Latest news with #RomeoandJuliet


The Citizen
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Edenvale ballerina Chiara Szabó wins gold at SA ballet competition
Chiara Szabó (16) from Edenvale began her ballet journey at the age of four and hasn't looked back. A dedicated dancer, she has competed in the South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) in Cape Town for the past three years, earning a silver medal in 2023 and a gold medal in 2024, along with two scholarship awards. She will compete again from July 28 to 31. 'I had it in my head from a very young age that I wanted to be a ballerina. 'My mom told me I had to wait until I turned four to start lessons, and on the morning of my fourth birthday, I marched into their bedroom and demanded ballet classes,' Chiara said. ALSO READ: The pros and cons of ballet classes for little girls She trained for most of her childhood at Molfessis Studio of Dance under Penny Molfessis, who inspired her deep love for ballet. 'I am lucky to have grown up in such a nurturing ballet environment, as ballet can often be overly competitive, even toxic in some situations. 'For the first few years of my ballet training, I did not compete in any large competitions, and I feel that this helped me to realise early on that there is much more to ballet than simply winning medals and prizes.' 'I grew to love the stage at an early age, as I did not associate it with competition, but with performance. 'Dancing to bring the audience joy rather than to win a gold medal. That's a pearl of wisdom Penny taught me that I will carry forever.' Chiara's passion for the stage blossomed early. At ten, she performed in Giselle with Joburg Ballet. 'It was my first taste of life in a ballet company. I even tried to learn the entire ballet in case an extra dancer was needed. I was very ambitious. This was one of the most special moments of my childhood. It was from that point on that I knew I wanted to join a ballet company someday,' she said. After Penny emigrated to London post-pandemic, Chiara moved to Carstens-Ireland Ballet School (CIBS) in Bedfordview, where she now trains under Natasha Ireland, Sandra Carstens, Anya Carstens, and Angela Revie. 'From 2022, I started training seriously, focusing on strength and technique.' ALSO READ: Should your little girl do ballet? In 2023, she won the prestigious Val Whyte Bursary, which opened the door to the Joburg Ballet Academy, the company's pre-professional programme. She performed in Romeo and Juliet at just 14, en pointe alongside company members. 'It was intimidating but unforgettable. That opportunity solidified my dream to dance professionally.' She has since performed in Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Mario Gaglione, where she was cast in the solo role of the 'Oompa Prima'. Currently, Chiara trains six days a week for at least four hours a day, and more during competition season, covering ballet technique, contemporary, and Spanish dance. 'Balancing school with ballet is tough, but my academics are also a priority,' said the Assumption Convent School learner, who praised her school for being incredibly supportive. Discipline and resilience are key. 'I'm very self-motivated, which can be a double-edged sword. I've had to learn it's okay not to be perfect. Some days are better than others, and it's important to listen to your body and rest when needed.' She added, 'I'm grateful for my ballet friends and supportive family. They help me through tough days. My biggest challenge is my mindset; I tend to overthink and get stuck in negative thoughts. I'm learning to stay optimistic yet realistic.' Chiara credits the Bedfordview community and CIBS for being instrumental in her journey. 'The encouragement from my teachers, classmates, and school has made it possible for me to chase both academic and ballet goals.' ALSO READ: Watch this new contemporary dance combo of Hip-Hop and Ballet Her aspirations include joining a professional company overseas, ideally the Royal Ballet. 'I recently achieved a High Distinction in my RAD Advanced 2 exam, qualifying me for the Fonteyn Competition next year. 'I also received a sponsorship to visit the Royal Ballet in London through the Dance Narrative Grande Nationale competition.' Outside of ballet, Chiara has a strong interest in mathematics and computer science and hopes to study at university while dancing professionally. To young dancers with dreams of going pro, she said, 'Always remember why you dance – to share joy with your audience. Don't get caught up in competition. Ballet is an art form, not a sport. Technique matters, but it's your love for the art that will carry you through.'


Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Wait Until Dark is a drowsy, dull thriller in need of more thrills
Title: Wait Until Dark Written by: Frederick Knott, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher Performed by: Kristopher Bowman, Sochi Fried, JJ Gerber, Martin Happer, Bruce Horak, Eponine Lee Directed by: Sanjay Talwar Company: Shaw Festival Venue: Festival Theatre City: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Year: Runs to Oct. 5 What's frustrating about Wait Until Dark, the drowsy, dull thriller devoid of thrills now playing at the Shaw Festival, isn't really the acting. And it's hardly the sets or costumes, either: Both ably capture the wartime paranoia of 1944. Director Sanjay Talwar, too, does his best with the material and infuses the play with a quick pace that keeps the runtime mercifully short. But Jeffrey Hatcher's text, an adaptation of Frederick Knott's 1966 play – a story best known for the 1967 film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn – is clunky and confusing, a confounding choice for the festival and a script that ought to swim with the fishes. At least on paper, the story is rife with suspense: Susan, a blind housewife (Sochi Fried) must outsmart three charlatans (Kristopher Bowman, Martin Happer and Bruce Horak) who are on the hunt for a doll filled with heroin. As it turns out, Susan's unwittingly had the doll in her possession all along – her husband Sam (JJ Gerber) was tricked into transporting it by a woman who has since been murdered. Natasha, Pierre and the revival of a lifetime at the Royal Alexandra Theatre Canadian Stage amps up the angst in outdoor production of Romeo and Juliet With only her wits and a petulant teenage neighbour (Eponine Lee) to save her, Susan is in quite the pickle. And, broadly speaking, such pickles tend to make for fascinating theatre. Not so here. Hatcher's script, which resets Knott's play to the 1940s, spends a curious amount of time explaining how the criminals communicate with one another – their system relies on opening and closing Susan's blinds, which are quite noisy, so Susan quickly senses that something's not right. By the time the central conflict of the play becomes clear, there's been so much extraneous explanation of how blinds work that the whereabouts of the doll and its illicit contents feel almost irrelevant to the stage business at hand. As well, much of the humour baked into Hatcher's text makes Susan – and more troublingly, her disability – the butt of the joke. 'You're a clever blind girl!' one of the gangsters cackles with surprise near the end of the play. In 2025, that remark lands with the dull thud of a dozen steps backward for disability representation in Canadian theatre. There are a few fine performances in Talwar's staging: Fried adds some depth to the flat-as-a-pancake heroine, and Bowman, Happer and Horak each play the bad guy with a convincing level of gruff rancor. Lee is perhaps the standout as bratty teen Gloria – she adds a lightness to Talwar's production that keeps the scenes, painful as they are, ticking along. As mentioned, Wait Until Dark, at the very least, is nice to look at. Lorenzo Savoini's naturalistic set encapsulates the gloomy damp of a basement apartment in Greenwich Village, complete with vintage appliances in the kitchen and antique light fixtures screwed into the walls. Working together with costume designer Ming Wong, Savoini conjures a living space that is both sanctuary and lair, full of tactile cues to help Susan get her bearings (against the wishes of her captors). The problem with a production whose strengths are almost entirely visual? The final 20 minutes or so of Wait Until Dark takes place in a near-blackout, save for a deep blue wash that presumably ensures the actors don't hurt themselves as they manoeuvre the stage (Louise Guinand is the lighting designer). A climactic cat-and-mouse sequence in the lightless apartment leaves Hatcher's script to carry the action of the play on its own merit – a tough ask, given there's hardly any. There are better shows to see at this year's Shaw Festival – Gnit, Tons of Money, Major Barbara – and better ways to enjoy Knott's original story. (I'd recommend the film.) But Wait Until Dark is well past its best-by date, and there's no amount of set-dressing that can mask the creaks in Hatcher's script.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beyond the Kiss Cam Fail: What Prompts a Workplace Affair?
