Henry and the Hot Air Balloon (Music Classes): I finally finished my curriculum, “Henry and the Hot Air Balloon”, for TLB’s Fall music classes and am so excited to kick off the school year with this diverse program! Our music classes follow a theme that changes every 4 months. This theme’s concept is that we’ll be “flying” to a new country each week in class, meeting its music, culture, landscape, and animals. Kids will listen to songs in different languages and be introduced to a full orchestra of classical instruments and a variety of world folk instruments. The great part is that we target goals in each developmental phase as they’re simply having fun making music! Some of the countries we’ll visit throughout the session: Brazil, Nigeria, Austria, France, Australia, Russia, Mexico and Argentina. Classes are available for kids ages 4 months – 6 years. Schedule/Registration Info
I ♥ Broadway: This drama class is for kids ages ages 4-6. It’s taught by our amazingly talented Playroom director, Chad. Students learn the plot and history of Broadway musicals in addition to choreography, singing, and acting! Schedule/Registration Info
Hip Hop 101 with Princess Superstar: Princess Superstar is a renowned rapper and DJ who has played in over 20 countries and worked with amazing musicians and producers! She’s designed a class for kids ages 3-6 and it is so much fun. Students learn about Hip Hop’s origins, write lyrics, practice rapping, dance, freestyle, learn slang and create beats with percussion instruments. I wrote about this class in detail here. Schedule/Registration Info
Let’s Gogh Art: Let’s Gogh Art offers mobile classes around the city and we’re excited to be hosting two of theirs this Fall. Munchkins and Masterpieces introduces students ages 2.5 – 4 years to works by great artists and uses their style as inspiration for unique art projects. Let’s Gogh Dance (ages 2.5-4) incorporates movement and story into this creative art class. Schedule/Registration Info
All classes are held on the Upper East Side at:
TLB Music
266 East 78th Street
(between 2nd and 3rd)
New York, NY 10075
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[Brass at Jon Baltimore Music, NYC click to enlarge]
Katia and I dropped off one of TLB’s saxophones yesterday for repair at a place we’ve been going to for years, Jon Baltimore Music on 46th street. This place is amazing- I highly recommend it for NYC musicians! It is full of saxophones, trumpets, tubas, clarinets, bassoons, violins and much more. Everyone who works there is friendly and welcoming, down to the resident cat, Bruce.
{About the Photo}
On August 14, 1945, when the surrender of Japan was announced in the United States, ending World War II, everyone took to the the streets to celebrate. In Times Square, a photographer named Alfred Eisenstaedt was taking pictures of the spontaneous scene and spotted a young sailor running around kissing every woman he could find. Just south of 45th street, the man grabbed a nurse and Alfred captured the moment of their kiss, with the intersection of Broadway and Seventh in the background. The photo, entitled V-J Day in Times Square, was published a week later in a Life magazine spread and become one of the most iconic images of the era.
Did you know that another view of the same kiss was published in the New York Times? This one is called Kissing the War Goodbye, taken by photo journalist Victor Jorgensen:
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Katia and I decided to take our work outside this afternoon to Washington Square Park. It was too beautiful to stay inside all day! I worked on TLB‘s Fall curriculum in the sunshine and was treated to several live performances, including these amazing steppers. I snapped a few shots to share:
On July 25, 1975, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theater. During its run, it won 9 Tony awards and was nominated for 12! A Chorus Line also won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The above audio of “What I Did for Love” is by the 1975 original Broadway cast.
This summer, my company, TLB Music, teamed up with renowned rapper and DJ Princess Superstar to create a Hip Hop 101 class for kids. The class is a fusion of Hip Hop dance, music and culture perfect for kids who like to dance, perform, and use their imagination. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a class and it was SO much fun! At the beginning of class, Princess Superstar helped students pick their rap names and made name tags for everyone. The kids chose adorable names like P-Flower, J-Star, and D-Heart, using their first initial and a symbol! Then, she taught the class some classic dance moves like The Robot, The Wave, The Moonwalk, and The Running Man. The kids were impressive- one student even pulled off a believable Moonwalk!
(NYC Subway, 1967)
Today, it’s a sweltering 99 degrees in NYC and it feels like 108! Can you imagine commuting in a subway car without air conditioning? On July 19th, 1967- 46 years ago today- the first air-conditioned subway train went into service on the F Line! Read about the history of air conditioning on NYC’s subways here.
If you love shopping like I do, when you walk into an impeccably designed boutique filled with gorgeous clothing and accessories, you feel like a kid in a candy store- wide-eyed with excitement and hungry to try everything. The twist on Cynthia Rowley’s new Upper East Side retail location is that there actually is a candy store right above the boutique! Cynthia has come up with the clever idea of combining shopping for beautiful designer clothing and indulging in a visit to the candy shop with your kids.
This is one of my favorite nostalgic NYC shots. It was taken on July 10, 1913 (100 years ago today!) and features New York City’s buses stopped just north of Washington Square Park. This little section of the city is on my running/walking route so I have a particular fondness to the image!
On July 8, 1889, the first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published by Dow Jones & Company. Dow Jones & Company had just recently been founded in 1882 by reporters Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. The publication cost only two cents at the time!
[Looking Up First Avenue]
photo credit: Carina Zimmerman
[Empire State Pride]
photo credit: Carina Zimmerman
If you’re a New Yorker, you’ve seen the big red Silvercup sign across the river in Long Island City when driving on the FDR or crossing the Queensborough bridge. Silvercup Studios is NYC’s largest film and television production facility. The Devil Wears Prada, 30 Rock, Gossip Girls, Gangs of New York, Mad Men, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and Meet the Parents were all made at Silvercup! The studio opened 20 years ago in 1983, taking over the building formerly occupied by Silvercup Bakery.
On Friday, we celebrated Katia’s birthday with champagne, Dr. Cow vegan cashew cheese, Basilcotta, Faux Gras and delicious cupcakes from Molly’s Cupcakes.
