by Sally Deering 

 In the 1920s, when Shirley Temple tapped into America’s hearts with her bouncing ringlets, ruffled crinolines and shiny black tap shoes, mothers from Canarsie to Kenosha trundled their daughters off to their local dance school dreaming of their baby girl’s name in lights. Nowadays, child stars go by first names like Britney, but the local dance school still thrives as the only training ground for kids who dream of a dancing career.

 One local dance pioneer who has kept the stage lights burning in her neighborhood dance studio for the past 34 years is Diane Dragone, Artistic Director of The Kennedy Dancers, a professional dance company and dance school that stands in the wings of New York City.  Through her school and with her years as a teacher and choreographer, Dragone has trained and enriched the lives of thousands of inner-city kids – some who became professional dancers — and she has brought modern and classical dance performances to the multi-cultural and economically-diverse Hudson community.

 On Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8, dance-lovers will have the opportunity to see Dragone’s dynamic troupe perform when The Kennedy Dancers take the stage at St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in their beautiful theater space on Summit Avenue in Jersey City. This Spring Dance Concert will feature contemporary choreographer Sean Curran’s “Force of Circumstance,” and three Dragone choreographies:  “Caven Point” – about a Jersey City encampment during WWII; “La Dolce Vita,” Dragone’s valentine to her Italian heritage with songs by Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin and Louis Prima; and the World Premiere of “My Obsession with Cats,” – a choreography that’s close to Dragone’s animal-activist heart.

 A successful business-and-Renaissance woman, Dragone runs a dance company and school, choreographs , raises a family, performs community outreach and rescues stray animals – all in a day’s work. And at the heart of it all, she is a dancer teaching others the “language of dance” so that they may feel the thrill she has known twirling across the stage, leaping into the air and springing into a dance partner’s arms. 

 “Dancing is ageless, I believe that,” Dragone says, sitting at her desk while a teen ballet class is in progress in her studio on Central Avenue.  “Everybody can dance; you have to break through those inhibitions.  Dancing can be a healing process. It’s excellent for your body, mind and soul.”

 FELINES AND THE REPERTOIRE

The Kennedy Dancers performances on May 7 and 8 in the theater at St. Joseph’s School for the Blind will feature the professional company and the Inner-City Youth teen company composed of students who have trained with Dragone since they were toddlers in tights and taps. One of the highlights of the program will be Dragone’s “My Obsession with Cats,” a choreography about the felines Dragone adores and rescues with the help of her husband, teacher and professional videographer Tom Horan and their children Gigi, 17, and Danny, 15.

 “Cats are beautiful, their movement is beautiful and their personalities are all distinct. They’re a great source of inspiration for dance because they move in many ways,” Dragone says while her two studio cats Sylvester and Silvio are busy cat-napping near her desk. “There have always been cats in my life from the time I was little.”

 Dragone has choreographed hundreds of dances and currently, The Kennedy Dancers perform about 30 dances from the repertoire in venues throughout the tri-state area. Committed to bringing dance to all members of the community, Dragone offers ballroom and exercise classes to seniors; ballet and tap to toddlers and adolescents; ballet, tap and hip-hop to teens and ‘tweens and Zumba and Yoga to adults. A certified dance teacher by the New Jersey Department of Education, Dragone has taught special education dance at Hudson County Schools of Technology and brought dance to children and adults with physical and learning disabilities at St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City.

“They loved the dance classes,” Dragone says of the children with disabilities. “It was very emotional for our teachers because some of these children are encapsulated in their own world or they never really experienced creative movement before and you could see they loved dancing. If you can’t see very well and you’re afraid to move, this was a really freeing experience.”

 That program lost its funding. So did the program teaching dance to incarcerated teenagers at the Hudson County Juvenile Detention Center in Secaucus, which was funded by the New Jersey Council on the Arts.  Dragone hopes someone will come up with the funding to reinstate both programs. The students looked forward to it, she says.

 “I think dance gave them something beautiful and challenging,” Dragone says.

