What's Happening?

It looks as though the worst of the winter is past us now here in Urbana and daylight savings time has come along to help with the gloomy blues. We're had a lot of rain lately (don't my joints know it!) and it rained again today. But there are signs of life: snowdrops, yellow aconite, adonis, and reticulata iris in bloom (photos to come later when it's not raining).

We had a lovely St. Pat's Day dinner last night. Friends Victoria and Frank joined us for corned beef (from the slow cooker, nice and tender), fresh cabbage (cooked lightly so it still has texture), boiled potatoes (with real butter), and Gala apples and craisins cooked in a light maple sauce. We finished off with pistachio ice cream and lemon Pepperidge farm cookies. Vicki brought some Celtic music CDs to add to the Irish atmosphere and a good time was had by all.

This morning we went to another dance class at Krannert as part of the Dance for Parkinson's program. This was a smaller group, about 14 people, led by two dancers from the U of I dance department. Again, there was piano music and some lovely stretches and movements. I couldn't do everything because my knees are so stiff right now and I think I've pulled my back muscle again, but I used my walker for part of the activity. Everyone was so nice to us!

We followed up the morning's adventure with a quick stop at Panera for bagels and latte and then back home again.

We've got a DVD for this evening and then Brazilian samba tomorrow night (after our usual Saturday library afternoon) with Desafinado and then Bossa Nuevo on Sunday at the library and Django Reinhardt Sunday night. So it's a big weekend for live music! Hope you all have a great weekend too.

Movies

Saw a couple of really good DVDs lately that I wanted to share with you. Hachi: A Dog's Tale and An Education.  

Hachi is based on a true story of an akita in Japan who was so loyal to his late human that he returned every day to the train station to wait for ten years. Lasse Hallstrom, who also did Chocolat, Cider House Rules, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? was the director. The story has been tranplanted to a suburb of Rhode Island, but the spirit of the story is universal. It's about loyalty and unconditional love and acceptance. Richard Gere does an excellent job as the the music professor who takes in the stray akita pup and forms an amazing bond. The dog trainers did great work with the akita actors, who are adorable. The story is heartwarming and heartbreaking without being at all sentimental.

An Education was done by Lone Scherfig, a Danish woman who directed Italian for Beginners. It's set in a London suburb in the late fifties/early sixties. An innocent and brilliant young woman at a girl's school is preparing for entrance exams to Oxford when she meets an older man who opens up a more sophisticated world to her but ultimately deceives her. She learns from her experience and all ends well. It's a common enough journey but it is told with great delicacy and nuance and is a wonderful portrait of the coming of age of the girl and of postwar Britain into the modern world.

Dance for Parkinson's

A few weeks ago, we ran into a woman I know at a jazz gig. She has problems with her health and especially with balance and movement. She mentioned that friends had recommended to her a special program of workshop/classes at the university that were supposed to help with these problems. She hadn't gotten the details, but she passed on what she knew in case David, my husband, was interested because the program was called Dance for Parkinson's.

 

So I googled and found out the information. Here's a description from their website:

Dance for PD® offers dance classes for people with Parkinson’s disease in Brooklyn, New York and, through our network of partners and associates, in more than 40 other communities around the world.  In Dance for PD® classes, participants are empowered to explore movement and music in ways that are refreshing, enjoyable, stimulating and creative. An on-going collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group—a chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation—the Dance for PD® program also provides teacher training and nurtures relationships among other organizations so that classes based on our model are widely available.

It turned out that several classes had already taken place last fall and winter but that there were a few more this spring. David decided that he wanted to try it, so we got up early Friday morning and went over to Krannert Performing Arts Center. The class was held in the dress rehearsal room, so we had a long (I was glad I brought my walker. The damp weather is really hard on my back and leg problems these days) but rather interesting trek down the corridors of the not-so-public part of the center, passing by big props for plays, rooms where orchestral rehearsals were going on, and so forth.

The dress rehearsal room is a huge space with mirrors all along one side and a sturdy wooden rail (the "bar" in ballet, I suppose) against the wall. We arrived late (as usual, sigh) and saw a big circle of chairs. People sitting in the circle included Parkinson's patients, their friends or spouses, and some students from the dance department. In the center were three chairs for the group leaders. To  start off, one of the instructors of the program who is on the dance faculty here demonstrated some seated warm-up movements. A grand piano and a lovely lady named Beverly provided musical accompaniment.

The program developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group was being offered as a cooperative effort by the dance department, a Carle clinic Parkinson's group, and the MMDG. We were especially fortunate to come to this particular session because it was also attended by three members of the MMDG who were in town for a special reason (to be revealed later in this blog post!). So after the warm-up, each of the three dancers led the group in a series of interesting (and sometimes pretty difficult!) movements.

The movements all involved fairly intricate sequences of movements of all different parts of the body (some seated, some standing holding onto a chair, some walking) with live music. The people in the group were at different stages in terms of which movements they could do most successfully; some of them were a challenge for me with arthritis as well as for those with Parkinson's. But there was a wonderful atmosphere of acceptance; everyone was encouraged to do what worked for him or her. 

At one point, we were doing standing movements that my husband couldn't manage and he had sat down. David Leventhal, a dancer who is devoting all his time right now to directing the PD education program in 14 states, came over and sat down across from my husband and helped him do a seated equivalent of some of the moves.

 

Some of the activities were lyrical, some humorous, many imaginative. We saw a few people we knew from the community. Everyone seemed to be making an effort, enjoying the music and companionship, and smiling and laughing. The dancers themselves were marvelous to watch and very kind and patient with all of us. It was a really great experience.

