Trick or Treat!

Over the last fortnight, Halloween has been spreading across NY like wildfire! Shop windows have been decorated, television channels have special spooky adverts and banners, websites have been halloweened and shops have been full of costumes, fake blood, pumpkins and treats!

The snow put a dampener on the weekends activities, yet today the 31st was full throttle. 4 out of 5 people were dressed up (unfortunately we were the 1 in 5, or should we say 2 in 10?!) and not just kids, adults, dogs, grandparents....everything! Every where you look there was someone dressed up....and no not just with some devil horns, full out costumes, makeup and barely any similar costumes, everyone had been really original, and the kiddies trick or treating were so cute, in the US they trick or treat everywhere, including shops!

UK Halloween usually means a couple of teenagers with a scream mask chucking Eggs at your house, surprisingly NY is bigger and 'badder' but none of this happens here. Again the Americans appearing more courteous than us stuck up Brits!

After classes today at BDC, which involved prizes if you dressed up, watching two tellytubbies doing Hiphop was a treat, we headed down to the Village Halloween Parade. The Biggest event in NYC, closing most of 6th Avenue and thousands of NYPD. We made it there early got some pizza and got front barrier standing room right at the front!

New York's Village Halloween Parade is an annual holiday parade and street pageant presented the night of every Halloween in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Stretching more than a mile, this cultural event draws two million spectators, fifty thousand costumed participants, dancers, artists and circus performers, dozens of floats bearing live bands and other musical and performing acts, and a world-wide television audience of one hundred million.


It was an Amazing Parade, with amazing costumes and characters and an amazing atmosphere! We're preparing ourselves for the next big parade here for Thanksgiving...but in the mean time here are some pictures of our favourite critters from tonight as well as some footage!


Triiiicccckkkk OOOOOORRRR TTTTTrrrreeeat!!!!

Coney Island...the strangest place on Earth!

Standing facing west, looking at the phenomenal sunset across the Atlantic;

looking left is idyllic bliss, soft waves crashing, sand beneath your feet, the crisp fall air rosying your cheeks...

and to your right, is the run down, hobo playground, dumps that are the famous Coney Island Amusement parks...!

'Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill. Coney Island is possibly best known as the site of amusement parks and a major resort that reached their peak during the first half of the 20th century. It declined in popularity after World War II and endured years of neglect.  Due to Coney Island's location—easily reached from Manhattan and other boroughs of New York City, yet distant enough to suggest a proper vacation—it began attracting holidaymakers in the 1830s and 1840s.' Wikipedia.

Exceedingly similar to Brighton, UK, but lacking any of the quaint streets, bakeries or clean toilets, the only attraction to Coney Island are the fairground rides and the beach, especially at this time of year, Luna Parks, 'Night Of Horror'. We went along tonight as a group, getting discounted tickets due to some of the rides not having power from the freak snow fall yet still had a good laugh and scare! Mazes were included in the ticket price, very similar to Fright Nights at Thorpe Park but much much scarier. The Costumes and masks were so believable including actors wandering around the park, joining and scaring groups of people. It was subzero temperatures (the wind chill from the sea made it about 0degrees Celsius at the top of rides!) so we didn't stay for too long, went on about 6 or 7 rides, the token 'Tickler' (similar to the Mighty Mouse) being a smash hit with all of us! 

Our favourite two rides however was the 'Steeplechase' - A roller coaster where you sit upon horses! and 'The Soaring Eagle' - A fair ground version of Alton Towers 'Air', where you are suspended like you are flying! 

We finished the night off with hot dogs and fries and boarded the longest subway ever back to central Manhattan! 

 The Soaring Eagle!

 The Steeple Chase!

 Us Hanging on the Soaring Eagle!

Naughty Food! Rosina upset that she couldnt find any Candy Floss, or Cotton Candy as its called here!!!

Let it Snow, Snow , Snow!

The weather forecast for once was correct. Plans during the week for our Halloween visit to Coney Islands Night of Horror got scrapped when we saw the forecast for 38degrees and snow. No-one really wanted to believe it.

Woke up this morning,  it just looked like rain, Rosina went food shopping and Sam went running. The rain got colder and faster and so began the blizzard. Arriving home, to find Sam's legs and Rosina's hands bright red from the cold! It felt like Christmas, snuggling inside on the sofa on our extremely warm apartment (USA heating is automatically turned on by the building managers, yes yes yes!) with a hot chocolate and some homemade cinnamon swirls!

