It was so hard to see him go. Dancer Jerry Opdenaker retired from Ballet Florida in 2006 after 14 years with West Palm Beach’s resident contemporary dance and ballet company. He showed so much personality, imagination, even mischief in his dancing -- especially, he confided, when he was unrecognizable; say, costumed as a Cinderella stepsister or Nutcracker Mouse King. But … [Read more...]
Grief memoir moving, but oddly unhelpful
Kay Redfield Jamison has often written and spoken eloquently about her lifelong struggle with manic depression, otherwise known as bipolar illness. In her new book, Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir, she writes with the same honesty and passion about coping with the death of her husband, Richard Wyatt, from cancer. Both were well-known psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University … [Read more...]
Violinist Almond shines in Ravel, both Schumanns at Flagler recital
The violinist Frank Almond was equal parts artist and advocate Tuesday night as he opened the Flagler Museum's 2010 concert series, making an eloquent case for the music of Clara Schumann. Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, performed one of the German pianist's Romances for violin twice in a broad-ranging recital that showed off this performer's … [Read more...]