Ben Sommers
   HOME
*





Ben Sommers
Ben Sommers (1906-1985) was a leading philanthropic figure in the world of dance, and president of the Capezio dance and theatre shoe company from 1940 to his death. He established the Capezio Foundation in 1951, which focused on dance, especially the regional ballet movement. In 1957, he founded the Capezio Awards which recognise the lifetime achievements of those in dance, including Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey and Agnes de Mille. Sommers was also founder of the Association of American Dance Companies. In 1978, the same year he managed to persuade the United States Postal Service to issue stamps commemorating dance, he established National Dance Week, followed by International Dance Week in 1985. Born in New York City, Sommers became a stock boy at Capezio at the age of 14 and worked his way up to become company president in 1940. One of his earliest achievements was supplying shoes to the 1923 Ziegfeld Follies production. In 1962 Sommers married Estelle Losh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U.S., including its insular areas and associated states. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the U.S. Constitution. The USPS, as of 2021, has 516,636 career employees and 136,531 non-career employees. The USPS traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, when Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general; he also served a similar position for the colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Post Office Department was created in 1792 with the passage of the Postal Service Act. It was elevated to a cabinet-level department in 1872, and was transformed by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 into the U.S. Postal Service as an independent agency. Since the early 1980s, m ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1985 Deaths
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a new agreement on fishing rights. * January 7 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches ''Sakigake'', Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union. * January 15 – Tancredo Neves is elected president of Brazil by the Congress, ending the 21-year military rule. * January 20 – Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. * January 27 – The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is formed, in Tehran. * January 28 – The charity single record "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa. February * February 4 – The border between Gibraltar and Spai ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1906 Births
Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, and establish a national assembly, the Majlis. * January 16–April 7 – The Algeciras Conference convenes, to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany. * January 22 – The strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster. * January 31 – The Ecuador–Colombia earthquake (8.8 on the Moment magnitude scale), and associated tsunami, cause at least 500 deaths. * February 7 – is launched, sparking a naval race between Britain and Germany. * February 11 ** Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical ''Vehementer Nos'', denouncing the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State. ** Two British members of a poll tax collecting expedit ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many university-level academic medical centers. The hospital is owned by Northwell Health, the largest private employer in the state of New York. LHH serves as a clinical campus for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, which is owned by the health system in a partnership with Hofstra University. It was founded in 1857 as the German Dispensary. It currently consists of ten buildings and has occupied the present site in Manhattan since 1869, when it was known as the German Hospital. In 2007, the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital was incorporated into Lenox Hill Hospital. The hospital is located on a city block bounded on the north and south by East 77th and 76th Streets, and on the west and east by Park Aven ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Spandex
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The generic name "spandex", which is an anagram of the word "expands", is the preferred name in North America. In continental Europe, it is referred to by variants of "elastane", including (France), (Germany, Sweden), (Spain), (Italy), and (Netherlands); and in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand, it is primarily known as "Lycra". Brand names for spandex include Lycra (made by The Lycra Company, previously a division of DuPont Textiles and Interiors), Elaspan (The Lycra Company), Acepora (Taekwang Group), Creora (Hyosung), INVIYA ( Indorama Corporation), ROICA and Dorlastan (Asahi Kasei), Linel (Fillattice), and ESPA ( Toyobo). History In the post-World War II era, DuPont Textiles Fibers Departm ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ziegfeld Follies
The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air''. Founding and history Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., reportedly at the suggestion of his then-wife, the stage actress and singer Anna Held. The shows' producers were turn-of-the-twentieth-century producing titans Klaw and Erlanger. The Follies were a series of lavish revues, something between later Broadway shows and the more elaborate high class vaudeville and variety show. The first follies, '' The Follies of 1907'', was produced that year at the ''Jardin de Paris'' roof theatre. During the Follies era, many of the top entertainers, including W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, B ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


International Dance Week
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The Three Degrees album), 1975 *''International'', 2018 album by L'Algérino Songs * The Internationale, the left-wing anthem * "International" (Chase & Status song), 2014 * "International", by Adventures in Stereo from ''Monomania'', 2000 * "International", by Brass Construction from ''Renegades'', 1984 * "International", by Thomas Leer from ''The Scale of Ten'', 1985 * "International", by Kevin Michael from ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * "International", by McGuinness Flint from ''McGuinness Flint'', 1970 * "International", by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark from '' Dazzle Ships'', 1983 * "International (Serious)", by Estelle from '' All of Me'', 2012 Politics * Political international, any transnational organization of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


National Dance Week
National Dance Week (NDW) is an annual event in the United States sponsored by the United Dance Merchants of America to increase public awareness and appreciation of various forms of dance.{{cite journal, first = Carolyn B., last = Maloney, date=March 1996, title = Congressional Record – Extension of Remarks, pages = E401, url = http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1996_record&page=E401&position=al The event is coordinated by an organization under the same name headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which operates under the sponsorship of the UDMA and currently seeks for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization status The Coalition for National Dance Week was formed in 1981 by a group of dance related organizations to bring greater recognition to dance as an art form. Since 1991 the NDW is sponsored by the UDMA. NDW volunteers host more than a thousand events nationwide during the observation. National Dance Week 2009 Dance Week 2009 was from Apr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Agnes De Mille
Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. Early years Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors. Her mother, Anna Angela George, was the daughter of Henry George, the economist. On her father's side, Agnes was the granddaughter of playwrights Henry Churchill de Mille and Matilda Beatrice deMille. Her paternal grandmother was of German-Jewish descent. She had a love for acting and originally wanted to be an actress, but was told that she was "not pretty enough", so she turned her attention to dance. As a child, she had longed to dance, but dance at this time was considered more of an activity, rather than a viable career option, so her parents refused to allow her to dance. She did not seriously consider dancing as a career until after she graduated from college. When d ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lenox Hill
Lenox Hill () is a neighborhood on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It forms the lower section of the Upper East Side—east of Park Avenue in the 60s and 70s. A significant portion of the neighborhood lies within the Upper East Side Historic District designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1981 and expanded in 2010. The neighborhood is part of Manhattan Community Board 8. Geography Based on the location of the original Lenox Hill, which was on a farm that spanned present-day 68th Street to 74th Street, east of Fifth Avenue, '' The Encyclopedia of New York City'' defines the neighborhood as the area between 60th Street and 77th Street, from Fifth Avenue on the west to Lexington Avenue on the east. ("...bounded to the north by East 77th Street, to the east by Lexington Avenue] to the south by East 60th Street, and to the west by Fifth Avenue") However, neighborhood boundaries can shift and most residents see the modern boundaries differently, as the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. A gay man, his work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of Black life in America. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece '' Revelations'' is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. On July 15, 2008, the United States Congress passed a resolution designating AAADT a "vital American cultural ambassador to the World." That same year, in recognition of AAADT's 50th anniversary, then Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 "Alvin Ailey Day" in New York City, w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]