Rochester Contra Dance Thanksgiving Festival

“Qu’est-ce que c’est?” I hear you say! I’d never heard of contra dancing before my niece Alison became an addict, actually traveling to go to contra dance festivals. I’d occasionally see her Facebook posts, and I know I’ve asked her about it, but when she’d start talking about minor sets and triple formations my eyes would glaze over. We invited her to spend Thanksgiving with us, since she’s studying for her masters relatively nearby, and I got an excited text: “Rochester Contra Dance Thanksgiving Weekend Festival!” So even though I have two left feet, and the last time I did something remotely similar was when I went clogging as a pre-teen in what seemed like the remote mountains of North Carolina (where my parents would park my siblings and me with an array of my dad’s aunts and cousins), I had to go check this out.

According to Alison, contra dancing has a very supportive culture and is very well defined. It is welcoming to people of all ages, including children, and beginners as well as experienced dancers. There is never any alcohol, and people are encouraged to dance with different partners each dance.

I was impressed with the number of people who came out on this rainy Friday night. The caller welcomed everyone to the 32^nd Annual Thanksgiving Contra Dance Weekend (who knew something like this existed in Rochester?), and explained the moves before each dance, so everyone could practice a full set before the music started. There were a couple of men in skirts (Alison said they like to feel the twirl of a skirt, just as women do…), and it wasn’t uncommon to see men partnering with men. It seemed like a very friendly and nonthreatening environment, and the only wallflowers were a few people like me, who refused to dance.

Alison had shown me a few steps and they made me understand the need for eye contact with your partner, because even just a little twirling made me dizzy. So even though I did get asked to dance a couple of times, I politely declined. Apparently, in contra dance, the rule is: “Better never than late.” “Never” was fine with me! Plus, it just seemed like too much touching of strangers’ hands. But it looked like great fun, great exercise, and, well, wholesome, so I didn’t feel guilty slipping out and leaving Alison to dance the rest of evening. And I don’t feel the need to accompany her on Saturday for things like Challenging Contras, Hambo, and Zias, 4x4s, etc. Seriously, what?

TWC and Verizon Wireless count on our inertia…

I recently wrote about replacing a cable box with Apple TV to save the monthly rental and program guide fees (Roku and other similar devices work as well). I know I had gotten a notice a while ago that I could purchase my own modem, but I didn’t pay much attention. But here’s how easy it is. Best Buy (and I’m sure other places, but fewer, now that Radio Shack went bust) sells various models for various prices, and the TWC representative at the Henrietta store recommended the $100 Motorola. Since the monthly TWC rental fee for the modem is $8, it pays for itself in about a year. Oh, and here’s the best part – if you use TWC for your home phone, you don’t have to return their box! Because there is no purchase alternative for the phone service, you keep that box, you just don’t have to pay the rental fee anymore. Yeah, that makes sense… Now, Charlie is really keen to ditch cable altogether. I’m not quite ready for that leap, but I feel it is inevitable.

When Verizon Wireless recently stopped offering subsidized phones with service contracts, they also “simplified” their plans. Just out of curiosity, I went online to price my plan, and I found that the monthly fee had dropped. But did Verizon Wireless inform me? Or better yet, did they adjust the price automatically? Of course they did neither. I went in to one of their stores to have a chat with a representative. He confirmed that I could “switch” to the new plan, which was exactly the same as my old plan, but cheaper. He said the company’s rationale for not lowering every customer’s price automatically is that some customers might be upset if their plan were changed without their consent. Seriously? Since when would customers be mad at a rate decrease? If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer, check the rates here and call or go in. Although if you don’t, Verizon shareholders will be very happy.