 A LOAN TO BUILD A DREAM ON

Creating beautiful and challenging dances was the most important thing to Dragone back when she first opened her studio in 1976 with money she saved and a loan from her parents Anne and Daniel. It was a tiny, bohemian studio on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City that her dad helped her paint and where she used her training as a dancer and her certification as a teacher to teach ballet, tap and jazz to kids and teens. 

 “The dance students are the mainstay of a company,” Dragone says. “You’re developing young minds and bodies and your goal is to give them an aesthetic, enjoyment and a sense of physical accomplishment. The beauty of dance inspires children and adults to keep coming back to the dance studio.”

 And if the students can’t come to the studio, then Dragone goes into their living rooms with the cable-TV show she hosts and produces with her husband, Tom.  “Dance Vista,” features interviews and choreographies by contemporary dance artists and, after 13-years on the air, the show is now seen on cable stations throughout New Jersey and New York.

 THE STUDENTS’ SUCCESS

Many of The Kennedy Dancers’ students go on to professional dance careers and Dragone is thrilled by their successes. One former student is performing in the musical “Buddy” in London’s West End; another is currently in a show at the La Mama theater in New York.  One dancer joined the Miami Ballet, one is with the Martha Graham dance company and another is featured in the Julie Taymor film, “Across the Universe” – and those are just recent accomplishments.

 “I’m thrilled for them and proud of them,” Dragone says. “I love it.”

 Determined to bring The Kennedy Dancers to new heights, Dragone’s choreography “God Bless America,” was recently named a finalist in the NJN Hispanic Dance competition to be held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in May. And last year, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts gave Dragone and The Kennedy Dancers an Award for Excellence for their outstanding work and Dragone’s compelling choreography.

 THE DANCER IN HER SOUL

So, how does a choreographer make dances? What comes first, the movement or the music?

 “I see people walking down the street, kids dance around, the windshield wipers move;” Dragone says, “I sit in the car listening to the radio and someone walks by to the rhythm of the music – all things can inspire your dances.”

 And that goes for cats, too.                                                                                         

 The Kennedy Dancers present their Spring Dance Performances on Fri, May 7 and Sat, May 8 at St. Joseph‘s School for the Blind 761 Summit Ave, Jersey City.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door; $18 for students and seniors with ID.

Call 201-659-2190 for tickets and class information or visit www.kennedydancers.org.

 

 

 

 

 

The post COVER STORY-Leading The Kennedy Dancers first appeared on River View Observer.

 in  Cablevision Service Area

 MSG Varsity is kicking off a new contest open to all high schools in the Cablevision service area, MSG Varsity’s Mascot Dash to the Desk. Mascot Dash to the Desk offers schools the opportunity to submit a photo of their school mascot online at msgvarsity.com from April 14^–21 to be eligible for the grand prize – a brand new mascot costume for their high school (worth up to $6,000) and a guest appearance by the school’s mascot on MSG Varsity’s signature daily sports show, High School SportsDesk, on Cablevision’s iO TV (Channel 14).

 From the submissions, a maximum of 80 schools will be selected to compete in the contest. Over five weeks, the mascots will compete in “heats” for weekly prizes. Online voting will determine the 20 finalists that will go on to compete in the final sprint to win the grand prize. Online voting will also determine the Mascot Dash to the Desk Champion. The grand prize, 2^nd & 3^rd place winners will be announced on June 6^th.

 “Based on the success of our first contest School Spirit Mania, we wanted to find another interactive way for high school students to showcase their school spirit,” said Philip Summers, VP Marketing for MSG Varsity. “And a mascot race was the answer. We’re looking forward to getting the Dash to the Desk started to find out which school mascot will be voted champion and be receiving a make-over.”

 For more information on Dash to the Desk and to see the weekly prize packages please go to www.msgvarsity.com.

 

MSG Varsity includes a multi-platform suite of services, made up of a 24/7 television network that airs on Cablevision’s iO TV service, channel 14; a comprehensive online destination, msgvarsity.com; and a groundbreaking interactive service, channel 614 – all spotlighting extracurricular activities and events at local high schools. 

