Dance

David’s Bridal Debuts Head-to-Toe Prom Assortment, With Selections For Every Prom-Goer to Dance the Night Away in Her Own Unique Style

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 8, 2024

With high quality dresses at an affordable price, David’s has the perfect fit for everyone, no matter her budget.

Key Points: 
  • With high quality dresses at an affordable price, David’s has the perfect fit for everyone, no matter her budget.
  • “Prom is an incredible life moment, and we are thrilled to have David’s Bridal be part of a night she will remember forever.
  • She can even access special deals on accessories by signing up for the Diamond Loyalty program.
  • To learn more and to sign up for the Diamond Loyalty Program please visit davidsbridal.com/loyalty or inquire in a David’s Bridal store.

SINGERS COMPANY NAMED A TOP FRANCHISE BY FRANCHISE BUSINESS REVIEW FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 8, 2024

"Purchasing a Singers Company franchise has been one of the best decisions I have made for me, my family and our community. It has brought so much joy and financial stability. The mission of strengthening young girls spoke to my heart and to experience its success in both mission and business is such a blessing. I felt in my heart I needed to do this and I give thanks every day that I did! It truly is magical." --Cassie White, franchise owner since 2014.

Key Points: 
  • PROVO, Utah, Feb. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Singers Company , was recently named a Top Franchise for 2024 by Franchise Business Review.
  • This is the 19th annual ranking of the 200 best franchise opportunities as rated by franchise business owners.
  • "Purchasing a Singers Company franchise has been one of the best decisions I have made for me, my family and our community.
  • For two consecutive years, Singers Company has received the Top Franchise, Top Womens Franchise, and Top Low-Cost Franchise by Franchise Business Review.

Wisconsin's Own Charlie Berens Launches Brandy to Punch Up Your Old Fashioned

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Charlie Berens, Wisconsin native, comedian, and author of New York Times bestseller, The Midwest Survival Guide, is launching Berens Old Fashioned Brandy crafted in partnership with Dancing Goat Distillery of Cambridge, Wisconsin.

Key Points: 
  • Charlie Berens, Wisconsin native, comedian, and author of New York Times bestseller, The Midwest Survival Guide, is launching Berens Old Fashioned Brandy crafted in partnership with Dancing Goat Distillery of Cambridge, Wisconsin.
  • His brandy old fashioned tutorial touted the use of brandy, claiming that to substitute whiskey means you're from Illinois – an affront to the Packers-loving Berens.
  • Berens Old Fashioned Brandy will be available exclusively in Wisconsin retail stores and restaurants starting this week.
  • Visit BerensOldFashionedBrandy.com to locate Berens Old Fashioned Brandy in stores, or ask your favorite retailer to carry Berens Old Fashioned Brandy.

Recognize National Senior Independence Month by Supporting Your Vitality With Gundry MD Energy Renew

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- February is National Senior Independence Month. It is dedicated to empowering our senior community with the tools and knowledge to achieve well-being and vitality. Dr. Steven Gundry, a cardiothoracic surgeon and renowned expert in health and nutrition, provides invaluable tips to help maintain independence and vitality at any age.

Key Points: 
  • Take Supplements: To further support your energy levels and vitality, Dr. Gundry recommends using Gundry MD Energy Renew .
  • By incorporating Gundry MD Energy Renew into your daily routine, you can take proactive steps towards maintaining independence and embracing the joys of aging with vitality.†*
    What is Gundry MD Energy Renew?
  • Gundry MD Energy Renew is a passion fruit-flavored dietary supplement designed to unleash the benefits of its unique blend of ingredients, promoting youthful energy and vitality.
  • Within Gundry MD Energy Renew, superfruits flood your body with antioxidants, supporting the immune system and facilitating easier weight management.

It’s the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac − associated with good fortune, wisdom and success

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or simply Chinese New Year, it marks the beginning of the year according to the traditional lunar calendar.

Key Points: 
  • Also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or simply Chinese New Year, it marks the beginning of the year according to the traditional lunar calendar.
  • I’m a scholar of Chinese religious history and culture who was born in a Year of the Dragon.
  • What fascinates me the most is how the celebrations are a reminder of the longevity and vibrancy of traditional Chinese culture.

