December 2010 PCS Alumni e-Newsletter

Alumni Newsletter
PCS is facing
a new
0
Challenge
& you can help!
A generous supporter will donate $25,000 to the PCS
Tuition Assistance Fund if we find 250 new or
reenergized donors (those who have not given in
three years) to give a gift of any size OR any number
of those donors to give a total of $25,000. If we
complete the challenge by March 31st, they will make
the same offer next year.
December 2010
2010
• Congratulations to Stephanie Chrosniak and
Shoshana Rosenfeld who joined New York City Ballet’s
corps de ballet. • We heard from Molly Kallins in
October: “I joined the crew team! It is amazing… We
have our first race in about 3 weeks… Last weekend I
went on a Habitat for Humanity trip to Tampa/St.
Petersburg and helped build a house for a homeless
family. We also met with some of the homeless
community there and made sandwiches for them to be
given out in the park. The point was to spread a sense
of awareness and responsibility among the group and
bring it back to campus.” •
To make your gift online visit our website(www.pcsnyc.org/giving) or contact the Development Office at
212-582-3116 x118.
These are challenging times. We challenge you to act.
Please be generous but, above all else, please make
a new gift to this very special place called PCS. These
funds will ensure the continuation of PCS’s mission to
affirm young people and to realize the dreams of the
young artists and athletes in our midst.
Upcoming Events:
January 4, 2011: Young Alumni Reunion
Alumni from the classes of 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007
and 2006 are welcomed back to join faculty and staff
for a reception in the PCS library. Visit the event
website for more information:
event.pingg.com/PCSyoungalumni2011
May 4, 2011: Spring Benefit
At the Manhattan Penthouse on lower Fifth Avenue.
Enjoy cocktails, dinner and a special cabaret
performance by some of our most talented students
and returning alumni. Proceeds from the event help
the Tuition Assistance Fund. There is a reduced ticket
price available for alumni.
If you would like to be involved in planning upcoming
events, finding lost alumni or helping to build a stronger
alumni community, contact Amanda Bastian at
abastian@pcs-nyc.org, (212)582-3116 x118 or find and
friend me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/amanda.bastian
2009
• Thanks to Amy Jin (left above) and Weixiong Wang
(right above) who shared their exceptional talents at the
PCS Autumn Musicale on November 17th. The benefit
event was held in PCS’ Peter Glenville Theater.
Proceeds support the PCS Tuition Assistance Fund. Just
two days after the Musicale, Amy performed her first
solo piano recital at the Manhattan School of Music. •
Shiya Wang is a staff writer for Harvard Art Review’s
Music Board. • Caroline Jones performed at the Bar
East Ale House in New York City on Nov. 18th and Dec.
2nd. Her music and videos are available on her website:
www.carolinejones.com. • Alec Parower is the
youngest member in Middlebury’s Tennis team’s starting
line-up (there are no other freshman or sophomores).
Middlebury is ranked number one in the country in
tennis. • Brittney Feit, won 3rd place at the 2010 Youth
America Grand Prix competition in Providence, RI in
Senior Women Division category. Upon graduation from
the Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in 2010,
she joined Tulsa Ballet II. • Cecilia Iliesiu who is living
in Raleigh, NC, dancing for Robert Weiss's Carolina
Ballet and loving every minute of it all, wrote in May:
“We just finished a run of a program that consisted of La
Sylphide and 9x12, a new Lynne Taylor-Corbett ballet.
The supportive audiences were full and we did great!
We are now off to learning/performing Romeo and Juliet
and Sleeping Beauty. We will be performing every
weekend now until May 23! Hope we all stay strong until
the end of the season! Hope all is well in NY! Note: The
photos (below) are from La Sylphide… (in the first)
furthest right kneeling is Randi Osetek ‘01 and second
on the right on pointe is Lola Cooper ‘07, both PCS
alumnae! Small world! I am the furthest left on pointe in
that photo.” •
seemed like a house filled with children – not at all the
large, impersonal institution that I had expected from a
New York school. Mom disappeared as a girl ran up to
me and asked, “Can I have your autograph?”
I was dumbfounded.
“You are Hayley Mills, aren’t you?” she asked.
“No, I’m not,” I said, “But thank you!” I was thrilled
that someone had mistaken me for a movie star. That
had never happened to me in Delaware.
“You do look a lot like her,” said another girl.
Within minutes, I learned that many aspiring ballerinas
went to school at PCS. Even more encouraging was the
fact that some PCS students were already singing and
dancing on Broadway. I loved the idea of going to
school with children my age who were already
professionals. It made my own dream of joining a ballet
company immediately after graduation, seem much
more attainable.
