It's Not That Time Yet

As much as Katja loves Christmas (and is counting the days until her trip to Germany for the Christmas markets), she was slightly disturbed to stumble upon a rather sizable display of Christmas trees and décor a few weeks ago. I mean, she hasn’t even figured out what she’s going to be for Halloween. On that subject, it most definitely is pumpkin season, as well as that time of year when the weather starts getting noticeably cooler.

While Katja has been happy to switch to her fall/winter wardrobe (as cute as they are, she was starting to get bored of her summer dresses), she’s really not a fan of the cold. She hasn’t, however, let the cooler temperatures keep her from trekking up to the Upper East Side for her ballet classes, and from getting out and about in the city. Because while she's definitely not a cold weather kind of girl, she's even less of a stay at home and just hang out kind of girl.

Besides Ballet Academy East (her home away from home), Katja has been spending a lot of time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She can often be found researching at the Watson Library (which she highly recommends to anybody with art historical research to do), as well as waddling through the museum's endless galleries. It is, after all, no fun to just read about art when there are so many wonderful things to see. Katja also recently attended a preview and reception for Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom.

She enjoyed checking out the exhibition, and then having drinks in the beautiful Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court; she does, after all, love a glass of red wine along with her art. And even better to be able to sip that wine next to Antonio Canova's Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1804-6), which she thinks is pretty fabulous.

Katja had another opportunity to mix cocktails and culture at Choreographers and Cocktails, a benefit for the Joyce Theater, which is one of her favorite places to see dance. The event took place at the DANY Studios, where seven different companies - American Dance Machine for the 21st Century, Abraham.In.Motion, Dorrance Dance, KEIGWIN+COMPANY, MADBOOTS DANCE, Monica Bill Barnes & Company Productions, and Pam Tanowitz Dance - held open rehearsals. She very much enjoyed the evening, wandering from studio to studio, a glass of wine in hand, to watch the dancers rehearse. And afterwards, during the cocktail hour, she even got in a bit of dancing herself (she is, without question, a first on the dance floor kind of girl).

Of course she doesn't need wine to enjoy her culture, and could also be found at various performances over the past few weeks. She caught two Fall for Dance programs at the lovely New York City Center - the first one she saw featured Compagnie Hervé KOUBI (which she loved), Steven McRae, Project FFD: Pam Tanowitz, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the second Nrityagram, San Francisco Ballet, Stephen Petronio Company, and Dorrance Dance.

And while Katja generally sticks to dance, she decided it was time to change things up a bit by seeing some plays. A big fan of the novels of Emile Zola, she was excited to see Thérèse Raquin at the Studio 54 Theatre. She thoroughly enjoyed the play, and was happy that it did Zola's novel justice. She also very much enjoyed seeing a friend in Letters To Sala at the Barrow Group Theatre. Of course she's biased, but she thinks she has amazingly talented friends.

Not surprisingly, Katja also managed to make her way up to Boston a few times over these past weeks. The nomadic type that she is, she can't go much more than a week without traveling somewhere, and as Boston has rather unexpectedly become something of a second home to her, she's happy for any excuse to go up there. And it's never too hard for her to find a good excuse, such as a cocktail making seminar that a friend organized at Ames Street Deli (she chooses her friends wisely). The theme of the evening was New Orleans cocktails, and the cocktail of choice was the Sazerac. Luckily the bartender let her make hers with cognac instead of whiskey, as she's not really a whiskey drinking kind of girl (cognac, on the other hand...). And not to boast, but she must say she was rather impressed with her cocktail making skills.

Katja also went up for a season kick-off party for the Young Partners of the Boston Ballet. She enjoyed catching up with friends and having a few too many glasses of red wine, but mostly she's looking forward to the start of the season, and seeing John Neumeier's Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler.

Of course Katja does more in Boston than just go to parties (not that it would be bad thing if that's all she did), and thus made her way to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a place she hadn’t been in ages. She thinks the museum, in a building designed to evoke a 15th century Venetian palace, is ever so lovely. She's a big fan of the themed rooms, the Tapestry Room and the Gothic Room probably being her two favorites (although they're all rather wonderful, so she can't say for certain). And, as the dance lover that she is, she's partial to John Singer Sargent's painting El Jaleo (1882).

So, basically Katja's just been hanging out with friends

and doing her usual art-dance-adult beverage thing. It's a rather nice routine to have, don't you think?

I Love NY

After a summer spent largely on the road and in the skies, Katja has been enjoying spending time in New York (there really is no place quite like it). She's been taking full advantage of all the city has to offer, although as usual her activities have largely revolved around art and dance, and have frequently been accompanied by a glass or two of champagne.

Katja recently spent a lovely evening at the Museum of Modern Art, at a member reception for the newly opened exhibitions Picasso Sculpture and Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980. Although she began her evening with a glass of bubbly, Katja did manage to pry herself away from the open bar long enough to peruse the exhibitions, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Sadly the rainy weather kept her from hanging out in MoMA's lovely sculpture garden, so she had to sip her bubbly and gaze at Isa Genzken's 36-foot-tall Rose II sculpture from inside.

