Former artistic director of the Alvin Ailey company, current choreographer with the Paul Taylor company, his early love wasn’t dance but singing. “I was really good at home, but in front of people my voice would crack. Dance was the only thing I could muscle through the nerves.” Highly specific stage fright. Presented with the … Continue reading »
This veterinarian specializes in behavioral medicine. If you’ve got a recalcitrant cat, she’s who you want to consult. There will be audience Q&A, but please don’t ask about an annoying inlaw by pretending he is an animal: “When we go out to dinner, my dog never picks up the check.” Actual animals only. Music, Rashad Brown. … Continue reading »
This former principal with the New York City Ballet is a resident choreographer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, a daunting transition. “If I’m not a little bit scared, a little bit uncomfortable, I’m not living or growing the way I want to.” I tried to make her scared and uncomfortable, but now I realize … Continue reading »
Conductor and Music Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, he began in the eighties as rehearsal pianist for the Dance Theatre of Harlem. It was another era. “There were more difficult personalities and diva-type behavior.” The good old days. For the divas. Presented with the PTDC. Continue reading »
“One of the great strengths of being a standup comedian,” he says, “is that the person most likely to use things that will embarrass me, is me.” That’s self-reliance. And my kind of Judaism. Presented with Littlefield, the first in our series of Conversations with Comics. Continue reading »
The president and CEO of the New York Philharmonic describes their task: “It’s about the creation of those incredible moments that lead up to probably the most important moment in a concert, which is the silence before the first note.” Almost Zen. Presented with the Viñoly Foundation. Continue reading »
This authority on artist Frederic Church notes his confidence in America. “He’s saying we in the United States are worthy of occupying a place on the world stage.” Church died in 1900. He didn’t see what we’ve done to the place lately. Presented with the Hunter College Office of the Arts. Continue reading »
The head of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for cyclists, pedestrians, and transit, says traveling by bus or subway is egalitarian, less polluting, and this: “A reading commute is one of the great luxuries of a city where you don’t have to drive.” The rolling reading-rooms of New York. Produced with P&T Knitwear. Continue reading »
If this historian could go back in time and attend any of Lincoln’s speeches, he’d pick the Cooper Union address rather than the one you’d think: “Why go to Gettysburg and stand around for hours for a two-and-a-half minute speech?” Plus Lincoln’s choice of weapons when challenged to a duel. Presented with Roosevelt House. Continue reading »
This social scientist and policy advisor finds hope in local resistance to data centers. “These are our neighbors saying we thought we had no power, but we know where AI sits in our lives, and we can say something about it.” I’m still uneasy about my toaster-oven. Presented with the Park Avenue Armory. Continue reading »
“Eye surgery now is so marvelous,” says this ophthalmologist. “I’m amazed.” At age 97, he’s one of the innovators who made it amazing, and he found time to go out for beers with Wernher von Braun and perform Shakespeare (not simultaneously). Produced with New York’s Amateur Comedy Club with the sponsorship of Thomas Campbell Jackson. Continue reading »
Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington does not convey his actual appearance, says the Jewish Museum’s director. “It’s the way Washington wanted to present himself.” The dubious task of the society painter, plus 3,500 years of Jewish life expressed as art. Listen quickly. Photo: Harry Wilks. Continue reading »