Guest Commentary by Kevin Toft

The spot light revealed a stripper pole……waiting for a dancer. Looking to my left I swallowed hard. The young boy who had only recently stowed away his Gameboy DS had snapped to attention.

It was the start of “I’ll Have What She’s Having” dance project on March 19 in Rider University’s Yvonne Theatre. As a dancer reviewing this showcase, I serve the choreographers who may be looking for feedback. The dances I found particularly interesting have been given more detailed commentary.

In the opening piece, Seven Seasons, by Marie Alonso, the spot light took the pole in and out of view as the artist created increasingly athletic still shapes. A kind of quiet torment was visible from her downcast face. As the haunting music came to a close the artist exhibited the first movement of the piece, clawing in futility up the pole. Marie Alonzo gripped my attention and ended rather quickly.

The artist’s use of a stripper pole was confusing. The imagery inherent in a stripper pole may or may not have been what the artist was aiming at. The German song used was sung by prisoners of the holocaust. The message of which condenses to ‘working hard will set you free.’ Was she likening the life of an exotic dancer to the suffering of holocaust victims? I can’t be sure. In light of the song, the character portrayed was very clearly a woman of the holocaust. Well done.

Valse Fantasie by Olivia Galgano: I felt a desire to see more distinct emotion in the piece. Perhaps the dancers could show more expression in their faces?

Cuadro by Lisa Botalico: The rubber Marley floor took away from the heel strikes, but the glare of the one suited woman was paralyzing. The rich detail in the costumes and the sheer strength of the performance enlivened the audience to cheers and applause. Welcome to Stage Presence 101.

Untitled Solo by Loretta D. Fois: This piece failed to launch in its original line up. All that came over the sound system in the darkness was the faint sound of a CD scrambling. When it actually began the sound of the performer’s voice came from offstage as the lights came up. In exasperated tones, she berated a stage hand pointing out how the performance was going wrong. Realizing her microphone was on she took the stage.

The artist’s ability to perform without a fourth wall made it nearly impossible to take notes. Very funny throughout; I was left wondering whether the initial ‘failure to launch’ was part of the choreography. Untitled Solo for One was distinct and memorable.

Truth by Linda E. Mannheim stood out for its ability to bring the audience somewhere else. The mesmerizing song and movements allowed the imagination to elaborate, bringing the piece to a new level. Technically speaking the piece didn’t take risks.

The Whole Enchilada by Shari Nyce: The quality of the movement had a childlike commitment while being precise and athletic. Ms. Nyce’s style is splendid to watch. The song was funny, but distracting. Perhaps she could tell the story just with her movement?

Crispy Water and Sugary Air by Marie Alonzo: This piece was cool! With depth and complexity it flowed from section to section seamlessly. I found the prop usage highly original and the subtle combination of different styles captivating. This piece is an artistic achievement and shouldn’t be missed.

Untitled White by Christine Colosimo: Raw or ethereal, Ms. Colosimo’s dedication to abused women tackled half a dozen issues. Objectification and degradation came strongly to my mind. The slide show backdrop was powerful but felt drawn out and the white sheet section was less interesting than others. I applaud the dancers of this piece who offered an incredible performance.

Danse Oriental by Kim Leary: There was passion in the eyes of some, but not all. The tone in the second section better suited the performers.

One’s Upon Times by Marie Alonzo: This performance was worth the price of admission. Beautifully arranged with vocal actors contributing off stage, spoken text by the performers and with no music the piece kept a clear tempo with the breathing and foot falls of the performers. The sheer humanity of the piece sent ripples through the audience. A must see.

Papillon Suite by Lynn Lesniak Needle: Wonderfully weird, the costumes of this piece were an achievement in themselves. The interactions between the butterflies and the grasshopper were interesting, but I think there was too much time spent repeating similar movements that didn’t further the story.

Students barely pay the $11 dollars for a movie now-a-days. $15 for something without theatrical trailers and other mass marketing is excluding the youth. I look forward to the next one.

