Walter’s World: Sylvia Waters

By Walter Rutledge For the past thirty-eight years Ailey II has provided opportunities of aspiring young artists to hone their craft. The company usually will enlist the services of a dancer for two years, and then the artist, for lack of a better word, “graduates” into the professional world of entertainment. Continue reading

Walter’s World: Fire Island Dance Festival 19

By Walter Rutledge The recent Labor Day holiday has heralded the unofficial end of summer. Kids have reluctantly traded beach balls for backpacks; and men (big kids) have cleaned the outdoor grills putting them away in anticipation of the unofficial start of the next summer season, Memorial Day 2014. Continue reading

Walter’s World: Honky Explores Exploitation And Racism

By Walter Rutledge A young black man is killed over a pair of expensive sneakers and his attacker, another teenager recites the sneaker commercial's slogan as he commits the crime. This sounds like something out of the current news headline, but it is really the opening scene from Honky, a new play presented at Urban Stages, 259 west 30TH Street.Continue reading