UPDATE: Cook Me Choreography

NOTE: This story was updated on Sunday, June 10, to add new photos.

Healdsburg's street style.

Fashionista: A person devoted to fashion, particularly high fashion.  She doesn’t follow trends, with this definition. I am.  I loved to dress up, read W, Vogue and wait to the next event in town to be ‘bon ton’.

Sadly, Sonoma county, not so much. The ubiquitous jeans and chambray shirts is the country uniform for women and men. But I see stylish young girls, and the ladies who do lunch in town in local fashion chic.  I am still waiting for a voguish man around town.

I am a street voyeur with a camera.

That's all.

I love the '80’s. The music, dance, pop culture, big hair.

The '80s were the best decade of my dancing career.  I was on top of the world from ‘80 until ‘88, but, in late ’89, not so much. I got sick. That event shattered my life.

Flashback: I was dancing at Dance Art Center in San Mateo about 1976. I was part of a troupe, the Jazz Set. We danced at shopping malls. Berle Davis taught us to dance in a troupe: spacing, and choreography. 

I got my first paying gig at Great America in Santa Clara at a theme park: The Bug’s Bunny show. And I was a dancing girl. We did six shows every day. After the summer, I was asked to dance on the Princess cruise ship.

I was hired to be a staff/dancer on the Island Princess. I arrived at Pier 35 in San Francisco for my first day. The crew was English. I learned cockney slang from the officers and staff.  Like “Get up the those apples to bed”: apples means stairs, “Would you Adam and Eve it?”: Adam and Eve means believe, She is pissed: pissed means drunk, “She has long bacons” : bacon means legs. Pretty funny stuff.

When the ship disembarked, I immediately went to the top of the ship and stood, waiting for the Golden Gate Bridge to appear.... we sailed under it. What an experience.

The first event was a cocktail party. I chatted with passengers, drank and ate.  I remember the ocean was pretty rough through the rugged Pacific Rim, you had to hold on to your wine glass.  Eating is one of the best cruise experiences: one can eat all day. I mean, top culinary cuisine. Although, I was dancing, I gained 25 pounds on my six months on the ship.

We arrived in Juneau, Alaska, as the passengers disembarked to the town for shopping and sightseeing. We had rehearsal and warmed up our voices. Voices? I sang, no, I lip-synched. Not a singer.

Fiddler on the Roof
We did an hour show every night from shows like Fiddler on the Roof, Annie get your Gun, and Oklahoma. As a host, we had to greet passengers while embarking and disembarking, we would chat at dinner, dance to music to Micheal jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, U2, and Bruce Springsteen at the ship's disco.

It was summer, after three months of sailing, San Francisco to Alaska and back, the ship went south…. Mexico.

The ports of call were Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. It was warm, the gentle winds on the cool Pacific made me feel so fortunate as I was sailing to Mexico to dance. Wow. I remember these moments with joy.

Do you remember the Love Boat?  The Princess ship was the location for the TV series Love Boat. They decided to shoot one episode on the Island Princess in Puerto Vallarta. It was a one-week shoot. Everybody was excided. Hollywood came to the ships.  Lisa, my dance partner, and I were at the beach with passengers. Michael Cole, (the television series, Mod Squad), was shooting a scene. After the scene we went to get a margarita at a local bar.


Playing on the beach in Mexico
When we came back we saw an empty beach. We missed the boat back to the ship. Oops. The ship captain stopped the ship, so we could take a dinghy back.  We stepped from the boat into the engine room, and we went straight to a talk with an angry cruise director, (Lisa and I, not Michael), but, at night, it was party time with the actors.

After three months sailing in Mexico, it was time for me to make the big move to Los Angeles. I was ready. So, my friend, Josh, who was a comedian on the ship, let me stay at his house in the San Fernando valley. I left ship life to new adventures in La, trying to be a star. Everyday after class, I took to the streets of La, looking for a job. I applied for a waitress job in the valley, Tony Roma's, a rib joint, and got it. It was like an audition. I wore a short skirt. The manager told me after I got hired, that my legs got the gig.

I didn't know about Tony Roma's but it was a huge success in Beverly Hills. The lines went around the block for his sauce on ribs and chicken. I think, you can get his ribs and his sweet sauce, still, at Safeway.  We had to wear a sexy costume: (you know, it was la): brown short dress, with white ruffle underwear. Hey, we made 100 bucks a night, a cash cow in the 80s. Roma was a genius, the tables turned over in 15 minutes. It was a gold mine.

I met an actor, Kathy, who worked at Tony Roma’s too.  We got a two bedroom apartment in Santa Monica, four blocks from the beach.  Two girls, searching for fame.  I worked for Tony Romas, dieting to take that extra 25 pounds off and took non-union jobs.

It all changed, in 1981. I quit Tony Romas because I was on the road.

When did I get my Sag card? It was 1981, MGM studios.  We all looked, to Backstage: the actor’s resource. In the day, you had to buy the newspaper. There was no Backstage.com, no subscriptions for audition notices.  It was a big deal because it was a union gig. Also, there is a catch 22 situation. You can't get a sag job without a card; you can't get a card without a Sag job. You need a producer or director to say I want this actor or dancer. 

Then they will let you in the guild.  MGM was auditioning female dancers for their new film: Pennies from Heaven with Bernadette Peters and Steve Martin. If you don’t know about the actors union, (Screen Actor’s Guild), it is a wonderful union.  The Guild exists to support actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits. They are a powerful, voice on behalf of artists’ rights.  Since I was a member, I had health insurance, handy, when I was with child. I still get residuals for the work, I did in 1984.


Flashback to MGM studios, everyone was there, about 300 dancers. I was nervous. I was doing non-union gigs around town. No money but was getting experience but not professional experience.  All the girls, warmed up. I was checking my leotard and my makeup, as I put a number on my back, (135).

The choreographer asked us to do chaine turns across the floor. Easy. After my chaine turns, they said, ok, please go here. After three hundred dancers were done, the audition was done.  They hired 150 dancers and one of them was me! I was getting my Sag card, MGM signed the papers and let us in. I think, half of the hires were new Sag members.

I was thrilled. I called my mom and called the Sag office!  In 1981, Sag’s initiation fee was $500. Today, it is $2277 with semi-annual dues.  The choreographer said, rehearsal would start next week. “Hang on to your numbers”. Rehearsal was at 8:30 am for two weeks, we were in four scenes, one tap number, and three in a big stage with many levels. 

I had to do a handstand by an Egyptian column. You can see me doing a handstand in the movie, if you know where I am. 150 girls are in the same costume. I remember, I laughed a lot on the set. One dancer, I can't remember her name, was hilarious. Good fun. It was like the 30s grand musical movie.  It was my first really professional gig in la.

I went to Mexico for Spanish tv: Noche, Noche, and Hawaii for an industrial for the Cambridge Diet. In la, I heard about the audition, but the audition was closed to only dancers who worked for a TV choreographer before. But I thought, hey, I couldn’t audition because I don't know a choreographer? No. I crashed the audition.  We showed up at the studio, at Hama Dance center, me, Jeannie and Beth, and asked them to let us audition. Beth and I got it. You have to be fierce, in the cut throat world of Hollywood.

An industrial is a trade show. Cambridge diet brought all the dancers and their sales staff to Hawaii for a big show. The best thing, I was in Hawaii and joined Equity, the stage union: It was a sweet gig, the choreography was like high school cheerleading, funny.

After the gig, Brian and I went to Kauai.  A short airline ride to Lihue. I took him to visit beautiful Kauai, and dinner with my dad at Princeville at night.


Back to la,  I did a Sheena Easton Tv speciaI. The choreographer saw my friend Jeannie and I in Jamie Rogers dance class. He hired us.  Al Jarreau was co-star with Sheena. I worked with Al, the next month.  Then a Japanese commercial: Hi Cola with John Travolta. John was a nice man. Then, he had no entourage. Hey, it was John Travolta! It was funny because the Japanese advertisers dressed us, as Japanese girls. I didn't get it, the director said, the Japanese want to shoot their commercial on American soil, use American dancers, American directors, American stars: all American.  Oh.


Next gig. I did a music video: Al Jarreau:  Roof Garden.



Al was a sweet heart.  He didn't go to his trailer and wait to perform, as some stars do.  He stayed on set... talking to the dancers, like John. I was picked out from the dancers to blow a huge bubble of gum for the camera. My bubble was not huge, but it worked, they used it.


Lets cook.     Zucchini Pancakes

I like them. Good flavor, you taste the lemon, parsley. I used unsalted butter instead of oil. You know what Julia says: Everything is better with butter. I used more bread crumbs instead of a pinch. It says cook the pancakes until golden brown each side.  Check it, be sure that the zucchini is well cooked.


Zucchini, potato, lemon, parsley,egg, salt and pepper
About the cook Dagny Prieto www.dagnypieto.com

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup grated potato

1 egg

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 pinch breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons sour cream or yogurt (optional)

Grate your zucchini and potato using the largest hole on your grater. Let stand in a colander for at least 30 minutes to drain. They will hold together better when you drain out maximum moisture. Salt generously.
In a bowl, beat egg, chopped parsley, and lemon zest. Add pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Roll and squeeze zucchini/potato mixture in a towel to soak up moisture. Add pinch of bread crumbs to soak up any leftover wetness.
Combine zucchini / potato mixture with egg mixture. Stir well and coat.
Turn on over to 200˚ and place cookie sheet with foil in there to keep your pancakes warm as you make them.
Heat 13" skillet on medium high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter. You can use olive oil if you prefer, but butter is delicious. When foam subsides, drop a spoonful of your pancake mixture in. You don't really need to form it in advance, but pat it with a spatula and try to flatten it out as much as possible -- it'll be more crispy that way.
Cook 2 at a time in a until golden brown on each side, then place in oven to keep warm to make additional pancakes. Serve as soon as possible, with a dollop of sour cream or (drained greek style) yogurt on top for extra richness.

Next post:    On Broadway,  shooting the dogs and malady.