Kevin Toft is a performer and instructor for HotSalsaHot based in Princeton, New Jersey where he received his training. He is also a ballet student at Princeton Dance Theatre and has performed in Marie Alonzo’s Tangerine dance collective. A dance lover in all its forms Kevin is also a fiction writer who enjoys a common ground in dance writing.

Also see a guest review by Jamuna Dasi and one by Elizabeth Madden-Zibman.

The press release

You are cordially invited to Princeton’s 6th Annual Innovation Forum, which will be held on April 7, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. in the Friend Center Auditorium (Room 101) on the Princeton University Campus. The presentations will be followed by a poster session and reception in the Friend Center Convocation Room (Room 113).

The purpose of the Innovation Forum is to showcase Princeton research that offers the potential to be commercialized. Each presenter is asked to submit a two-page executive summary in advance and will have three minutes to present their innovation to a panel of judges. Prize money totaling $40,000 will be awarded to the top three entries.

The event is sponsored by the Keller Center, the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network, and Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, in conjunction with Princeton’s Office of Technology Licensing.

Also on Wednesday, April 13, NJEN’s Venture Capital Program: Venture Capital: Critical Components to Closing a Deal —
An interactive discussion with a panel of venture capitalists who are investing in NJ and the surrounding region.

This blog can take credit for at least two people buying last minute (Tuesday) tickets to the Mark Morris concert and coming to the preconcert discussion last Wednesday. But the folks sitting around me at the 3/31 McCarter concert mourned that they missed the preconcert conversation (Simon Morrison and Mark Morris, sponsored in part by the Lewis Center for the Arts.)

I didn’t intend to post a review of the that wonderful “fed my soul” concert or an account of the discussion (remember, I’m supposed to be on hiatus) but I did do a live Tweet stream, and now that I look at it, it’s pretty informative.

One item of useful information that was NOT mentioned in the preconcert discussion: The last section of “Grand Duo” was ever so familiar. That’s because Princeton University dance students performed it last year.

Even if you are not a Twitter follower, you probably know that each message must be 140 characters. Each of these messages was preceded by a “Mark Morris @Princeton” tag. To get the authentic Twitter experience, read from the bottom up, but it doesn’t really matter.

Morris was his usual obstreperous self, but he revealed some interesting info. As below.

new ‘festival dance’ is hetero normative, I.e. men dance with women and keep same partners

balanchine lacked irony, wit, drama, danger, sex, humor, and oh yes rhythm

I love Balanchine so much that I regret deeply his deification. People accuse us of both being musical and thats true.

Petrichor is ‘ girls girls girls’ using 8 women at a time when all male dancers were new

I don’t rehearse to a recording, an organist accompanies, he can read a quartet score.

(for Petrichor) I couldnt find a (nontraditional) string quartet but found villa lobos 2, lush rainforest, tangle of rhythms 3s, 2s, 4s, 6s

have gone thru all the stages – I was fabulous, then was a charlatan, then t.o.t., then alive again now a great treasure..

castigates mccosh hall for its squeaky floors and exit that is right next to the podium, deflecting attention

with live music I get a music audience, not just the super critical dance audience.

even if a narrative music and/or dance should be untranslatable.

if you try to make nothing happen through art you will fail because you have already added something, even john cage.

when dance critics decide what audiences should see, it’s the end of civilization.

Morris repeated the dance critic line twice.

Thanks to Elizabeth Madden-Zibman for this guest review of “I’ll Have What She’s Having.” Also see the March 19 post by Jamuna Dasi, an overnight review of this concert.

While critiquing a professional dance project, “I’ll Have What She’s Having,” performed recently at Rider University’s Yvonne Theater, I felt it would be best to toss out the traditional rules of dance critique. For me, a dance enthusiast who can only dream of the pas de chat and plie, my job is to be inspired and entertained, which this choreographers’ showcase succeeded in doing. And, while I am not a stranger to the magical mixes of dancer and choreographer, Marie Alonzo, this particular presentation of 12 vastly different and unique pieces outdid all the others.

