Author Archives: jsl915@aol.com

I LOVE MARRAKESH, THE HIGH ATLAS MOUNTAINS, OURZARZATE AND THE DRAA VALLEY because they are hot, dry, beautiful and friendly.  GO MOROCCO!

I LOVE REIMS FRANCE in winter because its freezing cold and bone-chillingly damp and nighttime starts around 4:00 p.m.  You just have to work up a sweat tromping through the dormant vineyards, drink champagne at the outdoor kiosk (a great way to … Continue reading →

Right this way.

Speculating on what seemed to be more young people at last week’s Die Frau — Could it be that conductor Vladimir Jurowski (still relatively young by conductorial standards, 14 years after making his Met debut when he was really young) … Continue reading →

I’m not exactly sure why the percentage of young people in a classical music or opera performance is supposed to be an index to the health of performance forms.  The important thing is that seats are filled.  Yes, youth add … Continue reading →

While you’re splurging on dance publications, sweep up the just-published fall 2013 Ballet Review. You might want to frequent a ravishingly well-stocked news store, like the one at the corner of Eighth Avenue and 12th Street, or the one just … Continue reading →

The new, December issue of Dance Magazine features biographies of the DM Award winners, who will be honored Dec. 9. And that means it includes my profile of Patriica Wilde.  Not available on line yet, so pony up and purchase! … Continue reading →

Next year, Video Artists International is releasing on DVD those remaining unreleased kinescopes of broadcasts New York City Ballet made for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Montreal beginning in 1954.  We’re talking legendary, reference performances of Balanchine masterpieces. In some … Continue reading →

at that message guru thing  I called his office today and told the staffer that the President and his party had better be yanked out of  their defensive crouch–the reactive, capitulatory panic mode that is their standard operating procedure. What … Continue reading →

Culture’s accelerating decline in this country advances a step with the announcement that the Brooklyn Philharmonic is seeking to avoid bankruptcy. Robin Pogrebin reports in the Times. And of course, not a peep from our government, which long ago made … Continue reading →