I don’t recall the name of the woman with whom Mom
and I met that first day, but by the end of the meeting,
she had given me a schedule which would allow me to
finish high school in one year while taking two ballet
classes a day. I knew I had found my new home, and
from that day forward, I never had another dream about
stampeding buffalo.
MY PCS STORY
In advance of the PCS centennial in 2014, we are
asking our alumni to share their “PCS Story.” The
following is the latest addition. We welcome yours
as well! Email your story to abastian@pcs-nyc.org.
I was fifteen years old when I first visited the
Professional Children’s School. I had just finished tenth
grade at a girls’ prep school in Wilmington, Delaware,
and Mom had decided that I should move to New York
alone, graduate from high school a year early, and join a
ballet company at sixteen. Yikes! I was not at all sure
that I could live up to Mom’s expectations, and I began
having nightmares of being chased by a herd of buffalo.
When Mom and I arrived at PCS to gather information, I
was surprised that the school was so friendly.
It
Thanks to my wonderful teachers at PCS, I graduated
the following June, and in the fall, I made my
professional debut
in
a
command
performance
for
Prince Rainier and
Princess Grace in
Monte Carlo. That
performance was
the beginning of
my
thirty-year
career as a dancer
– a career which
gave me physical,
emotional,
and
financial freedom
in a community
which
nurtured
and inspired me.
Lee Wilson ‘62
2008
• Congratulations to Amy Holihan who is dancing with
Pennsylvania Ballet II in Philadelphia. • In November
Wonki Lee was a semi-finalist at the 5th International
Adolphe Sax Competition in Dinant, Belgium. A major
saxophone event, the competition is reserved for highlevel saxophonists who are younger than 31. • In April,
Katie Cunningham performed in the off-Broadway play
When Joey Married Bobby. “My first professional offbroadway debut!... I'm playing ‘Sally Joe’ The ‘precious’
daughter who lacks common sense but has great
ambition to one day become President... of the United
States… Randy Jones of the Village People is playing my
dad!” Katie performs regularly with the improv teams
Froduce
(www.froduce.info)
and
North
Coast
(www.newyork.improvteams.com). • In addition to
pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree at The Colburn
School’s Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, Elicia
Silverstein (below) performs regularly with the
Descartes Piano Trio. Last summer the trio performed in
Berlin. •
feels right. And most importantly, I now know with
certainty that I want to dance simply because I love it.”
• Last summer Julian Sapala performed in Euripide’s
tragedy The Alcestis with the American Thymele
Theater. • Nina Bennett lives in Switzerland where she
studies at the Hotel School of Lausanne. • Ashley
Everett was the subject of a full page story in the
September issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine. • Charles
Klarsfeld is lead singer and producer of The Americans.
According to their website, www.theamericansnyc.com,
the group just arrived back from London where they
played their first two international shows to packed
audiences. They'll be heading back in February to
celebrate the release of their newest record, The White
EP. •
2007
• This past June April Giangeruso became a member
of ABT’s corps de ballet. She was interviewed by The
New York Times in August about the transition: “Ms.
Giangeruso spent two years performing major pas de
deux and soloist roles with ABT II, Ballet Theater’s
studio company, but that all changed when she became
an apprentice in the main company in January, then a
full corps member in June: away went the spotlight.
‘You go from being a huge fish in a really tiny pond to
being a really small fish in a huge lake,’ she said matterof-factly. ‘Nobody really says anything to you about your
dancing. You’re standing in the back, and you don’t hear
your name.’ For all this, she is still elated.” • Annie
Sullivan is a singer/songwriter for the NYC band
Blackbird.
In
July,
she
recorded a four
song EP with
legendary
Engineer
and
Producer
Jay
Messina. Layne
Montgomery
‘10
recently
joined the band
as
well.
•
Puanani Brown
joined
ABT’s
corps in March.
This September
she was interviewed by Dance Spirit Magazine: “I am
grateful that I can return to Harvard after dancing,
which I intend to do. Not only did my year at college
reinforce my conviction to dance, it assured me that life
does go on outside of ballet. While I chose to leave
Harvard to follow my heart now, I know how much
college has to offer. I also came to realize that NYCB
wasn’t the place for me, as I have found a company that
Congratulations to Courtney Lavine (above) who was
recently promoted to the corps of American Ballet
Theatre (ABT). Courtney joined ABT as an apprentice in
February 2010 and performed in a number of the
company's productions, including Swan Lake, Sleeping
Beauty, and Don Quixote during ABT's 2010
Metropolitan Opera Season. She looks forward to ABT's
2010-11 performance season with opportunities to
perform throughout the US and abroad. Courtney was
recently awarded a grant for excellence in ballet by the
Boomerang Fund. She was also interviewed by Teen
Vogue for a Q&A in March. • Miasha Fisher performed
“God Bless America” in front of hundreds of America’s
bravest along with dignitaries on the deck of the Intrepid
Air and Space Museum for the momentous 2010
Memorial Day commemoration. Miasha is currently is
working on her first full length album of original material
which she hopes
to
release
in
early 2011. •
Tora Fisher’s EP
“Pilot” is available
on iTunes.