Now, don’t get me started on AOL, which continues to accept payment from people with AOL email accounts, even though they became free years ago…

Back-to-Back RPO & BPO

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

To me, the real reason to sit through the ballet Romeo and Juliet is for the sumptuous score by Prokofiev. So I was delighted to see selections from this work on the schedule for the RPO, and that Ward Stare would conduct was an added bonus. There was a good crowd for a Thursday night, and the first two pieces, featuring the Eastman-Rochester Chorus, were unremarkable (and it took too long for the large group to exit the stage). But the wonderful Barber Violin Concerto, Op. 14 made up for that. Even though I’ve seen the Peter Martins ballet set to this piece five times (because it’s one of my favorite New York City Ballet dances), it was almost as if I were hearing this music for the first time. Simone Porter, the violin soloist, was extremely engaging and talented beyond her 18 years. Finally, came the Prokofiev, which began with my all-time favorite movement: Montagues and Capulets. I’m used to applauding after each movement at the ballet, and it felt unsatisfying having to restrain myself. Since they weren’t playing the movements in order, my only wish would have been for them to end the way they began…

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Friday morning, my friend Linda, a native of Buffalo, and I shuffled off to the 10:30 a.m. “coffee concert” in the 2500-seat Kleinhans Music Hall. Designed by Eliel and Eero Saarinen, it has excellent acoustics, and several spaces that lend themselves to audience gathering.  I guess to entice audience, they offer free coffee and donuts/pastries, and we were warned to get there early to get a decent parking spot (since they’re located in a semi-residential area, they have their own parking lots – parking is $10!). The third-full house consisted of the usual suspects, but conductor JoAnn Falletta took it in stride as she welcomed the audience and told us it “makes the rest of (the musicians’) day very happy to come and play beautiful music in the morning,” wished us a happy Thanksgiving, and reminded people to wear red and green for the upcoming holiday concerts. I liked the more casual atmosphere of a morning concert, with the conductor chatting to the audience, and the male musicians in black suits, rather than tuxedos.

The first piece, by Sir Arnold Bax, was…unremarkable (do you sense a recurring program format?). Next, however, came the Concerto for Violin, Op. 33, by Carl Nielsen, with violin soloist Jennifer Koh. She was absolutely riveting to watch – she played mostly with eyes shut, her whole body moved with the music, and her head bobbed feverishly in the presto passages. The audience threw caution to the wind and applauded after the second movement, which Linda observed “had a finale sound.” Koh smiled to acknowledge our outburst as she plucked a few broken hairs from her bow. At intermission, I bought a CD for her to sign, and she was so gracious as she accepted my praise of her performance. The final piece, Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Opus 36, was beautifully played as well.

It was refreshing to go to a morning concert, and I felt more alert than after a heavy dinner and a glass (or two…) of wine. And it was a pleasant experience to emerge to daylight and most of the day ahead of me, with music echoing in my brain. I learned from a friend, when I participated briefly on the RPO’s Marketing Committee, that the reason Thursday nights were chosen for performances was that, back in the day, that was the night off for “the help.” Times have changed, but the performance schedule has not. Interestingly, the BPO performs their programs not two nights a week, but Saturday night, and either Friday morning (initiated in 2007) or Sunday afternoon. I thought the Friday morning concept was brilliant (except for this concert’s low turnout), since it captures mostly the same audience as a Thursday night, and there’s not much else to do on a Friday morning, anyway. It would be interesting if the RPO experimented with different times for their concerts, although weekday parking might be an issue. In the meanwhile, Buffalo is a short 80-minute drive away (except for blizzards, accidents, and construction!), so I’m definitely going to keep an eye on their Friday morning schedule from now on.

Boutique Cothing

Years ago, when we would visit Rochester for a holiday or a week during the summer, I always made a point of stopping in to shop in one of my favorite clothing stores. Not qualified by “in Rochester.” One of my favorite clothing stores, period. Inspiration Designs, on Monroe Avenue. I loved their selection, and especially the racks of “petite” clothes (no one would ever call me “petite,” but in terms of clothing, it's polite for “short”). My decades-old French Dressing Jeans are wearing thin, and I still wear most of my inventory from that store (I’m not sure what that says about my sense of style, or lack thereof; I prefer to think it means that owner Carolyn Bick’s taste was timeless…). When the store seemed to fall victim of the recession, I was disconsolate. Someone suggested Ruby Rd. as an alternative. Um, not. I finally found a couple of other small stores with a nice selection: Suzanne’s and B. Younique. I didn’t shop at either often (because I don’t really need any more clothes!), but I took it for granted they’d be there when I did have a yen for something new and more fashionable.

