VALENTINES DAY DO40 MEMBERSHIP MEETING:
A HEARTFELT REUNION OF DANCERS FROM ALL DISCIPLINES
Page One of our Zoom Meeting: Leni Anders, DO40 president John Sefakis, Teak Lewis (out of frame!), Carolyn Kirsch, Charles Kirsch, Karyn Tomczak, Joanna Rush, Sasha Spielvogel, Robert Reader, Ken Bloom, Lawrence Leritz,
Tom McRoberts, Steph Marie, Robert Sacheli, Sharon Wendrow, Michon Peacock, Gail Benedict, Felicia
Velasco D’Amico, Penny Worth and Patrick McCarthy
What we thought would be a lively, and short Valentines Day membership meeting evolved into a 2 ½ hour lovefest and reunion, six degrees – and sometimes only one degree of separation members never knew existed! The Star of the Evening? Everyone! We went “around the room” and asked the simple question, “Why?” Some stories were familiar, some not, some funny, some deep and heartfelt. Didn’t matter what discipline – or age! We not only had a 20-something member, we had teen-something member in Backstage Babble’s Charles Kirsch! Over 30 dancers participated, some Zooming for the first time. And as always, still a few kinks to get out of the system (and nose close-ups!). We interspersed the afternoon with clips from our beloved Advisory board member Bob Avian’s Legacy Awards acceptance speech, as well as numbers by Ann Reinking, Chita Rivera and of course, Gwen Verdon.
Almost everyone spoke, with the exception of a few that we missed due to the size of the meeting, and they represented not just Broadway, but ballet, ballroom, tap, modern and jazz. In attendance: Board members Patrick McCarthy, Lawrence Leritz, Sasha Spielvogel and Sharon Wendrow as well as DO40 president John Sefakis, Michon Peacock, Gail Benedict, Leslie Burgin, Penny Worth, Robert Sacheli, Carolyn Kirsch,. Charles Kirsch (no relation!), Ken Bloom, Josh Ellis, Candy Brown, Joanna Ruth, Martha Warschau, Robert Reader, Steph Marie, Felicia Velasco D’Amico, Karyn Tomczak, Teak Lewis, Francine Storey, Leni Anders, Tom McRoberts, Sandy Nance, Cynthia Elane and Ellen Fluhr, as well as co-host Jason Alan Harris. We did have a number of members who sent their regrets, as they were having a hot Valentines date with their partners!!!
DO40 member and PR maven Josh Ellis ended the evening with a heartfelt thank you all the dancers for doing what they do. And his Zoom wallpaper was the BEST: Joe Allen’s restaurant!! He mentioned it made him “crazy with joy to go through a stage door,” not just at the beginning of his career, “but every time afterwards.” To Josh it was a “magical world… God bless you all.” Can’t top that….
Michon Peacock
Apologies to Sandy Nance, Tom McRoberts, Cynthia Elane, Mila Ilieff, Carol Roth Sullivan and Ellen Fluhr for not getting to you to speak. You’ll be first up next time – which will be… April, 2021, right before our chock-full May events! Stay tuned! Tried get photos of everyone, but the computer is not our iPhone12's friend all the time; apologies to some of the speakers who didn't get their Zoom "headshot!" It is so wonderful to have member representation from not just New York, but Kentucky, Colorado, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey – something our “live” yearly membership meetings in NYC could never accomplish! Looks like we’ll even Zoom our “live” events once they get up and running in the hopefully-near-fully-vaccinated future! The entire membership meeting will be on our website soon for members to view on the member-only video pages, along with photos – captured on the computer, of course, of our members who didn’t come up blurry or unflattering!
Josh Ellis
All the best to everyone on the vaccination front. Our DO40 Newsletter had NYC vaccine info and we’ll try to keep on top of that as rules change and phone numbers for appointments become more available (for our non-internet friendly members!) Right now, call 311 in NYC for an appointment or the Dept. of Health, 877-829-4692 - 24 hours a day to speak to a real person!
What they did for Love, continues….
DO40 prez John Sefakis and the DO40 Zoom gang!
Click to View the Zoom Videos of this Meeting