Melrose Heights Magazine Preview

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DEBBIE ALLEN “SuperStar”

BAHAMAS The Islands

THE LITTLE DOOR MEDITERRANEAN FLAVOR

by FREDO and NICO

ISSUE 11

OWEN BETHEL ISLANDS OF THE WORLD FASHION WEEK EMILE BORDE History of STEELDRUMS

MELROSE HEIGHTS COVER GIRL CONTEST

COVER GIRL CONTEST The search is on for a fresh new face! Win the Melrose Heights Magazine Cover Girl title and other valuable prizes, such as health products from The Farmacy, a scholarship from John Casablancas School, and more.

PHOTO CONTEST To enter, send us your best original photo. We choose four winners per year and publish the top entries. You could be a winner!

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Debbie Allen: Over 25 Years of Fame

by Deidra Burtonelli

In

closing of the year, we look back on its most fascinating phenomenon: dance. The art form rose to the forefront of pop culture like never before in 2009. Dance prompted many fresh faces into the public eye last year, but no dancer brings meaning to the word dance like Debbie Allen.

Debbie Allen embodies the pinnacle of success that many dancers could only wish to attain. Over the course of her career, Allen has shared with the world her many talents as a dancer, choreographer, director, producer, and actress. Very few dancers have achieved as much fame and fortune as she. Allen has produced, directed, and choreographed over forty television shows and movies combined. Most notable for her work in Fame, her name remains synonymous with the 80s TV series. Allen gives back with her largest dance studio and school, Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

Now, you might catch Debbie Allen sharing her wisdom of the visual arts as a guest judge on the hit show, So You Think You Can Dance. As a star choreographer and legendary icon, Debbie Allen has made a lasting career that her fans of young and old admire. Even for a star of her caliber, the price of fame didn’t come easy.

Allen was born in Houston, Texas to parents who eventually divorced when Allen was only four years old. Her father was a dentist at the start of his career and her mother a poet. Allen’s mother supported her talents once she acknowledged her great potential. She was the youngest of four children, one being Phylicia Rashad, another notable actress well known for her role as Mrs. Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show.

In

New York City, Allen danced, sang, and acted her way to Broadway stardom. She became an instant hit as a chorus member in the musical show, Purlie. She went on to play Beneatha Younger in Raisin, the musical version of A Raisin in the Sun. It wasn’t until her critically acclaimed performance as Anita in West Side Story that she gained notoriety, earning both the Drama Desk Award as well as a Tony. Later, Allen stunned audiences in Sweet Charity, for which she won another Tony. It was said that the choreographers of Sweet Charity enhanced the original choreography in select portions of show because of Allen’s remarkable athletic dance style. Allen brought her own style to the production that critics said was “goofy and endearing”.

Allen even had a brush with the recording business when she released her first record, Special Look in 1979. In her first movie, Allen scored a role in her first movie, Ragtime. Allen’s short, but memorable role in the movie Fame, allowed her to cross over onto its TV series, where she received two Emmy’s and a Golden Globe for her role in the series, Fame.

In 2001, Allen and husband, Norman Nixon established the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. The dance academy was an instant success. Two hundred students enrolled during the first week of its opening.

Debbie Allen started DADA because she had concerns about the depleting quality of education in the arts for children. Allen embraces the Academy with the same passion that made her fall in love with the arts in her adolescenece. The Academy has since grown and has over 400 students and counting, all between the ages of four and eighteen. Students at DADA come from all over the country and some abroad, to engage in classes for Ballet, Tap, Modern Jazz, Hip Hop, African, Dunham, and Flamenco. The Academy even features Voice and Musical Theatre workshops. Though the Academy’s main involvement is in the arts, Allen stands firm on academic education. Nothing less than a B average in school is accepted from DADA participants. The growing school reaches out to educational organizations in an effort to keep alive its own activity in mending education and the arts.

President Barack Obama

Dr. S. Allen Counter The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for President Barack Obama: A great selection for America and the world.

On December 10, 2009, President Barack Obama received what many call the world’s most prestigious award, the Nobel Peace Prize. It was awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway. Swedish industrialist and creator of the prize, Alfred Nobel designated Oslo as the city to present the Peace Prize because of the Swedish-Norwegian relations at the beginning of the 20th century. The other Nobel Prizes ���������������������������������������������������������������� Physiology, Chemistry, Physics and Literature are presented to the selected laureates in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize in the ������������������������������������������������������������ the national bank of Sweden.

