This document summarizes a local festival that will be held on Wednesday featuring food and entertainment from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. It also discusses how performing arts schools are dealing with budget cuts due to the recession by offering more modern courses like hip hop dance, music engineering, and business classes to help students succeed in the arts industry. Finally, it shares the story of Tom Iacuzio and his wife welcoming their daughter Abigail Jolie into the world after a long labor and subsequent issues in the NICU.

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2NJ0100D0929 2NJ0100D0929 ZALLCALL 15 15:06:33 09/28/09 B
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COMING
WEDNESDAY SECTION D
FOOD, FAMILY, FUN: A local
TUESDAY
festival will offer tastes from SEPTEMBER 29, 2009
Eastern Europe, the Middle East,
the Mediterranean and more. THE NEWS-JOURNAL
FIND LOCAL EVENTS ONLINE AT NEWS-JOURNALONLINE.COM AND GO386.COM
Associated Press photos
Dancers perform in ‘‘Fame,’’ an updated version of the 1980 movie that opened Friday. Performing arts school officials say the recession has left them with less money and more to do.
No Funds For ‘Fame’?
Performing arts schools feel economic pinch
By CARYN ROUSSEAU say that.’’
ASSOCIATED PRESS School officials said they’ve had to become
CHICAGO — Nik Spayne wakes just before 6 more creative in how they raise money, with
a.m. on school days at his suburban Elgin some institutions putting on benefit shows
home, in time to take an hour-long train ride featuring famous alumni or current students.
and a bus to the Chicago Academy for the The schools also have responded with new
Arts. courses that include digital filmmaking, mu-
It’s regular classroom work in the morning sic engineering and electric and acoustic gui-
for the 17-year-old senior before three hours of tar. The classes help find common ground
dance and vocal training. By the time he’s fin- with students who may not be as interested in
ished with another few hours of rehearsal and the classical arts, like ballet or opera, said
has commuted home, it’s 8 p.m. — more than Ralph Opacic, executive director of Orange
14 hours since he woke up. County High School for the Arts in Santa Ana,
‘‘Then I still need to do my homework and Calif.
learn my lines and not have a social life and go ‘‘We’re trying to use those more current art
to bed and do it all again,’’ Spayne said, sitting forms to get them to explore and expand and
in a science lab after finishing his modern then hopefully fall in love with classical arts,’’
dance class. ‘‘But it’s worth it.’’ Opacic said.
Spayne, an aspiring musical theater per- Schools have begun exposing students to
former, is one of nearly 1.5 million students the business side of arts and entertainment as
around the country who attend one of about well, offering courses that equip them with
1,670 performing arts high schools, colleges or the skills needed to become entrepreneurs.
other instructional programs, according to ‘‘It’s important for them to realize today
the nonprofit group Arts School Network. Af- you’ve got to be incredibly versatile,’’ said Isi-
ter seeing the 1980 movie ‘‘Fame,’’ which fol- dore Rudnick, artistic director at The School
lows New York City performing arts students, for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincin-
Spayne thought, ‘‘Wouldn’t it be cool to go to a nati, home of the recent MTV reality show
school like that?’’ ‘‘Taking the Stage.’’
Nearly 30 years later, an updated remake of Naturi Naughton performs in a scene from ‘‘Fame.’’ Today’s performing arts schools
‘‘You’ve got to have a savvy business sense.
‘‘Fame’’ opened in theaters Friday. The mov- include the classical arts but also have modern offerings, such as hip-hop dance and It’s not good enough to be a good actor or a
ie’s trailer has one student asking: ‘‘Some- pop vocals. good musician,’’ Rudnick said.
body’s gotta make it out there. Why can’t it be Coursework aside, there’s a stronger rea-
me?’’ to make a living. lars a year. Some students can receive son students are attracted to a performing
The competitive drive and quest for success arts school.
