Ballet: Sleeping Beauty

Posted in Ballet, Cultured, My New York by

Lincoln Center

If you’re in New York City, one of the biggest attractions is Broadway! And right next to Broadway you have the Ballet – at least that’s my opinion. For those who are unsure, there is no singing, or speaking, only just dancing at a Ballet, and yes, the style of dance IS ballet.

One of the most popular ballets is The Nutcracker – which I’ve seen a few times. It usually runs during the winter season as it tells a the famous story of the Christmas present of the Nutcracker toy coming to life. This past Sunday I saw the Sleeping Beauty ballet.

Sleeping Beauty was choreographed by Peter Martins and George Balanchine with music from Tschaikovsky. The dance was performed by the New York City Ballet company and it tells the story of Princess Aurora.

The Story

King Florestan and his Queen held a christening for their new born princess and Aurora’s fairy godmothers were invited to bless the infant with their gifts of virtues. During the blessings, as the Lilac Fairy was about to give the last gift, the evil Fairy Carabosse crashes the christening and, furious for not being invited, casts a curse on the infant. When the princess turned 16 she would prick her finger on a spindle and die.

The Lilac Fairy uses her gift to the infant to counter the curse: instead of dying the princess will fall into a deep sleep from which she will be awaken by love’s first kiss.

On her 16th birthday, Princess Aurora accepts a gift from an old woman – the Fairy Carabosse in disguise. The gift turns out to be a spindle and she pricks her finger and falls to the ground. Her mother and father are distraught until the Lilac Fairy reminds them that she will not die, but will sleep until a prince awakes her with a kiss. After this the Lilac Fairy puts the entire kingdom under a sleeping spell so they will remain sleeping until the princess is awoken.

outside by the new fountain

One hundred years later the Prince Désiré was hunting in the forest and during a time of solitude receives a vision from the Lilac Fairy of the Princess Aurora. He begs the fairy to take him to the princess and the Lilac Fairy leads him to the enchanted Castle.

The prince reaches the princess and awakens her, and with her the entire kingdom. There is a wedding and a celebration. Evil was defeated with love’s first kiss.

The Dances

Act 1 had three main sets: The Christening, The Spell, The Vision. My favourite parts were the dances of the fairies as they bestowed their gifts – The Fairy of Vivacity being the funniest – and the Vision set, with the best part being the prince trying to dance with the princess in his vision, but being cut off by the Lilac Fairy … rejected! =)

excited for the ballet

Act 2 had two main sets: The Awakening and the Wedding. The Wedding set included dances from the fairy-tale guests: The White Cat and Puss in Boots (absolutely enjoyable!), Princess Florine and The Blue Bird, Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf (the little girl was so adorable!), The Jewels (Gold’s tights were well … tight) and The Courts Jesters.

The Grand Pas de Deux (dance between the prince and princess) was really good, but I think my favourite dance from all the different sets were the cats – of course there were a few “pas de chats” which is one of my favourite ballet moves.

The Conclusion

I loved the costume – especially the dresses of the courtiers in the wedding scene. I loved the set. I loved the music. I loved the dances. I loved this ballet and would definitely see it again!

Restaurant Week: Le Cirque

Posted in My New York, Plateful by

Nothing beats the winter chill than being indoors and trying new foods. A few friends and I went to Le Cirque to sample some French Cuisine. For those who do not know, Restaurant Week happens twice a year in New York City and participating restaurants offer lunch and dinner for a fixed price. You get to chose an appetizer, entree and dessert from a set menu.

The restaurant is located on 58th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenue. I’m not much for explaining design and decor, but it did not have a stuffy, pretentious feeling even though it was a very dressy place. I think the colours and the monkeys won me over. What can I say, I’m a sucker for monkeys.

Venison and Pistachio Sausage

For appetizer I ordered the Venison and Pistachio Sausage (with celery root and pickled cherries) , for entree the Bavette Steak (with parsnip purée, sweet and sour mushrooms, and watercress) and for dessert the Crème Brûlée Le Cirque. Wherever there is a French influenced restaurant and Crème Brûlée is on the menu, I’m having it!

Everything was good! The sausage was tender and yummy! Not tough, not gamey, not chewy, but melt in your mouth good.

I am not a big steak lover but I absolutely enjoyed the steak. It was tender – easy to cut into. I didn’t have to wrestle it into submission and that for me is a major plus. I dislike fighting with my food – unless it’s throwing pies at people. The dessert was what I’d refer to as a pretty good Crème Brûlée. The best part of it was the secret message waiting for me at the end.

Overall service was great. So thanks to Evelyn who organized this all.

I am in no way a food critic, nor do I ever plan on getting into that field. However, hanging out at restaurants that one would not normally go to; eating a meal with friends and having a good time with each other while judging the food served is one of the things I love about New York’s Restaurant Week! So if you’re in New York and you have the chance to experience this, then go for it! Try something new, you might like it.

a great meal + a relaxing place + lovely service = A Good Time in NYC!

Hello Rachael Ray!

Posted in Media, The Telly by

About two months ago a friend emailed me asking me if I wanted to go with her to a Rachael Ray show. I hadn’t watched the show in a long time but said I would. So we set off to see the show and were turned away because there were no available seats. We were told that we could give our names again and the next time they invited us it will be with “VIP Passes” so that, if we showed up, we were guaranteed a spot.

Two months later I received another email from my friend, I said yes, and yesterday we went to see the Rachael Ray Show!

We got to the studio around 9:45 am and were told to wait for a little while. At around 10am they took us to the security line where, 20 minutes later, they checked us and let us in and up to a black room. We had some breakfast snacks – muffins, tea/coffee, water – and awaited for further instructions.

Around 11 we were ushered into the Studio and seated. The audience sat on a rotating stage, so that every now and then we would go for a ride on the giant turn table to face another part of the set. There were cameras and microphones EVERYWHERE! I suppose that’s to be expected seeing as it’s a TV show and all. Immediately I spotted my dream job … I will one day grow up to be the person who wraps and unwraps the wire behind the camera as I follow the cameraman around the set. I’m sure there is a technical name for it.

For the curious, Rachael Ray was very nice to her audience. She answered questions between segments, made fun of herself and made you feel at ease. She had personality.

Her guest on the show was Barry Manilow, whom I heard of but never listened to. I must admit that when he sang for us I turned to my friend and said, “Amazing! Can I take him home with me!?” His voice blew me away. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a man sing like that, LIVE!

She made a soup dish and a fish dish. They spoke about shampoo and shaving products and then she did some promotional segments. The audience left with a sample of some shampoo/conditioner, an eco friendly Manilow bag that included a beach towel and his newest love songs CD. We also got to snack on some organic cookies.

Unfortunately there are no pictures, you’re not allowed to take them in the studio. The show airs this Friday, for me it’s on ABC at 10am.  I love living in New York, where I get the privilege do these things. Hopefully I will do more fantastic things this year and report them on this blog (finally a use for this thing).

This has been your very first segment of Shanella does New Yorkie Things. =P

Hello World, it’s a brand new day!

Posted in Thoughts by

Believe it or not, this is yet another blog. Wow, how many of these things do I have!? How much can a person write? How much can a person tell? Why does one need these different outlets and categories.

In any case, I do not know the answer to those questions or else I would not be blogging here now would I? =)

It’s a brand new day, let’s go take it by storm.