The
EP’s title song
“Pilot” is a ballad
she
wrote
to
memorialize her
father. She also
performed “Pilot”
on
the
USS
Intrepid for the
Memorial
Day
celebration.
2005
2006
• A behind the scenes video (above) of an Andres
Serrano photoshoot, shot and edited by Chuck
Hinshaw, is on Italian Vogue’s website. This summer
Chuck performed in The Purple Play’s, a compilation of
short plays, with the The Bugaboo Jones Group in
association with The 2nd Annual BoCoCa Arts Festival. •
Jacob Ashworth is currently a senior at Manhattan
School of Music following a year a Columbia and a
performer's degree at Indiana. He and Francisco Finck
’05 are roommates. • Thanks to a “like” request on
Facebook, we discovered that Rachel Salzman is
dancing
with
The
Sean
Curran
Company
(www.seancurrancompany.com). • Hahn Bin will be
performing with the Naples Philharmonic in early
January and at the Morgan Library and Museum on
January 19th. Visit his website www.hahn-bin.com for
details.
Several PCS faculty went to see his
performance (below) on September 19th at the Rubin
Museum of Art. •
• This summer Consent, starring Peter Brown (aka
Peter Vack), won three awards at the Domani Vision
Film Festival in NYC including The Domani Vision
“Filmmaker of the
Year” Award and
“The Jack Nance
Breakthrough
Performance” Award
for Peter. The film is
about “A wealthy
Manhattan family's
inability to cope with
the suicide of their
eldest daughter that
sends them into a
downward spiral of
drugs, alcohol and
sexual taboos that
threatens to destroy
them.”
•
Aaron
Chaleff graduated
from
Tufts
University in 2009,
with a degree in
Economics and History. He is currently living in NY and
working in Finance. • Marshall Pailet wrote and
directed Jurassic Parq: The Broadway Musical
and
Super
Claudio
Brothers. Both won
“Best Musical” at the
NY Fringe Festival. •
In April New York
Theatre
Ballet
announced the return
of Steven Melendez,
who appears as Guest
Artist. Steven returned
to New York from
Estonia
where
he
danced
with
the
Vanemuine Theater as
a Principal artist for
three years. A blogger
with DanceViewTimes
wrote: “Jose Limon’s
1958
Suite
from
Mazurkas… features a
group of dancers dancing stylized mazurkas in solos,
twos, threes, and finally together, led by a single man
(Steven Melendez) who has an introspective, haunting
solo, where he reverently touches the ground.” •
2004
Photo by Michael J. Palma
• Milena Zhivotovskaya and Xue Yang Liu ’07, have
been performing together as members of the Akian
Quartet. • Pierce Cravens and Marshall Pailet ’05
have joined forces in a new business venture. Their
company, Pegasus Prep (www.pegasusprep.com), offers
“an outstanding community of Ivy League educated
tutors. With years of tutoring experience and firsthand
knowledge of the Ivy League admissions process, our
tutors will effectively guide you toward academic
success.”
This
Fall
Pierce performed in the
play Silverhill at the
Adrianne Theater in
Philadelphia. • Min
Kyoung
“Chloe”
Kang is co-founder
and designer for 27-24
(www.27-24.com), “a
high-quality,
contemporary clothing
line established in NYC.
It is urban chic casual
wear inspired by the
mix of uptown luxury
and downtown hipster
flair.”
•
Amanda
Weingarten Goodwin,
who joined Miami City
Ballet as a Company
Apprentice in 2004, was promoted to Soloist in 2010. •
Polly Baird stopped by her alma mater and was
surprised at all the changes. Polly currently is in
Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. She recently
returned from playing the role of Meg Giry in the
National Tour. • Jason Fuchs is one of the writers for
the upcoming fourth installment in the Ice Age series.
Ice Age: Continental Drift (working title, and also known
as Ice Age 4) was announced on May 5th, 2010 and is
scheduled to be released on July 13th, 2012. In May,
Jason spoke to The New York Post about his starring role
in the 2010 movie “Holy Rollers.” The independent film
was inspired by actual events in the late nineties when
Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle
ecstasy from Europe into the United States. • Gabriel
Millman performs with the band Julian and the Lopez
Dispensers. According to their Facebook page, they will
be performing at the Sidewalk Café on January 7th and
recording an EP a few weeks later. • A.J. Shively is
making his Broadway debut as Jean-Michel in La Cage
aux Folles. •
2003
chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of a boy
who was discovered, and who only much later
discovered all that he had in himself.” • Yura Lee has a
new website (www.yuralee.com). She is a member of
the Chamber Music Society Two of Lincoln Center, as
both violinist and violist. • Kether Fernandez
Donohue has been very busy. She is currently on
location in South Carolina shooting Barry Levinson's SciFi Thriller, The Bay in which she has a starring role.
