3E TELEVISION: GARY COLE TALKS ROLE-PLAYING 8E FITNESS: WOMEN DOMINATE HALF-MARATHONS TROPICALLIFE E H1* TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013 | EDITOR: JOAN CHRISSOS [email protected] 305-376-2635

THEATER REVIEW The fatal melancholy of fashion The icon Blow

BY BILL HIRSCHMAN Special to the Herald mind For some unbridled personali- ties, style is life. But for a style ad- dict like fashion icon Isabella Blow, never provided enough substance to fill the hole in her soul. Watching Blow wrestle with tamer her past on the eve of her seventh suicide attempt provides a cau- UM researcher works tionary tale in Mad Cat Theatre Company’s insightful, witty and with soldiers, thought-provoking world pre- schoolchildren and miere of Jessica Farr’s Blow Me. even Goldie Hawn to Farr and director Paul Tei’s fe- ver dream of that night depicts a help people focus, tragic death spiral of a real-life pay attention and woman, relieved by droll epi- grams tossed off by Blow and her reduce stress coterie like a latter-day Algon- quin Round Table. The play swirls around a bra- vura performance by the superb Erin Joy Schmidt. She creates a GREGORY CASTILLO/MIAMI HERALD STAFF memorable portrait of a flamboy- STUDYING THE MIND: Amishi Jha demonstrates an electrode cap used to measure brainwaves on student research ant 24/7 persona constructed for assistant Adam Burton, 21, at UM. a world of people seeking celebri- ty as its own self-validation. BY KITTY DUMAS Although she is following in the foot- es soldiers were facing after multiple de- Special to The Miami Herald steps of giants in the field, they say Jha is ployments. “She pretty much described •TURN TO ‘BLOW ME’, 4E mishi Jha, Ph.D. is probably blazing her own trail. Her work is influ- me,” he said in a telephone interview. “It one of the most influential encing such disparate fields as the mil- was not the nicest thing to hear, but she women you never heard of. itary, primary education and business. was very accurate. She’s everywhere: smiling Jha currently has five active research “Her study really interested me be- next to media mogul Arianna grants with the U.S. Army, which is trying cause we train all the time to get better, AHuffington, meeting with the military in to help soldiers train and protect their and we see results,” he says. “We weren’t Washington, advising her friend Goldie minds as well as their bodies amid mul- doing anything for our minds, just giving Hawn, speaking to leaders at the World tiple deployments and life-altering inju- soldiers information.” Economic Forum in Switzerland, with the ries. To administer the training for her re- Dalai Lama in India. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Walter E. Piatt search, Jha enlisted Elizabeth Stanley, At 42, Jha, a neuroscientist and associ- and his soldiers had just returned in 2009 Ph.D., founder of the Mind Fitness Train- ate professor of psychology at the Univer- from back-to-back deployments to Iraq ing Institute and associate professor of sity of Miami, is the ultimate oxymoron when he expressed to an army doctor a security studies at Georgetown Universi- — a rock star in the field of contemplative desire to help prepare soldiers mentally ty. Stanley, a former U.S. Army military neuroscience. She studies how practices and emotionally. The doctor connected intelligence officer, developed the mind- like mindfulness meditation change the him with Jha, who came to speak to mil- fulness-based training. structure and function of the brain, in- itary leaders about her research. “We fight now in a cognitive struggle creasing attention and working memory Now commander of the Seventh U.S. with an enemy that can’t be defeated while minimizing stress. Army Joint Multinational Training Com- through technology. They’ve taken our Practiced for centuries by Eastern cul- mand, stationed in Germany, Piatt says strengths, big weapons and technology, tures, mindfulness is defined as paying at- within five minutes of listening to Jha’s tention in the present moment. presentation, she had described challeng- •TURN TO AMISHI JHA, 4E ‘BLOW ME’: Erin Joy Schmidt plays Isabella Blow.

