Our weekend was mostly spent in NYC visiting Asrai & Ravenboy. Ravenboy was able to get us a couple of tickets to his performance of "Airs" in which he had received such a wonderful review earlier in the week. Asrai invited us to watch her trapeze class before we had to change for the performance.I had no idea what to expect watching her trapeze class at Trapeze School New York. She was learning some flying trapeze at their tented location on 30th St. When we got to watch, she was perfecting a trick and then translating it into being caught. At the very end of the class she was even being coached for the return.
Asrai did great and you could tell by the way everyone around her reacted that they had a lot of respect for her. This school is one that accommodates people just trying one class through people who are trying to perfect certain techniques. The staff seemed very in tune with what each student wanted to accomplish and I saw them going one on one with them to make sure they were focused on coming away with something.
We watched as each student in the rotation used their failed moments as learning experiences. At the end of the class the instructors all made sure to touch base with the students and put into perspective all they had accomplished. It seems like a pretty neat school.After her class we went down town to check out the newly opened The High Line park. We had known about the High Line for years and were thrilled to learn it was finally going to open in June. This trip we were glad to finally set foot on the old elevated rail way that cut through the meat packing district. Currently, the only section that is open is from just south of 14th St. (Ganesvoort St. to be exact) up to 20th St.
It was a beautiful day to explore this new park and many people were enjoying it. The park's structure echoed the existing rail lines and the pieces of art reflected the surroundings. The most stunning display was a piece whose name was based on the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck. "The River that Flows Both Ways" by Spencer Finch transforms Chelsea Market Passage's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a period of 700 minutes on a single day. To create the project, Finch photographed a floating object as it moved through the landscape of the Hudson River, beginning upriver and following it as it flowed down to New York City. The artist then carefully matched each unique image to a pane of glass. I was not able to capture it's magical presence on film so am taking an image from the web page.
We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with Asrai and finally went to the performance at the Met Opera House. We had a chance to meet some patrons who regularly post their ballet reviews on Ballet Talk and had a wonderful conversation before we had to find our way to our seats.
Ravenboy was in the first piece performed that evening and had some very dynamic solos that were well received by the audience. The cast of 7 in Airs did a great job performing the breathtaking Paul Taylor's "Airs." As we drove back to Ravenboy's apartment the whole day felt as if our heads had been in the clouds, walking on sunshine and buoyed by the crisp Spring air.