So of course I was upset to read recently in the D&C that both of these stores will be closing shortly. I rushed over to both, but their selection at this point is obviously very limited, especially in the middle sizes. When I expressed my disappointment of the closing to the shopkeeper at B. Younique, she explained that women would often come into the store to get ideas and try things on, and then go online to order them at a lower price. It reminded me of the state of the independent bookstore years ago. Eventually, though, we lost most of those stores, and now there aren’t physical places to do the browsing. Stores can exist as showroom-only for only so long.

Then I remembered that when the “upscale” department store Von Maur first opened, I was impressed with their selection, and especially that they carried my favorite designer, Joseph Ribkoff, and his protégé, Frank Lyman. So I trundled over to Eastview, in hopes of finding my new go-to clothing store. I struggled to find any women’s clothing not made in China, and I was discouraged to find that there was a larger selection of Ruby Rd. than Ribkoff. I managed to find one top made in the US that fit and was age-appropriate, and I bought it (even though the last thing I need is another black and white blouse...).

I guess I’d better make more frequent trips to The Country Ewe in Canandaigua and Jane Morgan’s Little House in Aurora, and make it my personal mission to help keep them in business!

Frank Lloyd Wright in Western New York

In Rochester…

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of participating in a tour of the Boynton House in Rochester, owned by Fran Cosentino and Jane Parker, and one of the few Wright homes still a private residence. Jane personally led the tour, and pointed out where they had changed things in their restoration process, either out of necessity – like turning the fire-hazard gas plate warmer into a drinks cabinet – or to update the house to today’s way of living – for example, adding a doorway so they could pass freely between rooms where previous owners with live-in staff wouldn’t have gone. She also identified the 17 original pieces of furniture, which are owned by an organization that loans them to the owners in exchange for them doing occasional tours. It was obvious from Jane’s commentary how much she loves the house (although it seemed to me like it would be an uncomfortable place to live). Since no photos were allowed inside, check out the WXXI program on the restoration process, or visit one of these websites for more information and pictures:

http://landmarksociety.org/2012/06/the-boynton-house-a-frank-lloyd-wright-designed-masterpiece/

http://exploringupstate.com/an-inside-tour-of-the-boynton-frank-lloyd-wright-house-of-rochester/

In Buffalo…

Recently, I was invited by my friend Lisa to join her on a George Eastman Museum tour to the Darwin MartinHouse in Buffalo (we also visited the unremarkable Burchfield Penney Art Center and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, which was only half-open – both had great gift shops, though!). The house is a wonderful example of Wright’s “profoundly American” prairie style – long, low, and lean. It was built for his benefactor, Darwin Martin, who generously provided Wright with an unlimited budget to build six buildings (for himself, his extended family, and staff) on a 1.5 acre lot in a lovely residential area of Buffalo. Each house used different materials, reflecting the occupants’ status. 

Although Wright apparently believed that “your home would make your life happy,” that was more of an unfulfilled wish, and his insistence on controlling every detail, from the windows (there are more than 400 art glass windows, with 16 different patterns) to the furniture (some of which is built in, to ensure the homeowner used it the way Wright intended) made Mrs. Martin uncomfortable in her own house (she later worked with Wright to design Graycliff,  on Lake Erie, and which was much lighter and more to her liking). Anyone who has designed a house knows the conflicts that can ensue with the architect, who views it as ‘his house’ as well as yours, but Wright’s ego must have been impossible to deal with!

Again, no photos were allowed inside. And although Wright’s attention to detail made the house interesting to look at, it didn’t feel inviting to live in, although it is fun to imagine what it must have been like. Much of the house is under restoration – for example, 3.5 miles of the 8.5 miles of trim, and the glass-mosaic fireplace. So I definitely want to go back once the fireplace is complete, and make the trip up to the lake to visit Graycliff, as well. Wright truly was a genius, and was ahead of his time in so many of his architectural concepts.

I covet this sculpture outside the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery!