptied, cleaned and then refilled with 180,000 gallons of water.
Now you see it.