Kether also stars in The Teleporter, a feature film set for
a 2011 release. In May she was cast as a series regular
in a CBS Sitcom Pilot Open Books, starring Patti LuPone,
Laura Benanti, Scott Foley, and Aisha Tyler. Kether had
a supporting role in the feature film Boy Wonder, which
premiered at the 2010 Rhode Island International Film
Festival in August. You may have also seen Kether last
summer in a national iPhone 4 commercial featuring
Facetime (entitled "Haircut"). • Emily Hendrickson is a
licensed funeral director at Sperling Funeral Home in
Pittsburgh, PA. •
2002
• According to her website,
Jessie
Baylin
Baldassarre is working on
another album. • Jordana
Bross is the owner and
director of World Fitness
Studio in Monroe, CT. • In
August the New York Post
reported
that
Megan
Fairchild
and
Andrew
Veyette are “planning a
partnership, onstage and
off. Not only will they
dance together this fall,
but they also just got
engaged.
•
Solange
Merdinian
will
be
performing
with
her
brother Sami Merdinian
‘00 on February 10, 2011
at the WMP Concert Hall in
NYC as part of The
Merdinian Series: An Armenian Journey. •
2001
• Visit Sophie Flack’s website (www.sophieflack.com)
to see her artwork. “As a former dancer with the New
York City Ballet, Sophie expresses in her art the
atmosphere of classical ballet and its influence on her
perception of the female form.” • Congratulations to
Abigail Mentzer who was promoted this season to the
rank of soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. •
Photo by Erin Baiano
• Sokvannara (Sy) Sar (above) is the subject of
feature length documentary Dancing Across Borders
which premiered at the 2009 Seattle International Film
Festival. The film, directed and produced by Anne Bass,
“peeks behind the scenes into the world of dance and
2000
• In addition to performing with his sister (see 2002
news above), Sami Merdinian performs regularly with
SYBARITE5. The group recently appeared on the CBS
Early Show, for his Holiness the Dalai Lama. They will be
performing at the Library of Congress on December 18th.
On the Library’s website they are described as “five
terrific American string players (who) juxtapose
classical, romantic, and contemporary works and their
own re-imagined arrangements of Radiohead in a
program that thrusts chamber music into the future.” •
Berenika Zakrzewski appears on the cover of The
Portrait: Understanding Portrait Photography published
by the Brooks Institute Press. The image was captured
by iconic photographer Douglas Kirkland. • Brett
Tabisel manages (Le) Poisson Rouge, “a multimedia art
cabaret founded by musicians on the site of the historic
Village Gate. Dedicated to the fusion of popular and art
cultures in music, film, theater, dance, and fine art, the
venue's mission is to revive the symbiotic relationship
between art and revelry; to establish a creative asylum
for both artists and audiences.” • Anthony Roth
Costanzo was featured on the March 17, 2010 cover of
the Princeton Alumni Weekly. •
1999
• Alexandra Ansanelli was one of several collegeenrolled dancers featured in the article, Exchanging
Slippers for Schoolbooks, in December 5, 2010 Sunday
New York Times. In September, Alexandra joined the
PCS Board of Trustees as an alumna trustee. • The
iconic heritage footwear brand G.H. Bass & Co’s
collaboration with Rachel Antonoff was unveiled at
Rachel’s Spring 2011 presentation. The “Bass Loves
Rachel Antonoff” collection will be available at select
Bloomingdale’s retailers nationwide in time for the 2011
spring season. • Hilary Hawkins performs regularly at
Cucina Calandra in Fairfield, NJ. This summer she
performed at the Newton Day Festival in Newton, NJ. •
Jessica Kantor is Founder and CEO of Film News Briefs
(www.filmnewsbriefs.com) which keeps up to the minute
on film industry news and explores how technology is
changing entertainments landscape. In an interview with
the blogger Scott Myers, Jessica described what
distinguishes the site from other online script and
entertainment business tracking sites: “we don't cover
any gossip and we don't do movie reviews. We strongly
feel that neither of those two things help filmmaking in
any way. There are already so many sites that give
reviews, who needs another one? Our editorial is about
what's going on in the industry and our feature stories/
interviews are about innovation in the industry.” •
Congratulations to New York City Ballet soloists Adam
Hendrickson ‘98 and Rebecca Krohn who announced
their engagement in August. •
1998
• Aubrey Morgan joined the Broadway cast of
Phantom of the Opera. • Halley Zien’s solo exhibition
“Little People” took place in June at chasama 112 in
NYC. To see Halley’s work visit her website:
www.halleyzien.com. • In September Lane Harwell
was appointed Director of the dance advocacy
organization Dance/NYC. In an email announcement
Lane said: “I have joined Dance/NYC at a challenging
but exciting time, when its work to strengthen the dance
industry is more important than ever before.