The opener, “Seven Seasons” choreographed and performed by Alonzo, displayed
a series of muscular body challenges. This concoction of still-life gymnastics and pole dancing on steroids was played out in an eerie bath of stage lighting reminiscent of grainy black and white photographs, which augmented Alonzo’s effort to exercise an innate need to put enormous demands on her own body. Her sense of poise and rigorous control created ardent tension for anyone envisioning themselves holding similarly difficult poses.

“Valse Fantasie” and Olivia Galgano delivered extreme costume prettiness, outfitting the dancers in magenta and tie-dye with big, bold contemporary brooches that no properly attired granny ever imagined. The glittery head scarves, too, had a certain cachet, which probably stirred the girlie-girl nature of every woman in the audience. All-in-all,with a choice of different music and a spectacular set design, these dancers and this piece could have augmented “Swan Lake.”

“Untitled Solo for One” was interesting because it succeeded where dance usually
doesn’t–in the singing voice of the dancer, Loretta D. Fois, who did not dance, but acted instead.

“Cuadro” was brilliant with Lisa Botalico impersonating a male flamenco dancer.
While she displayed full-blown machismo in a heated pounding of her heels, something
like crushing marbles, she also managed to flirt with the audience while teasing her
supporting dancers, Jan Bhaskar and Alejandra Robles, both of whom embraced their
subordinate female roles and imbued the stage with an authentic café-cantantes aura.

“Truth,” with choreographer and performer, Linda E. Mannheim in a telling and
inimitably scarlet dress, paired a repertoire of yoga positions and somnambulist
movement with haunting music. It seemed that the life-blood of one of the seven deadly sins spilled across the stage.

“The Whole Enchilada” was Shari Nyce’s baby or shall I say babies as her back-up
singers looked like carbon copies of Nyce herself without her practiced, toned, taut and magnificently enviable physic.

“Crispy Water and Sugary Air”, my favorite, was a zany synthesis of August Rodin’s suffering stillness (as in The Thinker), with the peppy humor of Charlie Chaplin and the adorable repetition of wind-up toys. This is Marie Alonzo’s whimsy and she danced it delightfully with Eri Tanaka Millrod, Debra Welinder Keller, and Loretta DiBianca Fois.

“Untitled White” with six pairs of feet in cherry red boots kicking from beneath a
billowing sheet, exemplifies choreographer Christine Colosimo’s capacity for delivering the unexpected. Dancers Dina Christie, Samar Hamati, Debra Welinder Keller, Fara Lindsay, and Linda Mannheim convey this high-energy narrative as it transitions from a toilette-tissue fantasy to a soft-porn fashion show to a mannequin’s version of the can-can dance.

“Lamma Bada’s,” by choreographer and dancer Kim Leary, makes a woman feel proud of
herself. This piece delivers beauty, self-esteem, and simple creativity in a musically rich environment where a grand red scarf becomes a watery stream of blazing fire.

“One’s Upon Times.” This title challenged my strict grammarian sense, but as I allowed old rules to relax, the title and theme coalesced with the dancers — Abdiel Jacobsen and Henri Velandia — brilliantly opposing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), via one sweaty, impassioned and tender-loving duet, as choreographed by Marie Alonzo. Like it? I do!

In Fara Lindsay’s “Reflections 1,” the choreographer, Dina Christie, and Christine Colosimo are so convincingly light-hearteded, earnest and uniquely individual, swaying and sashaying to “Still a Weirdo,” it is frustrating not to jump up and join them.

“Papillon Suite” is magical, and the dancers are lucky ladies, dressing up like brilliant butterflies and becoming one with their inner Monarch. Austin Jarred, Annie Hickman, Janette Dishuk, Annie Hickman, Ayla Hitron, Courney Karam, Jessica LaVorgna
and Lynn Needle mimicked admirably the delicate and graceful nature of the real-life
creatures.