 

About MSG Varsity

MSG Varsity is a multi-platform suite of services comprised of: a 24/7 television network, a comprehensive online destination, and a groundbreaking interactive service, all dedicated to high school sports, academics and activities happening throughout the tri-state area.  Content for these services includes MSG Varsity’s professionally produced programming as well as content created by the high schools themselves.  Working in partnership with MSG Varsity, students and faculty are given extraordinary access to curriculum and training in multimedia creation and distribution, empowering them to become active participants in telling their school’s stories.  MSG Varsity is a Cablevision exclusive service not available to satellite or phone company TV subscribers and reaches three million households throughout the New York market.  For more information, please visit www.msgvarsity.com.

 

 

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The post DOES YOUR HIGH SCHOOL MASCOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?ENTER MSG VARSITY’S MASCOT DASH TO THE DESK NOW first appeared on River View Observer.

Facebook confirmed that it does not send such e-mails and that it is warning users to alert others of the pending danger in the virus-laden e-mails. Facebook users may represent a very vulnerable demographic for virus spreaders and hackers, as they are often unconcerned with the security of their online activity. People often engage in Facebook, Instant Messaging and e-mailing simultaneously, rapidly clicking on everything that’s flying in and out of their screens. It’s easy to imagine millions of Facebook users “accidentally” clicking on an e-mail attachment they believe is from Facebook without ever thinking about it.

By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 3/19/2010

The post New Virus Targets Facebook Users first appeared on River View Observer.

JERSEY CITY, NJ – For one day, volunteers from The Provident Bank (www.providentnj.com) headed back to the classroom to help teach life skills at Martin Luther King Jr. School, Public School #11 in Jersey City.

Once again partnering with Junior Achievement of New Jersey (JANJ), 26 Provident employee volunteers visited 13 classrooms as part of the JA Day program to offer financial literacy and teach basic economics to students. 

As part of the program, Provident volunteers broke from the standard public school curriculum to teach basic business, economics and other important life skills to 291 students ranging from kindergarten to third grade. JA Day is JANJ’s elementary school-level program, giving community volunteers the opportunity to teach financial literacy and workplace readiness. After receiving program training and lesson plans from a JANJ staff person, Provident employees met their classes and team-taught the interactive lessons during one half-school day.

“We are honored to once again partner with the Junior Achievement of New Jersey to help teach financial literacy in our schools and help provide our youth with essential life skills,” said Christopher Martin, president and CEO of The Provident Bank. “Our employees are always happy to have the opportunity to get involved within the community and head back to school for the day, too!”

Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA provides in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12 to offer workforce readiness programs. This year, JANJ will reach more than 33,000 students. More information about Junior Achievement programs is available at www.jaofnj.org. 

“We are grateful to once again receive volunteer support from The Provident Bank. These volunteers serve as exemplary role models while conveying their professional experience and financial knowledge to students beginning to learn the importance of financial literacy,” said Dawn Schwartz, vice president of development at Junior Achievement of NJ.

About The Provident Bank

With $4.9 billion in deposits, The Provident Bank serves its customers via a network of 84 branches throughout northern and central New Jersey. The Provident Bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS), which reported assets of $6.8 billion as of September 30, 2009.

The post Provident Bank Helps Jersey City Youth Earn an “A” in Financial Literacy first appeared on River View Observer.

2010 May Yield a Bonanza of Opportunities

According to Trendwatching.com- 2010 may yield a bonanza of opportunities.  If the Global Recession has ended what trends will we see this coming year that could bring a host of recession-proof opportunities.

 

Number one on their list is –BUSINESS AS USUALL- see what else made the list.

Source: TRENDWATCHING.COM

Do you agree with these trends-can you add something not mentioned ?