The
organization has responded to the economic crisis by
increasing its advocacy, driving industry partnerships
and innovating on programs, including the launch of a
new Web site for audience engagement and
management
resources:
www.dancenyc.org.”
The appointment was
reported in The Wall
Street Journal on
September 22nd. •
Candace
Walters
(right) is a Freelance
Pilates Instructor. “I
teach
Pilates
and
GYROTONIC at a few
studios
around
Manhattan.
I was
certified in Pilates
Mat in August of
2006, completed my
Pilates
Equipment
certification
in
February of 2008,
and did GYROTONIC
Level I Instruction training this June.” Her website is
www.candacewalters.wordpress.com. •
PCS Reunion: May 2010
1997
•
Mary
Helen
Bowers
(right)
trained
Natalie
Portman for her role
in
the
recently
released film Black
Swan.
In
an
interview with the
Daily
News
Mary
Helen said: “It was a
year's worth or more
of preparation, six
months intensively,
and then the time
that we were on the
set. We initially did
not know what the
choreography would
be. We knew that it would be ‘Swan Lake’ and that was
all we had. So the plan in the beginning was to get her
strong and ready and improve her technique so that she
would be able to go into rehearsals and do the
choreography. She wrote: “The movie is fantastic! Very
excited for the premiere at the Ziegfeld tomorrow.” Mary
Helen
is
the
Founder
of
Ballet
Beautiful
(www.balletbeautiful.com) “An inspiring and innovative
series of customized exercises, Ballet Beautiful offers
each client the means to a strong, lean, graceful and
ultimately, ideal ballerina body shape.” • Last May
Christina Ricci made her broadway debut in Time
Stands Still. The play will extend its Broadway run until
January 30th at the Court Theatre on 48th Street. •
1996
• Miriam WengerLandis responded to
our inquiry about
her new book, Girl in
Motion: A Novel, “I
still have many fond
memories of PCS. I
live in Seattle now
and work at Amazon
in
the
books
industry. I retired
from
Miami
City
Ballet
in
2000,
graduated
from
Stanford in 2004,
and worked as a
book
editor
for
major
publishing
houses in New York
for 3 years before
moving to Seattle
about 3 years ago. I
got
married
last
January.” In a recent interview with Amazon she said: I
started Girl in Motion about seven years ago. After I
retired from Miami City Ballet, it took three years to gain
enough distance from my ballet career to look back and
process what becoming a dancer was all about and how
…and the after party.
the ballet world influenced me. Writing the book helped
me gain closure on such a big part of my life and move
on to a college degree and a career beyond dance. I was
also teaching ballet to teenagers, which made me think
about what I would have liked to read when I was a
student contemplating a professional career. The book
went through so many drafts over the years and took
forever to see the light of day. Originally it followed
Anna Linado through ballet school and into her
professional career, but eventually there was too much
to include in just one book. I decided to focus on her
progression from student to professional, and that
became Girl in Motion.” • Eva Natanya Rolf began a
PhD program in Religious Studies a the University of
Virginia, concentrating on Tibetan Buddhism. •
1995
• Jed Cohen is one of the co-founders of Rocket Hub,
(www.rockethub.com) “a grassroots crowdfunding
platform. We provide the credibility and infrastructure
necessary to successfully leverage the financial power of
your community and launch creative projects and
endeavors.” •
1994
• After posting
this photo (right)
on
Facebook,
Whitney Levine
Evans wrote us:
“Well
Michael
Evans and I met
during
a
six
week Air Force
leadership
course and in
September
he
popped
the
question on top
of the Zugzpitze
(the
highest
mountain
in
Germany).
We
were married 15
Oct in Las Vegas.
We
had
our
honeymoon
at
Lake Lucerne in
Switzerland and also drove to Como Italy for a day. I
took his name as well. Things are absolutely wonderful.
Hope all is well, Whitney” • Jeffrey Paul Bobrick sent
an update: “This week's video is a ‘vlog’ (Video Log, like
a blog but with video instead of words, for the
uninitiated) directly related to this thought. I went to
Miami as a volunteer to sort clothing, food and medicine
for Angel Wings International, a non-profit sending
medical relief to Haiti. I was asked to perform in front of
all the other volunteers, especially since I wrote the
jingle for the organization. Part of this performance can
be viewed in the video, in which I perform R.E.M.'s
‘Everybody Hurts.’ You can see the video on my web site
at www.ilovejpb.com (just click for full news/blog).” •
Arlen Pyenson is an attorney living in New York City •
1993
• SDoun "Sadoun Ismael" Serrano has two new
songs available on iTunes. Drink in the Sun was released
in July. In Silence was released in September 2010. •
1992
• We are saddened to
inform you of the
death
of
Dana
Dawson on August
10, 2010. A memorial
service was held on
August 18th at the
Allen
AME
Church
Cathedral in Jamaica,
NY. Dana was an
actress and singer who
began her career at
age seven on the
national tour of Annie.
