Video: Rockette does the splits

Video: Legendary Boxing Promoter Aaron Braunstein Talks Judaism, Boxing

Legendary boxing promoter Aaron Braunstein talks about the difficulties that Jewish boxers like Dmitriy Salita have in and out of the ring.






--Andrew Nusca

Video: Getting in the Ring with a Champion

Intrepid journalist Matthias Bernold gets in the ring with Dmitriy Salita, undefeated Jewish boxer and New York Golden Gloves champion.




--Andrew Nusca

Rockette auditions start this week in NYC

Calling all aspiring Rockettes! Auditions for the annual "Christmas Spectacular" show at Radio City Music Hall start today. Check out the rest of the audition schedule:





Tuesday, May 6
10:00 am - Rockettes

Wednesday, May 7
10:00 am - Rockette Callbacks

Monday, May 19
10 am - Female Dancer
2 pm - Male Dancer

Tuesday, May 20
10 am - Male Dancer Callbacks
1 pm - Female Dancer Callbacks

Wednesday, May 21
10 am - Male Vocalists and Singers who dance well
1 pm - Female Vocalists and Singers who dance well
5pm - Little People performers

Thursday, May 22
Vocalist and Singer Callbacks
4pm - Children

44 West 51st Street (Stage Entrance between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10020

Auditions will continue in Chicago and Los Angeles over the next few weeks.

Meeting 'Kid Kosher'

Quite frankly, when it's a Monday afternoon and it's pouring outside, the last place I want to be is in Starrett City without a car.

But that's exactly where I found myself when I met Dmitriy Salita, the undefeated welterweight Jewish boxer that won the New York Golden Gloves in 2001.

Salita's got a quiet braggadocio. He's silent as he works his way around the gym -- the famed Starrett City Boxing Club, which is nothing more than a hole in the wall in a drab, suburban office complex -- but he moves around with confidence.

As Salita and I talk religion (he's an orthodox Jew by way of Chabad) a young boxer walks by, fresh from defeat in a practice sparring match. Salita pulls him over, interrupting our conversation:

"You move backwards too much. You gotta get in there; get low. You've got more talent than most guys your age, but you can't be scared."

The same could be said for Salita, who is only 26, but is making strides toward a full professional career.

In this way, Salita is New York: he's a Ukrainian immigrant; he lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn; he's an orthodox Jewish boxer who has already won in boxing's biggest house, Madison Square Garden.

All he needs to do now is land a knockout punch on the right guy at the right time, and he's a step from being a New York legend. --Andrew Nusca

Video: Jewish Boxer Dmitriy Salita Reconciles His Sport and Faith

Undefeated New York boxer Dmitriy Salita talks about how he discovered boxing and his Jewish faith.




--Andrew Nusca

The Orthodox Stance

okok. here is our post. it's not that it would not be interesting or anything. au contraire! in fact, it's really exciting. after seeing these unique jewish boxing promotor, who lives in the apartment of Mike Tyson and has this room stuffed with pictures showing him and muhammed ali and ari sharon and whoever and belts of all the titles his boxers won and gloves and a collection of walking sticks and 500 magazines AND a piano, alright so after seeing this guy, which was really, really amazing we went to see this boxing gym in - well andrew said it is new york, but the truth is this is the farest I ever got when I left the columbia neighborhood except , maybe, for my ride to upstate new york for my awesome crimeprisonviolence story, but that IS another story. however. where was I? right. so andrew, it'all his fault, of course, he took us to this gym at the far, far end of brooklyn. it is as far as the l-train can take you. did you know that these trains go without a driver, fully automatique, isn't that scary? and then you have to walk for, andrew said it would only be a few blocks, but then we ended up walking for more than half an hour. in the rain. AND I was carrying the camera and my lunch bag. but I dont blame andrew. he is a good guy, in general I mean. in the end - yes I really have to say that- in the end this is was truely a newsworthy trip. oh, my god we shot so many pictures our single lens cameras started smoking. and we shot video and stuff. and I went in the ring with dimitri, who is waiting for his shot to become world champion. it's cool, isn't it. but I dont wanna tell you more right now. be patient and wait. aloha