I was invited to attend the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and banquet by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, and I was present to witness this historic and momentous occasion. It was with a sense of profound national and ethnic pride that I watched as a stately President Obama, with the elegant and brilliant First ������������������������������������������������������������� sound of trumpeters, and proceeded to the platform to receive the Nobel Peace Prize medal. Presenting the award was the Nobel Peace Prize Committee chairman, Thorbjørn Jagland, who delivered a stirring speech on why the Nobel Committee selected President Obama to join other Nobel laureates who had become beacons of hope for peace.

A touch of the BAHAMAS a brief pictorial

The central economy is dependent upon its popular tourism. Oil and sugar reďŹ neries also secure a vast portion of the Bahamian market.

Owen Bethel: A Man On a Diversifying Mission

by Deidra Burtonelli

O

wen Bethel of Nassau, Bahamas is a busy man these days. He is one of the leaders of the crusade to strengthen the weak areas in the Bahamian economy. Chairman of the Host Planning Committee of the Miss Universe 2009 Pageant, founder of Islands of the World Fashion Week, and President of the fashion company, Mode Iles, Bethel looks forward to making The Bahamas an addition to the list of primary destinations in the world of fashion.

While in Paris, serving on the board of directors for UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), an idea came to Bethel to put on a fashion show that had no regional limits.

The show would exhibit the unique threads of local designers and those of islands abroad, bringing about an international approach to contemporary fashion. November 2009 witnessed the staging of the second edition of Islands of the World Fashion Week. The three day showcase featured the works of designers from islands around the world, including Madagascar, Haiti, and Jamaica. The fashion show’s theme was executed with futuristic and humanitarian ideals, such as highlighting HIV/AIDS awareness, the environment and climate change, and poverty alleviation. The showcase was a success and received positive feedback from the media and onlookers who appreciated the fresh fashion from newly exposed designers. Bethel’s inspiration in the environment and its expression through “ecofashion”, as with the other themes, was a result of his tenure at UNESCO based in Paris, France.

His management organization, Mode Iles, prepares for and promotes Islands of the World Fashion Week year round. The men and women of the show are found through this company, Mode Iles. Preparation is also necessary for the model search competitions designed to bring models from the various islands.

From his involvement with IWFW rose the opportunity to be a part of the Miss Universe Pageant, the most prestigious beauty pageant in the world. In August 2009, the competition was held in the Bahamas.

Attracting thousands of people, the venue brought about $10 million dollars into the Bahamian economy.

Bethel was cut out for the position, having been no stranger to the tourism industry in The Bahamas.

He organizes access to local expenditure needs to film companies. Familiar films include, James Bond’s Casino Royale, and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean.

O

wen Bethel of Nassau, Bahamas

Design by Jessie-Ann Jessamy of Spice Box from Grenada

Design by Spice Box of Grenada

A Taste of

ISLANDS of the WORLD FASHION WEEK

Photography By Curtis Williams

MELROSE HEIGHTS FASHION FINE LIVING BEAUTY & LIFESTYLE ART & CULTURE PEOPLE

www.melroseheightsmagazine.com

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE ENTERTAINMENT FOOD & WINES HEALTH FLOWERS EDUCATION TRAVEL

www.melroseheightsmagazine.com

Key West’s World Records Although tongue-in-cheekiness applies to some of Key West’s records, some people are dead serious about the world championships they pursue in power boat races offshore the island each November, or the Grand Slam record catches of permit, tarpon and bonefish made in these waters; or the amount of sales in restaurants and bars along Duval Street, where arguably, more beer is consumed in a two-mile stretch than in any other two miles on the planet.

But the real crown jewel is held by the property owners who conscientiously preserve the largest national historic district of wooden houses in the United States. Next issue, look for another Key West article; this one about how “Conservation and History Comingle in Paradise.�

by Barbara Bowers Key West, FL 33040 www.bbowers.com

photo by Douglas Bedgood

Photography by Mary Shuler

The Real Smarty Pants is From Trinidad and Tobago: Emile Borde Deidra Burtonelli

Meet musician and international performer, Emile Borde.

From the island of Trinidad and Tobago, home of calypso music, Emile Borde unveils its national instrument the steel drum, to a wide array of musical genres. Borde has composed and performed with the pans (steel drums) across the world, including shows with Cher, Lou Bega, Harry Belafonte, Chubby Checker, and Bob Marley’s Wailers. Borde has also organized a successful world fusion band, The Tropical Connection. Tropical Connection has been touring since 1977. Its members, who gained respect for their versatile style, began in Detroit, Michigan where they shared the stage with some of the most famous artists, including The Spinners, The Dramatics, Max Roach and George Clinton.

