Blog Monday, March 14, 2005
OK, boys and girls, thanks to fotki.com, I can now email the photos I take with my cell phone straight to this album:
http://rpungin.fotki.com/cell and the photos will automatically appear there in reverse chronological order. So bookmark that URL to see where I am roaming around with my cell phone.
I also added the Cell Phone link to the Photos section of my website. Clicking on that link will bring you to the cell phone album. Saturday, March 12, 2005
Today I hosted a DDR party. This was the first party where I actually had a competition going. Unfortunately I did not keep accurate track of scoring. Also for next time I will take into account several nice suggestions from Kerrie how to improve the scoring system. But anyway, for this time, congratulations to Joanna for taking the first place out of 10 people who came. As a prize she got the mysterious box. James took the second place and Kerrie took the third.
Below is a short video clip of DDRing:
After several hours of DDR we broke into karaoke. Here is a clip of James and I doing the Russian classic Podmoskovnye Vechera (Moscow Nights)
PHOTOS
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Saturday, March 5, 2005 Every year the dancers of the Quadrille Ball give out the awards to the Junior Committee members. Here is my award this year:
And here is the award from last year. Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Today Yahoo is celebrating its 10th birthday and any registered Yahoo user can get a free ice cream. Sunday, February 27, 2005
Since the Plaza is closing in couple of months, a group of Quadrillers met up for the traditional Afternoon Tea at the Palm Court. This was my first time experience. It costs $35 for a kettle of tea and a couple of trays full of sandwiches and deserts... for six people. The service was lousy too. I guess since they are closing soon, they don't care to maintain good reputation. But still, it's nice to be in a sumptuous place like this and listen to the sounds of a live harp player.
Oh, and I recommend to make a reservation to avoid waiting in line.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Serena is the "godmother" of bellydance in New York. She has been teaching and choreographing bellydance shows for more than 35 years. Kerrie used to perform with her dance troupe and today we went to a show put together by its current members. Unfortunately I could not take pictures or video during the show to capture a great exhibition of middle eastern dance and costumes. However you can get an idea from these videos taken at the Plaza Hotel Grand Balloom a while ago:
During the intermission we took some photos with Kerrie's former "co-workers".
Show Brochure:
I highly recommend to see this show. Check out Serena's Website for more information. Friday, February 18, 2005
Kerrie's "Velvet & Silk" Birthday Party 2005
Once again Kerrie threw another fabulous party for her birthday. Just like last year, it took place at a Waldorf Towers luxury suite. The dress code for the party was "Velvet & Silk". All gentlemen had to come wearing something made of velvet and ladies had to wear something made of silk. Thanks to Kerrie's party, I got my first velvet jacket in my waredrobe.
Kerrie served hot and cold hors doeuvres as well as a veriety of juices. The complete menu of what was served at the party is here.
Pop Quiz
This party was yet another proof that you don't have to have alcohol to have fun. Kerrie has carefully planned all of the party activities. The first one was a quiz testing the guest how well they know the birthday girl. If you did not go to the party and know Kerrie, you can still take the quiz. Among all of the guests I got the highest score of 16 points My prize was an amazing box of chocolates.
Charades
We then proceeded to play Charades. If you don't know what that game is, you can click here for the description of the game that Kerrie put together for her birthday party last year. Kerrie had chosen a specific Charade title for every guest based on some characteristic of the guest. She put them in fancy golden colored envelopes sealed with hot wax. Everyone did an amazing job guessing the titles. The fact that the titles were specific to each person actually helped. I guessed James' song as soon as he specified the category :).
Birthday Dance
Then it was a time for the traditional Birthday Dance where several people cut in to dance with the birthday girl. This year Kerrie chose Tchaikowsky's "Sleeping Beauty Waltz" as her birthday dance song. Several guys who came to the party had taken Kerrie's waltz class that she tought to Quadrille Ball dancers. Now was the time to test out their skills. Traditionally dancers just randomly cut in to dance with the birthday girl, but this time Kerrie had preassigned the order of all dancers. Some people violated the order though trying to cut in by bribing others. Kerrie also choreographed the opening of the dance with some nice lifts. I was put at the end of the line up to hopefully come up with a grand finale. We did not rehearse anything prior to the dance, but I was able to dip her right on the last beat of the song, although it took couple of extra spins...