New York has been hit by a winter storm, up to 3 inches of snow in the Tri-State area, New Jersey is completely covered in Snow, Manhattan not so much due to it turning into Slush. The snow stopped about 4pm, turned into Rain, washing most of the settled stuff away. Unlike London however New York is still moving and functioning fine.

Big Shout out to Teresa and the lovely Wood Family for their American Amazon vouchers which we used today to order some Welly Boots, so we are prepared for the cold and wet winter that is predicted...!

Whilst writing this blog, Thunder and Lightening has just begun...maybe more seasonal for the Halloween Holidays than the snow! But Wow Climate Change...Wow.

We Love Russian Ballet

Ècarte. Posé right Grande Arabesque pique, releve ècarte a la seconde, Grand battement a la seconde Russian Fouette to attitude, tombè pose right Grand Arabesque pique, releve ècarte by half turn, pas de boureè, preparation, double en dedan pirrouette to fifth, glissade derriere point, pose petit battement preparation double attitude landing in rond versailles pas de bourreé. Repeat Left.- just a simple pirouette enchainment...

At BDC there are numerous ballet classes, from basic right up to advanced. Similarly to London their are phenomenal ballerinas standing next to 80year old women who you can only hope once upon a time could do it and there just living their dream until the end! Many of the techniques are Russian based, apart from a couple, dear old David Howard (verging on 85) sitting on his stool, calmly grunting the exercises, moving only with a stick, takes a very british advanced class and is from London, living in Bexhill on Sea in the holidays.

Natalya Stavro is our favourite teacher. very very old school, Miss Myra would be loving it. Once a professional Ballet dancer. She is Russian, around 65, glamourous and feisty, yet really lovely at the same time. She screams and shouts at people, slaps peoples legs, and today continued to kick Rosina's feet into the flattest first position one has ever seen, to follow it with another slap on the bottom 'put that away'. Her exercises are 'pretty' yet impossible, barre work on flat is not an option, releve or full point, everything is called something different and she screams numerous times at the pianist who just sits their calm behind her sunglasses 'This is a ballet class not a concert, follow the dancers, follow the pirouettes, they do 5, you hang on'.


She has intensely blue eyes, perfect makeup and a glint behind her evil russian techniques that makes her loveable. What makes her even more loveable is that she will demonstrate every exercise full out, correct your ecarte a la seconde whilst she is standing on releve in a la seconde too. Her feet are so fished looking at them you'd think they were on backwards, similar to her knees. She mutters the exercises in Russian, claps in peoples faces, stamps the floor, has this blinking twitch when she's thinking, shouts 'pose' at the end of every exercise yet when you do it right she does at least say better. Add in a husky russian accent plus her token prodigy anorexic russian teenage ballerinas who religiously take her class and you have a picture of the setting.

Its definitely a work out, not too sure how flawless our ballet technique is during the class, but who cares when you can give it a double flounce arm in arabesque! We take her Intermediate class every Friday, her Advanced Beginner (shouldn't be called that because its no more beginner that Nureyev) is just too much to handle when she's laying into someone who has no idea what a pique turn even looks like. She makes us laugh a lot, just the way she is, Sam had a massive bout of giggles during ronds de jambe en l'air after witnessing Rosina being kicked into the right position!!!

'Hello Stockholm!' 'Hello Helsinki!'

So tonight we decided to invite some our Swedish and Finish friends over for Meatballs! Ikea style!
Karin, Sara, Mia-Mari and Nicole all came round after class with Swedish Appetisers ''Skörgen Hura'' similar to prawn cocktail. 

We will definitely be wanting to visit Scandinavia soon! Sweden sounds very similar to the UK, Finland slightly different!

Our mutual love-hate relationship with the Eurovision song contest definitely bought up some giggles, along with Rosina's learning of Swedish!

TRAVIS WALL

Oh my goodness, we have just taken class with Travis Wall, SYTYCD god from the US, choreographer and dancer. It was a special one off class as he was in town from the East coast, fully booked up by 11am this morning (class didn't start til 9pm!).

Taking morning ballet paid off, as there was a lot of disappointed people who rocked up in the afternoon after a lie in not to get a space.

He had bought 6 assistants, all equally leggy, backy, turny, very L.A. Two kids from Upstate NY came too, wow, seeing these 6 pack kids close up is really quite different to just on Youtube, there dedication, technique and focus is immense. Wonder how many parents back home would pay £20 for a class at 9pm-10.30pm, packed with over 60 dancers...without moaning! Also these kids had travelled an hour and a half to get here...ok RANT OVER!