Jay Z, JustinCONCERT REVIEWSTimberlake rock Miami at Sun Life Stadium

CONCERT REVIEWS Music icons For Timberlake perform their fans, a little hits in bigger extra at the than life setting Fillmore

BY RICARDO MOR BY FRED GONZALEZ Miami.com [email protected] Hip-hop master Jay Z and Justin Timberlake rede- pop star Justin Timberlake fined the title of his latest re- are each likely having one of lease Take Back the Night the best years of their career. when he took the stage at Both had blockbuster album the Fillmore Miami Beach at releases (Magna Carta Holy 2:26 a.m. Saturday and per- Grail and The 20/20 Experi- formed an 80 minute set as ence respectively) that have part of his series of Master topped the charts and the Card Priceless private two decided to venture on a concerts. stadium tour called Legends His 16 song performance 1 of the Summer with just 14 was after his 2 ⁄2-hour show shows across the United at Sun Life Stadium with Jay States and Canada. After al- Z on Friday. ready playing to hundreds of Talk about moonlighting. thousands of adoring fans, Despite the fact it was the the pair closed their tour in first and only time during Miami on Friday night with the Legends of the Summer a conquering performance tour that Timberlake per- at Sun Life Stadium that will MANNY HERNANDEZ/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD formed two shows, you LEGENDS: Justin Timberlake and Jay Z perform at Sun Life Stadium, where they closed their Legends of •TURN TO LEGENDS, 3E the Summer tour. •TURN TO TIMBERLAKE, 3E LOSE 30 LBS 30 DAYS $30*

Page: TropLifeTues_f Pub. date: Tuesday, August 20 Last user: cci Edition: 1st Section, zone: , Herald Last change at: 19:36:19 August 19 4E | TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013 H1 MiamiHerald.com | MIAMI HERALD

