ROAD TRIP: New Orleans

Photos by Phillip Wozny



I fell in love with the street signs in New Orleans. This one was an obvious choice.


Before I left my editor John DeMers, a New Orleans Native, armed me with a list of must-eats. We knocked off Café du Monde hours after our arrival. Sadly to say we showed up at Central Grocery too late for a muffaletta experience. This means I will have to go back.




Hotel Monteleone was founded by Antonio Montelone in 1886 . I just recently learned that New Orleans was second to Ellis Island as a place for Italians to land. What if the Ellis Island boat was filled and my mother had to go to New Orleans instead? I'm sure not show up early all the time and be less of a control freak.


The Monteleone is a fave haunt for writers, plus it's haunted. I felt at home because I'm a spooky writer. Truman Capote claims to have been born there. He wasn't. Currently, I am claiming to be the only dance critic that stayed there. Try the turtle soup at the Hunt Room Grill.



Chartes Street. I pronounced it like the cathedral. Wrong. The street is way too empty. Y'all need to visit.


Another one of those tucked-in vistas of the French Quarter. New Orleans owns quaint.



This photo was taken next to Jackson Square. I remember thinking how strange I felt in this public space. We don't have much of that in Houston. For a second I felt like a tourist and missed my minivan. It didn't help that I was carrying around a gift bag from Cafe du Monde.



I like that you can see from the French Quarter all the way through to the central business district. It took a few hundred years to make what you see in this photograph.


I asked Phil where this photo was taken. His response, "Some street." There you have it. It's actually behind St Louis Cathedral. Scott Graves, another B & B owner in the Marigny District had the scoop. "A bit of New Orleans underworld history about this shop--it was once a whore house! It has always had the most extraordinary window displays. A patron would enter the shop and select an ensemble from the shop and have it sent to his hotel room (or other designated place). The outfit would arrive at an appointed time filled by that evening's "entertainment" The ensemble returned to the shop with the "filling" the next morning!"


This is pirate's alley where the old sea thugs would settle their biz.



I liked Phil's photo of SHINE, a chic spa retail outlet that also features yoga classes. I wonder if the early French settlers envisioned yoga classes. Probably not. It feels straight out of soho. If you need any trendy brands--go there. The owner of SHINE and Spa Aria, Sandy Blum, was a regular post-Katrina spa heroine. She was the first to re-open. She keeps a cigar handy to make the resident ghost at ease. It seems many New Orleans people are comfortable with the formerly human folk.

New Orlean's native Gilbert Rome danced with the National Ballet of Canada and Houston Ballet. He also ran a studio just down the road from me for 25 years but our paths never crossed in Texas. He joined John Crew in the B & B biz a month before Katrina struck. He tells a hell of a story about bunkering down at the Fairmont. "It was like the Titanic," he said.


This is an interior shot of Marigny Manor House , Gil and John's B & B. They both know New Orleans inside and out and have a way with making you feel like French royality in their sidehall cottage. The famous jazz joints are footsteps away on Frenchman Street. John tooks us to see the Jazz Vipers at The Spotted Cat. At one point a young kid turned to Phillip and said, "This is the real New Orleans."


Gil thew a little cocktail event for me to meet some of the local dance people. From left to right, Gil, Elaine Mead, Hiller Huhn, Gayle Parmalee, and Miguel Lopez. Gayle, the beautiful red-haired woman, escaped from her home in a canoe. She rescued her cat and her 90-year old landlord as well.


In the days and weeks after Katrina I heard endless NPR stories on missing musicians. I was more than a bit disappointed that no one seemed to be looking for dancers. I didn't know who to look for until Chris Lidvall told me to look for Joseph Giacobbe . I found him and here he is in his Metarie studio in front of his good luck portrait. It was actually Robin Schmidt, his company administrator, that helped me find him. Her emails to me were like a voice in the wilderness. I finally met Robin who had corresponded with me for all those weeks after the storm. She's back living in New Orleans with an apartment full of furniture donated by Mattress Mack at Gallery Furniture. Joseph is back at the helm of his three dance studios and getting Delta Festival Ballet up and running.


They like to start things on fire in New Orleans, especially at restaurants. Joseph treated us to an unforgettable dinner at Arnaud’s. Phil ordered a coffee drink. It kept him up for 24 hours and asleep for the next 24 hours. The Bananas Foster at Brennan’s were equally fabulous. A shout out to Jessica for the flaming banana ballet. It was her first try and she nailed it.


