5/29/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY MEMORIAL DAY SPECIAL: Madea’s Family Reunion

While planning her family reunion Madea, everyone’s favorite pistol-packing grandma, must contend with the other dramas on her plate. These including the runaway who has been placed under her care, and her love-troubled nieces. Continue reading

4/26/23 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY: Buddy Love Gets Revenge on Comedian Reggie


Buddy Love (Eddie Murphy) gets his revenge on the insult comic Reggie (Dave Chapelle), by heckling him on stage with jokes and throwing him into a piano. Continue reading

4/22/23 O&A NYC FILM REVIEW: An American Ballet Story- The Harkness Ballet

By Walter Rutledge

An American Ballet Story is the long-awaited documentary about the rise and fall of the Harkness Ballet. The company and school had an almost mythical two-decade impact on dance and helped changed the artform forever. The 94-minute documentary, which was seven years in the making, tells the unvarnished story of the now defunct and largely forgotten Harkness Ballet of New York. Continue reading

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.  

Continue reading

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 HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Wizkid – Made In Lagos [Short Film]


Afrobeats star Wizkid has released a short film entitled Made In Lagos which you can watch it below). The film, which is directed by Kuukua Eshun and Wizkid, illustrates his most recent tracks, Anoti, Mood and Steady and is named after his latest album. 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