For many people, what they know about dance from India and Pakistan doesnt extend much further than Bollywood. In fact its culture is vast, spanning thousands of years.

Christopher Bannerman, Professor of Dance at Middlesex University, has an extraordinary knowledge of South East Asian dance. Its unusual for any Westerner to be so well-schooled in another culture, and, says Bannerman, it partly stems from his upbringing.

“Although I wouldn’t have said this a few years ago, in the fullness of time one realises that one has had certain experiences in life that set something in place, so that I had a feeling for Asia and for the East. I didnt realise it so much at the time thinking back on it,” he admits.

When he was growing up in Canada, he trained in the Canadian National Ballet. His f

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Davy Jones, an actor-turned-singer who helped propel the TV rock band The Monkees to the top of the pop charts and into rock ‘n’ roll history, died Wednesday in Florida. He was 66.

Jones, lead singer of the 1960s group that was assembled as an American version of the Beatles, died of a massive heart attack in Indiantown where he lived, his publicist Helen Kensick confirmed.

A former racehorse jockey, Jones turned to acting and then became lead singer when he joined The Monkees in 1965 and the band embarked on a wildly popular U.S. television show. Jones sang lead vocals on songs such as “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer.”

The band was assembled as with its personnel designed to be the instant stars of an American TV series seeking to evoke the Beatles, then already famous for their music and such films as “A Hard Day’s Night and “Help!”

Auditions for The Monkees were held in the fall of 1965, attracting some 500 applicants. Jones

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Davy Jones, Jones

Corporate entertainment is big business. It’s all about wowing the visitors and treating them to a feast of relaxation and pleasure. Nothing quite delivers like music. If it soothes the savage beast, it also excites the passionate party-goer, taking guests on a journey of musical pleasure that satisfies the soul; but in order to achieve these lofty targets, the acts must be awesome.

The problem with corporate parties is that everyone expects them to be so good; after all it’s the host company’s reputation at stake.  Of course it’s all about the venue and the entertainment, if one or the other doesn’t live up to expectations, that the party will flop, and the party thrower will be embarrassed.

It’s not an easy task to arrange a corporate event that is going to please all of the guests, and that is exactly why an industry has been created to help party planners to achieve their aims and to host successful events. Read more…

corporate entertainment, entertainment agency, function bands

In a town where frozen yogurt had practically disappeared in recent years, it seems fro-yo is making a comeback.

Two shops have popped up since late 2010, and a third is set to open later this month, but it’s not the first frozen yogurt boom for the Big Country.

Abilene once was home to at least two TCBY stores. Employees at the corporate office Friday could not confirm when or why they closed, but Abilene has gone without frozen yogurt shops for at least three years.

Sandy Davis, instructor at the Texas State Technical College Culinary Institute in Abilene and who’s worked in the food industry 30 years, said he remembers well the frozen yogurt trend that first hit decades ago.

He remembers people talking about frozen yogurt as a healthier alternative to ice cream in California in the 1970s, he said, noting that yogurt shops have long been popular in New York, his home before Abilene.

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Comeback, Frozen Yogurt

The judges revealed 14 of the Top 24 on “American Idol.”

— Ryan Seacrest is revving up.

We’re just one week away from the season 11 live shows, and he was running down a dream, itching to shout out his signature line, “This!” That’s it. “This!” That’s Ryan’s calling card, ever since he stopped saying “Seacrest out.” Weird.

Anyway, here’s Ryan as he tiptoed down the scary “green mile” catwalk of “American Idol’s” final judgement round. “THIS! is the path each contestant will take to meet their fate.” It’s a dramatic walk, but nothing can prepare them for THE DEADLY SMOKE MONSTER.

Or, as it turned out, our three judges. Especially J. Lo with her sparkly green “Stripper mermaid desperate to be cast on ‘Dancing With the Stars’” dress.

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American Idol, Revealed, Top 24