Today I went to a performance by the dance group Bellyqueen. A friend of mine Julia was part of this performance. This was an amazing show with some very talented dancers. As the name of the group suggests, the greatest part of the show consisted of bellydancing. The techique of the dancers was amazing. In addition to traditional bellydance moves, they also incorporated a lot of "popping" which is dancing that resembles a robot (or more like a wind-up doll in this case). The popping catalists of the group are Tiny Love and Hypno - one of the best popping dancers in New York. They had their own popping act in the show. The dancers moved totally in synch with the music and it sometimes appeared that they played the musical instruments with their bodies.
Speaking of the music, it was really diverse. From James Bond theme, to Arabic, to drum solos. I wish I could videotape some of the dancing, but they prohibited any video or photo shooting during the performance. Click on the photo to see more photos taken after the performance.
Today Diane has enchanted Dance Chelsea dance studio with the Valentine's Spirit by organizing the Valentine's Day Social sponsored by the New York chapter of USA Dance.
Big fun was had by all. There was plenty of snacks including yummy cupcakes and drinks (non-alcoholic!). We played musical-chairs Tango, and a word puzzle. The winners got to take home a teddy bear. Birthday boy Joey got a special treat too!
Tonight we attended the 42nd annual Petroushka Ball held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. This is a charity ball benefitting the Russian Children's Welfare Society which raises money to help Russian disadvantaged children.
Angi rented out her favorite restaurant in New Rochelle to celebrate her birthday. We had some great food, drinks, singing, dancing, karaoke, performances and lots of laughs. Some of the party was captured on video to the right. Clayton managed to go out to the Moscow River to do some canoeing - watch Moscow Nights On The River video. Click on the picture below for photos:
The 47th annual Quadrille Ball took place at the Pierre Hotel today. I debuted in the ball in 2000 and was a member of the Junior Committee since then. This ball is one of the many charity balls that take place in Manhattan during the ball season which stars in October and ends in May of the subsequent year. But what sets this ball apart from the others is the Quadrille performance by the young people in their 20's. Prior to the performance at the ball they attend weekly rehearsals for about two and a half months during which they get to learn the 18th century court dance as well as socialize at the post-rehearsal parties. Everyone gets to know each other quite well and the night of the ball is the culmination of the good times had througout the rehearsals.
Today on a 70-degree winter's day I got to meet Kramer - the real one! Did you know that Seinfeld's character Kramer was inspired by a real person who's name is Kenny Kramer? He lived accross the hall from the show's creator Larry David and many episodes of the show were based on the actual events that happend in the lives of Larry and Kenny when they were friends and neighbors.
If you are Seinfeld fan, you will enjoy the Kramer Reality Tour during which he takes you on a bus around Manhattan visiting various landmarks where various episodes of the show took place. You will learn a lot of history about the show, hear a lot of inside stories and see a lot of behind-the-scenes clips.
This was my first time sitting in a tour bus going around Manhattan. And as I was watching the people outside walking doing their daily chores, it made me feel proud that actually I am part of them - the people living in this great city that all these tourists on the bus get to just admire for several days.
After the tour Kramer was kind enough to give everyone a free pass to Stand Up New York comedy club. We met up with some friends later and took advantage of it. I got a pretty good laugh that evening. The usage of the work f*ck and sh*t was a bit excessive though. Allthough the $20 admission was waved by the pass, we still had to pay $16 minimum per person for unlimited soft drinks.
Today Joanna, James and I attended the free concert of Christmas music at the St. Patrick's Cathedral. The program included three New York City choirs: Long Island Choral Society, Young People's Chorus of New York and The Cathedral of St. Patrick Choir. Each choir sang a set of Christmas hymns and at the end all three joined together for a powerful performance of O Holy Night and Hallelujah. Throughout the concert there were several times when the audience was asked to stand and sing familiar Christmas carols together with the choir. When listening to the music, I found it much better to close my eyes. This way there was no visual distruction and I could pay attention to every single nuance of the music. The concert culminated with dimming the lights and lighting up the candles to the sound of Silent Night.
Today Joanna and I went to see the Broadway musical Mamma Mia. Since both of us grew up in the countries where ABBA was very popular, we were both very excited to see this show. Out of the 22 ABBA songs that were included in the musical I did not know only 3. What was amazing to me how the author of the musical was able to integrate the songs into the story. Even thought the songs were written years before the musical, it seemed that they were written just for it. Here is the list of the songs in alphabetical order:
Chiquitita
Dancing Queen
Does Your Mother Know
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
Honey, Honey
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
I Have A Dream
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Lay All Your Love On Me
Mamma Mia
Money, Money, Money
One Of Us
Our Last Summer*
Slipping Through My Fingers*
S.O.S.
Super Trouper
Take A Chance On Me
Thank You For The Music
The Name Of The Game
The Winner Takes It All
Under Attack*
Voulez-vous
After seeing Mamma Mia, Joanna and I went to the closest diner to the theater. This turned out to be the one with more singing. This time the performers were the diner's waiting staff. They were singing into the wireless mics right in the middle of the tables. Sometimes they would sing at the same time as delivering food to the tables. Having singnig abilities is definitely the criteria to get hired in this diner. A warning though, this is not a place to have dinner and have a conversation. The singers are too loud for that.
I spent Thanksgiving in the comfort of Joanna's apartment. She cooked a very delicious 4-course dinner. We ate for 3 hours taking breaks between each course. Joanna feels sorry for all the turkeys that are killed for Thanksgiving and decided not to cook turkey. Instead she cooked a pumpkin soup, cold oriental noodle, Thai chicken dish, and an Apple crumble dessert. We also had a freshly squeezedapple juice from a special juice making machine that Joanna bought.
After dinner we watched the movie The Notebook. This movie is a real tear-jerker! I saw it for the second time and cried even more than when I saw it first. Knowing the end of the movie somehow made it even more touching.