THE MIND TAMER Jha’s work helps us focus and minimize stress

•AMISHI JHA, FROM 1E and changed the game,” Piatt says. “They attack on their terms. They don’t care about civilian casualties. Our best weapons in that fight is the soldiers’ minds. “You’re not letting your mind wander, you’re focus- ing straight on. This is what her technique teaches you to do, focus on the task.’’ In addition, he says, ac- cording to research, sol- diers who do not receive the training are more pre- disposed to serious levels of stress and trauma. “In the military,” Piatt says, “we all suffer from post-traumatic stress. Ev- eryone does. The first thing we have to do is admit that. We now acknowledge that.” Coconut Grove accounting up that morning, and I my job, but I was much hap- Soldiers who are taught firm Kaufman Rossin. couldn’t feel my teeth. I just pier. People in my lab no- before deployment can reg- Nearly 200 employees looked at my husband, and ticed I was more engaged, ulate their stressful volunteered for the two- said, ‘I’ve got to quit my my husband and I would thoughts by increasing fo- week training. job.’ ” have real conversations cus on the present moment, “The typical mindfulness That summer, Jha attend- without my running away, rather than continually re- training is 31 hours in eight ed a lecture by another pio- the children liked to talk to living stressful events or weeks. That’s a lot of time neer in the field, Richard J. me,” she says laughing. “… I worrying about the future. to ask folks to give us,” Jha Davidson, Ph.D., who was just able to show up After receiving mindful- PHOTOS BY GREGORY CASTILLO/MIAMI HERALD STAFF says. “We’re systematically showed images of two and pay attention.” ness training, a group of sol- WORKING IT OUT: ‘I am so not the poster child for trying to reduce that time to brains, one affected by posi- “That was an aha mo- diers wanted it for their calm and balance. I am a continual work in see if we can get similar tive emotions and the other ment. I knew it was a topic spouses. Jha raised the progress,’ says Amishi Jha, above with an electrode benefits.” by depressed thoughts. that was so compelling that money to provide the cap and, at right, working with Martin Paczynsk, a *** At the end of his lecture, I had to study it,” Jha says. trainers. post-doctoral fellow at UM. Despite years of hard she raised her hand and She shifted her research “I have enormous respect work, no one seems more asked, “How do I get that from basic neuroscience to for her and what she’s do- and child advocates to build ty’s commitment to re- surprised by the steep tra- brain to look like that studying how the brain ing. She’s done some funda- a curriculum to teach chil- search into brain function- jectory of her success than brain?” pays attention to contem- mental work,” says Jon Ka- dren how to create a sense ing, says Leonidas G. Ba- Jha, who originally thought “He just said meditation. plative neuroscience, fo- bat-Zinn, the pioneering of well-being and resil- chas, dean of the College of she’d become a medical And that was all he said. I cusing on “how to get the scientist, meditation teach- ience. Arts and Sciences. doctor, before a stint in a lo- thought, ‘What is that?’ You mind to pay better attention er and author of the classic Based on research that Jha collaborates with cal hospital uncovered a can’t use that word [in the using mindfulness.” work, Wherever You Go shows the damaging impact Scott Rogers, founder and fascination with the brain. scientific community]. But Today, she is busier than There You Are: Mindfulness of stress on the part of the director of the Institute for “It is really weird,” she it stuck in my head.” ever. Meditation in Everyday Life. brain that controls execu- Mindfulness Studies at the says. “So many times I’m Growing up in a Hindu “I am so not the poster “She’s such a leader in the tive functioning and learn- UM School of Law’s Mind- like, ‘How the heck did I get family, Jha says, meditation child for calm and balance,” field and so young.” ing, Hawn’s foundation de- fulness in Law Program. In here?’ ” “was part of the culture, but she says. “I am a continual Kabat-Zinn, whom Jha veloped the MindUp cur- 2010, the two co-founded Jha found her calling as a it wasn’t something I per- work in progress.” calls a mentor, now sees her riculum, designed to de- the UM Mindfulness Re- result of her own suffering. sonally engaged in.” How does she handle the in that role. crease stress, improve search and Practice Initia- “I was grinding my teeth. When she was a year old, success? “She’s mentoring a whole academic performance and tive to foster research, im- I had two small kids. I had a her family moved to Whea- “Turn around,” she says. generation of young scien- concentration. After meet- plementation and collabo- full lab of grants I was man- ton, just outside Chicago, “No seriously turn around. tists,” he says. ing Jha at a conference six ration across the campus. aging, a full teaching load,” where she grew up. Look on the floor right *** years ago, Hawn asked her “She gets people excited says Jha, who was then a After hearing Davidson, there,” she gestures toward Breezing into the Jha Lab to be an advisor and later a and motivated,” Rogers professor at the University she bought Meditation for bright red cushions in the at UM, Jha is dressed in board member. says. “She takes these very of Pennsylvania. Beginners, and began prac- corner of her office. black except for the tan “She was just a great complex themes and con- “I was at the end of writ- ticing 10-minute exercises. “Even when I don’t prac- cowboy boots, her flowing mentor. … We have a won- cepts and makes them com- ing a grant, and had to talk “By the end of the sum- tice on that cushion every black hair right out of a derful collaborating rela- prehensible to everybody.” to some of my colleagues mer I felt better,” Jha says. “I day, I am glad I see it. It an- shampoo commercial. Jha tionship and also a friend- Locally, Jha is partnering on a faculty retreat. I woke still had my kids, my family, chors me.” is relaxed, animated and un- ship. Amishi is a pioneer with Valerie York-Zimmer- reserved. Her passion and and a star,” Hawn says. man, president of Mindful ability to connect with any Jha says she came to UM, Kids Miami (MKM), a non- audience, say those who moving with her husband profit organization she know her, are part of what Michael Bonanno, a com- founded with a goal of has made her so successful. puter programmer at the reaching Miami Dade stu- “We know now in 2013 School of Law, and two chil- dents. They will conduct a that exercise keeps the bo- dren, because the universi- school-year long research dy healthy,” Jha says. “… but ty was open to innovation. study at St. Thomas Episco- we have not come to the Since she arrived in 2010 pal Parish School in Coral cultural understanding that from the University of Gables, focusing on mind- the mind, just like the body, Pennsylvania, Jha has se- fulness training on teachers needs regular exercise to be cured $3.5 million in new and ultimately on their operating at its full grants for her research, students. healthfulness.” adding to the millions in re- As part of her research Jha’s work has led to a search dollars she has gar- for the Army, Jha says, she collaboration with actress nered over the years. wanted to study a civilian Goldie Hawn, who after The lab, where Jha and environment where em- Sept. 11 established the now her team work, is housed in ployees have a predictable Miami-based Hawn Foun- the university’s new neuro- cycle of intense mental dation, enlisting educators, science building, itself a stress. She chose account- scientists, psychologists statement of the universi- ing, and approached the