Birthday Cake
After the dance we worked up the appetite for the Birthday Cake. Concurring to the theme of the party, it was the "Red Velvet" cake from the famous Magnolia Bakery. With all of our fun and excitement, we managed to have the neighbors pound on the wall, so we decided to sing "Happy Birthday" in the bedroom which was further away from the annoyed neighbors.
How Well Do You Know Kerrie's Legs?
I've heard a saying "Legs are a woman's passport". This next game was about to prove it. We had all girls (and some boys) sit on the bed with their skirts/trousers raised up. A blindfolded guy had to identify Kerrie's legs by touch. He could not go above the knee though.
Twister
The remainder of the party we spent playing Twister. For those who don't know, here is the description of the game that Kerrie came up last year.
Kerrie and Yan were the most flexible. No matter what combinaions were called out, they could do it.
Miscellaneous Photos
Here are some miscellaneous photos from the party. All of the guests walked away with a party favors bag. One of the items was a Kerrie's favorite songs CD.
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Sunday, February 13, 2005
Finally New York Dialy News published the article on the 45th Annual Quadrille Ball which took place 4 weeks ago at the Plaza Hotel. The article appeard in February 13, 2005 issue of 25 Hours Magazine which is included with the Sunday edition of the paper. On the left is the photo of Kerrie and I that was published with the article. The photo is Copyright 2005 by Trackstar Photography LLC.
Entire Article
Friday, February 11, 2005
"No pissed off debutants...":
were the last words of the deb mistress as the debutants and their escorts were about to go to the Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom for the presentation at the 53rd annual Piarist Ball organized by the Hungarian group called the Piarist Alumni Association.
Some of my friends from the Quadrille Ball were escorting the debutants as part of the ball's tradition. I went over to the parlor where all of them hanged out before the appearance at the ball. Several of the escorts and color guards were from a naval academy, so I got to try out their head pieces which were quite popular among the others too. At around 10 o'clock, the deb mistress gave them the aforementioned words of wizdom and they went off to perform their show.
Compared to other balls that I've been to at the Plaza this one was kinda boring. The attendance was very poor, the decorations were mediocre. Except for the debutants, their escorts, and a couple of my Quadrille friends, everyone was old. Since this was our last ball at the Plaza because of its closing, Kerrie and I explored every single parlor on the floor and took pictures. Some of them I put in my Plaza Tribute album. When we went into Kerrie's favorite room where she likes to take naps, we discovered a secret compartment in the middle bench. It was full of notes from women that have come to the powder room over the years! Many of them claimed that they were princesses. Hmm, something tells me they were a little nuts...
All Photos Friday, February 4, 2005
Today I went to the Chinese New Year Global Gala held at the Madison Square Garden Theater. About 5,000 people attended this show of music and dance performances celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year. The show was televised to an estimated 200 million people around the world on New Tang Dynasty TV.
The reason I attended the show is because Kerrie was performing in one of the acts. She had joined a Chinese dance company - Tianjiao Performing Arts Troupe - to perform in this show and has been rehearsing for two months. She was part of a dance routine performed by 26 girls with handheld Chinese fans. The piece was called "The Unblemished Lotus". In Chinese culture, lotus flowers have been known since ancient times to be a representation of extraordinary character and beauty despite unfavorable surroundings or adverse circumstances. This dance routine shows how these flowers express purity and spiritual elevation. Choreography by Elly Xu. Here is the video:
and here are the video frame captures.
Article About Rehearsal.
Besides Kerrie's performance, the show featured many other renowned artists from around the world. The presentation was a mixture of traditional Chinese and Western cultures. Here are the photos from the event.