Katja also enjoyed a lovely evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s a place she spends a fair amount of time, whether researching at the wonderful Watson Library, or perusing the museum's vast collections. She had, however, never attended a Met Friday. September's theme is ¡Noche en el Met!, and the Friday she attended was a celebration of Mexico.

As a lover of things Mexican she knew she couldn't miss this one, which began with visitors being welcomed by the Mariachi Real de Mexico. The evening included numerous lectures and activities; she particularly enjoyed making flower crowns a la Frida Kahlo,

and the performance by the Capulli Mexican Dance Company in the Egyptian Gallery's Temple of Dendir. Although her flower crown couldn't quite compete with the feathered headdresses of the dancers, she still thinks that she stole the show.

Dance and art also mixed at a reception she attended at the New Museum for Paul Taylor American Modern Dance. The evening, a celebration of the company's new commissions, included a discussion with Doug Elkins, who is currently creating a work for PTAMD. Because it was such a lovely late summer evening, Katja and her friends spent much of the reception on the museum's rooftop balcony, taking in the beautiful sunset and views of the city (with a glass of bubbly in hand, of course).

On the subject of dance, Katja is happy to be back to a more regular schedule of ballet classes – and even more happy that Ballet Academy East's weekend schedule has gone back to its later fall times. She’s not a morning person, especially on weekends, when she likes to enjoy a good lie-in (she does need her beauty sleep, after all).

Besides dance and museum related activities, Katja has also been spending a fair amount of time catching up with friends over dinner (and a few too many drinks) at New York's great restaurants and bars.

Despite the numerous options she often finds herself back at Cafe Katja, which is, without a doubt, her favorite restaurant in the city. Besides the restaurant's name, she loves the atmosphere and the friendly staff, and she really, really loves the Spätzle, as well as the tasty Topfentorte. She might have, in the past, mentioned her love of all things Topfen (more commonly called Quark in German, and túró in Hungarian) - she thinks it's just so delicious in both sweet and savory treats. And, of course, there's nothing quite like finishing a meal with a nice glass of Schnapps. While she normally goes for apricot she also recommends the hazelnut. So really, why not just try both (or any other flavor you might fancy).

Naturally September has not been completely free of travel; a gypsy at heart Katja can never go too long without heading somewhere. She has thus made her way up to Boston a few times for quick, but very pleasant trips. She finds the train rides up relaxing (well, when Amtrak cooperates), as the scenery is lovely,

and they give her time to read, which is always such a pleasure. She recently finished Mario Vargas Llosa's Notes on the Death of Culture, which she highly recommends, and has just started Joris-Karl Husymans' Against Nature (À Rebours). Katja's most recent trip to Boston was to attend a BB@home performance, Celebrating the Legacy of Leonid Yakobson: From Oppression to Honor. She loved the four pas de deux from Rodin, each beginning and ending with the dancers posing as Rodin sculptures. Katja particularly enjoyed Minotaur and the Nymph, and in fact had seen the sculpture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art during her most recent trip to LA.

The evening ended with her catching up with a friend over a few glasses of bubbly, because just as much as Katja loves her ballet (which she really does), she also loves her bubbly. Life is meant to be lived, after all...

London Bound

Katja has been counting the days until her trip to London and is happy to report that the day is finally here…she's sitting in the United lounge drinking red wine (surprise, surprise) and eating snacks she doesn't need while waiting to board her flight.

She hasn’t been to London in over six months, which seems like a lifetime to her. That said, the time has flown by, as she’s been keeping busy with ballet, museums, and socializing over wine and bubbly. In other words, the usual. And of course there’s always travel of some sort, even if not to the most exotic of locales.

Katja has become quite a regular on the Amtrak to Boston, mostly for Boston Ballet performances and events (sadly performances are over until next season), although her most recent trip was for the opening of Getting There, a friend’s exhibition at the St. Botolph Club (go see it if you can!). She also ventured down to Philadelphia to catch up with a friend she hadn't seen in quite some time.

While much of the afternoon was spent gossiping and leisurely sipping bubbly at Rouge, a restaurant right off of Rittenhouse Square, they did find time to go to the Dance: Movement, Rhythm, Spectacle exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the tiny but very charming Rodin Museum. Katja does, after all, love culture as much as she loves her cocktails.

Katja was less excited about her trip to Cleveland for a bar mitzvah, neither the city nor the occasion holding much appeal. While she is young at heart she prefers a crowd slightly older than 13 year olds, yet not quite as old as the parents of the 13 year olds. There was, however, a carousel at the Western Reserve Historical Society, where the party was held. She’s never gotten over her childhood love of merry-go-rounds, so that, along with the open bar, helped her survive the evening, and perhaps even enjoy herself a little bit.

Katja really enjoyed her excursion the next day to the Cleveland Museum of Art. She was most impressed by the beautiful space, great collection, and sophisticated interactive activities, and she loved the small exhibition The Novel and the Bizarre: Salvator Rosa's Scenes of Witchcraft.