Now that I tossed out most of the professional critiquing rules, I’ll also skip the wordy conclusion. THE END!

Elizabeth Madden-Zibman has an MFA in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a bachelor’s degree in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her poetry is published in the Painted Bride Quarterly, Transfer 37, The Kennesaw Review, Open Mouth Poetry Anthology, and her short stories and novel chapters are published in the U.S. 1 Newspaper Summer Fiction Issue, Kelsey Review, http://www.alongstoryshort.net, and
http://www.shakinglikeamountain.com. Formerly, she was an advertising and
business-to-business copywriter. Currently, she teaches Essay Writing and
Research Writing at Rutgers University. Her novels, Nine Lives, and Crystal
Infusion are searching for a publisher.

Mark Morris is so much the brightest star in the dance sky that I figured his company would sell out way ahead of time at McCarter Theatre for Wednesday, March 30. My friend Wilma informs me that, amazingly, tickets remain. As of 9 a.m. today, about 20 tickets remain.

If you just can’t make it, or fail to snag one of the seats and can’t stand to stand, the Lewis Center for the Arts Program in Theater and Dance and the Department of Music will co-sponsor a conversation with Mark Morris and Simon Morrison on Wednesday, March 30, at 5:00 p.m. in 50 McCosh Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

I’m too busy to wax ecstatic about Morris, but here are some words from a press release: Hailed as one of America’s greatest choreographers of the 20th century, Mark Morris founded the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980 and since then has collaborated with a broad array of artistic luminaries ranging from Yo-Yo Ma and Zakir Hussain to The Bad Plus. Morris is noted for his musicality and has been described as “undeviating in his devotion” to scores. His dance company is unsurpassed in its commitment to performing with live music. He has worked extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera, and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Morris and Morrison, professor of music at Princeton University, collaborated on a production of Prokofiev’s original 1935 version of Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare, for which Morrison reconstituted the composer’s original intentions and twenty minutes of previously unheard music, and for which Mark Morris provided choreography. The production was premiered at the Bard Summerscape Festival in July 2008, and it is currently on an international tour.

The program includes TWO new works receiving their Princeton premieres, set to live music. Petrichor: set to the String Quartet No.2 by Villa-Lobos, and Festival Dance: set to the Hummel Piano Trio No. 5. The third piece is Grand Duo(1993): Set to music of Lou Harrison.

Alistair Macaulay says…

To read what Tobi Tobias says…

Why no sellout before now? Maybe Princeton is still a ballet town.

Within three days, four valuable events at Princeton University — women in leadership, multicultural education, comparative religion, and nuclear energy in Japan and the U.S.

A 40-year study of women at Princeton University found that women are taking a back seat when it comes to leadership positions, and it suggests reasons why. Shirley Tilghman (P.U. president) and Nan Keohane (former president of Duke and Wellesley) will discuss the report on Wednesday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m., in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall. It’s free. Keohane, I would like to note, has just written an excellent book on leadership and will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber breakfast on Wednesday, June 15.

Kevin Nadal, author, comedian, and professor, speaks at a no-cost lunch on Thursday, March 24, at noon, on “Dealing with Microaggressions in Everyday Life,” at the Carl A. Fields Center. Free by RSVP by Tuesday to mcclay@princeton.edu. For an example of a “microaggression” (which can include “Shopping While Black”) see Yolanda Pierce’s post on the Kitchen Table blog. For another opportunity to discuss multicultural misunderstandings, come to Continuing Conversations on Race on Mondays, April 4 and May 2, at the Princeton Public library.

Frank Von Hippel will be on a panel entitled “After the Earthquake: Japan’s Nuclear Plant Crisis” on Thursday, March 24, at 4:30 p.m. in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall. Panelists will include Alexander Glaser, an assistant professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School; M.V. Ramana, an associate research scholar at the School’s Program on Science and Global Security (S&GS;); Erik Vanmarcke, a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton and a member of the Associated Faculty of the Princeton Environmental Institute. Hippel is co-director of the Woodrow Wilson School’s Program on Science and Global Security. Free.