 Streaming Video Of The Entire Show: From Chinese newspaper "Epoch Times"
( English Translation)
- Part 1 (30 min 15 sec)
- "Magestic Thunders" - By the New Tang Dynasty Flags and Drums Troupe & YingTang Lions and Dragons Troupe. Choreographer: Yu-Min Wan. Gala begins with thundering drums and a dynamic formation of flags bearers. A show of strength to shake off the darkness and awaken a new dawn.
- "Legend of the Lunar New Year" - By the Fairy Dance Group. Choreographer: Chian-Rong Guo. This is a story about how the tradition of celebrating the Chinese New Year (Nian) started. A long time ago, a monster named "Nian" used to come out and attack people at the same time every year. One year, a monk came and he used firecrackers, a couplet on a red banner, and light to successfully subdue the monster. Since then, these same activities have become traditions of the Chinese New Year celebration.
- "Little Blue Flowers" - By Tysan Dance. Choreographer: Ty San. This dance uses a Western style to express a Chinese girl's hopes in life. The rotations in the dance represent teh motions of the universe.
"Longing for My Homeland", "Ode to teh Plum Blossom" - By soprano Min Jiang, piano accompaniment: Changzi Ma. "Longing for my Homeland" reflects on the ups nad downs in the ever-changing world and yearns for an eternal home. "Ode to teh Plum Blossom" - Northerly winds blow and snowflakes fall, but the will is stronger than steel and does not yield; its everlasting pure nature dispels delusion, its fresh fragrance ushers in the spring. - "Dai-Style Dance" - By National Taiwan University Of Art. Choreographer: Lin-Lin Yang. A rhythmic, unique and cheerful dance depicting teh Dai ladies' intimate connection with nature.
- Part 2 (29 min 55 sec)
- "Dai-Style Dance" continued.
- "You'll Never Walk Alone", "I Believe" - By bass vocalist Christian Bischoff, piano accompaniment: Changzi Ma. "You'll Never Walk Alone": When you walk through a storm, keep your chin up high, and don't be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm, is a golden sky, and the sweet silver song of a lark.... "I Believe": I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows; I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows...
- "Turning Iron Rod into Needle" - By Tysan Dance. Choreographer: Yungyung Tsuai. This mini theatrical act tells a riveting tale of perseverance behind a well-known Chinese proverb, whereby a self-cultivator in ancient times is devastated by failing a test. But Bodhisattva, in her compassion, transforms herself into an old lady and lets him know that the path to enlightenment is like making a needle from an iron rod - a long and sometimes difficult process. The cultivator is given new hope.
- "Simple Gift", "Ode to the Lotus" - By the Dessoff Choirs. Conductor: James Bagwell, piano accompaniment: Steven W. Ryan. "Simple Gift": The simple beauty of this song reflects the life of it's creators, the 18th century Shakers, whose lives were materially simple but spiritually rich. The song's lively rhythm vividly captures the Shakers' dances during their worship service. "Ode to the Lotus": In Chinese culture, the lotus flower symbolizes the qualities that enable a person to go above and beyond the mundane to achieve an unearthly beauty.
- Part 3 (30 min 15 sec)
- "Simple Gift", "Ode to the Lotus" continued.
- "Buddha's Light Shines On Us" - By Lian Hua (Lotus) Arts Group. Choreographer: Tia Zhang. For thousands of years, the Chinese people have had a tradition of worshipping the divine on Chinese New Year's Day, seeking answers in life and expressing gratitude that they are being watched over.
- "Song of Celebration", "Like a Dream" - By the New Tang Dynasty Global Gala Chinese instrument Ensemble. Conductor: I-Yu Wang. "Song of Celebration" - Celebrations among the Chinese are often graced with music. This piece contains all the classic characteristics of a festive musical piece. "Like a Dream" - The Chinese title of this piece is the title of a traditional Chinese tune, which has inspired many poems over the centuries. in a poetic style, this piece contemplates the meanings behind the mundane world and takes us to a different realm.
