august header
flowers
Social-ism
Follow us on TwitterLike us on Facebook 
Employee of the Season: 
Jim Ku!
jim biking
If you call us to book space, there is about an 80% chance you'll be talking to our Head Booker, Jim Ku. Butch Grier wrote the book on booking, but Jim Ku perfected it. Fielding a staggering number of calls each day, Jim somehow manages to keep his sense of humor and answer the 200th call with the same energy and professionalism as he answered the first.  Jim is also an avid biker, and participates every year in the Braking AIDS Ride to benefit Housing Works. Look in this space over the summer for info on how you can support Jim's ride this year!  

Give some birthday love to your favorite RG staffer this month! Nakeya, Tatiana, Jaye and Michael all celebrate this month, as well as our Co-Founder, Mr. Butch Grier himself! Blessings for another trip around the sun, everybody!
Pump Camp

Celebrity choreographer Aisha Francis bring her "Fundamentals of Being the Ultimate Sexy Woman" to Ripley-Grier this April! The four-day class series starts April 14th at 8pm. More info at

     

What was the Academy thinking? Matthew McConaughey? Really? I like him, but Leonardo DiCaprio deserved that award a lot more than him in my opinion. Leo was nominated four times and he didn't win once, while Matthew was nominated for the first time and he won. It's probably because the Academy knows that millions of people have wanted Leo to win since 1993, so they don't let him win, even though last year he said he was taking a "long break" from acting. "American Hustle" and "Wolf of Wall Street" had a great ensemble cast and neither of those movies won! Anyway, other than that, I was very happy that "The Great Gatsby" won a few times along with "Gravity", although I was upset that Jennifer Lawrence did not win again. At least she won last year for "Silver Linings Playbook". The Academy is lucky that Leo won a Golden Globe because if he didn't, I'd be A LOT more upset. I guess you know by now that I'm a huge fan of Johnny Depp...

 

Jeanne-Michelle Ripley-Grier is the 14-year old daughter of RG founders Butch Grier and Patricia Ripley 
March 2014
Spring is coming. Look! Flowers!
In my home state of Michigan, we have a name for when it hovers around 25 degrees, snows intermittently, and makes you want to burn furniture for warmth: SPRING! Which doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to a good old New York Spring. Hey, maybe the DSNY will pick up my Christmas tree! A boy can dream.

Here at RG, we're stocking up the ice cream freezer, dusting off the AC's, and getting ready for Bathing Suit Fridays. That last part is a lie. But now that I think about it....

me and boys
-John
Director of Ops
Ripley-Grier Studios
Client Spotlight:
Cheryl Freeman
It's easy to be impressed by Cheryl Freeman's resume. The original Acid Queen in The Who's Tommy has also had leading roles in Play On and Civil War
(both nominated for the Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Awards), as well as numerous other Broadway, television, and film credits. Add to that the honor of having performed for not one, but TWO sitting presidents, and it's clear that you are dealing with a consummate professional. When I sat with Cheryl in the Ripley-Grier offices this past weekend, the overwhelming sense was that I was talking to someone who cares deeply about her students, their voices, and their bodies. "Singing doesn't just come from here", she says, pointing to her throat and face, "it's a full-body process. What you eat, how you live, it all matters." Cheryl's focus on physical fitness (she has been told to gain weight to fit her age-type more often that she'd like) has led her to develop a vocal/physical workout regime to sustain the voice and body for the demands of a singing career. Cheryl
does not take this commitment lightly. "My students call it the torture chamber", she laughs, referring to the physical workout that goes along with her vocal training sessions, but asserts "we have fun, though. We do." Cheryl left my office in a swirl of activity, on her way to two rehearsals (on a Sunday). "I teach what I do!" she says with a bright smile. And why does she share her vibrant presence with us at Ripley-Grier? "Simple." she says, "It just feels like HOME."

Cheryl is currently performing in
On Kentucky Avenue, a Club Harlem Revue
at the Triad. More info If you would like to find out more about studying with Cheryl, please call her office at 212-465-2692
Patricia Ripley
Feng Shui for creative humans 

The Year of the "Wood" Horse:

 

In Chinese astrology besides the 12 zodiac signs with their feng shui color chart individual traits and values there are 5 elements.  They are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal.   These 5 elements have their own individual properties and can affect the definition of a person's astrological makeup.  So if you are a Horse and have the element of wood in your sign you may have the properties of wood in your personality.  Wood has two main qualities.  There is old wood; the oak tree for example, sturdy and strong but can be unmoveable,  stubborn and rigid.  There is the wood like the bamboo or the willow tree,  moveable and giving, a bit more elastic in beliefs and behavior.  This happens to be the year of the Wood Horse, so if you are a wood horse depending on your makeup, you can be the oak or the willow.  The best scenario is to be a balance of both and that would be the goal for a wood horse.  The goal of all signs and elements is to strive for balance.

 

Next month:  Do you know which Chinese zodiac animal you are?  How to find out.  

 

"one good deed a day"  

Patricia    

 

Patricia Ripley is the Founder and CEO of Ripley-Grier Studios and a certified Feng Shui consultant.