On Friday, March 25, at 3 p.m. Princeton University Press launches its “Lives of Great Religious Books” series with a panel discussion at Frist. Panelists are Donald S. Lopez. Jr., author of the biography of The Tibetan Book of the Dead; Martin Marty, author of the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison; and Vanessa Ochs, author of the forthcoming biography of the Haggadah. Free. (Yet another good one from the Center for the Study of Religion is the Doll lecture on the relationship between religion and money, always incestuous in my opinion. The lecture is within this three-day time period, Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in the Lewis Library.)

I can’t attend any of these, but perhaps I’ll see you at the chamber breakfast where the Honorable Helen Hoens will speak. It’s Wednesday morning.

Friday March 19th 2011

By Jamuna Dasi

Last night I went to see “I’ll have what she’s having…” a dance project for women choreographer’s 40 and over, at the Yvonne Theater at Rider University. I decided to take a non judgmental approach to this review because I don’t want to hurt or stop anyone from self expression. It is such a personal art and sometimes we need to do it in a safe non judge mental environment for our own self-fulfillment. With that said I do want to encourage the choreographers to push the boundaries a little more and really go the distance. I would really like to see more movement and less performance art. Being over 40 really isn’t an excuse it’s just a number.

The Dance Project highlighted works of Mercer County residents and a few from other corners of New Jersey. Included in the list of choreographers is Marie Alonzo and Linda Mannheim of West Windsor, Lisa Botalico, Christine Colosimo and Joy Sayen of Princeton, Kim Leary of The Drum and Dance Learning Center of Lawrence, Fara Lindsay of Old Bridge, Lynn Needle and Olivia Galgano of Art of Motion in Ridgewood, Shari Nyce of Nyce Bodies in Pennington, and Loretta Di Bianca Fois of Branchburg and
dance faculty at Raritan Valley Community College.

Colosimo, the director of the Princeton YWCA dance program and founder of the project, says “that when push comes to shove, dancers must continue dancing forever, even if technique fails. It’s simply who we are.”

This is the premise of “I’ll have what she’s having…” dance project. 12 dances, 10 choreographers, 30 dancers, 2 hours and a lot of energy and work, equal a varied and extremely personal dance concert. There is a place for every dancer in the dance world and this group has found that place.

Notable dances of the evening-

Cuadro by Lisa Botalico was performed as a trio in the traditional flamenco style. This dance was based on the performance format that dates back to the café cantantes, where dancers, singers and guitarists — sitting on stage — would take turns performing, supported by other artists. My favorite part of this dance was Lisa Botalico dancing her solo in silence in her crisp white suite, Fedora and cane. It was much more powerful to hear the rhythms of her feet without the interference of any other music.

In Crispy Water and Sugary Air, by Marie Alonzo, a quartet of dancers was accompanied by 4 black cubed boxes that were moved around to create an ever changing set design. My favorite part of this dance was when the cast created a moving walk way for another dancer, adding a new cube in front each time she took a step.

Christine Colosimo’s Untitled White was strange and bizarre. It had an interesting combination of red go go boots, a giant white skirt, lady Godiva wig, white masks, and music by Bubba Sparxxx,
Ambroise Thomas, ying Yang Twinds, Zbigniew Preisner, Schumann, and Lil Wayne — along with projections photographed by Amelie Waldberg of naked Barbies in compromised positions. This dance was dedicated” to all women who are abused, priviledged or underpriviledged, all alike.” My take is that it was about the objectification of women or something along those lines.

Lamma Bada, choreographed and danced by Kim Leary, was a beautiful middle eastern style solo accompanied by a large red silk scarf. Her use of the scarf was creative and varied. Her movement was in tune with the music and she caught just the right accents in the music with her body and the scarf as she was dancing. This simple and refreshing dance was musical, entertaining and beautiful to watch.

