Dance and Dirt

RAISE THE BARRE: On Friday, midday, we headed into downtown Seattle to the historic Paramount Theatre to see a special learning lab and demonstration by the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

We've been there dozens of times before, but I still always marvel at its magnificence.

We sat very near the stage. The performance was amazing. I wish I had pictures to share, but we were instructed to turn our phones off before the show, and I respected that request. (A good number of others in the audience did not, however, and photoed and videoed large portions of the show. I thought that was really rude.)

The program we received for the show was very educational. It had the history of the dance troupe, info about ballet positions, and more. There was a crossword puzzle on the back. Unfortunately, it featured a number of typos. 

Here's what CJ had to say about the event. ... 

In late April of 2019, Seattle's Paramount Theatre hosted multiple shows for the Dance Theatre of Harlem's 50th Anniversary Celebration. My family went to one of the shows, which was presented from approximately 11 A.M. to 12 P.M. The Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company that regularly tours, displaying ballet skills held by the company's members. According to the Dance Theatre of Harlem's website, "[t]he 17-member, multi-ethnic company performs a forward-thinking repertoire that includes treasured classics, neoclassical works by George Balanchine and resident choreographer Robert Garland, as well as innovative contemporary works that use the language of ballet to celebrate African American culture." The Dance Theatre of Harlem was founded in 1968 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook.

The performance at the Paramount Theatre that we witnessed featured multiple different kinds of ballet, including "classical" or "old-school" ballet, as well as "modern" ballet. A prominent feature of the show were the "bars", metal bars which the ballet dancers used to perform various dance moves (no, not that kind of dancing with a metal bar). Notably, the Dance Theatre of Harlem is different from many other ballet companies in that they use ballet shoes that have different colors than the traditional pink color.

It took us awhile to find parking before the show, and we ended up having to hoof a few blocks to the theater. We paused a moment in Plymouth Pillars Park for a photo. I didn't realize until I was shooting it that there was someone sleeping next to one of the columns. That's Seattle (and a whole lot of other cities) these days. 

Curious about the pillars, I Googled the park and learned that the pillars were original to the  entrance for the historic Plymouth Congregational Church. Founded in 1869, the church is associated with the United Church of Christ.  The first Plymouth Congregational Church was built in 1873. 

After the Puget Sound earthquake in 1965, the church was damaged and, eventually, demolished. A new edifice was erected, but the original four pillars of the historic structure are now the centerpiece of the park at Boren and Pike. 

YARD WORK: We spent hours and hours doing yard work Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We were working to remove a large swath of grass and weeds on order to plant clover (for our bees) instead. Bees love clover for its pollen, plus it's very environmentally friendly, drought resistant, and you don't have to mow it hardly ever.

We've been tilling and raking and raking an tilling, and removed hundreds of rocks and weeds. It was a ton of work.  

Monday morning, after a little more raking and grading, we spread about three pounds of clover seeds. We sure hope the seed takes! 

Below is a random garden shot of a petite pink something or other.