Food, gifts and celebrations

  • Preparations start a week in advance and include cleaning and decorating the home, as well as shopping, especially for gifts and provisions, and food preparation.
  • A central event is the family dinner on the eve of the new year.
  • Other customs associated with Lunar New Year celebrations include the giving of red envelopes containing money, usually by elders to younger members of the family.
  • However, more recently the Chinese government has been cracking down on this traditional practice on the grounds of its being dangerous and polluting.

Year of the Dragon

  • To this day, a dragon image is often used to symbolize China itself.
  • Because of the dragon’s auspicious associations, dragon years tend to bring upticks in fertility rates.
  • Thus, there are 12 animals, each associated with a year in the cycle: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Origins of the lunar calendar

  • While modern China adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1912, traditional festivals such as the Lunar New Year still follow the old lunar calendar.
  • The origins of the lunar calendar may go back to the dawn of Chinese civilization, traditionally associated with the legendary Xia dynasty, said to have ruled from 2070 to 1600 B.C.

Religiosity and Lunar New Year galas

  • While the Lunar New Year is generally centered on the theme of family bonding, religious observances are also an integral part of the festivities.
  • These include domestic rituals associated with popular Chinese deities, such as the Kitchen God and the God of Wealth.
  • A modern element in ushering in the Lunar New Year is watching the New Year’s Gala, a popular variety show that features singing, dancing, comedy and drama.

Largest human migration

  • In recent decades, China has experienced drastic demographic changes, especially the migration of large rural populations into big urban centers.
  • As a result, the Lunar New Year brings about the largest human migration in the world, as students and migrant workers do their best to get back to their families.

Celebrations outside China

  • Usually, these celebrations have some unique features or assume local character.
  • For instance, in Vietnam, where the festival is known as Tết, there is the preparation of various local dishes, along with parades and public performances.
  • In the U.S. and Australia, where there are substantial ethnically Chinese populations, Chinese New Year festivals and parades are held each year.


Mario Poceski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Campy, playful and funny: Opera Australia finds the joy in The Magic Flute, Mozart’s most-performed opera

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 5, 2024

The sheer familiarity of The Magic Flute, Mozart’s most-performed opera, can blind one to its inherent oddness.

Key Points: 
  • The sheer familiarity of The Magic Flute, Mozart’s most-performed opera, can blind one to its inherent oddness.
  • Librettist Emanuel Schikaneder has created something that is part allegory, part dream and part fairy tale.

Embracing silliness

  • In the recording I first got to know, Klemperer’s legendary version from 1964, only the sung portions were included.
  • A new production by Kate Gaul for Opera Australia does not shy away from pantomime silliness from the start.
  • The translation by Gaul and Michael Gow has some chortle-worthy lines.
  • “Am I hard of hearing, or is no one volunteering?” sings Papageno as he vainly seeks a woman – any woman – to satisfy his romantic urges.


Read more:
Barrie Kosky's The Magic Flute is a contemporary spectacle, despite the opera's outdated attitudes

Campy costumes and an ornamental set

  • It is a relief to hear it in full in this production, directed with sureness of touch by Teresa Riveiro Böhm.
  • The orchestra provides a fulsome sound and crisp articulation over the evening, with just a handful of uncoordinated moments between the pit and stage.
  • Weirdly, Tamino held his on-stage flute up in the air instead of miming, creating an odd disconnect between sight and sound.
  • Outdoing even this for connoisseurs of camp is the late appearance of Papagena (Jennifer Black) in a Brazilian-carnival-style bird costume.
  • Michael Yeargan’s set has a three-sided exterior surrounding grass, with ornamental entrances on each side.

Spell-casting performances

  • But for me, the standout voice belongs to Alleaume, who brings a burnished legato to Pamina’s arias, but also playfulness in the ensembles.
  • Smallwood has a pleasing light lyrical tenor as Tamino – less forceful than some exponents of the role, but tuneful and exemplary in his diction.
  • Breen brings his trademark comic gifts to Monostatos who, like the other villains, is welcomed into the fold at the end.
  • It may not have solved all the conundrums of the work, but at least one gets to appreciate Mozart’s genius uncut.


