I'm getting excited about the Olympics. This is the first year that women's boxing will be represented, the culmination of a long fight for gender equity in this most masculine of games. I'm very happy for the US women who will be able to represent us in the ring and am thrilled to be heading to Spokane, Washington in a week to cover the trials for the HuffPost.
PHOTO: Sue Jaye Johnson for the New York Times, from her beautiful photo essay
Twenty-four women will fight in a double-elimination tourney for three slots, representing the three Olympic weight classes of 112, 132, and 165 lbs. The venue has a great roundup of press coverage on the various contenders here.
Next Friday the Greene Space collaborates with WNYC to offer a discussion on women's boxing hosted by Rosie Perez and featuring Alicia "Slick" Ashley, one of the best women pros I've ever seen, who trains out of Gleason's Gym.
In other news, the sublime soprano Judith Berkson, whom I wrote about here, is teaching free group voice lessons on Monday nights at Barbes. Yes, that's right, free! There are two more Mondays left to take advantage of Judith's class, which she offers as part of the Six Points Fellowship she's received to write an opera about Viennese cantor Salomon Sulzer. Barbes Brooklyn, Mondays 5-6:30PM: breath exercises, scales, harmonizing, and general inspiration. I leave these classes breathing and thinking more deeply.
