Day Two--from Harlem to the East Village

It is hard to believe everything we experienced today.  My head is swimming.

New York Immersion Team met in the hotel lobby at 7:00 to travel together to Harlem and the Mount Neboh Baptist Church for the 8 am service.  We met Natasha, the soloist, after the service and she was sweet, humble, and she has a fantastic voice.  Hammond organ accompanying the service, men's choir in matching suits and red ties, dynamic choir conductor, music director at the keyboard, singing pastor and guest pastor.  Wow.

Met the group again after eating a green bagel for St. Patty's Day and a cup of coffee from the Bagel Maven--for our coaching session and question and answer with David Sytowski and Vince Vincent.  Three students sang and played and David coached them, and then David and Vince talked about career, what to try to get out of school as a student, singing, practicing, performing, etc.  It was a wonderful 3 hour session.

Raced to Lincoln Center after pics with David and Vince for a performance by Paul Taylor dance Company at the David Koch theatre.  Half the group got inside, and the other half got caught outside and were held back by the police who were keeping people from entering the plaza.  Apparently there was a bomb squad inspecting a suspicious package in the parking structure below Lincoln Center--it was really odd because no one seemed very concerned.  So we hung out, and eventually they let us into the plaza where I picked up our tickets and we found our seats in the first ring.  Wonderful seats--3 dance pieces, two of which my college friend Rob Kleinendorst was in.  We were able to go backstage to the green room to meet him and we also met his wife (also a dancer with the company) and saw other Taylor members.  Rob, you handsome devil!!!!  We will see him again on Tuesday for a Q and A.

Took the subway to The Strand!  Spend almost 2 hours there, and my friend Nancy met me there.  I bought thank you cards for our guest speakers, and several books about New York and a novel though of course I was absolutely drooling about the hundreds of books I wanted! Walked extensively around the East Village where Nancy usually stays when she is in NY and ended up in the same Vietnamese restaurant I ate in last year.  Jordyn and Kayla were there already.  The food was amazing (the spring roll platter was so cool- you got all the pieces for making your own spring rolls!) and we had a window table where you could people watch.  We shut the place down!  Group meeting back in the lobby where we talked about what stood out to us about the dance performance.   A great day