Articles on PR for People

The Future for Kiyon Gaines | Next Step and Beyond

In his second year of retirement, choreography is in the forefront of his mind—to create ballets for companies across the nation.  For the next two and a half years, he’s the resident choreographer for Ballet Arkansas and will be heading there in January. He is currently the Next Step Program Manager at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Under his management, he has expanded the Next Step Program to meet the needs of aspiring choreographers.

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Interview with Kiyon Gaines

Kiyon grew up in Laytonsville, Maryland, a small suburb outside of Baltimore. His mom was a single parent who raised him and his two older siblings, a brother and a sister, with help from his aunt and grandmother. Kiyon describes his mother, grandmother and aunt as very strong women who emphasized the core values of hard work, extreme perseverance as not only the building blocks for achievement, but also the...


J O Y  F U L L N E S S

Finding joy in aligning symbology with the poetry of experience, 

memory and storytelling, meaning and discovery. 

There is something metaphorically symbolic about the wave.  

In the waves — 

the big ones, the farther out set, 

 what I call the third tier of rollers — 

I find unbridled...


Dancing for Joy | Extraordinary Teacher

Kiyon Gaines teaches students in both the Men’s Professional Division and the Open Adult Classes at Pacific Northwest Ballet

When Kiyon Gaines walks into the studio and lights up the room with his mega-watt presence, saying Good morning, Everybody, dancers feel his energy drawing them in. Soon dancers of all levels and abilities, from seasoned and aspiring professionals to weekend hobbyists, are...


From Denver - Megan’s Hallelujah

 

Joy is not so cut and dry as bliss.

Meet Megan Hemmerbeck, a 24 year-old, classically trained pianist and opera singer, a woman of considerable preternatural talent which she has honed over dedicated decades, culminating in a Bachelors of Music degree from the University of Denver. She plays 7 instruments (one of which, the guitar, she learned out of sheer spite, because her then-boyfriend told her she wouldn't be...


More joy in Seattle’s arts scene for people with disabilities

 

More people with hearing loss and other disabilities can enjoy Seattle’s arts scene thanks to disability rights advocates, technologies new and old, and the compassion of several local arts organizations.

Organizations like the NW Universal Design Council, Northwest Access Fund (formerly the Washington Access Fund), and...


The Strategy of *Experientiality —  Holistic Experience Design  for Restaurants

During the 1990-early 2000s, I spent time working with the Disney Imagineers and Park Strategists at Disney — designing experiences, brands and their integrated strategies in Orlando and Anaheim. During that time, we also worked with Steve and Elaine Wynn on Bellagio and their teams and properties. 

What that range of experience taught me is that a restaurant visionary will need to have a clear visioning about the offer — what...


Killer Koan

How to Spot Fake News

My friend Diane has always struggled with her weight. She’s tried pills, fad diets, incredible body-shrinking garments, all to no avail. She fluctuates from being 20 to 40 pounds overweight. She told me she had found this amazing doctor who was going to reset her metabolism.  Here’s the catch: she could only eat the foods he prescribed. Nothing else.  Also, she could not...


From Rochester, New York Food Waste | Let’s talk about it!

 

Callie Babbitt, an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS), has received a nearly $1 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to research sustainable solutions for minimizing and managing the growing...


Make Yourself Comfort-able

FOOD 

Make Yourself Comfort-able

Tis the season for savoring and snuggling

According to Ben Franklin’s Farmer’s Almanac, the reprieve from snow and cold that many enjoyed last winter will be short-lived and Old Man Winter will be coming back with a vengeance!

Fortunately, many in areas that are often hardest hit (such as hah-dy New England) know what to...