My students and I attended some of the 70th anniversary events at Jacob's Pillow, the glorious dance school and theatre that was founded by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis. The Pillow has since become the summer festival de rigueur for New York dance lovers looking for an escape from the sizzling summer heat. I also took 65 Danbee girls to an open rehearsal at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony in Lenox, MA. Wonderful! I hope you'll visit the Pillow and Tanglewood if you're ever in the area.

When I got back to NYC at the end of August, I was inspired to write about all the changes that had occurred. 

Here's the scoop:

• The Ballet Shop on Broadway near Lincoln Center has gone out of business.
   
• Also shuttered in the Lincoln Center area is O'Neill's Ginger Man, the restaurant with the 1960's era mural of New York City Ballet dancers and visiting artists. Reason: the entire block on the East Side of Broadway between 64th Street and 65th Street has been demolished to make way for the planned home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Word has it, though, that O'Neill's will be back eventually. With the mural intact, I hope!
   
• Freed of London, which used to be on the corner of 7th Avenue and 58th Street, closed last spring.
   
• David Howard, that venerable legend of an NYC teacher, currently holds court at STEPS Monday through Friday from 10-11:30 a.m. and on Saturday from 2:30-4 p.m. David is also at the Broadway Dance Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4:30 and on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:15.
   
• Rod Rodgers, the modern dance pioneer who danced with Erik Hawkins and then founded his own company and school, passed away recently. His studio on East 4th Street is still going strong but everyone misses Rod very much indeed.
   
• Several new studios have sprouted around town. I'll wait a few months to see how they fare and then I'll fill you in on the survivors!
   
• A umbrella organization, Dance NYC, serves as an advocacy group for dance schools and troupes here in the Big Apple. This fall, Dance NYC is hosting a seminar on the business of running a dance company. Check out the site for details.
   
• The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable celebrated its tenth year with a conference and job fair at Riverside Church, 120th Street and Claremont Avenue, on October 25th and 26th.

The first anniversary of the events of 9/11/01 has come and gone, but the grief is still with us. Still, let us never forget the healing power of the arts in general and of dance in particular.

"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die. . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. . . "   Ecclesiates 3, 1-4

Sondra