Happy Baby (occasional panels about growing up)
For a while, I have been putting together memories of my childhood in the wild suburbs of south Jersey, and trying to grapple with issues like being a “cashew” (Jewish father, Catholic mother) going to a private Catholic school, trying to be one of the cool girls, trying not to be one of the cool girls, wanting to be an nun or a princess, thinking about sexuality and attraction, having fights with my parents, wanting to change, wanting to get out.
Flourish! Uptown Plant Dances and Poetry
I’m thrilled to be a part of a new dance and poetry project, “Flourish! Uptown Plant Dances and Poetry.” The Flourish team has been selected as a grantee of the UMEZ Mertz Gilmore Seed Fund for Dance (woohoo!). Team members are planning to develop a series of dances celebrating the healing, beautiful, nutritious, medicinal wild plants of our uptown neighborhood – dandelions, jewelweed, fonio, mulberry… and more. The dance performance will take place at a Washington Heights park, close to the fall solstice. Our dance celebration will be led by dancers and choreographers who have devised movement to original music and poems in Spanish and English (guitar, drums, hand percussion, voice and choral group join-in singing!), celebrating the plants. An artist zine and plant art workshop are also in the works!
The Team
- Dancers / Choreographers: , Rishauna Zumberg (lead), Joanna Nobbe, Parijat Desai, Runn Shayo
- Visual Artists / Musicians: Josefina Hernandez, Jerise
- Costumes / Consultation: Erick Montes
- Poets: Reza Salazar, Ryan Schulz, Jerise
Plants of My Neighborhood / Plantas de mi Barrio
A Little Book about the Plants of the Heights (with pictures!)
One of the things I love about my upper Manhattan neighborhood is the amazing number of plants – street trees, parks full of greenery, plants growing in and around fences, sidewalks, building walls, and alleyways. Many of these plants, especially the spunky kind that push through the pavements and pop up by the side of the streets, are very healthy and nourishing. Get my 24-page booklet and start exploring!