Her first album, Paris,
New York and Me
(1991) was certified
gold in France. Her
second album, Black Butterfly, was released in October
1995, and included three singles that made the UK
Singles Chart. Dana’s songs are included on many other
albums, including EMI's Music of the Twentieth Century:
1980–1999 and Virgin's Best Dance Album 1995. Dana
was 36 years old at the time of her death. •
1991
• Last summer Melanie Harris joined Tailwind Capital
as Vice President of Marketing and Investor Relations. •
1990
• The Casting Society of America announced winners of
the 26th Annual Artios Awards on November 1st.
Congratulations to Jen Rudin winner in the category
“Animation Feature” for her work on The Princess and
the Frog. After working for Disney for many years, Jen
started her own casting company (Jen Rudin Casting) in
2009. www.jenrudin.com • Josh Charles stars in the
CBS primetime drama The Good Wife. •
1989
• Jennifer Blanc-Biehn made an appearance in postapocalyptic science-fiction thriller film The Divide with
partner Michael Biehn. She is producing and stars in a
film called The Victim. “It is her first leap into the
producing world and she is loving it.” •
1987
• The Long Island Wine Press announced in November
that “Dale Suter is the new general manager at
Vineyard 48 Winery. The Vineyard has updated its
website (www.vineyard48wines.com) to include a
shoppiing cart and new calenda
ar for ease of
o navigating
g
events
s.” • Belind
da Takahas
shi (below)
is the co-founde
er and chief creative offic
cer of the co
ompany Juno
o
Baby (www.thejun
nocompany.com), an Em
mmy Award-winnin
ng line of children’s educational
e
developmentt
produc
cts that blend
d original mu
usic with a cre
ew of puppett
charac
cters intende
ed to develo
op, inspire and nurture
e
childre
en’s minds and emotion
ns.
According to theirr
websitte: “All of ou
ur products are
a
based on
n our lifelong
g
love of music and our belief in its power to
o open hearts
s
and minds. We firm
mly believe th
hat by surrou
unding young
g
childre
en with bea
autiful music
c, we can engage
e
theirr
minds,, inspire th
hem artistically and nu
urture them
m
emotio
onally.” •
arriv
ved on the scene
s
with a dance cha
aracter so fu
ully
form
med. In Nove
ember 1980 in New York, Ms. Kistler
made her debut in the second
d movement of Balanchine
e’s
‘Sym
mphony in C,’’ one of the great
g
ballerina roles. To find
such
h a combination of sw
weep and sweetness
s
w
was
starttling.
She
had
fearrlessness,
w
wit,
delicac
cy,
expa
ansiveness an
nd an irrepre
essible love off dancing… T
The
swee
etness of herr presence re
emains.” • Cornelia
C
Gue
est
debu
uted a line of vegan cookies wh
hich hopes to
even
ntually sell to
o local bake
eries, nationa
al retailers and
airlin
nes. The Walll Street Journ
nal reported on the ventu
ure
on April
A
27th: “Along with sta
arting a webs
site from whiich
she has begun so
oliciting orderrs and taking
g to Twitter and
The Huffington Post
P
to get the
t
word out about eating
well,, Ms. Guest has signed with
w
a manag
ger at Brillste
ein
Ente
ertainment Partners
P
in Los Angeles
s to help h
her
deve
elop a televis
sion vehicle. She is also working
w
on h
her
nextt vegan cookie, which, she said, has been mo
ore
diffic
cult to perfec
ct: the oatmeal raisin.” •
19
979
19
986
• Aly
ycea Baylis Ungaro ha
as several vooks (digital
books that combine video and links to the internet) forr
iPhone
e, iPod, iPad,, and Kindle available on
n iTunes and
d
her we
ebsite: www..realpilatesny
yc.com. Therre are four in
n
the se
eries entitled
d Pilates: Da
ay by Day – 15 Minute
e
Worko
out. • Nilas Martins was
s accepted as a fellow att
the De
eVos Institute
e of Arts Man
nagement at the Kennedy
y
Centerr in DC. •
• Ov
ver the past several years, Harriet Clark
C
Webb
ber
has taught in American Ballet Theatre’s Summ
mer
Intensives training programs
s, the Jacqu
ueline Kenne
edy
Onas
ssis School at American Ballet
B
Theatre
e, and for ABT
T’s
pre-performance children’s workshops.