Notable dancers of the evening were Henri Velandia and Abdiel Jacobsen in “One’s Upon Times” choreographed by Marie Alonzo. They were supple in tuned dancers with beautiful technique. They danced poetically together in a creative duet about gay and lesbian binational couples fighting deportation.

Another stand out was the dancer/choreographer Shari Nycee in “The Whole Enchilada.” Shari danced a very dynamic and eclectic solo while accompanied by three little girls and an older gentleman in sombreros singing “there’s no tortillas only bread’ in a tragic tone while she grappled with a wooden stool.

The evening ended with a six butterflies and a grasshopper in the Papillon Suite by Lynn Lesniak Needle with music by Philip Glass and Stevie Wonder; with gigantic swaths of silk cloth waving about under fantastic lights, it was reminiscent of Loie Fuller.

The technical crew was surely working under adverse conditions, with not enough rehearsal time, but the lighting was too dark in some dances and not executed very smoothly. Lights came up before props were set and stage hands were seen on and off stage when they shouldn’t have been. The theater was uncomfortably hot and the music was painfully loud. The behind the scenes activity is essential to a quality of a performance.

This is a very accessible dance concert that inspires and encourages dance and choreography beyond the age of 40. If you have untapped yearnings to dance but have no outlet this is the place for you. Go see the performance and get involved.

“I’ll have what she’s having…” dance project will be performing again on Saturday March 19th at 2pm and 8pm at the Yvonne Theater at Rider University.

Thanks to Jamuna Desi for this guest review! A professional dancer living in Hamilton NJ, she is the founder and director of The Outlet Dance Project, a choreographic series performed at Grounds For Sculpture for emerging women choreographers. She is also a performer and founding member of Kalamandir Dance Co. a contemporary Indian dance company based in New Jersey. Dasi has performed with Pennsylvania Dance Theatre, Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Theatre, Acrodance Theatre, Opera Festival of New Jersey, New Jersey Opera Theatre and has danced eight seasons with The Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Thanks to Elizabeth Madden-Zibman for another guest review of this concert.

If you have never been on a labyrinth walk, you have missed something. No matter what your religion, or if you have no religion, it is an opportunity to journey inside your own soul. Pictured is one that I took three years ago, in Maui, after a sunrise trip to Haleakala.

A portable labyrinth walk will be installed inside Princeton United Methodist Church for Good Friday. At noon and afterwards, anyone may take the walk — and/or listen to the meditations offered in the adjacent sanctuary.

The Good Friday labyrinth walk is one of several Lenten opportunities to prepare for Easter. On Tuesdays at noon, the business community is invited to 30-minute midweek Lenten services, followed by a light lunch. Catherine Williams, Anna Gillette, and Cathie Capp will present Prayer through Movement (April 5),
Contemplative Prayers, (April 12) and “Hidden with Christ – a Love Feast” (April 19).

Sunday worship will feature “Face to Face” encounters, pairing a chancel-drama monologue, voiced by actor Scott Langdon, and a sermon on such characters as the Devil, the Samaritan Woman, and Lazarus.

The Holy Week schedule includes a Tenebrae (Shadows) service on Thursday, April 21. In addition to the noon labyrinth walk on Friday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. Hyosang Park will direct John Rutter’s Requiem, incorporating scripture, art, movement, and contemplative prayer.

Easter morning begins with a 6 a.m. sunrise service on the church lawn, on the corner of Nassau and Vandeventer, followed by a continental breakfast. At the 9:30 and 11 a.m. services Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash will preach, and music will be offered by all six of the choirs. For evening and Sunday parking, the university lots off Williams Street (behind Thomas Sweet and 185 Nassau Street) are available.

In a labyrinth, as in life, you come to places where you must turn around and start over. Whether you are in the season of Lent, or Passover, or the Spring Equinox, now is a good time to begin again.

The Princeton Merchants Association is a happening group. I went to its meeting at the Nassau Inn on Tuesday (3-15) and learned the following:

PMa is embarking on a formal customer service improvement program, with training and followup – even evaluations, like secret shoppers. Fran McManus of the Whole Earth Center is leading this. Some downtown retailers need this more than others.

