MIKKO NISSINEN
MIKKO NISSINEN
Mikko Nissinen (born March 4, 1962) is a Finnish ballet dancer. He has danced with the Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. He is currently the Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, a position he has held since 2002.
Born and raised in Finland, Nissinen started his training at age ten with the Finnish National Ballet School, continuing his studies at the Kirov Ballet School. His primary teachers were Jacobson, Damianov, Sokolov, and Terasveori. In 1978, he won First Prize at The National Ballet Competition in Kuopio, Finland. Launching his professional dance career at the age of fifteen, Nissinen went on to perform with the Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, where he was Principal Dancer for nine years. After retiring from his performing career, he was Artistic Director for Marin Ballet and Alberta Ballet before coming to Boston.
VIDEOS
PLAYERS
PLAYERS
ELAN SASSOON
There’s something to be said for that whole “destiny” thing. After a stretch in the movie biz, Elan Sassoon (yes, he’s the son of the legendary Vidal) proceeded to forge his own way in the beauty industry, launching a skincare line, running a chain of medi-spas, and developing a suburban spa concept called Green Tangerine. But he truly hit his stride with the practically concurrent openings of two Mizu salon locations: the first in Boston’s swank Mandarin Oriental Hotel this past October and the second only a couple of months later on Park Avenue in New York City. (Beverly Hills is the next market he’ll tackle.) But the thing that most intrigued us? Sassoon, the brains behind the business, doesn’t actually cut hair — though that may change, he’s quick to point out, when he opens up the 90,000-square-foot flagship “beauty academy” he has planned for Comm Ave.
DIANE MANTOUVALOS
DIANE MANTOUVALOS
Diane Mantouvalos, principal of Andonia Public Relations, has traversed a diverse terrain of public relations and branding in Boston and beyond for over 15 years. In her most recent agency position as Vice President of Lifestyle & Entertainment at New England’s largest privately held PR concern, Regan Communications, she oversaw a myriad of clients including Celebrity Chef Todd English, Mohegan Sun Casino, and Entercom.
Best Buddies, New England Home ForLittleWanderers, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and The Boston Ballet. Her extensive experience in fundraising propelled her to Director of PR & Events for the The Improper Bostonian Magazine. she is credited with birthing and branding Boston’s hippest neighborhood and lifestyle destination, The Ladder District, attracting publicity from a host of national publications and dailies including The Wall Street Journal and Town and Country. Diane has launched some of Boston’s trendiest restaurants including Mantra, Saint and OM, working with star chefs Thomas John, Rene Michelena, Rachel Klein and Anthony Caturano. Her track record for publicity, edgy campaigns and powerful launches has produced a continuous demand for her vision and creative capacity from clients such as HBO, who retained Diane to host multiple Boston premiers of its now legendary hit Sex and the City and more recently, Entourage.
At various points in her career, Diane worked independently and entrepreneurially. In 1998, she co-founded Sudiko Marketing Group, an event marketing company, where she created dozens of fundraising event concepts in Boston, Newport and Nantucket for private and non-profit clients including Diane helped take the magazine to new heights with powerful promotions and strategic alliances. From there she soared creatively as an independent public relations consultant specializing in branding and image strategies for her clients. In addition to naming one of Boston‘s hottest restaurants, Mantra,She has represented and consulted for scores of clients, regionally, nationally and globally including, HBO, BBC America, Entercom Communications, XAR International, IdentityTruth.com, HavenGlam.com, Susan Elias Couturier, Barba Dermatology, The Anglers Resort, Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino, The Boston Bean, Mantra, Tangierino, Locke-Ober, Fugakyu, 33 Restaurant, Prezza, Copia, Saint, The Strategic Group of NYC, The Olive Group, Creative Events, Petzetakis GLOBAL, Amalia Photo Gallery of Athens, Jorge Photography Miami, Dateworking, Ciroc, Chivas Regal, Beefeater, Best Buddies Organization, The Hampshire House, One World Cuisine, Gipore, The Boston Ballet, The Beantown JazzFest, RoxComp, The Wang Theatre and numerous non-profits.
She has produced and chaired dozens of high profile fundraising galas, most notably Beantown for the Big Apple, a post September 11th fundraiser for 1000 donors at The Wang Theater. A Boston native of Greek heritage, Diane received her education from Boston Latin School and Boston University. She served as an Advisory Board member to the Metropolitans – a social fundraising arm of The Wang Center for the Performing Arts – which she led from 1994 to 1998. Her devotion to children’s charities was reflective in her tireless fundraising for The Wang’s Young at Arts programs and her creation of Midnight Santa, a non-profit she founded in 1993 to adopt 100 inner-city families annually on Christmas Eve – delivering toys, clothing, bedding, computers and other gifts, typically out of reach. She is also an unabashed women’s rights advocate. During the 2008 presidential election, Diane led and branded a multimedia movement becoming an outspoken force against sexism in the media and corrupt election practices, garnering dozens of on-air and print interviews. She is co-creator of the women’s political blog hireheels.com where she blogs daily on political issues affecting women.
VERBAL ABUSE
VERBAL ABUSE
SOCIETY AND MALE DOMINATED SOCIETY:
Although both sexes can be victims hundreds or thousands of years of male dominated societies have created negative attitudes towards women among many men, leading boys to grow up with a deeply en grained sense of entitlement that women will do all the work of looking after them, even if the woman is also going out to work. While some women are aggressive and dominating to male partners the majority of abuse in heterosexual partnerships, at about 80%, is by men.