At first, they looked like any other couple basking in the glow of a Coldplay concert — arms wrapped around each other, lost in the music. But when a kiss cam zoomed in and panic flashed across their faces, it quickly became clear: This wasn't just a tender moment — it was a secret. The pair turned out to be Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot — both reportedly married to other people. The footage quickly went viral, with internet sleuths identifying the pair and sparking a wave of speculation, gossip, and outrage online. But they're far from alone. While hilarious and cringe-worthy caught-on-camera moments like that might be rare, workplace affairs are not anomalies: A Forbes Advisor survey found that nearly one in five employees in committed relationships have had an affair with a colleague. We spoke to three relationship experts — and readers who've lived through these entanglements — to understand why they happen and what they often lead to. Why does workplace cheating happen? The workplace is a common breeding ground for romantic connections — not just because of the time we spend there (roughly 90,000 hours over a lifetime), but because emotional intimacy can easily develop alongside professional collaboration. 'Traditionally, we spend much more time with our colleagues than with our own families — that's just the nature of how we work in America,' licensed psychotherapist Akua Boateng tells us. 'And with that comes a sense of perceived trust and emotional attachment, simply from the time and energy we invest.' Kelly Campbell, Ph.D., a psychology professor at California State University, San Bernardino, agrees, noting that toxic work environments, blurred boundaries, and a lack of oversight often allow these dynamics to go unchecked. 'A toxic work environment can also lead to trauma bonding,' says Dr. Campbell, who studies infidelity. 'That shared frustration can create a sense of resonance, which might then lead to an emotional connection — and possibly an affair.' Dr. Campbell also adds that power imbalances can also play a role. She refers to this as the 'Romeo and Juliet effect,' a psychological phenomenon in which external opposition — such as parental disapproval — can intensify a romantic bond. In the workplace, she says, a similar dynamic can emerge when two people feel they shouldn't be together, which 'heightens the connection and fuels the excitement.' The problem, aside from the damage to your family, is that these affairs often lack authenticity, says Boateng. They're built on a fantasy, not reality — there's no shared structure, like paying bills or raising kids. 'You're only seeing a sliver of who this person really is,' she explains. 'It's more about mutual escapism — you're not building a real life together, you're escaping the one you already have.' Can relationships survive workplace affairs? According to couples counselor Terri DiMatteo, the answer is yes — but not without some serious challenges. Research suggests that up to 75 percent of couples stay together after infidelity. But only about 15 to 25 percent are able to genuinely rebuild trust and emotional intimacy. For others, the relationship survives, but not without scars — lingering resentment, tension, or a sense that things will never quite be the same. 'Many couples do stay together,' DiMatteo says. 'But often, those relationships limp along. They're never quite the same — it's almost like living with chronic pain.' That pain can be even harder to manage when the affair partner remains in the picture — like if they still work together and see each other regularly. 'The first step in affair recovery is to end the adulterous relationship — completely and unequivocally,' says DiMatteo. 'That means telling the affair partner, in no uncertain terms, 'It's over. I'm married. Don't contact me.' It needs to be firm, ideally in front of the betrayed spouse, with the door not just closed, but locked and sealed — like pouring cement over it.' Of course, that kind of clean break isn't always possible in a professional setting. Continued contact at work can be deeply triggering for the betrayed partner, which is why DiMatteo often recommends that the person who cheated either find a new job or adjust their schedule to limit contact. That said, a workplace affair doesn't have to be a dealbreaker — as long as both partners are willing to do the work and confront any unresolved issues or unmet needs. 'Infidelity is a relationship wound,' DiMatteo says. 'And since both people are in the relationship, and the relationship weakened or wasn't functioning properly, they've both contributed to that breakdown.' What happens after the affair? For some of our readers, the Coldplay video wasn't just viral gossip — it was a painful reminder of their own experiences. Subscriber Marjorie shared that her ex-husband left their 17-year marriage — and their four children — for a colleague who also walked away from her own family. While their affair didn't make headlines, it was a scandal in their town, where both were in high-profile roles. Watching the recent video brought back the deep emotional fallout that such betrayals can leave behind. 'The humiliation and betrayal you feel in a situation like that is devastating,' she writes. 'For some of us — like me — it takes years, a lot of good friends (I don't have any family), and countless hours crying your eyes out just to survive it. But the worst part is watching your kids go through it…and still carry the weight of it. There's nothing worse.' Another reader, Jane, a literature teacher, says her 23-year marriage unraveled after her husband — a top executive — began an affair with a much younger subordinate. It quickly became an open secret in his office, but the real damage, she says, happened at home. She was blamed for the affair, cut off from her children, and left to navigate the aftermath alone. Years of trauma therapy followed — including treatment for her daughter, who was a teenager at the time. 