Corner House, a member of PMA, gave an eye opening presentation about all the ways they help youth and adults in the community. Their fundraiser, Motown Magic, is April 29 at Bedens Brook.

Danielle D’Angelo, one of the owners of the new specialty deli downtown, told of the joys and trials of expanding the family business from Jackson to Spring Street.

Kathleen Morolda of Cranbury Station Gallery is signing up merchants to participate in Stand Against Racism Day on Friday, April 29. That’s why I was there – to say that Not in Our Town supports the participating merchants by including them in a newspaper ad. Any retailer who wants to join this effort, email niot.princeton@gmail.com or contact Morolda.

Kristin Appelget of Princeton University announced that the construction project to straighten the lethal curve in Alexander Road will close that road down, completely, for two weeks in April or May, and that traffic will be slow for 10 weeks. The affected stretch is between Canal Pointe Boulevard and Glen View Drive, but Obal’s Market gets to remain open.

The mayors of Princeton Township spoke. The borough’s Mildred Trotman admitted she hadn’t supported consolidation before but now, she says, “the jury’s still out.” The township’s Chad Goemer dangled the thought-carrot that revenues from parking might not be so vital to the combined municipalities. The consolidation committee needs to figure things out by June because late August is the drop-dead deadline for putting the question on the November ballot.

I exchanged oyster stories with Jack Morrison of Blue Point Grill, Nassau Street Seafood, and Witherspoon Grill. (We just got back from Key West where oysters at Turtle Kraals are 50 cents apiece; we gorged three days in a row. We’re such oyster buffs that my husband has his own oyster opening kit with glove and knife.) I met Josh Zinder, an architect that I’d known only by telephone interview. (Above, Morrison on the left, Zinder on the right).

Also during the networking time PNC Bank’s Lucia Stegaru mentined a job opportunity: a scholarship fund, Princeton Education Foundation, is looking for a paid 30-hour a week director. Anyone interested? E-mail to EDSearch@pefnj.org and note that PEF’s gala is April 9.

Just in: Jim McCaffrey will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber breakfast on Wednesday, May 18, at 7:30 a.m. at the Nassau Club. It’s always interesting to me to figure out what new technique he’ll use to capture the hearts and minds of grocery shoppers. First it was offering a 5 percent discount on any order over $50 if you show your Arts Council of Princeton membership card. Then he started going into demos in a big way. (Today the Princeton store’s mascot demo-er, Ralph, offered brisket.)

Now McCaffrey is apparently trying to make a big splash with salmon. Today and tomorrow, on the second floor of the Princeton store, is a Really Yummy sampling display of salmon — the smoked and three flavored cooked versions.

My friend and I (pictured above, she’s Susan Malatich-Asack, realtor, chef, and gardener extraordinaire) tried them all. My faves are, in order, bourbon, white wine, and maple honey.

Adam Day, the New Jersey-based company rep in the second photo, says that McCaffrey’s has worked out a deal with Heritage Salmon to offer these flavors, in addition to their au naturel Atlantic salmon. Day’s pitch: no airline miles are used in the delivery, and it’s farm-raised in Maine and eco-certified.

Signing McCaffrey up completes the quadrangle of fascinating breakfast speakers for the next three months:

On March 23: The Honorable Helen E. Hoens, New Jersey Supreme Court Justice and Eden Institute parent, “Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones — One Woman’s Path to the Supreme Court.”

On April 13: Emeritus Professor Robert Tignor, of Princeton University, “Middle East Uprisings: How the Past Informs the Present.”

On June 15: Nan Keohane, former president of Duke and Wellesley, on “Thinking About Leadership,” her recently published book.

If you are in the neighborhood of Princeton Shopping Center on Friday or Saturday, try the salmon display. And on Sunday, McCaffrey’s gets into the swim of Pi Day with the — of course — pie eating contest.