Slipstream
Ravinia soon – have been thinking about the notion of preserving something from the past and it’s relevance in today’s world in relation to playing Ullmann. For the “Breaking the Silence” program, I’m thrilled to be sharing it with the ARC Ensemble and can’t wait to hear them. In preparation, have been pulling my concert wear together, which has led to another layer of this notion. My dress is sheer. It needs a slip. A floor-length silk slip. I hate clothes shopping, so I employed my friend Amy to join me in a slip-hunting expedition. We spent an afternoon going to every department store in midtown and there was not one single slip to be had. Well, there was one, but it was $400 and the hem would’ve needed to be trimmed. This may seem frivolous, but not so long ago, slips were part of the culture, and there was something wonderful about the feel and the fall of them. Wearing one changed how one moved, held oneself. The afternoon was a bust – very discouraging. But woke up the next morning remembering that I’d tucked away the long slip from my teen years that I’d worn to my high school prom. Digging it out from the back of a closet, and trying it on with the dress, it was perfect! It was as if this relic from another time had been patiently awaiting a chance to be relevant again! Of course, what it says about me for saving it all these years is something else entirely….
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