We've been here exactly one month, and today we felt and saw a difference, if Rosina's second plie gets any lower she's gonna need padded booty shorts!

Travis was really lovely, positive, and a great teacher, very inspiring, as was his choreography! We shall leave you with some favourites of our

Filming for BDC

Rosina was chosen to do some Testimonials and Voice Overs for Promotional videos and photos for BDC today, being told to really emphasise the British Accent which is getting exceedingly difficult to not merge it the more we hear the American accent all the time! It was filmed on the 8th Story of BDC, with the setting sun and the Manhattan in the skyline in the background. The final video is going to be cheesy but hey thats The U S of A for ya!!!

A key phrase was, however cheesy...' Come Dance with us, at Broadway Dance Centre'- try saying Dance with an ARRRR rather than a AEEE, Daaarrnce, Daeeeernce!!!

Our Backyard...

 Looking over the Hudson River to New Jersey, at dusk, the cold fall nights are beginning to set in, but its still beautiful.

A chilled Sunday evening...

Still worn out from the week, we must be getting old, we decided to chill with our good friend Malcolm, eat some good food, watch some films and prepare for the week ahead... we shall leave you with a message from lovely Malcolm!

5th Avenue Shopping!

We have refrained for nearly 28 days from any retail therapy. Yesterday, we cracked. Fall has arrived and its getting colder, dance fashions have been scouted and come on, we are in New York!

Heading first to Times Square, we entered Levi's, got Sam some jeans for $25, bargain!

Then we moved on to 5th Avenue and Forever 21, for some winter wardrobe items for Rosina,

We then moved onto Uniqlo...not buying anything however due to the thousands of customers!

Popping into the heaven that is Abercrombie, but for once, not purchasing anything here, going to go at a quieter time (not 5pm on a Saturday) !

We then went into the biggest H&M in the world, this time leaving with a shopping bag,

Then popping into the Apple Store to play with iPhone 4s',

We then walked along Central Park South towards Columbus Circle, headed into American Apparel,

Onto Broadway and into Urban Outfitters,

And finishing up in a treasure cave of bargains, named Century 21, similar to TK Maxx, but on steroids!

We arrived home, tired, shopped out and surprisingly still with money (we are good at budgeting!). I suppose thats what happens when you move into London after graduation!

Ground Zero

Please note this may be distressing for some younger readers.


So, our Saturday started out with a Skype session to MTPAS, a big shout out to all our pupils especially those that have been working so hard on their Olympic Awards!

We then had reserved tickets to the 9/11 memorial and so headed downtown.
Rosina has been here previously and so much has changed since


'in 2006 it still looked like a shell, girders were still smashed,mud was everywhere and it was raining. Buildings around the areas still had dents and cracks. We stood in the only part left contact, and underground area and listened to a choir sing, '525,600 minutes' 


Today, there is still a huge hole, it is impossible to describe how quiet the area still is as you approach it, walking down into the Financial District, there are masses of people yet still an atmosphere. One half of the derelict empty hole is the Memorial. Massive bronze plinths engraved with every persons name that lost their life both in September 11 2001, and February 1993 in the horrendous terrorist attacks. Peoples names are grouped together in friendships, partners, workmates and families, upsettingly too, the pregnant ladies that lost their life's are printed with 'and her unborn child'. The plinths are surrounding two huge waterfalls into two reflecting pools emulating the foundations of the Twin Towers. Flowers and flags have been stuck into the names, the final resting places for so many innocent victims. The museum on site is still under construction as are is the new skyscrapers 'Number1-5 World Trade centre' however the memorial is complete allowing visitors to pay their respects.

The Visitor Centre enables visitors to see chilling artefacts and pictures from the devastation, some of the photos were extremely distressing. The restrictions and watershed is this country is very different to the UK, nothing is hidden for example on the 6pm news a full video of Colonel Gadaffi killing was shown on television with no prior warning, gunshots, blood, death and all.

It was a very moving morning, the sheer scale and size of what must of happened is impossible to grasp. The empty skyline is the only reminder of how tall these buildings were, having never seen them or never seen anything that big, we cannot fathom what being anywhere in New York would be like, the photos of people all the way in Brooklyn seeing the planes hitting, people in the aftermath covered in dust and phone-calls from people trapped inside and on the planes can only begin to describe the atrocity.

After the morning we needed comfort food, Blueberry Pancakes, French Toast and Vanilla Milkshakes...which can be found on the corner of nearly every block!