Also on Tuesday - Video Reviews!

VIDEO REVIEWS and POETRY SLAM RECORDING SESSION
@ HIGH 5 HQ
Tuesday, December 4th, 4pm till whenever...
email eric with your ideas.

Even if you don't win the Alvin Ailey Raffle, come on by at 4 pm on Tuesday afternoon to record some audio reviews for the High 5 website and TRaC Blogs! I know that Tai, Yaya and Najee from Theater TRaC and Nino from Music TRaC are coming by. I'd love to have someone from every TRaC class!

We'll be setting up a video camera and you'll be "performing" your review of any show(s) you've seen this fall through High 5. Before you come, you should prepare a short version of your reviews - we're thinking 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds. Not much longer!

Najee and YaYA will also be performing their slam poetry from the Urban Word event. If you come and have another idea - you want to bring a guitar and do a musical review..... - that's cool, too. All creative performance is welcome.

And, there will probably be pizza. Because I just can't get enough pizza and High 5 foots the bill. (That's the truth. :)

So shoot me an email at eost@high5tix.org and let me know if you're thinking about coming, and what you'd like to review.

We'll make you famous! (well, we'll try...)

peace and poetry,
eric

The Jazz Battles ... smokin' hot...

Boom. Heyo!

Thanks to all who made it to the TRaC Meet last night. Those who missed due to SAT Prep, tests or other conflicts, you were definitely missed. We could have used a Dance TRaCer in the house! ;) Check out Basquiat's work if you get a chance. There are tons of YouTube videos and images if you Google his name. RIP SAMO.

On to the next.... TRaC Meet #3 of 4!
What's better than a raging fire to escape December's chill? A crackling Jazz Battle, set against Central Park's winter-wonderland. Come to Jazz @ Lincoln Center for this exclusive High 5 gig and soak up the musical heat as two competing tenor saxophonists "clash the brass" in search of that musical Moment of Truth. This event will be open to all High 5ers starting next week, so we've set aside a chunk of tickets just for TRaC. You guys get first dibs. Come out and represent! Friends and family are welcome, too - all you need to do is email me with the number of tickets you want by Monday, November 26.

Jazz Battles will be at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz @ Lincoln Center on Saturday, December 1. The set begins at 2:30 p.m., doors open at 2:00 p.m. RSVP by Monday, November 26 to eost@high5tix.org (include number of tix you need)!

So come on out, meet your fellow TRaCers and hang loose... jazz style.
(Reminder: classes pick up again on Wednesday, November 28th.)
Have a great Thanksgiving.
See some arts.

-eric

RSVP to Monday'sTRaC Meet!

High5tix.org is more than just $5 tickets for teens all over the world to New York City's best music, theater, dance and museums....

We hang out and watch movies, too!

This Monday we'll be watching BASQUIAT (1996).

Tagline: " In 1981, A Nineteen-Year-Old Unknown Graffiti Writer Took The New York Art World By Storm. The Rest Is Art History."

Here's a link to the Internet Movie Data Base page.

This is the Brooklyn Museum's interactive Basquiat page. They had a retrospective of his work recently. It's a good place to start if you've don't know his work.

Remember: Monday, November 19th, 5:15 pm at High 5 HQ (1 East 53rd Street)
bring $3 for pizza and soda!
RSVP - you may bring friends from outside the program (just let me -eric - know how many!)

TRaC Meets! (#2 and #3)

Save the dates!
RSVP ASAP!

TRaC Meet #2 - next Monday! Pizza and a movie....
Monday, November 19th - 5:15 pm at High 5 HQ, in the theater at the rear of the lobby w/special guest, Ronnie Porto, High 5's Freelance Film Guru
bring $3 for pizza and soda
RSVP via email- you may bring friends from outside the program (just let eric know how many!)

TRaC Meet #3
Saurday, December 1st - Jazz Battles at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center. This is an EXCLUSIVE High 5 event! Bring friends and any family, too!
There are two time slots: 12:30 and 2:30
RSVP - let me know what time slot and how many tickets you need!

the 1st easter eggs & High 5's e-Newsletter

Easter egg
n.

