My Very First Blog

So today I woke up and went to my student's graduation. You see during the day I work in a very special school helping kids learn, and today was their last day. This year has been different than others. I have always been a cultural woman, and have loved the fact that I was raised in a musical family and could share that with my students. For the past few years, I have done trips to the NYC Ballet, inviting the students into a world I grew up with. Lucky me, I got to meet Michael Baryshnikov several times: while my foot sat in a pack of ice upstairs in the State Theater (or what used to be ST), dancing across the floor with him at David Howard School of Ballet, (what a treat), I even walked his dog at SPAC, and have hanging on my parents wall, a very special photo of me watching as he, Patty McBride and Balanchine all rehearsed Stars and Stripes... this wasn't exactly the world I brought the kids into, but it was a start. And then in February I took 165 parents and kids to see West Side Story on Broadway. Mind you, many of them had never stepped into a theater, more importantly a theater of this caliber, and seeing the expression on their faces, after a talkback was arranged, and they got to meet the cast was "priceless". Finally, in tribute to GLEE on TV, I started a Glee Club (not officially named yet), but it was the beginning of musical theater in our school. With all the work in the cubicles, and pouring out so much energy in a job I love, I was able to truly balance it out with the Arts. I worked with students who had so many different levels of talent, who all came together putting on a fabulous performance for the limited time we had. I made sure to put in hours of extra help to my soloists who sung some of the most difficult songs, some more challenging for others, but magnificently came through.

On top of my job, I had been working so hard all year to put together my one-woman show, A Jazzy Kind of Love. I made my NYC jazz singing debut at Don't Tell Mama on May 23rd, 2010,. 8pm. The show was a HUGE hit! I couldn't believe it. I was nervous, excited, and just fed off the energy in the room. Then in one night it was over, all that work... to be performed again at a later date, but for that moment, in an hour, it was over. Although I was full of smiles for about a week. And I'm still working towards other shows and gigs...

Then today I woke up emotional, "graduation", end of the year, and tears came. It's ok, because it may be expected, that "crash" people feel after the production is over... well the production appears to be over for the summer...

I wish my students a great summer as I plan to travel and sing these next few months. I hope great things happen. I recently heard a music producer came to my show and was quite impressed, so we shall see!!! Meanwhile, it's about memorization and networking, and making sure I make the connections to keep singing. I'm looking to team up, to explore music, and to see where it takes me.

Videos to be posted soon.

This is the beginning of my journey. I hope you continue to read. Should be a nice ride.

Good Night and Sweet Musical Dreams.

Alysa