“For many years, I struggled silently, trying to hide the fact that I was in over my head and I didn’t know if I could keep dancing. I didn’t have a diabetes educator, and I didn’t have a doctor who understood. I was misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes because I was in my early twenties,” says Former Soloist Ballerina Zippora Karz, living with type 1 diabetes, on Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast featuring music by Christina Aguilera.
Zippora joined the New York City Ballet at seventeen in the 80s. She danced to George Balanchine’s ballets every night.
What’s life like for a ballerina?
“You are creating a new vocabulary within your body. You have to work on it every day. We take morning classes to improve your legs’ line and your jumps and turns because it’s not natural. And then, you a different program every night. A six-hour rehearsal day, and then you perform that night.”
“I was in my third year with the ballet when I was diagnosed with diabetes,” says Zippora. “However, my doctors didn’t understand the athleticism and energy output of a ballerina.
So what kept her going?
“I felt pressure to prove that nothing changed. But the magic I experienced dancing was so intense that I had to keep going and had to preserve.”
Former New York City Ballet Soloist Ballerina & Author (Sugarless Plum)Zippora Karz is a guest on this episode of Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast. We Are Diabetes founder Asha Brown, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, and Mama Rose Marie.
Zippora Karz’s life story of being a soloist ballerina with the New York City Ballet (1983- 1999) living with type 1 diabetes inspires Divabetic’s Diabetes Mystery podcast ‘Swan Wake’.
Zippora was featured in a variety of roles choreographed by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins as well as works choreographed for her by such choreographers as Peter Martins and Lynne Taylor Corbett.
By age 20 she was starring as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker, dancing roles by Jerome Robbins, and having new ballets created on her by Peter Martins: the company director following the death of George Balanchine.
Then her world came crashing down when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 21. Her body fell apart as she tried desperately to hold on to her dancing and life.
Read Zippora Zarz’s memoir “The Sugarless Plum” click here
When the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic heads to the Gotham City Ballet Company’s box office to fix a mix up with his ‘Swan Lake’ tickets he’s faced with a even bigger problem – a MURDER! To make matters worse, one of his latest culinary creations, a gluten free cheesecake, seems to be covering the victim’s face. Even more shocking are the numerous scandals swirling around the Gotham City Ballet and it’s members that have everyone walking around on tip toes. Could our happy healthcare host’s wacky culinary skills make him an accessory to the crime or even a possible side dish?
Now Mr. Divabetic with the help of his team of Certified Diabetes Educators, a Best-Selling Mystery Author and his own nosy Italian Mom must whip up his own crime-solving recipe, and fast–before a hearty dose of intrigue and a deadly dash of danger ends his diabetes advocacy and healthy catering career once and for all.
Our Swan Wake cast features Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, We Are Diabetes organization founder Asha Brown, Seveda Williams, Catherine Schuller AICI, CIP, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Mary Ann Nicolay MEd, DTR, Mama Rose Marie, Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’ and Poet Lorraine Brooks.
Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from Leonard Berstein’s recording of ‘Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Op. 20” in celebration of the centennial of America’s greatest classical composer and conductor courtesy of SONY Music.
We’re excited to announce that rehearsals start today for Divabetic’s 5th Annual Diabetes Mystery podcast, ‘Swan Wake’ on Thursday, February 22, 2018.
“Our annual diabetes mystery podcast is the highpoint of the year for the Diabetes Late Nite team,” says Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek. ”It brings us closer together because everyone’s forced to step out of their ‘comfort zone’ on this podcast. We’re not ‘actors’ and I’m not a ‘writer’ so there’s a great deal of trust involved in the process. I love it.”
“After turning 50 I realized that I don’t get as many opportunities to try new things or challenge myself. But our mystery podcast gives me this incredible opportunity to become a ‘writer’, a ‘director’ and a ‘actor’ for one day with the people I love. The whole expeience makes me feel alive! I love the challenge of trying to educate, empower and entertain our listeners.”
The writing process for this year’s mystery, ‘Swan Wake’ began shortly after the live broadcast of ‘Gypsies, Tramps & Peas’ in September.
“I was so naive when we first started writing our mystery podcasts five years ago. It never occurred to me that it might take longer than three weeks to finish a script!But I learned the hard way that to be happy with the end result actually takes months of writing and rewriting. Last year I started about seven months earlier and the extra writing and rehearsal time paid off big time in the ratings. Our listeners really loved it,” says Max Szadek. “My big ‘Ah Ha’ moment as a ‘writer’ came when I realized that it doesn’t matter how many times you edit a script before rehearsals start, once you hear it out loud, everything changes.”
Ballerina, Author, Zippora Karzis the inspiration behind why this year’s diabetes mystery’s setting is the ballet.
“A few years ago, I interviewed Zippora, who is living with type 1 diabetes, on our Diabetes Late Nitepodcast about her wonderful book, ‘The Sugarless Plum’ says Max. “After she shared her experience as a ballet dancer living with diabetes it occurred to me that there is a strong connection between the regimens of managing diabetes and ballet.”
“True to my character, ‘Mr. Divabetic’, I jumped headfirst into writing this year’s mystery without knowing much about ballet. I quickly learned that as a writer you can’t be ‘clueless’ on the topic you’re writing about. I needed to do a considerable amount research which proved to be a lot of fun. I attended performances of ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘Whipped Cream’ (with Misty Copeland) at Lincoln Center, watched numerous ballet videos ( Actress Sarah Jessica Parker touring the American Ballet Theater (ABT) shoe closet on YouTube) and ballet documentaries (‘Bolshoi Ballet’), read excerpts from various Balanchine biographies and scanned every article mentioning ballet I could find in the paper. I also interviewed Zippora several times about the basics in ballet.”
Here’s the radio drama’s synopsis: When the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic heads to the Gotham City Ballet Company’s box office to fix a mix up with his ‘Swan Lake’ tickets he’s faced with a even bigger problem – a murder. To make matters worse, one of his gooey gluten-free cheesecakes seems to be covering the victim’s face. Even more shocking are the numerous scandals swirling around the Gotham City Ballet and it’s members that have everyone walking around on tip toes. Could our happy healthcare host’s insipid culinary creations make him an accessory to the crime or even a possible side dish? Now Mr. Divabetic with the help of his team of whip smart Diabetes Educators, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, MaryAnn Nicolay BA, DTR, a Best-selling Mystery Writer, Tonya Kappes and his own nosey Italian Mom, Mama Rose Marie must whip up his own crime-solving recipe, and fast–before a hearty dose of intrigue and a deadly dash of danger ends his diabetes advocacy and healthy catering career once and for all.
Divabetic’s 5th Annual Diabetes Mystery podcast, ‘Swan Wake’debuts in September 2018. Cast members include Asha Brown, Chef Robert Lewis, Seveda Williams, Catherine Schuller AICI CIP, Zippora Karz and Lorraine Brooks.
