"We asked the women what they wanted to talk about, " Nyla Rodgers, founder and "chief visionary" of Mama Hope told me.

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And the opening of her New York restaurant Nyla suffered a setback when two diners claimed they had suffered food poisoning after eating there.

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On NYLA's wide and shallow stage, outfitted for the occasion with a front curtain to give the appearance of a proscenium, and set austerely as if against a low horizon (by Akiko Iwasaki, who also designed the costumes), "Bell" unfolds more as a patchwork than as an authoritatively layered or structured presentation.

WSJ: Giselle at the D?j?ji Temple | Yasuko Yokoshi | Bell | New York Live Arts | By Robert Greskovic