Over The Moon About Cuban Ballerinas & Prize-Winning (and Losing) Dahlias

 

 

Here is another installment in my “Over the Moon About” blog series, which highlights a few different things that have caught my eye. I hope you walk away with some new ideas about supporting cultural institutions and I hope you enjoy the bit of color I’ve added to your day.

 

Back in March, I had the privilege of going to Cuba on a people-to-people tour with a handful of photographers including my husband. Meeting the students and teachers at ProDanza ballet school was certainly one of my personal highlights, mixed in with the intense photography workshop led by famous photojournalist Peter Turnley. Leave it to one of my workshop friends, Kathy Conklin, to start a crowdfunding campaign to bring dance shoes, attire and more supplies to the students who have sub-par equipment. “ProDanza a highly regarded dance program in Cuba, but funding from the Cuban government is extremely minimal—only enough to pay salaries.”

I have been asked to return to Havana with other friends from our workshop, Wini, Fran and Peg, as “Team ProDanza”. My focus will be on photography plus some PR and marketing. I leave in mid-November. Hopefully, I’ll have a suitcase full of dance shoes etc. purchased using the money raised in Kathy’s effort.

I share the Indiegogo link here for all of you who wish to donate money (as little as $20 can buy a pair of dance shoes). The school would be grateful for clothing and supplies as well as a used laptop computer, for example. I’ve never worked on a project like this before, but certainly have donated to many. Here is a background piece on Kathy’s project. I’m proud to be involved.

 

 

 

Naturally, I won’t spend all of my time at the dance school. We are all photographers and have a wonderful week ahead of us.

 

The 8th Annual Dazzling Dahlias Show got my attention recently. It’s been on our calendar since we have attended the last two years. The Dahlia Show 2014 blog post is here. The annual dahlia show is held in Greenwich, Connecticut, and I’m certain there is a show in your area as well Who wants to join me next year in October? As you can see, the tables are filled with award-winning flowers. I have no idea what the judges were looking for, but I certainly loved these colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one was my favorite. I spotted these rejects from the competition, on the wet ground, with a broom nearby. To me, they look beautiful and perfect.

 

 

All photographs are taken by me, unless I have noted otherwise in the caption. I use my iPhone 6plus and Canon 5D III.

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