- "At This Unforgettable Moment", "The River Runs Red" - By Tenor Guimin Guan. "At This Unforgettable Moment": The singer/composer expresses his wish to share with the people of his homeland his belief about life and the universe. "The River Runs Red": Written by the well-known General Yue Fei (1103-1141) of the Southern Song Dynasty, expresses the general's righteous indignation about not being able to drive the northern enemies as a result of the emperor's selfish decision. The lyrics were matched with the present tune in 1925 and became a patriotic song.
- Part 4 (29 min 49 sec) (Kerrie is in this one at 05:40)
- Magic Act: "The Chinese Linking Rings" - By Robert Torkova. One of the classics of magic, The Chinese Linking Rings has long been a fascination of the West after its introduction from the East in the latter part of the 19th century. A feat of pure sleight-of-hand, many famous magicians have performed it with great success. Watch Torkova interpret this enduring masterpiece of magic with his own unique style and presentation!
- "The Unblemished Lotus" - By the Tianjiao Performing Arts Troupe. Choreographer: Elly Xu. In the Chinese culture, lotus flowers have been known since ancient times to be a representation of extraordinary character and beauty despite unfavorable surroundings or adverse circumstances. In this dance, we see how these flowers express purity and spiritual elevation.
- "Song From A Prison Cell", "Push-Back Diagram - A Chinese Prophecy" - By alto vocalist Jiansheng Yang. Piano accompaniment: Changzi Ma. "Song from a Prison Cell" expresses the inner peace, hope and resilience of the songwriter, a Falun Gong practitioner, who has been wrongfully imprisoned. "Push-Back Diagram - a Chinese Prophecy" is a famous 7th-century book of prophecies from the Tang Dynasty. Many of its prophecies are regarded as having accurately predicted major events in contemporary history. It is a reminder that "the rises and falls of societies are not random".
- "Amazing Grace", "Carnival of Venice" - By Empire Brass Quintet. "Amazing Grace" - On May 10, 1748 John Newton was in danger, trapped at sea by a storm. As his ship was about to sing, Newton prayed; the storm disappeared, and so did Newton's disbelief: "Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come." Who wrote the pentatonic tune of this famous hymn remains a mystery. The tune first appeared with Newton's lyrics in the 1831 Virginia Harmony. The "Carnival of Venice" theme and variations (op. 10) was composed by the legendary violinist Paganini in December 1829. Since then, it has remained one of the most popular works of classical music and has been adapted for different instrumental ensembles. Variations also continue to be written for the theme of the piece.
- Part 5 (30 min 15 sec)
- "Amazing Grace", "Carnival of Venice" continued.
- "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" - By Ying Tang Dance Company. Choreographer: Pi-Chuan Chen. The Eight immortals are extremely popular in Chinese folk traditions representing male and female, young and old, rich and poor. They each have their hallmark appearances and amazing prowess. Since they were committed to punishing evildoers and helping the good, they are often associated with bringing salvation to the world and hope to the underprivileged.
- "Warm Wishes For The New Year", "Sending Blessings To My Homeland" - By soprano Bai Xue. "Warm Wishes For The New Year" - This song expresses the singer's deepest thoughts and wishes for her loved one in her homeland. "Sending Blessings To My Homeland" - This is a message of fondness and hoe when distance keeps us apart at this special time of the year.
- Part 6 (29 min 36 sec) (A very impressive dance with long ribbons)
- "A Dreamful Dance of Grace" - By the National Taiwan University Of Art. Choreographer: Ying-Hsiu Lee. According to legends, a dance like this was dreamed of by an emperor in the Ming Dynasty, and it was an exquisite dance by the fairies in heaven. It is an expressive, profound and classic Chinese dance that requires superior skill to maneuver the ribbons.
- "Dragons Soar to the Drumbeat" - By YingTang Lion and Dragon Troupe & Tianjiao Performing Arts Troupe. Choreographer: Ying Tang. In the Chinese culture, dragons are auspicious beings in heaven, and lions are a sign of strength. In addition to dragon and lion dances, which are often performed during festive occasions, this dance incorporates Tang-style drums and formations of flags to bring this New Year celebration night to a spectacular and rousing finale.