w
• Garin Bak
ker
n the Encyclo
opedia of Liviing Artists, and
has been listed in
his reputations as
a a New Yo
ork Realist was
w
recogniz
zed
with a nationa
ally reviewe
ed show entitled
e
thrree
Gene
erations of New York Realist in Scottsd
dale, Arizona in
1999
9. He also runs a sma
all Mural Co
ompany called
Carrriage House Art Studio
os (www.carriageart.com
m),
whic
ch offers app
prenticeships
s for young artists and an
oppo
ortunity to wo
ork and improve their craft. •
19
985
• On November
N
5thh we came ac
cross the follo
owing theaterr
review
w in the New
N
York Times: “Vac
clav Havel’s
s
‘Memo
orandum,’ which
w
can be
b
seen in the Actors
s
Compa
any Theater’s
s (TACT) han
ndsome production at the
e
Beckettt Theater, comes out of this Co
ommunist-era
a
traditio
on…. Directted by Je
enn Thom
mpson, this
s
produc
ction has the
e crisp precis
sion of farce as it moves
s
from scene
s
to scene.” •
19
984
• On December
D
8thh, John Fem
mia was a gue
est on Cringe
e
Humorr Internet Radio’s The Joe
e Conte Show
w.•
19
981
• On June 28th the
t
New Yorrk Times’ Da
ance Review
w
reporte
ed on Darci Kistler’s fina
al bow with New
N
York City
y
Ballet: “A Long Go
oodbye From the Last of Balanchine’s
s
Ballerinas.” In the article, Alastair
A
Maca
aulay wrote::
“Surely
y not since the 1930s had
d a performe
er so youthful
19
976
• Ca
athy Nussba
aumer (abov
ve) wrote to
o us: “The NY
YC
reun
nion sounds so
s exciting!! The pictures
s you posted of
PCS really bring back memories!!... After attending PC
CS,
I re
eceived my GED. I the
en joined American Ballet
Thea
ater II. Afterr that, I joined Basler Th
heater in Bas
sel
Swittzerland, dan
ncing soloist parts. From there I joined
The Dutch Nation
nal Ballet in Amsterdam
A
the Netherlan
nds
as a soloist, and danced therre for 10 years. I did take
e a
brea
ak, and dance
ed with The National
N
Balle
et of Canada in
Toro
onto for one year.
y
I stoppe
ed dancing in
n 1995, to raiise
my 3 children. I recently go
ot divorced from
f
my Duttch
husband, and have returned back to the US with my
children.” • Patti Eylar sent an update: “I am serving
as co-chair of the Dance USA annual conference being
held in Chicago in July 2011.” •
1975
• Karen Kachele Gottschalk shared her news with us:
“I recently remarried, have 2 stepchildren and am
working as a Director of Business Development for an
international accounting firm. I also teach Pilates part
time. • An update from Tony Battelle via Facebook:
“I've been gigging quite a bit with Whiskey Man Band…
tune into www.facebook.com/TonyBHarpman for all the
gigs I'm playing.” • Holistic Life Coach/Corrective
Exercise Specialist Gigi Barlowe teamed up with her
husband John Marsh (chef/owner of a sustainable
organic food restaurant in
New Jersey) to create the
vegan energy bar, Real Bar
(www.therealbar.com). The
wrapper says Real Bar
"derives its concept from
specific
and
determined
lifestyle choices. Real Bar is
made of organically grown,
sustainable, fairly traded
foods. Our goal is to serve
you the most delicious,
healthiest energy bar you've
ever eaten." •
1974
Berkshires
(www.thebridgerestaurantwebsite.com).
There's also a Facebook fan page for the restaurant.” •
April Berry has been the Director of Education and
Outreach for North Carolina Dance Theatre since ‘06. •
ABC’s comedy pilot Who Gets the Parents will star
Adam Arkin and Jane Kaczmarek. •
1973
• Genie Joseph is the CEO of Hawaii Movie Studios in
Honolulu. She is a screenwriter, award winning film
director, and host of The Genie Show. She teaches
media and communication at Chaminade University and
is a creativity coach. •
1971
• We were saddened to receive the following message
on Facebook this summer from Tina Williams: “My dear
friend Bruce MacRae, 1971 graduate of PCS, son of
Gordon and Sheila MacRae, husband to Dr. Mari
Terzaghi (1970 PCS graduate) died unexpectedly on
June 14th in NYC. His charm, talent and friendship will
be missed by all.” We send our deepest condolences to
Mari and his family. “Bruce MacRae's musical legacy will
live on. His score of Ape, the Korean version of King
Kong, so impressed Sondheim that Sondheim likened
some of the pieces to the writing of Hammerstein.
