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Black Tie International:
National Dance Institute Benefit Performance of
IMAGINE: A Tribute to John Lennon
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National Dance
Institute
Benefit
Performance of
IMAGINE: A
Celebration of
John Lennon
Photos Courtesy of
The National Dance
Institute
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Yoko
Ono visits with NDI children backstage after their
performance of
IMAGINE: A Celebration of John Lennon |
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Marilyn
and Robert Fassberg, Sue Brown,
Harry and Pamela Belafonte and
John Fassberg |
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Madaleine
Berley and NDI Board Member Arnold Penner
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Dana
Veltri and Laurence Borrione of Conair Corporation |
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Donald
Newhouse with wife and NDI Board Member
Susan Newhouse |
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NDI
Parent Advisor Shelley Winfield, Eudell Sandford-Abernathy,
Richard Gowing, Charles Jones, Claude Winfield, and
NDI Executive Director Leslee Asch |
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Allegra Kent, Amy and Eric Mullins, NDI Board Member
Chris d’Amboise and Kelly d’Amboise |
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On January 24, 2010, over 700 guests enjoyed a
special encore performance of National Dance
Institute’s (NDI)
IMAGINE: A
Celebration of John Lennon at
LaGuardia
High School for the Performing Arts
Concert Hall in Manhattan. Sgt. Pepper and 100 NDI advanced
team dancers performed high-spirited choreography
set to iconic Beatles’ music. NDI dancers explored
the magic of Lennon’s music as they wove together
vignettes of his life with original, energetic
choreography.
Highlights of the performance included the
excitement and hysteria surrounding the Fab Four’s
appearance in America, the height of Beatlemania,
John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous bed-in, and
original choreography set to
Imagine
created with movement inspired by American Sign
Language. Emmy and Oscar-winning actress Cloris
Leachman and NDI founder Jacques d’Amboise led a
tap-dancing chorus line in an original work
choreographed by d’Amboise entitled “A Cloris Line,”
set to the music
When I’m 64.
Special guests in attendance included Yoko Ono,
Allegra Kent, Erica Hill, Chris Wragge, Harry
Belafonte, David Amram, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Tom
Hulce and Joe Reinstein.
The Leadership Committee for the
benefit performance included Chair Liz Hinden,
Barbara Fedida Brill, I.B. Charneau, Lauren B.
Cramer, Edith Fassberg, Babe Rizzuto, Pam Smilow,
Tracy Straus, Rhana Tabouchirani and Ellen
Weinstein. The performance of IMAGINE was
generously supported by
scünci, a
division of Conair® Corporation and Samuel Waxman
Cancer Research Foundation/Arnold Penner & Larry
Perse.
After the performance, NDI dancers had a special
backstage visit from Yoko Ono. Ono thanked the
children, answered their questions and shared
stories about John Lennon. The young dancers
presented Ono with the wishes of hundreds of NDI
children that will be delivered to the Imagine Peace
Tower, an outdoor work of art conceived
by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon on Viðey Island
in
Reykjavík,
Iceland.
IMAGINE
benefitted NDI and celebrated the 25th
Anniversary of LaGuardia High School for the
Performing Arts. For more than 20 years, National
Dance Institute has partnered with LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, which
serves as a home to NDI’s Advanced Team programs.
Dancers, ages nine to 15, spend their Saturdays
throughout the school year receiving free NDI dance
training in LaGuardia High School’s
8th Floor studios. LaGuardia High School
Concert Hall serves as the venue for NDI’s annual
Event of the Year, a fully staged theatrical event
that takes place in June.
National Dance Institute is a not-for-profit
organization founded in the belief that the arts
have a unique power to engage children and
motivate them towards excellence. Using
professional artists and a distinctive
combination of dance classes and performances
integrated with music, literature and the visual
arts, children learn how to work together to
reach for their personal best. Over 2 million
children have participated in NDI programs. NDI
was founded in 1976 by world-renowned New York
City Ballet dancer Jacques d’Amboise, and since
1995 has been under the artistic leadership of
Ellen Weinstein. For more information, please
log on to
www.nationaldance.org.
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To list an upcoming event
please contact:
joyce@blacktiemagazine.com |
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