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NEA GRANT AWARDED TO AMERICAN TAP DANCE FOUNDATION

Me and Brenda Bufalino at the ATDF Benefit in February

Me and Brenda Bufalino at the ATDF Benefit in February

NEA GRANT AWARDED TO AMERICAN TAP DANCE FOUNDATION FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF TWO WORKS BY BRENDA BUFALINO

Tony Waag, director of the American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF), is proud to announce that the National Endowment for the Arts will be supporting the reconstruction of two masterworks by Brenda Bufalino:  Buff Loves Basie Blues (1991), and The Haitian Fight Song (1987).  Both revivals will be presented during ATDF's Tap City 2009 performances, this July at Symphony Space.

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tags Tap, Enthusiast, Performance, American Tap Dance Foundation, Brenda Bufalino, Arts Funding, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA (all tags)

President Elect Barack Obama, the Arts, and the Changing Face of America

Last night, November 4, 2008, was something I will never forget as long as I live. I was home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, glued to my go-to news channel, CNN. It was 7pm and the first polls were about to close. The points started to come in. Barack Obama had 3 electoral points, John McCain had 8. It was still so early, but my initial reaction was of fear and anxiety. What if the Bradley Effect happened? What if the young people didn't turn up at the polls? What if Sarah Palin becomes VP and is just a heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the free world?

You can probably guess that I am a Democrat. And you'd be correct. Initially, I was a Hillary Clinton supporter - I believed she had the resume, the experience and the guts to be an amazing Commander in Chief. And I loved her stance on the arts, art funding, and arts education. After all, Chelsea was a dancer herself and now serves on the board of School of American Ballet. I rallied for Senator Clinton and happily voted for her in the primaries. When she lost, I was devastated. But I knew what I had to do. I had to support Senator (now President Elect!) Barack Obama.

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tags Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Modern, Broadway, Ballroom, Teacher, Enthusiast, Parent, Retailer, Studio, Competitions & Conventions, Performance, Summer Study, Arts Funding, Barack Obama, Politics, Pop Culture (all tags)