These are some of Joseph's students dancing Tom Ralabate's Stay With Me. Tom is from my hometown, Buffalo, and runs the dance department at UB. He came to New Orleans as a gift to Joseph and set this dance. The dancers came alive dancing Tom's work and seemed to exude a maturity beyond their years.




Joseph is rehearsing for his recital. I like the serious mood of the studio. All of these dancers had their lives distrupted.



Talk about a bad segue. Sorry. I know it's abrupt. But that is how it is in New Orleans right now. This is the 9th Ward. Gil took us on a drive. He said things had improved; It was hard to imagine that they looked worse.


9th Ward



This is a gate in the Garden District. For the two weeks following the storm I called a fellow Feldenkrais teacher every day who was left alone in her Garden District home with only a working phone and a battery radio. She has sinced moved away from New Orleans but it was odd walking around the neighborhood that I had called so often. She eventually came to stay with me in Houston for a few days but let the Wednesday before Rita. She taught me how to fill my freezer with bags of water and reminded me to fill my gas tank. I took the first advice and ignored the latter.



Chris Waddington, a fellow dance writer, and chum from the Institute of Dance Criticism at the American Dance Festival. We met up at Tsunami Dance Company's performance of Orpheus. All of us were very worried about this young chap when Katrina hit. He's back writing about dance and other subjects and working for FEMA. I learned how to order a martini from Chris although have yet to have to actually order one at a real bar.


This photo is obviously not Phillip's. It's the original 2005 poster for Tsunami's Orpheus. Here's the strange part. The image of this underwater dancer was taken way before Katrina had a name. So, as it turns out, Katrina went down in August and Orpheus went up in June 06. If only we knew what the weather and art gods were thinking. The photo is by Vanessa Brown and Jeff Louviere. You can read my review on Dance Magazine’s website.



This is Phillip, my son and New Orleans eyes and companion. In addition being a photographer, he's an actor, musician, and soon to be 10th grader at Cy-Woods HS.

Backyard Drama: The Texas Rep has a Hit with Midsummer Night's Dream

The Texas Repertory Theatre Co., Houston’s newest theater endeavor, is nestled in a little strip center in the sleepy northwest suburb of Spring, Texas. Obviously, the area needs a heavy dose of Shakespeare and The Tex Rep is eager to provide it in their new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The show, directed by Jerry Winters (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival), is sexy enough to wake up the whole neighborhood out of their recliners. An earthiness, combined with an attention to the more primitive animal urges of love, made for an uber-sensual Shakespeare experience. Winters was careful to let the musical language rule, with just enough bells and whistles to evoke the supernatural feel of the play without dominating it. Jackie Coleman’s keen attention to movement kept the play flowing and ramped up the madcap comedy. Scenic designer Jesse Dreikosen made perfect use of the compact stage by creating two worlds in one; an austere and ordered Athens and an unruly, exotic forest.

The excellent cast made for a terrific evening of theater. Jennifer Gilbert portrayed Puck with a jazzy flare. With her red hair and slinky moves, she slithered about the forest creating mayhem at every opportunity. Her hyper-caffinated buzziness contrasted perfectly with the languid slow-motion sequences. Don Hampton, a dead ringer for Tommie Lee Jones, nailed a stoic rendition of Theseus and a controlling, but amused-by-the-antics-around-him, Oberon. Steven Fenley’s Bottom, the Weaver, took over the top to a new level. As the ego-inflated “bad actor,” Fenley nailed Bottom’s utter cluelessness in the talent department. Ryan Heitzman, Dave Maldonado, Lyndsay Sweeney, and Mike Sims played the rag-tag troupe of supremely ungifted thespians with great spunk. Jason Richards (Lysander) and Tristan Colton’s (Demetrius) drunk frat boy in love act kept the audience in hysterics. Kay Ann Allmand (Hermia) was suitably innocent while Jessica Ires Morris (Helena) was a hoot as the wallflower who suddenly becomes the prom queen.

Batting three for three in their inaugural season, let’s just hope the neighborhood wakes up to see the new kid on the drama block.

Forever Plaid, the last play of the season, runs through July 1. Call 281-583-7573 or visit www.texreptheatre.org.