Enrollment has fallen at some private per- scholarships or other financial assistance.
is still present at performing arts schools, ‘‘They’re all looking for a place where they
which are private, public and charter, but offi- forming arts schools and endowments have The school’s endowments have lost 25 per-
lost value, said Roger Shoemaker, associate cent, said Shoemaker. Other schools say can be really passionate as well as becoming a
cials say the recession has left them with less well-rounded person,’’ said Lauren Williams,
money and more to do. They educate students head for the arts at the boarding school Wal- they’ve had to cut arts teachers and budgets.
a 17-year-old senior and oboe major at Chi-
in the classical arts but also have modern of- nut Hill in Natick, Mass. ‘‘Across the board it makes it much more cago Academy for the Arts. ‘‘The classes are
ferings, such as hip-hop dance and pop vocals. He said families under financial pressure difficult,’’ he said. ‘‘The environment for fund- so incredibly structured and formulated.
In addition, the schools have started teaching can no longer afford the tuition, which at pri- raising is pretty difficult. We made our fund-
business courses to help budding artists learn vate schools can cost tens of thousands of dol- raising goal last year, but not everybody can SEE ‘FAME’, PAGE 2D
A chapter ends, a chapter begins: Welcome, Abigail Jolie
A Tom Iacuzio
t 12:07 a.m. on Sept. 4, my life hour or two the doctor came in to was a thing of past. Good to go, right?
changed forever. Abigail Jolie break Kayla’s water. After that, Wrong.
Iacuzio was brought into this things began to heat up — slowly. As it turns out, our baby had devel-
world weighing in at a whopping 8 Fifteen hours later, we were ready oped another problem. She didn’t
pounds, 12 ounces and just over 21 to push. And push we did for more want to eat. Are you kidding me? Are
inches long. than two and a half hours. It was then you telling me an Iacuzio baby, my
In the world of babies, Abigail was that we got a bit of bad news. The baby, doesn’t want to eat? How does
a heavyweight fighter. The Joe Louis baby was apparently a tad sideways that even happen?
of the nursery. And as I should have inside the birth canal and no amount For a new parent, a baby in the
expected, delivering Abby took the of pushing would coax her out. To NICU for any reason is the worst
whole 10 rounds. As Howard Cosell FATHERHOOD Kayla’s dismay, we were looking at a feeling in the world. And while Ab-
might have said, it was a knock- cesarean section. by’s problem may not have been as
rabbit hole, but this time with a severe as other kids in the ward, to
down, drag-out affair. warning: ‘‘If by this time tomorrow And so after nine grueling months,
What started as a typical labor in- 40 hours of labor and over a thousand Mom and Dad even the slightest is-
you haven’t progressed, we may send sue can be heartbreaking. Patience
duction would turn out to be any- hurled obscenities, our little girl
you home and wait a week.’’ is a hard thing to come across when
thing but. We arrived at Halifax made her entrance just after mid-
Health around 6 p.m. on Sept. 1. With- With family due in town in a mat- night. But it wouldn’t be an Iacuzio baby is on NICU house arrest.
in a couple of hours, we were hooked ter of days, and myself having al- baby if there weren’t a few hiccups. But if it does happen to you, there
into the matrix, ready to hurry up ready taken time off work, this baby Because of Kayla’s diabetes, a pri- are a few things to remember:
was pushing her luck with me. But mary concern was the baby’s blood First off, your child is right where
and wait. Aside from some slight
Abigail was intent on doing things she needs to be. There will be no bet-
cramping, by the next afternoon we sugar, which at birth was significant- News-Journal/TOM IACUZIO
her own way and that is a sentiment ter place for your baby, no better
were nowhere. ly low. Sadly, this earned Abigail a care than that given by the doctors Accent staff writer and Fatherhood columnist
The decision was made to unplug, we would soon truly understand. one-way ticket to the Neonatal Inten-
get some food, regroup and start When we woke up the next morn- sive Care Unit. With IV in foot, the SEE FATHERHOOD, PAGE 2D Tom Iacuzio and his wife, Kayla, welcomed
over. With a $5 foot-long in our bel- ing, it was game on. Kayla had days ticked by until her levels were Abigail Jolie Iacuzio into the world on Sept. 4.
lies, the nurses sent us back down the started to progress and within an stable. Finally, five days later, the IV tom.iacuzio@news-jrnl.com
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