Hasn’t this been a beautiful week? I’m enjoying the chance to reflect as I sit next to an open window and listen to the birds outside. I’m also listening to Topher Mohr’s cover of John Mellencamp’s song Now More than Ever and wishing I had been in the audience for John Mellencamp’s 2015 Northrop concert.
Our Daily Inspirations this week kicked off with a plug for the Joyce Theatre’s new series Dancing Dialogues. Launched with a conversation titled Realized Cultural Resonance, Monday’s star-studded panel included Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director of Northrop artist Dance Theatre of Harlem, as well as Emily Johnson, Ronald K. Brown, Rosie Herrera, and Michael Sakamoto.
Two of Northrop’s favorite ballet companies made videos we shared this week. You can spend three minutes with American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company, on stage and off, for a glimpse into the first pas de deux from Antony Tudor’s The Leaves are Fading. Then, if you need a moment of levity, host a dance party of one in your favorite PJs with Houston Ballet and Dancing with Myself.
To inspire your weekend reading, I encourage you to visit the Instagram feed of Chimamanda Adichie, who appeared at Northrop last October. She’s offering readings from her book AMERICANAH, which is currently on my reading list. I highly recommend Half of a Yellow Sun which I read last winter, a historical novel about “a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria, and the chilling violence that followed.”
Take good care of yourselves this weekend, and as always, take good action.