Nienke Lels-Hohmann, founder of the European Soirees, San Francisco, presents Leslie Friedman, Thursday, May 23rd. Leslie will give a very lively talk, illustrated with many pictures, about her historic international performance tours. Dr. Friedman’s performances were presented by the US State Department and host nations including China, Russia, India, Poland, Romania, Spain, England and more. In most, she was the first American dancer or artist of any kind to be presented with joint sponsorship. Truly groundbreaking both artistically and politically. Do come! Details below:

Today was the Open House for The Fromm Institute’s spring quarter. Professors present brief descriptions of the courses they’ll offer. I’m always a little nervous and spend a lot of time thinking it over. This quarter, I’m offering Great American Dancers. Pictured above: The Nicholas Brothers(L) Gwen Verdon (R)Very great dancers. I won an award for my brevity: a bottle of Slimfast. Some professors won packets of instant oatmeal. Sorry to say it took me a long time to get it about the “fast” and “instant.” Sign up! 1-2:40 p.m Weds. 4/17/03-5/28/03 Here it is: I realize that for some individuals the notion of taking a course about dancers might seem frivolous in a world full of troubles. For example: There are Americans who text while they drive and who think the word text is a verb. North Korea wants to send America a message and here on our Peninsula we might be the first to receive it. It is highly likely that individuals with no sense of humor will soon get their hands on chemical weapons.  In the words of the great playwright, Moliere: “All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.” ———————————————-And so I stand here and suggest you meditate upon these words: FredAstaireGeneKellyBuckandBubbles. FredAstaireGeneKellyBuckandBubbles. Rogers, Miller, Powell, Jamison. Rogers, Miller, Powell, Jamison. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” The Nicholas Brothers is all ye need to know. Please note: This course does not claim to present the ONLY great dancers. This course will present tap, ballet, modern, and other dancers. Why bother with this course if you are already a dance fan or if you are not now and never have been a dance fan?—– I will give you three reasons:                                                                                                            (1) Dance–which disappears as it happens–reveals the meaning of life. —                                     (2) Seeing Bill “Bojangles” Robinson can uplift your appreciation of the homo so-called sapiens species                                                                                                                                             –(3) Only those who take this course will learn the answer to an eternal mystery: Who’s got the pain when they do the mambo?

It’s another Hedgehog Highlight: An exciting event at the de Young Museum, in Golden Gate Park, today. Diane B. Wilsey, President of the Board of Trustees of the Fine Arts Museums, SF, announced that Dr. Colin Bailey will be the new Director of the FAMSF which includes the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum, in Lincoln Park, and the de Young. Dr. Bailey is currently Deputy Director & Chief Curator of The Frick Collection, New York City. Mrs. Wilsey stressed that the Board sought someone who was an outstanding leader for the museums and a respected scholar. His specialty is 18th and 19th century French art. The announcement was welcomed by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who also addressed the museum staff, press, and enough camera and tech crews for a space shuttle launch. An Englishman, Dr. Bailey earned his doctorate in art history at Oxford University. Mrs. Wilsey promised that Dr. Bailey would work closely with the community and be “fun.” The late John Buchanan, the well loved previous director was approachable and fun, she noted, and his successor will carry on that tradition.

The Lively Foundation presented The Gold Rush! at Westwood School, Santa Clara, March 15, and College Park School, San Mateo, March 8. Our presentation has narration made from letters written in the mining fields, music that was popular in the era, dances, and projections of archival photographs & engravings. It’s entertaining and painlessly educational. A longer version, for the general public, had its premiere as part of San Francisco’s official celebration of the Gold Rush’s 150th anniversary, 1999, in the Veterans’ Building, SF Civic Center.  At College Park school we performed for the whole school, about 300 students plus parents and teachers, and at Westwood, we performed for the 4th & 5th grades, about 100 students. Here are some pictures with audience members, after the shows.

Intelligent, charming, and so good looking! that’s the way to describe Lively Foundation friends. Here are: Barbara Baxter & EJ Thiele; Robert Nilsen; Paul Armel, Dr. Carol Achtman, Nienke Lels-Hohmann; Anne Garvey, Leslie Friedman, Godfrey Watson, Dr. Kate Lorig; Jeannie Watson, Leslie Friedman, Godfrey Watson; Leslie Friedman & Vicky Kwoh Ching.