'He didn't just leave me,' Jane writes. 'He used our kids to justify it — and to punish me.' She's now sharing her story in the hopes that one day, her children will understand what really happened and begin to heal. 'Is my story just another '50-year-old man has a midlife crisis and leaves his wife for a 20-something' situation? Maybe. But I lived to tell my story — not just for me, but in the hopes that my children will listen to my perspective and finally see the destructive path, choices, and behaviors of their father,' she shares. 'Because at the end of the day, it was a choice, not a mistake.' Her journey — and so many others like it — is a stark reminder that workplace affairs don't just happen in secret. They leave echoes. To protect their privacy, readers' names have been changed. The post Beyond the Kiss Cam Fail: What Prompts a Workplace Affair? appeared first on Katie Couric Media. Solve the daily Crossword


Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Boston Globe
AI is fracturing the student-teacher relationship
Advertisement Unfortunately, the use of artificial intelligence in schools is fracturing the student-teacher relationship, giving students the false impression that they don't really have to think for themselves or listen to their teachers. It's also eroding teachers' trust in their students as a game of spot-the-AI-generated-assignment takes over their day jobs. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up One of us is a high school student in San Jose, Calif., and the other is a high school teacher in Chicago. We have written this together to show how the billions of dollars Big Tech companies are spending to get educators and students to use AI These AI products aim to bypass teachers and all but destroy their roles as mentors and classroom coaches. And Big Tech is ignoring what students really need — namely, boundaries, structure, trust, critical thinking, and incentives to take academic risks. How will they learn to innovate — a crucial employment and life skill — if AI programs do their thinking for them? Twice as many students used AI to cheat in 2025 Advertisement A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT'S POINT OF VIEW For me, William, and my classmates, there's neither moral hand-wringing nor curiosity about AI as a novelty or a learning aid. For us, it's simply a tool that enables us not to have to think for ourselves. We don't care when our teachers tell us to be ethical or mindful with generative AI like ChatGPT. We don't think twice about feeding it entire assignments and plugging its AI slop into Last year, my science teacher did a 'responsible AI use' lecture in preparation for a multiweek take-home paper. We were told to 'use it as a tool' and 'thinking partner.' As I glanced around the classroom, I saw that many students had already generated entire drafts before our teacher had finished going over the rubric. When teachers know their students are gaming the system and students know their teachers know, the relationship frays. Why bother listening to feedback when we didn't write the work anyway? Why respect a teacher's guidance when the online 'tutor,' the one that answers instantly, is open in another tab? Why bother learning when schools are encouraging their teachers to deploy AI tools in the classroom and thereby effectively telling us we don't need to learn? Advertisement No one wins in this arrangement. Teachers are trying to uphold standards of academic integrity even as such standards have been rendered unenforceable. Students are expected to act like curious angels with the probity of saints. Meanwhile, all of us are ensnared in the false promise of the so-called AI future of education as marketed by the AI companies. A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER'S POINT OF VIEW This is Liz. Last year, one of my students forgot to delete the instructions he fed into the AI generator he used. 'Make it sound like an average ninth-grader' was next to the title of his 'Romeo and Juliet' essay. He shrugged when I asked about it. When I asked another student if she had used AI to write her essay, she denied it. But on her way out of the classroom that day, I overheard her say to a friend, 'Of course I used AI. We all do.' She didn't speak to me again for the rest of the semester. There was nothing I could do to repair the relationship, even though she is the one who lied to me. But here's the paradox: Educators like me are under enormous pressure to use AI in our classrooms. Apps like Advertisement We are also encouraged to recommend AI programs as tools to our students for such work as brainstorming, drafting, and making outlines. Of course, those aren't the only ways they're using them. The more teachers are urged to use AI to do our jobs and to teach the use of AI to students, the wider the rift will grow between us. That's because our job as educators is to foster and assess authentic learning. OUR SUGGESTED FIXES Teachers, stop assigning unsupervised take-home work. Bring back blue books and pencils. Schools, reexamine your contracts with AI companies. Do their goals promote the best interest of students? And ban unrestricted access to AI in the classroom. This is the only way to make it possible to integrate new educational technologies without compromising learning. It will also help restore the student-teacher relationship. Students and educators are asking for help. It's not too late to make this coming school year one in which we can learn and grow together.


NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Review: Romeo and Juliet, Auckland Theatre Company
The majority of us have likely seen some version of Romeo and Juliet in our lifetime. From cinema to high school drama classes, whether it's a straight presentation of the original text, or a modern adaptation, or a West Side Story -esque reimagining, William Shakespeare's most accessible work is one we