Recordings of two of his songs "Find Me a Man" and
"Music That I Overheard" are available on iTunes.” (The
Huffington Post, December 15, 2010) •
1970
• In September Gelsey Kirkland and her husband
Michael Chernov opened The Gelsey Kirkland Academy
for Classical Ballet (www.gelseykirklandballet.org) in
TriBeCa. On their website Gelsey writes: “In my drive to
understand ballet from a deeply heartfelt point of view, I
have developed a variety of innovative training
techniques that help dancers acquire and refine the skills
necessary to create a compelling character and fully
fleshed out performance. This knowledge was passed on
to me through my work with master teachers in a quiet
studio environment, shielded from the pressures of the
companies that I danced with. I have established the
Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet with the
intention of sharing these secrets with the next
generation of dancers.” •
1969
• Barry Pearl is doing a gig on Holland America's
Statendam, which will sail through the Panama Canal,
Vancouver and up into Alaska. Photos and stories about
the trip soon to be available on his website:
www.barrypearl.com. •
1966
• Michael Dutton sent us the photos above and the
following update: “We own the Bridge Restaurant in the
• Coco Gram Shean judged the Mens 2010 Figure
Skating Event at the Olympics “(It) was very exciting!
Didn’t get there as a skater, but made it as a judge!” •
1959
• Thank you to Michael Mann who in May sent us the
picture above. “(It’s) from a gathering we had at my
home last week with Mrs. Nehrens, myself, Warren
Berlinger ‘55, Lana Gabbe Haines, Chuck Taylor
‘58, Lisa Hochman ‘58 and Josh White Jr. ’60. •
Nancy Heiss Jones and her husband stopped by PCS in
August to take a tour and reminisce over yearbooks. •
1954
• We heard from Barbara Bemelmans: "Still living on
my farm in Three Bridges NJ (50 miles from NYC).
Within the past four years all three of my sons finally
married. So far, five girls have been added to the family
- two babies and three daughter-in-laws. My biggest
accomplishment this year was taking my two miniature
horses to the National show in Tulsa and driving ‘Ritz’ to
the reserve champion slot in the over 65 class." •
1941
• Shepard Curelop emailed us: “I graduated with the
class of 1941 which must make me one of your most
senior alums. I recall that were there sixteen in that
class including three boys: Arthur Anderson, Sidney
Lumet and me. After returning from military service in
'46 I worked briefly in Theatre in New York but left for
Hollywood in '47. With very little success to keep me
there, I devoted my career aspirations to radio/TV and
spent a lifetime initially on air and then in broadcast
management in various cities including Houston where I
have worked and now retired after 33 years here. I am
happily married with children and grandchildren who are
one of my principal interests along with following the
performing arts as a happy fan.
I have fond
recollections of my three years at PCS when Mrs Nesbit
was the principal, Mrs. Wilson my English teacher and
other teachers and students.” •
Faculty, past and present:
• Congratulations to Bri Sorice Miccio who married
John Miccio last summer • Susan Mindell Blum wrote
to us after reading Judith Gilbert’s ‘80 “My PCS Story.”
“I remember CLEARLY exactly where I was and what
happened when Gloria Swanson came to visit.
Charlotte Mundy had come around to all the lower
school classes (I was still teaching second grade then,
so it must have been in the very early 70's) and the
teachers were told to have all the kids stand when she
walked in. Try explaining Gloria Swanson and why they
had to stand to second graders! Around the same
period of time, Gregory Peck visited the school and my
classroom. He walked in and several of the boys said
‘Wow, you are SO big.’ Those are memories you don't
forget, shaking the hands of such famous icons.” •
Drama teacher Vincent Sagona appeared in Doubt at
the Becton Theatre in Teaneck, NJ last spring. This fall
Mr. Sagona and the entire cast of Doubt received an
Applause Award for outstanding ensemble acting from
the New Jersey Professional Theatre Alliance. • M.S.
Social Studies teacher Erika Petersen is a recipient of
one of this year's Blackboard Awards for Teachers. The
14 recipients were selected from more than 250 online
nominations from parents, students and educators, then
culled by Manhattan Media Group's editorial team. The
recipients were honored at a June 7th awards ceremony
at the Fordham University School of Law •
Congratulations to Shellie Sclan who was named an
Outstanding Educator by the University of Chicago “for
excellence in teaching and mentoring.” 2010 Graduate
Sally He nominated Ms. Sclan for the award. • In
October Spanish Teacher Jennifer Raznick was
featured in an article and video on The Wall Street
Journal’s website, Dust Off Your Old Game Table: MahJongg Is Making a Comeback. •
Professional Children’s School
132 West 60th Street, NYC 10023
www.pcs-nyc.org