NYC and Welbourne

Giselle Anguizola spent some time in NYC surrounding the Ashokan festival. Workshops in the city went well, we had a photo shoot with Lynn Redmile, and we got a lot of choreographic work done, but we also wore ourselves out. Immediately after Ashokan we had a gig at Welbourne, for which the usual suspect, Chance Bushman, was not available. Welbourne is a scarcely describable plantation home in Virginia, where Nat, the southernly, curmudgeonly, lord of lords, hosts parties to end parties. After a night of dancing, we stayed for a day of ol' swimming hole fun, followed by a legendary stickball game staffed by all the neighbors. Later that evening I was thrilled to tap with, and even join the remaining Loose Marbles (by that time, mostly Tuba Skinny folks plus Mr. Magro), playing a couple tunes on the piano! Reportedly none were offended. Then Giselle and I headed back to New York, for another intense week of mighty artistic mojo. What a month!!

Ashokan HELLO!

For more than thirty years, Ashokan has been home to a magical music and dance camp, sustained by the minds, hearts, intensions, and talents of multiple generations of artists. Nothing could have prepared me, or Giselle, for the profundity or the simplicity of what we experienced, visiting, hopefully joining, that peculiar Catskills tribe. We got to teach class, without an ipod, but astoundingly with the BEST of musicians, and we taught the Big Apple dance to a group of dancers with a twenty-year age span, and they ROCKED IT in performance! We gave an improvised performance to a Bebop rendition of Cherokee, which you can watch above. My deepest thanks to all involved.