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Monday, January 31, 2005
I got pleasantly surprised at work today by the CEO of my company when he told me that he saw my picture in today's newspaper New York Sun. Allthough I was in a meeting with the colleagues, he brought the paper in and I saw that it was a small blurb about the Viennese Opera Ball. The same reporter who published the Quadrille Ball article came to our dress rehearsal where she took this picture. Here is the scan of the whole article.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Videos:
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Viennese Opera Ball in New York. As always, the ball took place in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel. This year's proceeds went to Special Olympics. The founder of the Special Olympics in 1968, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was present at the event and was honored by the Austrian Government.
I was the part of the 15-couple ensemble who performed Viennese waltz choreography for the opening of the ball. Our dress rehearsal took place the day before and today we were back in the hotel to get ready for the show. It was a long day. I got to the hotel at around 5 PM running straight from the office. All women had scheduled the appointments with the professional hair stylist starting from 2 PM! Then they had to put on their makeup with the help of a professional makeup artist. The dinner would not be served until 9:30 PM, so good thing we had the usual snacks in the ladies' dressing room. The men's dressing room had a different kind of snacks that some of the men were consuming while the ladies were getting ready. I enjoyed hanging out in the ladies dressing room watching them getting down to the funky music coming from an I-Pod with portable speakers.
At around 6:30 PM we went to the Grand Ballroom, which was still undergoing the setup, to run through our performance with the live band. The music played live was quite different to the recording that we all got used to. It took some time until Teddy was comfortable with what the band was doing with the music. After running through the routine couple of times, we went back to our dressing rooms to put on the gowns and tails.
At around 8:15 we were all dressed up and took a final group photo before the performance. Then we went to a corridor behind the ballroom to wait for our turn to come out and do our performance. The dignitaries marched through the ballroom, the Austrian and American national anthems were played and then the ballet dancers performed their number. After they were done, we said our last prayers and marched out on the dance floor to start our performance.
The performance itself was a blur for me. After running through the routine so many times, it was on auto-pilot. To the best of my knowledge I did not mess anything up. I wish I had my friends videotape the performance from the balcony so I don't have to wait until the professional videographer comes up with the video.
After our bow, the announcer invited the audience to join us in a traditional Viennese waltz. As soon as he did so, my partner and I rushed into freestyle waltzing to take advantage of the space on the dancefloor until it was completely occupied by the ball patrons with hardly any space to move.
We had been instructed to stop dancing at some point and the ladies were supposed to go back to the dressing room and change out of the performance dresses into their own gowns. The gentlemen were supposed to go straight to the dining tables on the balcony and sit down so that the waiters know to serve us dinner. So I went up to the balcony and hung out with some friends at the table. The dinner seemed quite tasty, maybe because it was around 9:30 and I have not eaten since lunch.
After we ate, Kerrie and I came back down to the dancefloor to dance the waltz and amazingly the Peter Duchin and his Orchestra seamlessly blended various songs non-stop for 11.5 minutes. Phew... it was exhausting. They really should have more defined breaks between songs so that people could stop and take a break from dancing. Otherwise it's awkward to stop dancing in the middle of the song.
After some general dancing the announcer told everyone to take their seats for the performance which is open the same way every year - a horse driven carriage with opera singers. This year they were Alyson Cambridge, soprano and Dimitri Pittas, tenor - members of the Lindermann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. They sang three arias after which dancing resumed.
At midnight Heinz Heidenreich, artistic director of the Vienna State Opera who flew in to New York just for the ball, conducted the Quadrille dance that was performed by the patrons of the ball. It was a very confusing experience because no one really knew what they were supposed to be doing. But it was fun nevertheless.
At some point later there was a performance by Dr. Ronan Tynan and the Special Olympics Chorus. Mr. Tynan had a very good voice that could be heard from the loudspeakers, but the microphones next to the chorus members appeared to be off...