Borde, AKA “Spiceman”, is preparing for the world famous Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, a highly anticipated annual celebration of the island’s culture with the sounds of steel drums, calypso and soca music. To ‘play mas’ in Carnival means to celebrate life by portraying characters of choice in extravagant costume and excite massive crowds on the Monday and Tuesday before Lent each year.

Carnival is a sure annual destination for Borde. In addition to filming his hometown’s island essence, Borde will be in attendance at the annual “Pan Pioneer Party”, hosted by his father, Hugh Borde, the legend behind the family steel drum entertainment dynasty.

Emile continues a legacy his family brought to the U.S. thirty-four years ago. For Emile’s father Hugh Borde, the steel drum is a platform for which he is a pioneer. Hugh Borde is a legendary bandleader who helped revolutionize the conception of the steel drums and its players. It’s unlikely to think of music today without the sound of the steel drum, the distinctive sound is one that listeners can’t help but feel transported when it plays.

Hugh was playing the steel drum in the 40’s and 50’s when it was considered a “renegade instrument” and has risked many hardships in his support of it’s early development.

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ART AND ARTISTS Welcome

to the Melrose Heights Magazine Art Gallery. Here, in every issue, we will showcase various artists and a collection of their works. The gallery is now taking submissions from artists around the world for the chance to have their art work shown in the MHM Art Gallery.

Melrose Heights Magazine offers the opportunity at international exposure to artists such as photographers, painters, illustrators, printers, fashion designers, and automobile designers, etc.

In addition to being featured in MHM print, artists will also be featured on our website. The MHM Art Gallery Online is a great place for artists to be shown by art lovers who view and collect The MHM art work from around the world.

Become apart of this exciting traveling Art Show. Artists and art enthusiasts can contact MHM anytime by emailing info@maezell.com. �����������������������

This issue feature Photographers: Curtis Williams, publisher Melrose Heights Magazine and Mario Castellanos

CURTIS WILLIAMS

Williams Collection: Girl Tie and Pin

Mexico a boomers guide

COZUMEL

So back to my story......., With Leslie on board I just needed three more people, who just happened to be our traveling buddies. Mario Castellanos, a photographer and now our budding director.

Jorge Sanchez and Matt Berger known as “The Berger/Sanchez Project” two young and amazing musicians to write the Soundtrack of Mexico. Quite a big job...., but believe me they are just the guys to do it!!! Jorge doubles as our computer geek and Matt is Chef extraordinaire. If there�s any “carne” to be grilled. Matt�s your man!!! Thus was the birth of “Mexico A Boomers Guide” Now true not all of us are “Boomers” some are quite a bit younger. We don�t hold that against them!!

Coral Princess Photo by Mario Castellanos

So here we are ....... in beautiful Cozumel. Cozumel is Mexico�s largest island 30 (48k) miles long and 10 miles (16k) wide. This Island is well known to divers and snorkelers. I read somewhere that Cozumel has a Mexican heart with a Caribbean soul. I like that!! More importantly this is the home of the Mayan Goddess Ixchel the mother of all the Mayan gods. Goddess of the sea, Goddess of the moon, Goddess of fertility. Cozumel is her sanctuary!!!!

Coral Princess Photo by Mario Castellanos

Opening Party 2010 JAMES KOENIG OF THE Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. (SFFLA) James Koenig on cinema and culture: “The truth is, people end up related to a culture or country or part of the world not only through ethnic heritage, but through life experience. And the more we as human beings share our life experiences, the more we know and celebrate our common humanity. One of the best ways of sharing is through the arts. Sharing “cinema culture” crosses borders and divisions and opens not only our eyes but our hearts.---Inspiration for establishing SFFLA started way back when Koenig was a kid who loved to go to the movies. It was a way of having new experiences and “getting inside the head” of characters on the screen. “I really ‘believed’ what I was seeing-- and put myself right in the picture.” In kindergarten he watched a cartoon character using an umbrella as a parachute. He went home and got an umbrella and jumped off the garage roof! Fortunately, a sand-pile cushioned any falls and nothing was broken. Already, film lit the fires of Koenig’s imagination. “[Films] gave me time travel, alternative geographies, shared adventures-- and engaged a response”, said Koenig.

