Reviews and Previews and Happy 5775

It’s a palindromic year – 5775 – and that seems auspicious. This blog has been neglected, also auspicious: I’ve got things – non-computer things – to do.

Here are some of those things:

Have a baby: Miss Zellie entered the world in a bit of a rush on July 19.

Went to the zoo, ate ice cream, visited family, played with LEGO, hiked, sat in perfect silence in the pre-dawn morning and nursed my wee girl, read books, saw fireworks, went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, watched Toy Story 2 50 times (my son LIVES Buzz Lightyear), re-read books, attended performances, went to T-Bones baseball game, returned to work, saw “Guardians of the Galaxy,” washed the dog, made dinner, started my oldest in preschool, laundered the guest room sheets, etc.

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I’ve started back with The Kansas City Star for the season at the end of August and that has also had an auspicious start – already the performing arts groups and events I’ve attended indicate growth and enduring creativity for the community. I reviewed the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra,  American Fusion Project’s “Into the Sun,” and Joyce DiDonato with the Kansas City Symphony so far. I wrote up a preview for the dance season – lots of pending excitement and interest there.

For my own pleasure and satisfaction (and with every intention of writing up my thoughts, but we’ll see), I saw “Entanglement: Love on Film,” Black House Collegective’s new opera project, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile at Helzberg Hall, the New Dance Partners project out of Johnson County Community College, and the Owen/Cox Dance Group’s “Memory Palace” (this was back in June – the last show my husband and I attended before I stopped committing to reviews in anticipation of my daughter’s due date.)

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In researching the upcoming production of “La Traviata” with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City I came across this exchange of critical philosophy, involving expert vs layperson arts experiences and a good number of legitimate critical voices in the comments. That, along with some of my reading and thought exercises, have had something of a compounding interest and ideally will attribute to an actual post. I’m not holding my breath, though, and you shouldn’t either.