After recently writing about Alvin Ailey's Extension program (dance classes for "real people"), I decided try it out last weekend. It didn't hurt that Sunday was a beautiful day, but the scene around the building was quite lovely and inviting. There were attractive actual dancers (not that "real people" can't be attractive, too...) hanging out on the steps outside, and the ground-floor studio is all-windows so passersby can see what's going on inside (ahem).That said, I'm glad my class was on the sixth floor; no need to use Real People Zumba to … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2009
But ladies, you must answer too – “what would we do without ’em”?
For the first time in a very long time, I spent an entire day with high school boys. No, I'm not The Cougar, I simply went to the Star Trek movie and then to the Village Vanguard to see jazz pianist Brad Mehldau this past Saturday.As previously planned, my mom, Aliza and I got to the movie theater at Lincoln Center precisely one hour and a half early for Star Trek. I'd guesstimate we were about People 29, 30 and 31 in line at that point, and out of those people, we probably doubled the number of women. That said, after posting about the … [Read more...]
Mind meld
On Wednesday night, my friend Joe and I discovered that we will both be taking our Treky moms to see the Star Trek IMAX for Mother's Day. Joe and I get along quite well, have similar jobs, etc. so there's no great shock that our upbringings may have been alike, but we were wondering: is the Mother's Day/Star Trek movie correlation some kind of stealth marketing agenda? Are there great throngs of people with Treky mothers we don't know about? Chauvenist norms would seem to dictate that releasing the movie around Father's Day might sell more … [Read more...]
Something like curiousity
Speaking of advertising on ArtsJournal, an ad for the 2009 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera caught my eye:Columbia University and the National Endowment for the Arts are pleased to announce the 6th annual Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera. This 10-day intensive workshop brings writers and editors from across the country to New York City for a total immersion in the world of classical music and opera. The twenty-four fellows will attend nightly performances, participate in writing workshops, take … [Read more...]
Good for nothin’
I don't really do publicity for free. Well, I suppose this blog is free (" "), and on occasion I'll write a friend's bio or look at a website for free. And I have lunch with people and brainstorm about PR more than I probably should for free, and sometimes I pitch artists who aren't mine for the sake of good stories everywhere for, what I guess is technically, "free". But generally, this is my job; concert/show tickets and clothes must be bought and rent must be paid, usually in that order. Which is why it's totally ridiculous that … [Read more...]
My name’s McCardle
You'd think from the number of times I've mentioned my jury duty on this blog I had served on a three-month trial. In actuality, I only spent 2 days on jury selection, and wasn't even chosen to serve, probably due to the fact that, when given the opportunity to ask anything of one of the defense attorneys, I asked if he truly believed in every client he chose to represent. Next. The other defense attorney possessed an uncanny ability to not connect with any of us. One woman in the front row had written down "reading" as a hobby on her jury … [Read more...]
Tuxedo Swap?
I am much-delayed in posting this: my sister forwarded it along to "keep me occupied" during jury duty. My expert opinion is that this is a Good Promotion. I was going to make it relevant by suggesting some string quartets I'd like to see "jersey swap", but I honestly couldn't come up with any. … [Read more...]
No such thing as a free ticket
Last week, Judith Dobrzynski at Real Clear Arts posted this thought:With newspapers and magazines shrinking faster than the ozone layer, coverage of events like this concert will disappear except for blogs. And that creates a large problem for arts institutions dependent on the media for free marketing and PR, especially those in the performing arts. I was talking about this very subject last week with the PR head of an important music institution. Though he hasn't lost coverage by mainstream … [Read more...]