We welcome your comments

The post 10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010 first appeared on River View Observer.

by Sally Deering

 

Back in the 1970s, alumni from the Argos Eyes Drama Society at Saint Peterâ€s College met one night in a tiny Jersey City attic and talked about starting a theater where they could put on plays that challenged them artistically and attracted local audiences. By the end of the meeting, that group of aspiring playmakers became the Attic Ensemble.

     Several theaters and more than a hundred plays later, the Attic Ensemble has settled into the Barrow Mansion on Wayne Street in Jersey City, a block from the Grove Street PATH in a hip neighborhood where the company continues to stretch and grow. And while hundreds of actors and volunteers have entered and exited the Atticâ€s doors, the company has stayed true to the mission that was drafted all those years ago in that musty old attic.

 

This marks the 39^th year for the Attic Ensemble and theyâ€ve planned an interesting season that includes a couple of old chestnuts and some new and daring plays. Neil Simonâ€s Come Blow Your Horn opens September 18^th, followed by productions of Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, The Pillow Man by Martin McDonough and Working- the musical,  an early collaboration between Wicked composer Stephen Swartz and other writers. Pretty ambitious stuff for a non-equity troupe that doesnâ€t have much in their bank account and relies on its volunteer members to keep the curtain from coming down for good.

 

Art Delo, the companyâ€s artistic director has been with the Attic Ensemble almost from the beginning.  He joined the troupe after heâ€d been bitten by the acting bug.

 

“I did Promises, Promises with the Attic at Roddyâ€s Beef and Ale House on West Side and Glenwood in a building that doesnâ€t exist anymore,” Delo says during a break from Come Blow Your Horn rehearsals. “I think shortly after that, they were looking for a space and my father was a minister at St. Stephenâ€s (church) on Union Street. I was so desperate to act I had to get them a theater.”

 

The company moved into St. Stephenâ€s little theater attached to the back of the parish and from 1976 to 1997, the Attic presented a mix of musicals, comedies and dramas, even Shakespeare. That first year they did The Sound of Music, Twelfth Night, A Celebration of Life, East Lynne, The Roar of the Greasepaint and Alice in Wonderland. Their last year at St. Stephenâ€s they presented Jake’s Women, A Streetcar Named Desire, Fences and the Sondheim musical, Company.

 

“We lost St. Stephenâ€s ‘cause the church closed and it looked like it was finally over for the Attic,” Delo says. “Then one of our members, Wanda Suszka found this space at the Barrow Mansion and we lucked out. We caught the wave and once we were here, we got some great volunteers and actors coming in from New York City.  I like to think we have a reputation for doing pretty good stuff and the fact we lasted this long means something.”

.

 

Through the years, the Attic has had its share of tough times. Like when audience attendance was so small, there were more people in the shows than in the seats. And there were calamities, too, like when Draculaâ€s cape set fire during a Halloween show (the actor survived unharmed,) and a prop gun was lost during the performance of a murder mystery. (It was later recovered in a laundry bag.) Delo remembers that night because he was onstage with Ken Jennings, a founding member of Attic, who went on to perform on Broadway in the original cast of Sweeney Todd  and other big musicals.

 

“Ken comes back now and then to see the shows,” Delo says. “He even volunteers and gives programs out at the door.”

 

There were big surprises, too, like the time during The Heidi Chronicles, when Suszka came out for her curtain call and actor Al Maragni jumped on the stage, got down on his knee and proposed. Suszka accepted and now the couple has two children.

During their ten years at the Barrow Mansion, the Attic has stayed afloat with the money they receive from ticket sales and a small grant. And with the help of volunteers like the companyâ€s new Board President Billy Mitchell, who hopes to attract corporate sponsors who understand the importance of having a successful theater company in their community.  

 

Building corporate relationships and receiving financial backing from sponsors would help subsidize future productions, special childrenâ€s theater programs like “Attic Junior,” and support opportunities for Attic to expand.

 

“Weâ€re a Jersey City tradition,” Mitchell says. “Corporate sponsorship would help us continue our goal to present shows that are artistic and challenging like The Pillowman, a recent Broadway offering and one of the shows weâ€re doing this season. Itâ€s a very dark, very funny play.”