To my surprise, at the end they said we shouldn't forget to pick up the letter for the free tickets. I didn't know anything about it. It turns out that the reason the dancers were at this particular session was because the Mark Morris Dance Group was giving a performance Friday night at Tryon Festival Theater in Krannert Center. So we had two free tickets! (The regular price for senior citizen tickets for the performance would have been $33 per person.)

So we went home and rested and then went back to Krannert in the evening and had dinner there at the Intermezzo Cafe with a friend and then went to the concert. We had seats in the front row, just left of the stage, and could see everything on stage very well, and we were also right next to the area with the two pianos, three violins, and the cello. 

We realized soon that many of the movements that were used in the class were taken from the marvelous choreography of the evening's performance of the Mozart dances. And of course it was a thrill to see some of the dancers in the troupe as people we had as leaders in the morning's activities! The performance itself was exceptionally delightful. The dancing is modern (barefoot and no tights or tutus) and bold. Sometimes the troupe's movements and gestures are synchronized, but sometimes they are all moving differently in a sort of living dynamic sculpture. The skill of the dancers, the incredible musical performance, and the visual delight of the costumes were all thrilling! What a terrific treat!

We plan to attend the other sessions of the Dance for Parkinson's and thank all involved in the efforts that went into developing the program

Flame and Citron

Living Room Makeover

Although it may not be a topic of burning interest for all of you readers out there in cyberspace, this post is about my living room.

Okay, so we're not talking about inclusion in the latest home interior design magazine, but ... there's no place like home. This is the official "before" picture.

So David's recliner was starting to sag (like our bodies ... that's how age works) and we decided to find him a new one. He spends a lot of time there and so it needed to be just right for him and super comfortable.

Wow! Here he is standing behind the new recliner. It's nice and comfy and has two reclining positions and a nice footrest. Of course, he found this chair in the first store we went to. But you know how it is, we had to go to two more stores and think about it overnight before we actually signed on the dotted line and arranged for delivery.

Nearest the kitchen, we had this swivel/glider rocker. Our friend Bob once referred to it as "that hideous chair." Well, I must admit it was not comfortable. It didn't cost much used and we needed something in that spot, but mostly it was sat in by cats (and on top of, eventually tearing the strap holding up the cushion).

Now that spot holds "my new chair" -- what a beauty! I was wandering around the furniture stores while David tried various recliners, sitting in one chair after another when I found one that fit me perfectly! Also, I love the fern pattern so much. And there is a recliner position and footrest.

Our old sofa was originally pretty comfortable and useful. But it was soft and low and deep. We both belong to the generation of people who knew how to "get down" -- but now we have a hard time getting up, especially from soft, low, and deep old sofas! So we very rarely sat on this anymore since it required a crane, forklift, or special heavy equipment to get up. Again, it was used mainly by cats and our friend Bob.

The new sofa is very comfortable (and nice looking) but also firm enough and not so deep, and the arms are sturdy. We can actually sit on it and get off it with relative ease! We chose this one partly because we wanted to harmonize the colors since the furniture (all on winter clearance) wasn't matching. So the couch has dark brown, beige, and burgundy in it. The recliner is brown, the chair we didn't replace is burgundy, and the new chair is cream with brown and grey and olive.

 I think the overall look of the room is greatly improved. Also, it's kind of a thrill for me to have a brand-new sofa for the first time in my nearly sixty-six years of sitting on sofas. We didn't really intend to buy anything but the recliner, but furniture stores have a way of making you reassess all of your present furniture!

Of course, our five feline residents were very interested in the new developments. Here is Angus Macduff checking out the new sofa.

Panther was also very curious about the sofa and decided to try it out right away.

Yang wasn't shy either; he climbed right up there and tested the sofa for comfort.

As it turned out, Panther was even more thrilled with the new fern chair!

Here's a nice shot of Sylvan's beautiful plume of a Maine Coon tail as he investigates the sofa.

Toffee's favorite is always the top of a sofa, so that was his first place to try out on the new one.

Of course, cats also enjoy furniture indirectly, sitting on the laps of the humans sitting on the furniture.

My guess is that they will enjoy all the new furniture, as will we. But the table remains a great place for cats to spread out any time of day.

On the Baldwin

We had a chance on Sunday night to hear Lara Driscoll tickle the ivories of the Baldwin grand over at the Iron Post. Lara is quite a virtuoso. She plays jazz piano in a very wide range of styles, and she is good! She's a lovely young woman with long slender fingers and an air of relaxed and friendly elegance. There is none of that style of sullen pouts about her that is, unfortunately, rather common these days. And she likes all kinds of jazz tunes: old standards, including some corny ones, originals, contemporary jazz, slow heartbreaking ballads and hopping hot pieces alike.

We were treated to a lovely rendition of the Charles Trenet tune "Que reste-t-il de nos amours?" (English title "I Wish You Love") and the beautiful Sarah Vaughn favorite "I'm Glad There Is You." We love the old standards best, of course, because we've become sort of old standards ourselves (n.b. it can happen to you!).

Lara was playing with a bass and drum backup on Sunday, but she also appears in duets with horn players, in a quintet with Mikael Templeton, and playing solo piano as well in a number of venues about town. We've enjoyed her gigs at V. Picasso, which is, sadly, closed now. I hope the new owners (whenever they emerge) will include live music with whatever food they're offering. Downtown Urbana is a great place for music.

S'Up?

What's new around here? Well, a couple of things. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my eight-year-old computer died just before Christmas and I got a new Inspiron from Dell. I'm pretty happy with it. The CPU unit fits nicely lying flat on top of the shelf, so the space underneath where I used to have the old CPU standing vertically was empty. Nothing obvious came along as a new use for the space, so I recently put a small cave-like cloth cat bed in there. Purr-fect! And now it's in use. Although Angus MacDuff is the largest (at 13 pounds) of the five longhairs, he decided to squeeze into this space. He seems to be enjoying it.