Of course she’s also been indulging in lots of culture and cocktails in New York (never difficult things to do in the city). She attended a party a MoMA (she always appreciates the open bar with bubbly) for the Yoko Ono show, saw ABT’s production of La Bayadere, and, on her birthday, caught one of Cedar Lake’s final performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

This was followed by sparkling red (her favorite) and some yummy German food at Berlyn.

In between all of these various activities, she did, believe it or not, find time for researching and writing (social butterflies have day jobs too), and could often be found working hard at Ballet Academy East, which has become something of a second home.

Of course her hard work would probably pay off more if she made an effort to in indulge in a little less red wine/bubbly and to go to bed at a more respectable hour, but what’s the fun in that…

Holiday Adventures

Life has been a whirlwind for Katja since late October, filled with travel and the nonstop activity/festivities that start with Halloween and don’t end until the New Year (or in her case, mid-January). She prides herself on being a cheery sort, but nevertheless has a tendency to feel a bit gloomy when the sparkly Christmas lights start disappearing and the cold weather sets in. That said, she has yet to take down her Christmas tree, which she prefers to think of as a winter penguin tree. As an adult, and one who has never cared much about conformity, she figures she can make her own decisions regarding decor and what’s appropriate.

The rather unpleasant cold weather has made her a bit more of a homebody recently (well not really a homebody, but for her), so she figured she’d reminisce about all of her holiday season escapades. And while Katja is not a big social media girl, she has noticed that these days a lot of people seem to be living their lives online, so why not share her fabulous adventures (not that she's the type of girl to try to make others jealous, she's much too well-mannered for that).

As usual Katja’s more local travel was ballet-centered - quick trips to Boston for the Boston Ballet’s magnificent Swan Lake (she saw it three times), and to Washington, DC for the Washington Ballet’s Tango Soirée fundraiser, held at the beautiful Organization of American States building (Katja might have had a bit too much red wine, not that that would surprise anybody who knows her).

Then it was off to London, the first of three separate European trips in four weeks. What can she say, she’s a jet setter. Not surprisingly the trip also involved some ballet. She doesn’t like to go too long without taking class, and thankfully was able to make it to Dance Works, her go-to studio in London, a few times during her visit. She also saw a Royal Ballet triple bill of works by Brandstrup, Scarlett and Wheeldon.

The cultured girl that she is, Katja has been to opera houses and theaters throughout the world, and she believes that the Royal Opera House is the most civilized place to take in a show. Not to mention that it has a surprisingly good house red wine.

Katja spent most of her time in London hanging out with friends, gossiping, shopping and enjoying lots of wine and tasty treats– including a divine cheese plate at Li Veli restaurant

and a delicious afternoon tea at the Ham Yard Hotel. She was especially pleased by the lovely vegetarian offerings, minus the slight trauma of a salmon sandwich (which she unfortunately bit into) having made it onto the vegetarian platter. But she forgot about that as soon as she started devouring the cakes…

It was then back home for just over a week before jetting off to Budapest for the Thanksgiving weekend…but more on that later, as it’s time for her to head to BAE for class. Even the cold and rather unpleasant post-snow New York streets can’t keep her from dancing.

Katja

Katja is a passionate creature, known for throwing herself 110% into things. Some might call her obsessive, maybe even crazy. She prefers to think of herself as dedicated. That said, she readily admits to being a little crazy, which makes her new(ish) city of residence, New York, a perfect fit for her.

It’s Katja’s latest obsession, ballet, that is largely to blame for her recent silence. Although Katja has always been a fan of dance and a regular performance-goer, it was during her last few years in DC that she found her free time largely taken over by all things dance (well, mostly late nights out with her Washington Ballet friends). So, upon moving to New York, Katja decided to check out New York’s substantial adult ballet scene. She had grown rather bored of her seemingly endless daily cardio sessions, and figured that if she enjoyed the company of dancers maybe she should give ballet a try herself.

Katja thus found her way to the Joffrey Ballet School and braved her first ballet class. She was relieved to find that she was far from the oldest (or most awkward) student. And despite the fact that she had no idea what she was doing, she loved it, and made her way back to the studio the following week. It wasn’t long before she was hooked, and soon she was spending much of her time at Ballet Arts, BAE and the Joffrey, trying to figure out how to squeeze in a few hours of work between classes (it’s all about priorities…).

Of course Katja should have known that any activity where she gets to sweat while wearing skirts and tights, her two wardrobe staples, would be ideal for her. That said, it’s legwarmers with which she’s developed an obsession, and she’s amassed quite a collection…she likes to think of herself as the reigning adult beginner ballet fashionista. Katja knows she may never be the most graceful of dancers, but she loves her classes and looks forward to them each day (always hoping there'll be more jumping than turning). She’s also met a lot of great people, along with some rather crazy and bizarre characters, even by New York standards. But then those do make for the best stories…

P. S. Lest you think she’s become too focused on ballet and turned rather dull, Katja assures you she’s still her old party-girl self. Although she works consistently to improve her technique, and certainly has no desire to bulge out of her leotard, she knows a life without treats is not a life well lived. So when she’s not working hard, hoping one day she’ll actually manage a decent pirouette (or proper chaine turns for that matter), she can be found sharing treats and/or drinks (usually too many) with her friends.