In high school in Indianapolis, Indiana Koenig would sneak off across town to the only “art house” theater in town that showed foreign films. Some films had titles like “The Virgin Spring” and “Cries and Whispers.” His relationship with Scandinavian film had begun. Later, his association with the Nordic countries and cultural events grew through his career in music as a classical singer. The first time he went to Scandinavia to sing was to Finland. Later on, the Finnish government decorated him as a Knight of the Order of the Finnish Lion for his musical activities and support of Scandinavian culture. Of course, that culture included the visual arts: painting, architecture, design, and film.

After a private screening of Liv Ullman’s film “Sophie,” he was reminded that there were many wonderful films but few opportunities to see them if they didn’t happen to get distribution in the United States. He thought, “What better way to connect our film town with the five Nordic countries than to have an annual residency of Nordic film in Hollywood?”.

One year later Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. was born. “People often ask.” he says, “Are you Scandinavian?”. To their surprise, his answer is, “No, I’m a German Swiss American, a friend of Scandinavia and an adopted Finn”.

Festival programming pivots around screenings of as many as possible of the five Nordic Oscar submissions in the context of additional current feature films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden along with a few shorts and documentaries chosen by submission or “discovery!” Koenig stays up to date with the latest buzz in Scandinavian films,

James Koenig (Founder Scandinavian Film Festival L.A.) and Curtis Williams (Publisher Melrose Heights)

Emile Borde, Christine Bell, Annika Sandberg, Deidra Burtonelli and Madou Fadiga

attends festivals abroad. He also likes to recognize Nordic filmmakers working in Hollywood. “The film industry is a global industry.” Says Koenig. “I like art that builds bridges rather than borders. I have experienced that as a performer and as a teacher.”

His philosophy comes from experiences as a singer in opera, musical theater, concert, or recital venues. He enjoys working with singers, which he does privately in Los Angeles and sometimes at colleges or universities doing master classes in conjunction with recitals. He spends his summers teaching for the Bel Canto Institute in Florence, Italy. Koenig believes that people who have been blessed with good influence in their lives and in their artistic development should give something back. He began teaching alread while he was in graduate school at Northwestern University.

Koenig grew up in Dallas, Texas where he participated in children’s theater at the Dallas Theater Center, and with the State Fair Musicals. The family moved to Indianapolis where he continued singing in musicals, choirs and ensembles, and in summer programs at Indiana University.

At Northwestern he loved exploring Chicago, fascinated by the diversity of neighborhoods and arts, from the Lyric Opera, to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, jazz, Second City ,and church music. In one weekend Koenig took the “L” (elevated train) all the way to the South Side one day for an early music concert at the University of Chicago, and another day for a James Brown Concert.

Koenig is also a big fan of Language. In high school he became active in journalism, edited the school newspaper, wrote for the Teen Section of the Indianapolis Star/News and spent summers at Journalism Institute at Indiana University. Although he majored in music, he never fell out of touch with writing shows, poetry, and articles. His poetry was first published in University of Chicago/ Gallery Press. He has written for Odyssey Classical Musical Publications in the U.K., theatrical and liturgical pieces, and a novel, And the Meter Is Running.

“The arts can’t be enslaved, or forbidden, or suppressed. Because somebody will pick up a pen, or a camera, or a musical instrument and use it to share their story, their feeling, their response to beauty or to pain“.

KOENIG QUOTES AND TID-BITS The Bel Canto Institute www.belcantoinst.com was founded by Metropolitan Opera Assitant Conductor Jane Klaviter in memory of her mentor and teacher, a famous Italian opera coach Luigi Ricci. There is a lineage in the arts that gets passed down by practice and word of mouth and influence. That’s what the Bel Canto Institute tries to impart to singers and instrumentalists of various ages who take part in the program. “It’s a renaissance experience in the Florence Italy—the renaissance city! Koenig worked with Jane Klaviter first as a coach, then collaborating on recitals.

A Bel Canto Institute award concert will bring three former participants to Los Angeles for a concert at the G2 Gallery in Venice May 22-- a mezzo soprano from Juilliard, a Korean soprano from New England Conservatory, who happens to be blind, and a wonderful harpist. Other awards concerts took place in Vermont,the Hudson Valley and the famous Woodstock in New York.

Kerstin Alm and Friend

James Koeniga and Friends

photos Emile Borde

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DEBBIE ALLEN “SuperStar”

BAHAMAS The Islands

THE LITTLE DOOR MEDITERRANEAN FLAVOR

by FREDO and NICO

ISSUE 11

OWEN BETHEL ISLANDS OF THE WORLD FASHION WEEK EMILE BORDE History of STEELDRUMS

MELROSE HEIGHTS COVER GIRL CONTEST