It seems like I have always known about Shirley Temple. Oh! How I envied those ringlets. Being raised in a family where grandparents, aunts and uncles, and great aunts and uncles were always around, it seemed like the past was just as real and important as the present. Gossip about relatives and stories about saving […]
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There is a fine line between sexy and smutty. And so while I have a hard time with strippers, I adore burlesque. Perhaps it’s all the feathers, glitter, and bling. Or perhaps its the music. No matter, I am a fan of burlesque because it requires the performers to have a sophisticated persona and be […]
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True story – I insulted the Colombian singer Carlos Vives and didn’t even realize it. When I first moved to Miami – like day 3 – GAD and I were taking Lolita out for a walk and there was a man singing behind us. GAD said to me, “that’s Carlos Vives behind us.” I was […]
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It is no secret that I am a huge Norah Jones fan. Her latest album “Little Broken Hearts” has her same sound but with a lyrical edge. In fact, Norah gets positively murderous in “Happy Pills” and “Miriam.” I LOVE IT!
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The older I get, the more I realize that sass is less about attitude and more about survival and there is no artist that epitomizes that better than Liz Phair. Liz’s first album “Exile from Guyville” was an ambitious song-for-song dialogue with the Rolling Stone’s “Exile on Main Street” where she dared to use the […]
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Two years ago I was treated to the most amazing birthday present — a completely decadent night on the town in NYC. Early evening cocktails? Algonquin Hotel. Dinner? Chez Josephine. Theatre? Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away on Broadway. After-theatre drinks? Bubble Lounge. Is this not a day in heaven? This year my birthday will not […]
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I have been so pleased to see the self-disciplined, hip, and oh-so-talented Esperanza Spalding getting her spotlight lately. Thought I would share a clip of her and then branch out and show you some other folks that you might like. Enjoy! Here is ES performing “I Know You Know” Want to get your scat on? […]
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Catastrophic Theatre’s “Endgame”by Samuel Beckett has been a near sell out. Yes, there are people on waiting lists to see this show. How awesome is this? Unless you’re Samuel Beckett and the world is meaningless and so is fame, fortune, and notoriety. But I am not Samuel Beckett and so I am happy for Catastrophic […]
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When I leave the opera, I usually have one of the following reactions: so glad that it’s over because I need to stretch my legs and pump caffeine into my system, melancholic over lost, thwarted love, disconcerted by rampant misogyny, or the need to talk-sing full gust while concurrently jumping into the air down a […]
Read more "A little sing-talk in the your step: HGO’s Rape of Lucretia"
In honor of my on-going, dramatic, hacking cough that makes me sound more like a dying opera character than a girl who is ready to go salsa dancing at a moment’s notice, I offer you a round about of Puccini’s La Boheme, whose Mimi dies of TB in one of the world’s most popular operas. […]
Read more "Why does Tuberculosis make such good music? A deconstruction of La Boheme"After a night of imbibing in the style of an 18th century Spanish aristocrat, I continued my search for amor Espana today by meeting up with the foremost Spanish Lover — Don Giovanni and his performance with MetOpera. Mariusz Kwiecie – a truly hot Polish tenor – made poet shirts and tights seem as irresistable […]
Read more "The Ultimate Nooner: Don Giovanni at Met Opera HD"As trite as it sounds, so much of life is about dance — the hard work, the memorization, trusting people, negotiating, getting hurt, small moments of applause. One of the most powerful dance performances I ever saw was the Batsheva Dance Company at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2009 with GAD and DC. The dancers were incredible. […]
Read more "The real Gaga in Austin soon: Batsheva Dance Company"Taking a break from art and my multi-post coverage of the Texas Contemporary Art Fair, wanted to share my current soundtrack, Rachael Yamagata’s “Chesapeake.” I found Rachael about two years ago when iTunes recommended her album “Elephants … Teeth Sinking Into Heart.” This album is actually a “two in one” and includes a rock and […]
Read more "Forlorn but not weeping: Rachael Yamagata’s Chesapeake"Not to be scary but Tori Amos has been a huge part of my growing up process. Her classical, angst-ridden sensibilities were perfect for my tragic-ballerina adolescence. Little Earthquakes taught my best friend and me how to speak up. Under the Pink made me aware that my singular voice was situated within a vaster context. Boys for Pele demanded that […]
Read more "Thank you for getting your orchestra on: Tori Amos — Night of Hunters"Like Barbara Mandrell, I was a dancer when dancing wasn’t cool. In the 1990’s dancewear wasn’t acceptable going to the grocery store attire and dance shoes were more function than fashion. But now, dancing is everywhere: So you think you can dance, Dancing with the Stars and, I have recently found The League of Extraordinary Dancers or, as us […]
Read more "Is The LXD the new Swan Lake?"
Jeanette Joy Harris 