A journey through ballet’s révérence rituals — “Reverence (ray-vay-rahnss)…. is a French word that refers to paying respect to something or someone in authority (such as a teacher) by performing an act of reverence.” -Jill Purdy I was not taught the routine nor concept of reverence in dance as a child in a small town far removed…

Navigating culinary treasures from Indonesia — “It’s not a random mish-mash — it’s more of an orchestration of dishes,” explains author and Dutch culinary historian Peter Rose. A foodie can make a great travel companion in a foreign country. …

The changing face of public water — Years ago I heard a group exercise teacher at the New Jersey gym shout to the class I was in: “Hydrate!” That is the first time I remember being ordered to drink water and having it described in such a way. Hydrate! And I’ve heard it many times since from…

Building a caring, thoughtful society — I returned from a trip last week to Amsterdam after a forty-year absence from that city, which is too long to have been away. The visit renewed my faith in what is possible in public life. The city was still as clean and running as efficiently as I had left…

The fascination with moving to American swing — Foreign dance teachers I’ve known in the U.S. love swing music, so much so that I’ve wondered how the genre of music is marketed outside the border. Each teacher has presented a swing routine to the American class with a type of pride that they know of it, and with…

Benjamin Franklin would have been horrified — Ben Franklin was a famous Philadelphian. Among his many accomplishments was founding the country’s first fire insurance company in Philadelphia. One would hope, given the history, that the importance and pride of fire safety would trickle down to all of the citizens of Philly. Maybe. Maybe not.

Part Two — As described in my prior post, Part One, I began to learn some principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and its derivative self-care from Dr. Xiao in Princeton, New Jersey years ago. Recently I happened upon Katie Brindle, a TCM and Qi Gong expert in the U.K. I, the student…

Part One — “You must pound your fist up and down your arm like this,” said the Chinese patient in the acupuncturist’s waiting room, and then she demonstrated to me her hand rolled into a ball forcefully beating the inside of her arm from shoulder to wrist and back to shoulder again. “This…

You don’t know who you’ve lost until you know — I don’t know a whole lot of people in Bucks County. I did not grow up here or practice my profession here, so the contacts I’ve made in a few years are mostly through my church, my neighborhood, and the gym. Maybe I can recognize one hundred people by face. …