Kura-Belle

"I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want -- an adorable pancreas?"
--Jean Kerr, American author and playwright

East Coast Dash, Day 8 - Kura-Belle

Blip, meet Kura. Along with Deb and myself, Kura is a founding member of "The Posse," a group of inseparable old friends (but not too old), who have kicked around, both in and out of New York, over the past, yes, dare I say it, 30 years!

I met Kura when I was hired to teach ballet at a theatre camp in Maine one summer and she was teaching tap. Convinced I was going to be the typical ballet instructor - boney thin, hair in a bun, clad in pink tights and well-worn toe shoes - she was happily surprised to find I was much more the jazz dancer type (both in spirit and shape), and the two of us instantly became fast friends and inseparable buddies over the summer.

Although no doubt our shared experiences as dance teachers at a summer camp in Maine would have been enough to propel us into many enjoyable years of friendship, the summer turned out to be fraught with scandal when the camp directors absconded with every last dime in the till, running off and leaving the counselors stranded high and dry with 100 kids to get home to their parents - somehow! Needless to say, the drama that ensued rivaled a Ron Howard film, and as a result Kura and I forged a friendship that has lasted over 30 years!

Kura has seen me through the best of times and the worst of times. Her apartment on the West Side was both a haven and a refuge for me many times throughout the years in NY, especially early on as I was getting on my feet. Along with her best friend Lynn (also a founding member of the Posse), the three of us had more adventures than I could possibly ever document. Thankfully, I had a camera along for most of them - now all we need is a week or two to peruse the albums, attempt to remember where we were, with whom and when, and then document the history! This should keep both of us busy well into retirement! Although the amount of ground we covered through the years was impressive, Kura's memory is sharp as a tack, and I'm relying upon her recall to piece together our good times, our road trips, our performances, our friendships, our relationships, our sad times, our poignant moments, our failures and our many combined accomplishments. So much time, so many memories, so many of them now only a happy blur after so many years, and so many of them with Kura!

No blip about Kura would be complete without mentioning that she is a performer: she sings, she dances, she acts and has worked in radio, television, film and on stage. She's an overall entertainer who knows her business inside and out and is an encyclopedia of movie and television trivia. Whatever her endeavor, she approaches it with an infectious enthusiasm, a skilled expertise and a consummate professionalism; it's no surprise that wherever she goes, the dynamic of the workplace changes for the better. She's held many positions through the years and has succeeded in every one. But her favorite role has always been that of friend, and I count myself fortunate to have been the recipient of her love, support and shining spirit for so many years.

In this shot, Kura looks like she's "sinking" in the frame; the truth is, she was, indeed, sinking into the banquette, and we had a good laugh about how she needed a booster seat just to reach the table. As you can see, I decided not to adjust the framing and leave the memory in tact! There are so many good memories through the years; tonight was just one more. We had a lovely dinner of wine and cheese at one of our favorite East Side bistros, the perfect way for me to wrap up my last evening in the city. Of course, no visit to New York these days is complete without an evening spent with Kura - she is, for me, as much a part of New York as the Empire State Building I blipped yesterday!