4/15/23 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Lawrence Rhodes- Beginning of the Harkness Ballet


Larry Rhodes discusses the events leading to the formation of the Harkness Ballet in an excerpt from the upcoming documentary An American Ballet Story.  The story about the all too short life of the Harkness Ballet, will have its New York live screening premiere on April 20th at the New York Public Library Performing Arts – Bruno Walter Auditorium. O&A NYC Magazine Editor-in-Chief Walter Rutledge will moderate the post screening Q and A.  Continue reading

4/13/23 O&A NYC MORE HARKNESS STORIES: Cheryl Clark- A Few 1966 and Beyond Harkness Memories for Walter Rutledge

A Few 1966 and Beyond Harkness Memories for Walter Rutledge
By Cheryl Clark

Dear Walter,

I am sending you the above attached Playbill Legacy Bio when I received the 2019 Legacy Award (that is housed now in the Jerome Robbins collection at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts Library…). It mentions my great appreciation for Mrs. Harkness and Patricia Wilde, 1st Director of Harkness House who recommended me to Mrs. H. Both gave me my full scholarship at age 15 at Harkness House for Ballet Arts, and it mentions many of the great teachers, etc.  In another article I will try to send you, I mention the great pianists that Mrs. Harkness hired to play class for us training- hugely inspiring, particularly John Anderson and John Childs. Continue reading

4/10/23 O&A NYC MORE HARKNESS STORIES: Lawrence Leritz- I’ve Been Around

I’ve Been Around (Excerpt from upcoming book of the same name)
By Lawrence Leritz

I arrived in NYC on a Sunday afternoon during the intense summer heat of early July, 1974David Howard, co-director of Harkness House, recommended that I stay at The East End Hotel, a rundown boarding hotel on the East River near Harkness House, which was located on East 75th off Fifth AvenueMost of the dancers were there for the six-week intensive summer session.  

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4/10/23 HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Ruby Dee- Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad (1964) |


The excellent Ruby Dee plays the escaped slave Harriet Tubman and her attempts to rescue enslaved family members and friends through the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad. aka “Go Down Moses.” With Brock Peters, Ossie Davis, Isabel Cooley and Ethel Waters Continue reading

4/7/23 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Ballet For Life: Harkness Ballet- Finis Jhung

In the dance film autobiography Ballet For Life: Harkness Ballet former dance and acclaimed teacher  Finis Jhung reminisces about his years with the Harkness Ballet where he reached the pinnacle in his career and discovered Buddhism, which dramatically changed the course of his life. Continue reading

4/3/23 O&A NYC MORE HARKNESS STORIES: Claudia Folts- Beauty Is Never Easy, But Always Worth Striving Toward

Beauty Is Never Easy, But Always Worth Striving Toward

By Claudia Folts

I was late to the party.  By the time I walked through those beautiful doors at 4 East 75th St. in 1975/76 the decline had already begun.  Of course, I did not yet know this.  To me, it was a magical place – beautiful studios, art, elegant marble staircase, and everyone there was beautiful. As with all art, there is often darkness underneath, supporting the beauty. That was Harkness. Continue reading

3/24/23 O&A NYC MORE HARKNESS STORIES: Patricia Williams- Creating Beauty Is Not An Accident.

Foreward by Walter Rutledge

Patricia Williams is the founder and executive chef of 10 Chairs NYC, the Hell’s Kitchen boutique dining concept developed and presented by Chef Williams. But did you know this culinary diva actually received  her first  New York reviews as a ballet dancer? Starting at the Harkness School for Ballet Arts, Williams performed with the Harkness Ballet of New York, Ruth Page’s Chicago Ballet, and culminated her performance career with the New York City Opera. From her years of training she learned one universal truth, “Creating beauty does not take form as an accident. It comes by design and hard work.”  

She applied this truth as she began her career in the world of food. As executive chef, she gained two stars from the New York Times. Along the way, Chef Williams has frequently appeared on nearly all National morning talk shows demonstrating her brilliance in combining fresh seasonal unique multicultural flavors at affordable prices.

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3/22/23 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY: Our Gang /The Little Rascals- Mush n Milk “Don’t drink the milk…Why…. Its spoiled!”

wildin out wednesday nLTFV.St.4Mush n Milk is one of the series’ classics. Set in a boarding home for children it is most remembered for the breakfast scenes line, “Don’t drink the milk… Why? Its spoiled”.

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3/6/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY- WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: Pam Grier Is Sheba, Baby


Fresh off her career defining roles in “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown,Pam Grier returned in cult filmmaker William Girdler’s (“The Manitou”) “Sheba, Baby.”  Continue reading

2/27/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: 400 Years – A Case for the Deliberate Destruction of the Black Community (2020)

400 Years – A Case for the Deliberate Destruction of the Black Community (2020) is the story of black people in America, from the 1400s all the way to 2020. This is a heavy history, full of pain, but it must be understood. Enjoy and wake up. A film by Kenjah King.
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