David Larkin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Las Vegas Loves Disco – DISCOSHOW, Spiegelworld’s Non-Stop Party & Restaurant, Opens the Door on July 27 at 3535 Las Vegas Blvd

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Las Vegas is getting ready to party like it’s 1977 with Spiegelworld announcing its much-anticipated DISCOSHOW opening its door to guests on Saturday, July 27 at 3535 Las Vegas Boulevard – the address that is going to become synonymous with the greatest entertainment in Vegas.

Key Points: 
  • Las Vegas is getting ready to party like it’s 1977 with Spiegelworld announcing its much-anticipated DISCOSHOW opening its door to guests on Saturday, July 27 at 3535 Las Vegas Boulevard – the address that is going to become synonymous with the greatest entertainment in Vegas.
  • They were a wild extension of the childhood parties the nuns used to throw at his orphanage, complete with colored balloons, punch and a simple record player.
  • Spiegelworld’s Impresario Extraordinaire Ross Mollison said, “I believe what the people want is to feel the love.
  • A soundtrack of Le Freak, Good Times, We Are Family, Disco Inferno, and Everybody Dance are just the beginning.

Silk® Teams Up with Actor and Superdad Jeremy Renner for Big Game Debut, Bringing Plant-Based Goodness to One of Sports' Biggest Stages

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 2, 2024

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Feb. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Silk is celebrating the power of plants – just in time for Game Day. This year, America's #1 plant-based brand1 is making its debut at the Big Game to show people how starting your day with Silk can make you feel good. The brand is on a mission to democratize access to plant-based – making it accessible and approachable for consumers – and what better way to do so than showing up on one of sports' biggest stages with a fun and approachable nutrition-forward message? To bring its debut campaign to life, Silk partnered with Jeremy Renner – the action hero actor who has made a superhuman comeback – alongside his daughter Ava. Through a fun morning routine filled with moves, grooves and stunts, Renner demonstrates how incorporating Silk into your diet can help anyone, anywhere, feel "planty" good.

Key Points: 
  • This year, America's #1 plant-based brand1 is making its debut at the Big Game to show people how starting your day with Silk can make you feel good.
  • To bring its debut campaign to life, Silk partnered with Jeremy Renner – the action hero actor who has made a superhuman comeback – alongside his daughter Ava.
  • Through a fun morning routine filled with moves, grooves and stunts, Renner demonstrates how incorporating Silk into your diet can help anyone, anywhere, feel "planty" good.
  • "I'm excited to make my Big Game debut alongside Silk and my daughter, Ava," said Renner.

Korean Cultural Center New York to hold the first Seollal, Korean Lunar New Year, Family Weekend Program in New Building

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 1, 2024

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY), a branch of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea, is excited to announce K-Family Fest: Celebrate Seollal in its new building at 122 E. 32nd Street in New York City on Saturday, February 24th and Sunday February 25th, 2024, 9:30 am-4:00 pm ET. Free and open to the public, RSVPs are required and registration links will open on Monday, February 5th at 12 pm ET.

Key Points: 
  • Also on both days, on the 2nd floor Gallery, we invite families to experience hands-on Korean tteok (rice cake) making with Jennifer Ban of Rice Blossoms.
  • "As we joyfully celebrate Seollal, the Korean Cultural Center New York is thrilled to mark this auspicious occasion with our inaugural family event.
  • This celebration not only embraces the rich traditions of the Korean Lunar New Year, but also signifies the beginning of a new chapter for our Center in our new building.
  • Woori Show is a 501c3 non-profit organization centered around community building, AAPI cultural preservation, and children's education.

Music Lineup Announced for West Bend's Inaugural Bockfest

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

WEST BEND, Wis., Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of West Bend is pleased to announce the music lineup for its inaugural Bockfest on Saturday, March 2!

Key Points: 
  • WEST BEND, Wis., Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of West Bend is pleased to announce the music lineup for its inaugural Bockfest on Saturday, March 2!
  • The band blends traditional polka music with exciting jazz and pop styles for a perfect party soundtrack.
  • The five-time Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) award-winning Squeezettes are joining the Alex Meixner Band, performing from 2-3 p.m.
  • Completing the lineup are local favorites Polka Fusion and River City Blaskapelle, ensuring that the Bockfest crowd will be up and dancing!