The Lively Foundation’s annual New Year’s luncheon/banquet was tremendous fun. Ming’s Restaurant, Palo Alto, created the most delicious food. It was beautiful to look at, good to eat, and as Vicky Kwoh Ching explained to us, the menu was designed to bring us good luck. Amazing. Here are some pictures from a wonderful event. Thanks to all the Lively friends who attended. Thanks to Ming’s. Please support our supporters: Ming’s, 1700 Embarcadero, Palo Alto; Kiehl’s Stanford Shopping Center; Guittard Chocolate; The Milk Pail, California St. Mountain View.

Steve Rasmussen the owner of The Milk Pail Market, 2585 California St., Mountain View, has offered a 10 lb. slab of Guittard French Vanilla Chocolate for Lively to auction. Calling all chocolate lovers! Did you miss the chance to meet us at Ming’s today? Were you outbid for the chocolate items? Now’s your chance!!! Enter a bid for Chocolate Heaven. Help Lively present its educational programs for Bay Area schools. Eat the world’s best chocolate. We’re waiting to hear from you!

Today’s Lively luncheon/banquet at Ming’s Restaurant, Palo Alto, was a huge success. Vicky Kwoh Ching, the brilliant and beautiful owner of Ming’s, not only planned the menu but also attended the lunch. She demonstrated the Chinese characters for words significant in the dishes chosen for their importance for good luck in the New Year. Everyone was fascinated by her presentation. The food was exquisite. A lobster dish with disc shaped pasta was especially amazing. It was presented in a way that made it look like a dragon floating on the sea. The silent auction brought wonderful gifts to the bidders and generous donations to Lively. Thank you to all who supported us by donating items to the auction. Kiehl’s finest lotions and potions, Stanford Shopping Center & the world; Guittard Chocolate; Rigolo Cafe, San Francisco, and others. We could not have this great event without Ming’s itself. Support Lively supporters! 

Michala Petri, the extraordinary musician who makes her music on the recorder, performed a thrilling concert, February 10, at the Center for Performing, Menlo-Atherton, presented by Music@Menlo(see photo below). Are you, Dear Reader, one of those who thinks that the words “Thrilling” and “recorder” could not belong in the same sentence? If so, it’s time to tune in to Ms Petri’s artistry. The recorder is much more widely performed in Europe, but there are contemporary composers rediscovering the surprising versatility of what Ms Petri calls “the simplest of instruments–only eight finger holes.” Ms Petri’s recording of The Nightingale, a work for choir and recorder, received  Grammy nominations for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. The Latvian composer, Ugis Praulins based the work on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. The Danish National Vocal Ensemble recorded it with Ms Petri. The recorder’s heyday was the Baroque era, and Ms Petri’s performance demonstrated the great variety of musical explorations and achievements by composers of grandeur, complexity, and endless invention: Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli. Ms Petri performs without any extras, no arm waving or posturing. She picks up her instrument and lets her faster-than-a-speeding-bullet fingers fly with perfect precision. The result is music one feels and feels one sees sculpting the air, reinventing what one thought was time. Her gifted companions were oboist Allan Vogel and harpsichordist John Gibbons. For more about this performance, Ms Petri, and the recorder, look for the next in print issue of The Hedgehog.

Lively sadly says good bye to Zheng Cao, a lovely lady, kind and warm human being, a beautiful mezzo soprano. Zheng and Leslie met when Leslie wrote a feature article for Asian Week about the many gifted Asian Americans at the San Francisco Opera. They met again when Leslie’s feature, New Faces of Opera, was the cover story on the first issue of The Hedgehog, the international arts review, in December, 1996. Zheng was known for her effervescent performances of Mozart, her touching portrayal of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and  in 2008 she sang the lead role in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, SFOpera’s premiere of Stewart Wallace’s opera of Amy Tan’s book. Zheng Cao’s generous spirit was well represented when, even though very ill, she appeared in Feb., 2012, to announce the creation of the Merola Opera Program Zheng Cao Fund which will go to support either mezzo sopranos or Asian Americans. Take a bow, Zheng Cao! You made the world a better place with your music and your presence.