At around 1 AM dancing in the grand ballroom stopped and everyone went to the afterparty called Tanz Bar that was held in the rooms across the corridor. There was a live swing band in Jade Room, DJ Music in Astor Room and coffee house in Basildon Room. They were serving some authentic Austrian food as well. The party went on until 4 o'clock.
Links:
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Ball Program Pages
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Thursday, January 27, 2005
On Friday, January 28, 2005, I will be performing at the Viennese Opera Ball in New York. I will be part of a 15-couple choreographed group waltz. The choreography is very beautiful and fast-paced, whipping around the ballroom with lots of turns and twirls in costume. Besides our waltz performance, there will also be opera singers, and ballet dancers. Our waltz performance was choreographed by Teddy Kern, the co-owner of Dance Manhattan Dance Studio. She's been the choreographer of the Viennese Opera Ball in New York for 27 years. To participate in the performance one needed to audition for the Viennese waltz skills. The audition took place on November 7th, 2004. Since then we had rehearsals on weekends lasting from 2 to 4 hours.
The day before the ball the dress rehearsal took place at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. The actual ball will take place in the Grand Ballroom, but the dress rehearsal was held in the Astor Room because the Grand Ballroom was occupied by another event. The dress rehearsal was open to the public free of charge. It was supposed to start at 8:30 PM, but we had to arrive to the hotel by 7 to have plenty of time to put on our costumes.
Although Kerrie and I were not partners for this performance, we killed some time by practicing in the hallway and videotaped us to see what it would look like:
As usual, the guys were dressed before the girls and while waiting Mike told us about the performance back in 2001 when both American and Austrian couples were dancing together. BUT... they only rehearsed together on the day before the ball at the dress rehearsal. Before that the Austrians were practicing the choreography from a video tape that was sent to them. Here is an excerpt from the narrative:
Finally the girls dressed in "marshmellow" dresses came out and we proceeded to the Astor room for the rehearsal:
First the opera singers did their number, followed by the ballet couple and then it was our turn. While we were waiting out in the corridor there were a bunch of photographers who were assigned to take photos at the event in the Grand Ballroom, but they found it much more interesting to take photos of us dressed up in gowns and tails. Several of us showed off our moves infront of the cameras.
The Astor room was full of spectators. There were even not enough chairs for everyone. Both the ballet couple and us ran through our routines twice. Here is the video of our performance:
Then we hung out for a little while with our friends who came to see us. At the end we took a group photo of everyone in the cast.
Photos
Related Links:
Saturday, January 22, 2005
These beautiful collages were designed by Erin. Thank you so much!
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Photos
Videos:
Raphael and Kerrie
Links:
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Found these on a friend's blog and decided to take them myself. Here are my results:
 Tuesday, January 18, 2005 Well this has been the last Quadrille post-rehearsal party for this ball season. The ball is this Saturday.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Don't be fooled. This is not a photo taken at a ballroom dance social. This is actually the Quadrille Ball post-rehearsal party, but it was quite a unique one indeed. Throughout my 5 years of being involved in the Ball, if there was any dancing at the weekly post-rehearsal parties, it was generally booty shakin' to house and hip hop music. But the beginning of this party was unbelievable. Someone put on the CD of Strauss, and before you know it the floor was full of people dancing waltz... Wow, I did not know that Kerrie's waltz lessons would provide such an influence.
After about 10 minutes though, people snapped out of it and got back to the regular post rehearsal party dancing. Here is the video:
The cool thing about this party is that it was held in a large art gallery, which at the same time was a private residence. The host of the party gave us a small intro where he mentioned that he on purpose did not have any dividers in his "apartment" to provide as much open space as possible.
Sunday, January 9, 2005 Today was the Quadrille Ball all-day (10 AM - 5 PM) rehearsal at The Plaza. All girls were wearing the hoop skirts that go underneath something that looks like this.
Here is a short video clip of the waltz practice to the accompaniment of Emery Davis with selected members of his orchestra.
The 45th Annual Quadrille Ball will take place on January 22nd, just 13 days left!
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