Spacetaker Profile: Sara Draper

Photo by Jim Caldwell

Choreographer Sara Draper doesn’t need to look far for her inspiration; she starts with the body. Draper is the Artistic Director of Dancepatheatre, a modern dance company she created in 1999 to showcase her choreography and the work of like-minded artists. Draper felt it was time to have the umbrella of a company to contain her work. “I finally realized that I have too many ideas to continue working as an independent choreographer,” says Draper. “I need the momentum that a dance company can help to create.”

For the past several years Draper has been working on a collection of dances she calls, Life Museum, an investigation of the body as subject. Life Museum is both a poignant and whimsical look at our lives as embodied beings. So far, she has created Feet, The Back, Le Derriere, Legs, Ears, and Calves. Although they are named for body parts, these dances aim at a more holistic view of the human form. At the Big Range Dance Festival, Draper will present Legs. “The piece hints at runway’s stories and depicts a cultural habit of running away, both literally and figuratively,” says Draper. “I chose a documentary-style voice collage, made from real interviews about individuals' true life stories.” Original music by Aaron Hermes ingeniously weaves the story bits together.

Continuing her work as a cultural anthropologist of the body, Draper takes a look at our society’s obsession with the female form in Breasts X Censored, also slated for the Big Range Festival. “BX, as I call it, is a satire that takes a stab at media's role in the distortion of Americans' attitude towards female breasts, and at the whole weird culture of censoring something that you are simultaneously glorifying,” Draper says. “The trio of dancers is interrupted a couple of times by performance art cameo appearances and video that contrast this bizarre feature of our culture.”

Also on the bill is Draper’s collaboration with poet/playwright/performance artist Elizabeth Gilbert, Body/Soul. Gilbert, left partially paralyzed from an auto accident in 2003, also performs in the piece. “This partnership is unique because it's not just another choreographer dancing with someone in her wheelchair,” says Draper. “Liz brings her well developed talent, artistry, and her whole history of performing and writing to our work; it's a true collaboration, and her poetry inspires me.” Gilbert and Draper met at the Field, a ten-week laboratory for performing artists, and were immediately drawn to each other’s work. Body/Soul concerns the human capacity to embrace drastic and uninvited change. “Prior to the accident, I had begun to connect with dancers to develop work for the stage incorporating text and dance,” says Gilbert. “Now, I find amusing that I will be presenting my work as a ‘sit down’ dancer in league with a ‘stand up” dancer.’”

With her wide eyes and petite frame, Draper may look like a grad student, but she’s not exactly a newcomer. You might say consistency is one of her many strengths. Draper has the unique distinction of having the longest career in the Houston dance scene. She danced with several of the first crop modern dance companies including Chrysalis, Space/Dance/Theatre, Farrell Dyde Dance Theatre, New Dance Group, and Houston Contemporary Dance Company. She may very well be the lone dancer from those early days that is still dancing. “My current trend is to speak more and more and to jump less and less, and I tend to give my younger dancers the more athletic roles,” says Draper about the key to her longevity. “If I keep going this direction, I'll get to keep performing till I keel over. And I still have a lot to say and a lot of exploring to do in this art form.”

As an independent choreographer, her work has been featured at DiverseWorks, the JCC, and Miller Outdoor Theatre. Her accolades include a CACHH Creative Artist Award in 1995, and a 1998 National American College Dance Festival honor. In addition, her work graces the repertory of several dance companies. Draper credits her teachers, James Clouser, Bill Evans, Anita Dyche-Yezer, and Jose Greco, as influences as well. Her thirty years of teaching dance include stints at St. John’s School, and adjunct positions at University of Houston and San Jacinto College. Draper is also a writer, published in 2001 Women’s Works Anthology, Gnosis, and Indigo Sun and was, in fact, Artshouston’s first dance writer.

Draper has lived and worked a life in dance for decades now. The Houston community has been enriched by her thoughtful work, her deep questioning, and her graceful dancing. Clearly, she’s far from being done. “At one time I wondered if I had made a mistake by choosing, for personal reasons, to stay in my hometown rather than move to New York,” she says. “But as it turns out, having deep roots here in Houston's dance community is one of the truly gratifying aspects of my life. I feel very connected to the spirals of dancers here, whatever generation.”

Dancepatheatre performs in the Big Range Dance Festival on June 15-17 at Barnevelder. Call 713-529-1819 or visit http://www.bigrange.org/.

Reprinted from artshouston and Spacetaker