THEATER REVIEW Fatal melancholy of a fashion icon •‘BLOW ME’, FROM 1E fect. Farr spins the evening a guarded, badly bruised through space and time with vulnerability. Blow Me, beginning with no concern for chronology. Supporting her is a clutch the title, is a classic Mad Cat Therefore, audiences unfa- of chameleons playing a offering with a surreal style miliar with Blow’s life may half-dozen roles each: Noah and a pugnaciously nose- get a bit confused. For the Levine, Matthew Glass, thumbing attitude toward same reason, they’ll feel the Gregg Weiner and Emilie traditional theatrical con- script is a bit too long. Papp. ventions. It’s a perfect match Worse, Farr doesn’t make Costume designer Ka- for Blow herself, a British clear the roots of Blow’s fa- relle Levy gleefully lets her fashion magazine editor tal melancholy other than a imagination run wild within famed for mentoring de- rotten relationship with her the confines of a limited signer Alexander McQueen parents and the professional budget. Our heroine’s garb and milliner Philip Treacy. betrayal of some of her is intentional anarchy from For this cross between friends. her ratty fur coat to the Auntie Mame and Tallulah But there’s no doubting veiled cap topped with a Bankhead, panache is every- the evolving talent of Farr, flock of feathers whose col- thing, from her devotion to the native Miamian who ors are drawn from a box of outrageous hats to the ciga- joined Tei last year for the Crayolas. rette defiantly hanging be- far less disciplined fantasia Her work is emblematic tween two fingers. After she The Hamlet Dog and Pony of the entire effort in which breaks both ankles in a sui- Show. Her characters speak everyone, Schmidt especial- cide attempt, a friend sug- with that self-aware stylized ly, throws themselves unre- gests that she shouldn’t language that we like to servedly and courageously wear high heels. Blow re- think in retrospect that we into a difficult tale about a sponds, “Don’t be silly. I actually uttered. She also troubled human being. wouldn’t exist if I couldn’t has a facility with luxurious wear them.” language that wafts glori- Farr understands her her- ously like the smoke from oine’s flaws. When Blow that cigarette. complains about losing a job Tei’s talent for making If You Go and “facing poverty,” Treacy sense out of surrealism is What: ‘Blow Me’ by Jessi- castigates her: “Despite how perfectly in sync. His char- ca Farr many Cinderella lies you’ve acters walk up and down the Where: Mad Cat Theatre told yourself over the years, white thrust stage as if it Company performing at not everyone is like you, were a runway; characters Miami Theater Center, born with a silver spoon on- speak over the audience’s 9816 NE Second Ave., ly to spit it out when conve- head from the dark corners Miami Shores nient.” Her sadness seems a of the tiny black box stage. When: 8 p.m. Thursday- bit self-indulgent, so it’s Schmidt, often acclaimed Sunday, through Sept. 1. nearly impossible to feel for her naturalistic style and Cost: $30 general admis- sorry over her angst and quirky voice, has completely sion, $15 students depression. obliterated any trace of her The evening is not per- earlier portrayals other than

Page: TropLifeTues_4 Pub. date: Tuesday, August 20 Last user: cci Edition: 1st Section, zone: , Herald Last change at: 18:37:48 August 19