Dance Party at the Library

It was so exciting to play at the MAIN Brooklyn public library. I spent so much time there in high school and over breaks in college. I always loved just going into that incredible building right at Grand Army Plaza.

We had a really nice group of kids that came for the music and then families that just came by when they heard the music and joined right in. Plus, our kids, my parents, Fati's mom, and my brother's family were all there. We were able to have a little family gathering at our show which was really nice.

I think we'll have to figure out another Saturday morning to bring our show to the Central library!

The Booking Agent is In..and very lucky

I'm not sure what's going on but the booking gods have been smiling on Fati & I recently. I heard back from the the Summer in the Square that they'd like us to play there. Summer in the Square is a music series at Union Square in that other, smaller Island to the West. We're also going to participate in Children's Day again this year down at the South Street Seaport. It was a lot of fun last year and we're really looking forward to it this year.

The weirdest thing was that I called the New York Restoration Project last week at like 6 pm to see if I could send them some info to try to set up a show for later in the summer and it turned out they needed a performer for their Naturemania series next week! Talk about right time, right place.

We're really thrilled that we're going to be performing at some of the best music free summer music series around. Who knows? Maybe next year we'll be at Celebrate Brooklyn!

Arlington Library Show a Tight Fit

Our show at the Arlington Library was kind of a tight fit because we were literally surrounded by three and four year olders as we were singing and dancing. More and more it seems like older kids seem to really get into our show and can follow all our complicated choreography! It's great whenever kids of any age pay attention to us and seem to enjoy the show, but it's really rewarding when we see kids shouting SOLO SOLO with fist raised, dancing salsa with Paco, or spinning and throwing hats in El Baile del Sombrero.

There were kids from a couple school in the neighborhood plus a few families who attend the programs at the library every week. As the show went on, new kids arrived and we were literally inundated with kids...and it was great! The first thing we did when we started the show was push away the chairs that had been set up so that the kids could dance with us! And once they all came up to wake me up after I had once again fallen asleep after "La Pulga", they were up with us to stay. One little boy kept laying down, I think copying me when I fell asleep.

The group that arrived a little late took a little while to warm up, but by the time we were dancing salsa with Paco, they were dancing with us too.

It was a really fun show with a great group of kids.

Show at Spring Creek Library or not

We set off for the Spring Creek Library and arrived just in time for the librarian to tell us that we were going to do the show over at the school of the kids who were going to be our audience still were. It was a messy, cold, rainy morning and it would have been a long and miserable walk for the kids over to the library, so we went to them!

I love the way some libraries form partnerships with childcare programs and schools in their neighborhoods. It gets the kids into the library at a young age and introduces them to all the library offers. It's great for us because we get a nice audience of children who otherwise wouldn't have seen us.

We set up in one of the classrooms and it was fun seeing a typical day in the lives of these 3 year olds. The school was wonderfully colorful and decorated and the kids were as usual welcoming, kind and very cute.

More and more kids came into the classroom until finally we got the word that we were ready. Although very few of the kids spoke Spanish, we had them jumping, clapping, and spinning around from our first song and they stayed engaged throughout. There were so many kids that we didn't have nearly enough scarves, sponges, or hats to go around and using imagination didn't really seem to work that well. But kids still participated and had a good time.

For some reason, I got a really big laugh when I got all dressed up in Soy Muy Independiente. The laughter was so loud and immediate that it really made a big impression on me! It's so great to make people and especially kids laugh. I think I'm going to have to become a bit sillier and make that happen more often!

It seems like at a lot of shows there's one or two kids that really seem to love what we're doing. At this show, there was a girl who stood right in the front and followed every step, every gesture, mouthed every word, and really seemed to have a great time. If we had just done the show for her alone, I would have gone home happy.

It was a really nice morning! Thanks to the family that came all the way from Williamsburg to see the show at the library and then came over to the school! I hope you and your child had a nice time!

Show at El Taller a Family Affair

Our show at El Taller Latino Americano could best be described as a family affair. I think most of that has to do with the space and feeling of El Taller. It feels kind of like a big house party and you automatically have something in common with everyone that's there. It was also that our kids, my mom, our friends from New Jersey with their kids, the mother of an old friend, and the director's family were all there probably had something to do with it too.

The families that came out through the snow to see us were particularly wonderful too. Everyone seemed up for getting out of the house and having some fun so adults and kids seemed happy and engaged throughout the show.

We performed Que Puedo Dibujar for the first time and used
pictures the kids are showing pictures the kids had drawn themselves!

Washing up with Esponjas

The kids were working hard to wake me up after La Pulga

El Baile del Sombrero