Letting Go of Her Ballet Dream

One recent Saturday morning at Steps on Broadway, a rehearsal studio on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, ballet dancers pirouetted to recordings of classical piano music while an instructor guided them. Some of the dancers were retired pros practicing at the barre. Others were weekend warriors indulging “Swan Lake” fantasies while getting in some…

Fashioning a Future in the Face of War

It has been 12 months since Russia began a brutal invasion of Ukraine, forcing millions to flee the country and devastating the local economy, including the budding Kyiv fashion scene. The war is the reason that Ukraine Fashion Week came to London this season, with three designers — Ivan Frolov, Ksenia Schnaider and Julie Paskal…

‘Party Down’ Gets It: Food Service Is No Party

In their baby-pink bow ties and crumpled white shirts, the catering crew on the Starz series “Party Down” works event after wretched event across Los Angeles: dismal rich-kid sweet 16s and backstage parties for jaded superstars, awkward and unsuccessful suburban orgies, singles seminars for seniors, bland corporate retreats. But none of these workers take their…

He Even Recommended a Dentist

Catherine Ann Lukaszewski was on a small side street in Los Angeles, looking for the Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, when she met Steven James Whalen who was looking for the same. It was November 2016, and they were participating in the Great Los Angeles Walk, a self-guided pedestrian tour of part of the city.…

How Could I Deny Him Fatherhood?

We became sloppy with birth control. The chances of conceiving, I thought, were low, even for couples who were trying. I never thought I would actually get pregnant. Until there I was, taking test after test, and then stupidly bursting into tears. After 12 years, I thought I understood how much my husband wanted a…