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  The Kansas City Ballet put forth another excellent performance of the fantastical tale of The Nutcracker, with Tchaikovsky accompaniment by the Kansas City Symphony.  The story, the music, and dancers glowed against a well-designed backdrop that supported and enhanced the dreamlike intent of the story quite well. As a first-time viewer of this production, it proved quite intriguing and captivating.  Dancers and musicians put out their very best, including the younger participants who seemed to not miss a single queue.  This is definitely a fun and unique spectacle that is worth seeing at least on one occasion in a lifetime.

An opportunity to visit the last program of the season for the Kansas City Ballet offered up "Fusion," an interpretation of four short stories by internationally recognized leaders in choreography and dance.   The evening began early with an up close and personal pre-game talk, led by Artistic Director Devon Carney, which defined the efforts that went into this particular event.  Others in charge of choreography, sound, and lighting, joined the discussion focused primarily on the premier of one of the four short works, which ultimately stood out above all of the others. The lineup began with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s "Tulips and lobster," inspired by the 17th-century Dutch masters’ paintings, which debuted at the Kansas City Ballet in 2018.  Earlier talks described it as baroque and felt as much.  It got the ball rolling though, with a story revolving around the tulip. The lobster felt thrown in for lack of anything more...

As with most invitations to enjoy an event in Las Vegas for free, this too was a trap.  It was an enjoyable little snare though, on this last night in town.  By the time we arrived at this juncture, the last night had already turned faded into the last morning. That fact did not seem to slow anyone down in the least.  Our arrival marked only the beginning of a surge at the event, which by the time of our departure, would find the rooftop of Caeser's Palace nearly packed and grooving to the sounds of DJ Mikey Francis. The only drawback to the whole affair proved to be the cost of drinks; even then, that in itself was not much of detriment.  The late hour and impending travel arrangements for what was now later in the same day discouraged much more of that sort of activity. It certainly did not stop anyone from getting their groove on. . . . Further Reading . . . DJMikeyFrancis.com Omnia Nightclub at Ca...

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Bloch Building, presented their third "Surfaces" performance, featuring performance group Quixotic .  The free show included projection, choreography, and musical composition in honor of the architect, Steven Holl, quite literally shining a new sort of light on the iconic building. For the uninitiated, "Quixotic is an innovative performance art collective that fuses imagination with technology, dance, projection mapping and live music to create fully-immersive, multi-sensory experiences.  Quixotic harnesses light, rhythm and expressive emotion." We arrived relatively early, but then so did everyone else.  The area was nearing capacity at 630 pm, with folks lounging on blankets or their favorite chair, patiently awaiting the show. We picked up a great spot, just behind the sound board, with a wide enough viewing angle to catch a good view of all of the various performance...

While not widely acknowledged, Kansas City hosts a rapidly expanding population originating from India.  These folks represent a considerable cross-section of the highly technical work force in the City, and are among the most prized contributors to advancing technology in the area. Standing in stark contrast, they bring with them a social grace steeped in thousands of years of culture and tradition. A new world and a new life make increasing demands on time normally devoted to long-standing customs though, and many cultures lose their personal identify along the way, with each successive generation.  The Melting Pot that is the United States tends to do more than just erase national boundaries.  It tends to dissolve culture and identity too.  This is especially true for those helping to advance the insatiable technological appetite of a nation that has lost touch with many of its own traditions and values. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art appears t...

Fifteen days of celebration begin next week with the start of the Chinese New Year, ringing in the Year of the Monkey.  Not the typical drunken debauchery that most in the United States would recognize, it is a celebration of the old and the new, honoring the deities and ancestors, and the hope of a new year. In honor of this centuries old cultural tradition, the Nelson-Atkins Museum hosted their 8th Annual festival for the Chinese New Year a week in advance.  This free event featured performances, activities, and food celebrating the Chinese culture. We arrived later than we intended, but still had an opportunity to see much of the offerings, though did not sample any of the food.  We only caught a bit of the Lily Zhang Li Taylor Dance Academy performance, before feeling compelled to move, lest we miss anything.  The little ones did provide quite a bit of amusement though, dancing in brightly colored costumes to traditional music to relatively full hous...

The Cotton Club was at the epicenter of jazz creativity and fame during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ‘30s.  It produced some of the greatest names in music and show business, legends such as Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson and scores of others. The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra opened their season with a tribute to this era, and a sold-out house in Helzberg Hall of Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The 17-piece orchestra presented “A Night at the Cotton Club,” with classic swing arrangements and a few variations of tunes like “Rockin In Rhythm,” “Stormy Weather,” “Echoes Of Harlem,” “Stardust.” “Minnie The Moocher,” “Creole Love Call,” and many others. A backdrop displayed various images from the era, and a few different guests shared the stage.  Local educator Herman Mehari sat in as a guest trumpet, blasting out some good solo runs on a song or two.  ...

After spending the afternoon watching the Blue Angels perform for the Kansas City Aviation Expo, we headed out to Swope Park to taste the cuisine offered at the 36th annual Ethnic Enrichment Festival.   We had not been since the 25th and were quite anxious to see how much the annual affair had grown, and what new things there were to see. The situation had expanded quite significantly since our last visit, which became very apparent as we approached the gates on 63rd Street.  Traffic was backed up for about a half mile, but we progressed quickly.  It was still at the pavilion near Starlight Theater, and we easily maneuvered our way to a parking spot on the lawn surrounding the festivities. The festival was no longer free, but who could complain about that.  It was somewhat expected after all that time.  Three dollars is not too bad for a day of music and dance performances from just about nearly every ethnic group in the world.  Additionally, fo...

For a complete change of pace, we dropped in on a show at Davey's Uptown, called Schtick a Pole in it.  A mix of comedy and pole dancing; who would have guessed those go to together.  It was a good time though, and the few photos taken withe phone camera are shown below. there are no more photos from this event

We stopped in for another round of Native American dance, food, and culture.  This is always a very relaxing and fun event, with an opportunity to discover much of the history and ways of Native American culture. Arriving late, we missed many of the traditional dance performances, but did catch one in particular; the hoop dance.  As well, had an opportunity to dance in the circle. view more photos from this event

We made it down again this year for the annual Indian Festival at Line Creek, though we were not able to stay very long.  It was perfect timing though, as we arrived in time for one of the special dances and several of the traditional dance performances by folks from the Haskel Indian Nations University. view more photos from this event

A good friend asked me to photograph the first performance of Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam, by his daughter and one of her classmates. Years of training went into this presentation of classical and modern India dance, focusing most of their effort on Bharathanatiyam, a form of Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Tamil Nadu. Widely for its grace, elegance, purity, tenderness, expression and sculpturesque pose, it was a fantastic performance well received by friends and family of the girls, and I was honored to have been asked to photograph the event.  Intermingled between each of the performances, various folks described the dance and the tradition surrounding the event.  It was a truly special event. view more photos from this event