Tag Archives: dance

Camp compendium

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It’s been a wonderful 2 weeks of Camp Sonnystone…make-it-and-bake-it, painting canvasses and birdhouses, tie-dying, music, and baking cookie-pops.  After we finished up all of our crafts, we visited the zoo and the museum, played mini-golf, and learned how to bet the horses at Ellis Park.  …  Here’s a look back…

At the Zoo…

Cookie Pops

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Singing and Dancing…

Every year we make a sign with our handprints on it…actually, not mine…  Last year we used Samantha’s footprint, but this year she thinks she’s a Big Girl, so we had her dip her hand in paint just like the Big Girls Do…

Our Theme this year was Dream.  Our motto was “If you can dream it, you can do it” (Walt Disney).  The new sign joined the other years’ efforts:  Peace, Love, and Joy.

Our Theme song is always the Camp Sonnystone Welcome Song, but we added a couple of new ones:  When you Wish Upon a Star, accompanied by piano.  From our handy-dandy YouTube, we added a couple of songs that required creative choreography:  Hall of Fame (The Script), and Try Everything (Shakira).

I love sharing Music and Dancing with the Kids.  Keeps me young… Except I threw my back out on Friday and am spending a bit of time each day with my heating pad and some ibuprofen…

Dance on, Friends….

dispatch from Manhattan

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It’s all about performance here at the Jose’ household.  Melissa is in rehearsals a Lot, readying for an upcoming performance with NY Philharmonic, “Jeanne d’Arc au Bucher” (Honegger), on June 10-13.

Emma’s Ceili (pronounced kaylee) was on Saturday, a fundraiser for her Irish dance school.  I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that she was superbly outstanding.  During one dance, she came leaping out so gracefully, so strong that the whole room took a collective breath and burst into applause.   However, the venue was too dark for a decent picture, especially since we were seated at the back of the room  (near the food and booze).  It was something like this, only real:

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I did manage to get a couple of pre-performance pictures…

The weather on the evening of the Ceili was the best I’ve seen in NYC in over a year, and I was glad to walk my happy ass the 30 blocks home after the show.  I Love walking in New York, and I’d had just enough Irish Drink to make me forget about that damn heel.  It’s getting better every day, anyway, and I think the walk did me a whole lot of good.

Last night was Eliza’s Pre-K 4 show, themed “We heart the 80’s”.  She had been practicing her moves for “Holiday”, the old-school-Madonna tune, but I was surprised that her group also sang, “The Greatest Love”…

Today is Eliza’s last day of school, so their Summer Vacation will officially begin.  We’ll walk the Park, stroll the museums, eat some hot dogs and ice cream, and enjoy a free week before we head back to Sonnystone.

 

 

 

January funk…

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I’ve been trudging through this week, staying up too late at night, oversleeping in the mornings, and napping too long in the afternoons.  My inner critic (that shrew) has been active, though, judging me for my inactivity.  I’ve spent an inordinate amount of thought-time missing my mom and dad, wishing my kids were still kids.  The water pipes in the kitchen froze.  I just couldn’t bring myself to blog…

Killing time on the internet, I’ve been reading some entertaining blogs.  The photos are wonderful, the content is pithy and/or funny as hell.  Instead of being inspired, out came the critic to compare and discourage.  So I drowned that bitch in a bottle of wine…

There’s only one thing to do about these January Blues:  Dance, brothers and sisters.

I betcha can’t Not Dance…

 

Pictures from Olivia’s Recital

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Saturday evening we enjoyed watching all the kids dance their little hearts out at the Shannon’s School of Dance Recital.     Our middle grand-daughter, Olivia, did a great job dancing to “foxy little disco girl”.

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odds and ends

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It was a quick day at the track…until the last race:  the winning horse stumbled and threw the jockey.  Jockey suffered concussion, taken to Eville, horse…well, we know how that ends.   I didn’t realize how many horses get put down in the course of a race season.  In theory I understand why it has to be done, but emotionally I can’t believe that there’s nothing else they can do.  Everybody cares about our equine friends, and they’re expensive animals, so why haven’t we come up with horse ankle replacements for these lovely (occasionally ornery) thoroughbreds?   It’s always a little bittersweet to cash a ticket on a dead horse, though I will today when I get to work…

The Casey, jrs.  met up with us for that last race and then we caravaned over to Henderson for the Bluegrass Festival.   The rain was pretty fierce when we first arrived, so we ate at MajorMunch.  By the time we’d chowed,  the skies had cleared and we listened to a couple of bands before bedtime.  One of them, Pokey LaFarge, was most certainly Not a bluegrass band.  Reminiscent of Leon Redbone, I enjoyed them, but I really came for some banjo, fiddle, mandolin—you get it…like Hot Day at the Zoo, who played in the rain, or Henhouse Prowlers…

 

The Bird…

I don’t know my bird names, but Olivia was entranced by this feathered fellow…

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I was amazed at his dancing…

 

Long train running….

Down around the corner, half-a-mile from here…see that long train run

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and then you watch it disappear….

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Without Love, where would you be now?

 

I leave you to ponder that musical question…I’m back to the track for the Gardenia Stakes.  Have a great day…

 

 

up all night…

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I can’t sleep.  I tossed and turned, told my brain to STFU, finally got up and have exhausted every bookmark on this computer.   I have an appointment in the morning, so it’s too late to take a chill-pill…I’m doomed…

Here’s some pictures of last night’s Blues Festival headliners, Voice of the Wetlands Allstars.   The Allstars are a group of New Orleans musicians pulled together by Tab Benoit to raise awareness of the erosion of the Gulf Coast wetlands (beginning before Katrina, actually).

The version visiting Henderson last night included Benoit on guitar; Cyril Neville belting some blues and playing percussion;  Johnny Sansone made the harmonica wail and played accordion for some zydeco;  legendary drummer Johnny Vidocovich; a remarkable bassist,  Corey Dupelchin;  Waylon Thibideaux playing an electric fiddle that was way cool;  and the cherry on the sundae:

 Big Chief Monk Beaudreaux brought it on home…

Boy-child, his lovely bride, and their precocious daughter were with us.  The weather was Ohio River Valley Summertime, complete with sweat and chiggers…Olivia loved the waterpark and I sure wished I could have cooled off with her…

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Charley and Lana were with us, as well…

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But, as always, my Twin Cousin, Ronna Lynn Loppnow, was the Life of the Party…

(Ronna lives down near Houston, TX and we don’t get to see her very often, so Lana and I try to take her with us when we’re having the Most Fun)

I guess I’d better try to get some rest…