Fundamentalist views of religions which have developed in male dominated cultures tend to reinforce these attitudes. All the major world religions historically taught the dominance of men over women. Thus the book of Genesis states “in sorrow thou shall bring forth children: and thy desire shall be be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Such ancient texts provide men with justifications for abusing female partners. Fundamentalist religious prohibitions to divorce make it more difficult for religious women to leave an abusive marriage. A 1980s survey of Methodist clergy found that 21% of them agreed that no amount of abuse would justify a woman’s leaving her husband.
Many older and some not so old children’s stories contain gender stereotyping, and music videos and computer games for children and teenagers have been criticized for continuing to portray men as aggressive and in control, while the females are there only for their sexual allure; women are portrayed as wanting to be chased and caught when they run away.
Legal systems have in the past endorsed these traditions of male domination and it is only in recent years that abusers have begun to be punished for their behaviour.
LOSS OF CONTROL:
Abusers may blame the the victim’s actions for causing them to lose control of their temper. It is often apparent however that they do not behave in that way with other people. When abusers smash up property in apparently random acts it often turns out that they avoid damaging their own belongings, and if law officers, called by alarmed neighbours, arrive the “uncontrollable rage” will be instantly switched off. At this point the abuser, who is calm, will often pass the blame to the victim, who is likely to be visibly disturbed.
VIDEOS
WORDS OF WISDOM!
may the sun
bring you new energy by day,
may the moon
softly restore you by night,
may the rain
wash away your worries,
may the breeze
blow new strength into your being.
may you walk
gently though the world and know its beauty all the days of your life. by Apache Blessing
“If women know how to be faithful to each other, perhaps we wouldn’t be governed by man.” AKS
Be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars.
In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. by Marx Ehrmann
never
never
never
give
up by Sr. Winston Churchill
” Promise yourself, no matter how difficult the problem life throws at you, that you will try as hard as you can to help yourself. You acknowledge that sometimes your efforts to help yourself may not result in success, as often being properly rewarded is not in your control.” by Raj Persaud
” Violent criminals often describe themselves as superior to others – as special, elite persons who deserve preferential treatment. Many murders and assaults are committed in response to blows to self-esteem such as insults and humiliation. (To be sure, some perpetrators live in settings where insults threaten more than their opinions of themselves. Esteem and respect are linked to status in the social hierarchy, and to put someone down can have tangible and even life-threatening consequences. “
Although both sexes can be victims hundreds or thousands of years of male dominated societies have created negative attitudes towards women among many men, leading boys to grow up with a deeply en grained sense of entitlement that women will do all the work of looking after them, even if the woman is also going out to work. While some women are aggressive and dominating to male partners the majority of abuse in heterosexual partnerships, at about 80%, is by men.
Fundamentalist views of religions which have developed in male dominated cultures tend to reinforce these attitudes. All the major world religions historically taught the dominance of men over women. Thus the book of Genesis states “in sorrow thou shall bring forth children: and thy desire shall be be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Such ancient texts provide men with justifications for abusing female partners. Fundamentalist religious prohibitions to divorce make it more difficult for religious women to leave an abusive marriage. A 1980s survey of Methodist clergy found that 21% of them agreed that no amount of abuse would justify a woman’s leaving her husband.
Many older and some not so old children’s stories contain gender stereotyping, and music videos and computer games for children and teenagers have been criticized for continuing to portray men as aggressive and in control, while the females are there only for their sexual allure; women are portrayed as wanting to be chased and caught when they run away.
Legal systems have in the past endorsed these traditions of male domination and it is only in recent years that abusers have begun to be punished for their behaviour.
LOSS OF CONTROL:
Abusers may blame the the victim’s actions for causing them to lose control of their temper. It is often apparent however that they do not behave in that way with other people. When abusers smash up property in apparently random acts it often turns out that they avoid damaging their own belongings, and if law officers, called by alarmed neighbours, arrive the “uncontrollable rage” will be instantly switched off. At this point the abuser, who is calm, will often pass the blame to the victim, who is likely to be visibly disturbed.
VIDEOS
WORDS OF WISDOM!
may the sun
bring you new energy by day,
may the moon
softly restore you by night,
may the rain
wash away your worries,
may the breeze
blow new strength into your being.
may you walk
gently though the world and know its beauty all the days of your life. by Apache Blessing
“If women know how to be faithful to each other, perhaps we wouldn’t be governed by man.” AKS
Be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars.
In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. by Marx Ehrmann
never
never
never
give
up by Sr. Winston Churchill
” Promise yourself, no matter how difficult the problem life throws at you, that you will try as hard as you can to help yourself. You acknowledge that sometimes your efforts to help yourself may not result in success, as often being properly rewarded is not in your control.” by Raj Persaud
” Violent criminals often describe themselves as superior to others – as special, elite persons who deserve preferential treatment. Many murders and assaults are committed in response to blows to self-esteem such as insults and humiliation. (To be sure, some perpetrators live in settings where insults threaten more than their opinions of themselves. Esteem and respect are linked to status in the social hierarchy, and to put someone down can have tangible and even life-threatening consequences. “
BILL CLINTON
BILL CLINTON
http://www.mycommitment.org/node/1490 |
|||||||||||||||||
leave a comment