Yoga | Geo Moskios

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Culinary Experiences at La Cocina Que Canta | Visiting Teacher Chris Prosperi

Christopher Prosperi is chef and co-owner of Metro Bis restaurant in the affluent Hartford suburb of Simsbury, Connecticut which is ranked in the top five restaurants in the state for American food according to the Zagat Survey. The New York Times also declared that “Metro Bis is worth a detour.” Chef Magazine has nominated Chris as one of five national finalists for the Chef of the Year Award. He is a weekly recipe columnist for the Hartford Courant and his work regularly appears across the country via the Tribune wire service. He is an international cooking teacher from California to Italy, a weekly chef on NBC 30, and producer of Prosperi Salad Dressings. Chris is a member of the Society de Philanthropic, the Association of Food Journalists, La Chaine des Rotisseurs, the James Beard Foundation (where he has cooked several dinners), and the International Association of Culinary Professionals where he serves on the committee for cookbook award judging.

Christopher offers three hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, on Tuesday at 11 am and 4 pm and Thursday at 4 pm, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our new culinary center.

For more information and registration, please click here.

An Evening with Capote, Ginsberg, Mailer, Huston, Winters, Reynolds, and Miles Davis | Lawrence Grobel

Spend an evening with Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, John Huston, Shelly Winters, Debbie Reynolds, and Miles Davis, as writer Lawrence Grobel shows video interviews he did with these icons and discusses how they became subjects for some of his books.

Autobiography & Memoir: Understanding oneself and others by looking inward. A seminar in self-analysis. Uncovering the highlights and the traumas of one’s life; shaping and structuring it into a narrative. “A memoir,” Gore Vidal wrote in the introduction to his, “is how one remembers one’s own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked.” How have writers, scientists, statesmen, soldiers, adventurers, politicians, businessmen, singers, artists looked at their own lives, reflected on the choices they made, the paths taken? And can learning about their decisions influence one’s own? That is the idea behind this seminar. To be introduced to the memoirs and autobiographies of accomplished people, to discuss what they did and did not do in their lives, and then to try and understand one’s own life by writing about specific incidents and broader philosophical thoughts. This will be a one hour, three day reading and writing seminar. Books that will be discussed will cover the first autobiography (Benvenuto Cellini) to recent graphic memoirs like Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” and Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home.” Handouts will include excerpts from contemporary writers. There will be writing assignments of a personal nature, which we will workshop.

Playboy magazine dubbed Lawrence Grobel "the Interviewer's Interviewer" after his interviews with Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino demonstrated how far one could take the Q&A. Joyce Carol Oates dubbed him "the Mozart of Interviewers" and J.P. Donleavy wrote that he was "the most intelligent interviewer in the United States." Grobel's interviews and profiles have appeared in Playboy, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly , Details, Reader's Digest, Penthouse, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, Premiere, Movieline, Architectural Digest, Parade, African Arts, True, Film Quarterly, Writer's Digest, Modern Maturity, Diversion, Cigar Aficionado, Autograph, and American Way. He has published Conversation books with Truman Capote, Marlon Brando, James A. Michener, Robert Evans, and Al Pacino; along with two collections of his magazine pieces (Above the Line and Endangered Species). He's written a definitive biography, "The Hustons," and co-authored Montel Williams' memoir, "Climbing Higher." His book "The Art of the Interview: Lessons from a Master of the Craft" is used as a text in numerous universities. He teaches the subject at UCLA.

Quest for Inspiration | Leslie McGuirk

QUEST FOR INSPIRATION, Part I and II. How can we increase our inspired and creative thoughts? Many of us are so bombarded by the demands of life that we feel as if our creativity has dried up. In this program, LESLIE MCGUIRK will share her story. She went from being an unknown and untrained artist to a marketing phenomenon in Japan and the author and illustrator of over 20 children's books sold around the world. Come find out how her methods of increasing creativity can help you in all aspects of your life.

Leslie McGuirk’s children’s books include the “Tucker Series,” “If Rocks Could Sing,” and “Wiggens Learn his Manners at the Four Seasons,” which Martha Stewart calls “a charming introduction to the fine art of good behavior.” She has sold over 2 million books worldwide, but started as an untrained artist selling her T-Shirt designs out of the back of her car. She became a marketing phenomenon in Japan during the 1990’s. Takashimaya, the high end Japanese department store produced over 800 products with her designs. She was also chosen as the designer for the restoration of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. Her “Quest for Inspiration” workshops began at Rancho La Puerta and have since been taught in many places including The Jim Henson Company, Wachovia Bank, Wilmington Trust, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and many others.

ASTROLOGY WORKSHOP, Part I and II. Learn the hows and whys of Astrology with LESLIE McGUIRK, professional astrologer, with over 25 years experience. She believes your astrology chart is like the owner's manual in your car. It can tell you the best way to run your vehicle, but you always have free will to do whatever you want. Just as the moon controls the tides of the oceans, the moon has an influence over our lives since our bodies are over 70% water. In Part II we will learn what kind of moon we were born with and understand why some of us get along with some people and not with others.

Leslie’s astrology Web site: www.luckystarsastrology.com.

Concert | Martha Aarons, flute, Lev Polyakin, violin, Frances Renzi, piano

Enjoy a wonderful performance with Martha Aarons, flute, Lev Polyakin, violin, and Frances Renzi, piano. Their program will feature popular selections from the classical period to the romantic, including virtuoso showpieces.

After 25 years with the Cleveland Orchestra, Martha Aarons embarked on a freelance career that has taken her to many major orchestras around the country. Most notably, she is a regular guest with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom she has toured to Asia as well as in the U.S. Other guest appearances have been with the Metropolitan Opera, Mostly Mozart Festival, the Orchestra for World Peace, and the orchestras of Minnesota, Milwaukee, San Diego and Baltimore. She also taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival for 19 years. Her CD, History of the Tango, is a collaboration with pianist Frances Renzi and guitarist Jason Vieaux.

Lev Polyakin, who at 21 was co-concertmaster of the prestigious Moscow Chamber Orchestra, is now assistant concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra. He has won prizes in international violin competitions, such as Carl Flesch in London.

Pianist Frances Renzi appears regularly as a featured guest artist on the Toledo Symphony Chamber Series, performs each summer as a soloist and chamber musician at the New Hampshire Music Festival, and has performed as a solo pianist for the New York City Ballet.