1. A dyed or decorated egg, traditionally associated with Easter.
2. A hidden feature in computer software, a DVD, or a video game.
   
3. slang - one of the hot picks dropped in High 5's e-newsletters by yours truly.
   

Let's run with definition #3, as "eric's easter eggs" have nothing to do with video games, dyed eggs, or The Cadberry Bunny.

As a bonus *EXTRA*every week, starting next week, I'll be hand picking a special event for the High 5 Email Newsletter. My only rule is that has to be something FREE for you to participate in. One rule, infinite possibilities. It could be a music performance, a street fair, a writing contest, a museum program, a break dance battle in Washington Square Park or a march for Peace and Poetry. The only catch is...

You have to be on High 5's email newsletter to hear about it!

There are perks to being on the e-newsletter besides my easter eggs. High 5's newest shows and our Pics of the Week are sent out on a weekly basis, too. When we get those last minute Lion King and Blue Man Group tickets, the newsletter is where you find out. All our programs, like TRaC, are announced there. And, in the very near future, we will post clips of your reviews and any VIDEO REVIEWS you want to do up as well.

So! Don't miss out. Take 2 minutes and sign up for the newsletter by clicking here. (Or use the link on the top of the right column....)

*

And now, without further adeiu, I present my first Easter Egg(s).....for the Teen Reviewers and Critics exclusively!
Enjoy.

1st up, an Urban Word Open Mic Night!
It's a FREE open mic and performance tomorrow at Baruch college. You can
just go and watch--OR you can bring a poem and read in the open mic! "The performers are dope, " I've been assured by Erica at Urban Word.

Friday, November 9th / 5-7pm
Location: Baruch College
151 East 25th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenues in the Newman Conference Center, Room 750 (VC Building)

Second up, (and you will have to choose between these....)
The Collaborative Spirit: A Discussion of the Legacy of Billie Holiday
FREE at the legendary Apollo Theater!

"In celebration of the launch Art & Soul: The Apollo Performing Arts Series, the Theater will present a series of events and offerings between Nov. 1st-10th, including a panel where Nnena Freelon, Ronald K. Brown, & others discuss the impact Billie Holiday had on American culture & the genesis of Blueprint of a Lady: This lecture is free, on the Apollo Theater Soundstage, & open to the public."

Friday, November 9, 2007, 7pm
The Apollo Theater
253 West 125th Street
New York, NY 10027

Note: This is a discussion featuring Nnena Freelon and Ronald K. Brown - the performance is Saturday night, and THOSE tickets you have to buy. :) I just thought this sounded cool. I love Billie Holiday!

That's it this week.
Next week I'll be on the newsletter, so make sure to sign up!

Saturday Shout Out

Special thanks to Nicole, Ariana, Salome, Sophia and Melissa for coming out to work the Urban Word event last Saturday. I couldn't have done it without you (or the candy)! :) We also caught up with Najee and YaYa, who auditioned for the competition right after SATs. Ouch! Good luck to both of you....

Coming soon...
Najee and YaYa perform their poems for the TRaC Blog. Holla.

If anyone wants to record a 1 minute VIDEO REVIEW of one of the shows you've seen, come on in, we'll record it and throw it up on the Blog and the High 5 website. Instant fame!

Email me if you're interested...

Happy post-Halloween post (and reminder: we at the High 5 office don't mind taking extra candy off your hands... free tix for Kit Kats?)

Our other Mamma Mia winner, Nino turned up on Halloween and we snapped this shot. (later, in Music TRaC, she gave her Marilyn Monroe wig to Alex D. Picture coming soon....)
Scroll down to the Mamma Mia Update post to read YaYa's rave review of the show by clicking on comments, or click here!

And a big shout out to Tai, Salome, Sophia, Nicole, Mellissa, Ariana and Nathalie for volunteering to help out at the Urban Word poetry slam/Knicks/college extravaganza at the Hammerstein Ballroom this Saturday. (Multi TRaC, Theater TRaC and Visual Arts TRaC represent! Where you at Music TRaC and Dance TRaC?? ;)

If anyone else is free on Sat, come on by and say hello. The event is from 10 - 4pm. The Hammerstein is on 34th Street between 8th and 9th Ave.