JoAnne Tucker shares her experiences in dance from directly a modern dance company to leading movement activities for women in prison and domestic violence survivors.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might have noticed that I haven’t been writing as much as usual. The last two blogs were a review of a book, and they took a lot longer to write than other blogs. The second reason is that I have been doing a lot of dancing in the kitchen! Chopping, sauteing, spinning around and chopping some more. The chopping seems to go on and on forever. The reason behind this is I am now eating a totally plant-based diet.
Here are some bowls of chopped veggies and beans ready for an eggplant recipe.
In March I noticed some swelling in my ankles, and I decided to do some research on the best way to eat in order to keep my health good and strong. Everything I read led me to a vegan way of eating. I did that for about a month with some help from an English-speaking general nutritionist here in Costa Rica, who had only some idea of what a good vegan diet is. I decided to get my blood tested. I wasn’t pleased with the results and soon began to realize I was eating too many processed vegan products. So I searched for a doctor either here in Costa Rica or online who could help me with the proper way to go on a vegan diet.
Much to my delight I found an excellent doctor, Dr. Miranda Graham, who calls herself a VeganMD and lives less than an hour from my house. I have learned so much from her. My first visit was in person. She suggested using Cronometer, which is a website for a computer (or there is an app for the phone). I am under her account, where I log in, and she monitors what I am eating and makes suggestions. There is a free version one can use on their own. It has been very helpful. For example, I love it when she says my Vitamin A is too low, so make sure I add some carrots to my daily diet. I am now at the point where I can look at my food page and see the kind of foods I need to add in my diet for dinner to make sure I am getting all the nutrients that I need for the day.
The result is that my blood work has improved, I have more energy and I weigh less. I don’t think of this as a diet. Rather I think of this as my new lifestyle. I am enjoying finding new recipes and trying different foods. There are so many wonderful resources on the Internet. My favorites are https://foodrevolution.org, https://www.drfuhrman.com, and https://www.forksoverknives.com.
Living in Costa Rica makes plant based eating easy, as there are always lots of fresh fruits and vegetables available. Each Thursday I enjoy going to the Feria (Farmer’s Market), and as a regular, I always get a friendly greeting from the various vendors.
Shopping at the Feria del Agricultor de Atenas. Photo by ManriqueHere I am, with energy and a slimmer look, leading some guests on a walk on the labyrinth. Photo by Ed NeedhamPrint This Post
One evening, just a few weeks ago, I opened my email to find a short message from Kezia: “Odd Thing to Find on Ebay,” with an attached link. (ebay.com/itm/354622198330?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28.) Of course, my curiosity was strongly triggered so I followed the link and was surprised to find a 1983 photo of The Avodah Dance Ensemble. The photo was for sale from a company called Historic Images.
I immediately recognized the photo, as it was one of my favorites, taken by photographer Amanda Keglow, and I regularly used it for publicity for several years. It was both amusing and surprising to find it on eBay and realize that it was considered a vintage object. I wondered how it got there, and notes on the back of the photo referred to a Jewish Community Center in January of 1983, and correctly identified the four dancers in the picture. It did not say which Jewish Community Center. I wondered which tour it was. Luckily, I had email addresses for, and had remained in contact with the four dancers who were in the picture, so I put together a group email to them: Rick, Lynne, Roberta, and Nanette, to ask if any of them might remember which JCC we performed at in January 1983. It wasn’t long before I got an email from Rick: “JCC New Orleans??”
Aha… now I could easily check that information and learn more about the tour by going to the digital images of the ten volumes of Avodah scrapbooks now housed at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati.
The first thing I discovered was that the four dancers in the photo were not the ones on the tour. Rick and Roberta were, but Lynne and Nanette were not. I had contact information for Roberta so I immediately added her to the email chain. Luckily, even though she had recently retired from her job, her IT person kindly forwarded my email to her. I wasn’t so lucky with the other dancer, Dircella. While I had an email for her and added her to the chain, it wasn’t until several weeks later that I researched and found her on FB, messengered her and got her correct email. The fourth dancer was Naomi, and I had not kept in touch with her. I Googled and found that she had passed.
The tour began on January 21, 1983, in Birmingham, AL at Temple Emanu El. Roberta’s mother had sung in the choir at this Temple. Roberta was currently in Tallahassee, FL, where I was also living, so we drove to Birmingham together. The other dancers were due to fly from New York and join us. Their flight was late, but they made it in time for us to have a quick rehearsal.
Following the Friday night performance, which was part of the Shabbat service, our next performance was in Montgomery, AL. It was my 40th birthday, and the dancers arranged for cupcakes backstage and sang “Happy Birthday” at some point during rehearsal. Rick and I were staying in a lovely house, and we fondly nicknamed the owner “The Mayonnaise King of the South,” as I think that was his business and he must have talked to us a lot about it. There was also a review of the Saturday night concert in the local Montgomery newspaper. The review, by Judith Helms, commented on the “strong modern dancers” and said, “Kaddish with the accomplished dancer, Ms Mindlen as Soloist, was the most beautiful and powerful of the dances.”
We were up early Sunday morning to drive to New Orleans, where we performed at the Jewish Community Center that evening. And that is where the photo on eBay was part of the publicity for the concert. What stands out in my memory of that performance was that the technician running the lighting board left in the middle of one of the pieces, either to go to the bathroom or have a cigarette, and left me not only to call the cues but to figure out how to handle the light board.
After an intense three days with performances each night in a different city, the rest of the tour was easier. Monday was a day off, followed by a performance on Tuesday in Baton Rouge.
On Friday night we were part of the service at Temple Beth El in San Antonio, and having had some days off, we were refreshed for the performance. We also had some very nice home hospitality and got to enjoy a bit of sightseeing in San Antonio. A piece that Rick Jacobs and I had collaborated on, M’Vakshei Or, was a featured part of the service. That week’s Torah portion was Beshalach from Exodus which tells of the Jewish people’s crossing of the Red Sea. M’Vakshei Or had set choreography that opened and closed the piece. The middle section was an improvisation based on the week’s Torah portion. It was always great fun for me to watch these improvisations. I remember vividly Rick leaping off the bema and dancing up the aisle, bringing to mind the traditional midrash of Nachshon who, while others hesitated, boldly jumped into the water, helping the waters to part and the community to follow.
Our final performance was in Galveston, Texas and I remember how wonderful it was that after the performance we got to hang out in a hot tub and relax. Rick, Naomi and Dircelia flew back to New York City, and Roberta and I drove back to Tallahassee, during which trip we experienced a pretty intense rainstorm.
It has been very meaningful to me to keep in touch with dancers who shared their talent with Avodah. So let me catch you up on what the dancers mentioned in this blog are currently doing.
Di Rodin (Dircelia) lives in Hawaii and is the owner of Dance Movement Academy and K-Bay Gymnastics.
Lynne Elliot is a graphic designer living in New York City.
Nanette Joslyn King is a retired lawyer living in California.
Rick Jacobs (Rabbi) is the president of the Union for Reform Judaism based in New York City.
Roberta Behrendt Fliss was former Director of Production for Young Arts and now has her own company, Moonstone Management, and lives in Florida.
I close with these lines that Rick shared as part of our email exchange:
In my current role I’ve been back in many of the congregations and JCCs that we performed in. People still talk about our performances and services. Grateful for all the hearts Avodah opened.
And here is the original photo, from the Avodah Scrapbook:
From l. to r. Rick Jacobs, Lynne Elliott, Roberta Behrendt, Nanette Joslyn. Photo by Amanda Keglow.Print This Post
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