Plays are chosen through a group consensus, sort of. Members share ideas and the season comes from that input with a final decision from the Board of Directors. Sometimes, the pieces are controversial as was the case a few seasons back when they did a production that had a nude scene. Some people made a big deal about it, Mitchell says, and the controversy even made the news. But the nudity was inherent to the piece and not meant to shock people.

“Weâ€re not doing Oh Calcutta for the sake of nudity,” Mitchell says. “But we did do Six Degrees of Separation, which is a great play that has nudity.”

Gutsy writing and good storytelling also attract good actors and Mitchell suggests that actors who want to play interesting parts should attend Atticâ€s auditions, which are posted on the companyâ€s website. (www.atticensemble.org)This season thereâ€s something for every type of actor, Mitchell says. Come Blow Your Horn has several older characters for actors of a certain age and Rabbit Hole will appeal to young serious actors who want to gain experience and build their resumes. The Pillow Man will also attract the serious thespian because itâ€s a challenging piece and the musical Working has parts for both singing and non-singing performers.

The Attic supports non-traditional casting, too, giving actors opportunities to play roles they wouldnâ€t necessarily be cast in at more traditional theater companies. Judith Moss who joined the Attic 23 years ago when they needed someone to play piano for a Christmas show has done several non-traditional roles including Joanne in Company and the witch in Into the Woods. But there are certain limitations. When asked if she got cast in Come Blow Your Horn, Moss laughed: “Iâ€m not a Jewish mother.”

As opening night for Come Blow Your Horn draws near, actors rehearse, scenery gets painted and the companyâ€s overall energy becomes focused on putting on the show. A few years back, the New Jersey Association of Community Theaters gave the Attic Ensemble an award for outstanding community theater, an award they received for the body of work theyâ€ve done over the years. But itâ€s easy to see that the Attic Ensemble could never have made it this long without their core members who exhibit a dedication almost unheard of in local theater today. Which makes you wonder why volunteers like Delo, Suszka, Mitchell and Moss do it year after year without pay or any of the benefits Equity theaters offer?

“We do really good work and itâ€s quite fulfilling,” Moss says. “We donâ€t make any money, any profit. Itâ€s all for the love of the art – theater for theaterâ€s sake.”

 

The Attic Ensemble

83 Wayne St

Jersey City, NJ

201-413-9200

www.AtticEnsemble.org

 

 

2009-2010 Season

Performance times for all shows:

 

 

Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Early Riser Thursday at 7pm

Tickets are $20 General Admission / $15 Students & Seniors

 

All shows: Saturdays at 1pm
Tickets: $5 Kids / FREE Parents & Guardians

Each play will be 40-45 min.,
followed by a 25 min. hands-on educational talk-back.

September 19 & 26

Anonymous, Unknown & Grimm
an eccentric collection of 19th century stories & lessons

Compiled from 19th century primers intended for young children, and from classic tales of the Brothers Grimm, this series of vignettes addresses “old school” behavior and etiquette as well as actions and consequences.

October 14 & 21

The Athlete, Princess, Pirate, Fairy, Welder, Deep-sea Diver Club
a play for people with friends

Oh, the problems of starting an ‘exclusive†club but wanting to get friends involved! As each friend expresses their dreams, the clubâ€s exclusivity grows more and more inclusive.

February 20 & 27

Jack, and the Beans, Talk.
Or, Was the Cow Worth the Weight?
a timeless story for our time

 

A talk show style re-telling of Jackâ€s journey from rags to riches, with surprise guests and unpredictable responses from otherwise neglected characters whose points-of-view donâ€t always support Jackâ€s story.  

 

April 24, May 1 & 8

Villain: DeBlanks
a fill-in-the-blanks mystery

 

A classic, comic, heist adventure with a twist. The first ten minutes are Mad-Libs® style, where the audience provides key nouns, verbs and adjectives — all of which the cast then incorporates in the telling of the tale.

 

The post THE SECRETS IN THE ATTIC first appeared on River View Observer.