DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 10 * * All Arts News On the Web * * September 21, 2006

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column.


      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at ChowBella or at the Overtime Saloon in St Albans 8-10 p.m. most Wednesday evenings, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.


THE PALETTES ARE COMING! THE PALETTES ARE COMING!

      "Everybody to get from street!"
      OK, that Alan Arkin quote from The Russians Are Coming may have been a little over the top but it is definitely Palettes in the Street time.
      One of the Vermont Arts Council's palatable goals has been to help artists connect with local groups through the Palettes project. The Council applauds "all the artists who have made these connections and are donating their palette for sale or auction to benefit a local project!"
      In Franklin County, the All Arts Council and St. Albans for the Future will host a Palette Auction at the St. Albans Historical Society on Saturday, October 7. The Franklin County palettes use many media -- paint, pastels, paper, ink, fabric, leather, photography, and more. The project began at the Maple Festival and continues through the October auction. The newest palettes are on display at City Hall and around St Albans now. Click here for listings and info.
      You will be able to bid on all displayed pieces in a silent auction; the highest bids will win the palettes the closing event on October 7. Bid early and bid high. You might be able to "close out" other bidders.
      Palettes of Vermont was conceived by Brandon folk artist Warren Kimble as a project open to all Vermonters. Artists in most communities around the state have donated their finished works to arts and other community organizations to help fund arts and cultural projects.


      Karen Bresnahan and Mike Curtis will join me in a special production of Neighbor to Neighbor: The Palette Drama on Adelphia Channel 15. Watch the listings for details.


JOY OF DANCING

     National Ballroom Dance Week continues in Vermont with a Weekend Dance Workshop in St. Albans on Saturday and Sunday. DVIDA National Examiner and world-renowned teacher of dance teachers Diane Jarmolow will teach nine hours of dance classes. The Weekend Dance Workshop will include introductory lessons in Quickstep and Jive; intermediate lessons in Hustle, Nightclub 2-Step, Samba and Waltz; as well as an advanced Waltz class.
      The Weekend Dance Workshop will also include a dance social, with lessons for beginning dancers, on Saturday evening.
      The St. Albans Dance Social is a chance to share the joy of dancing. The dance will begin at 7 p.m. with two half-hour dance lessons to teach the basics of partner dancing, and will be followed by open dancing until 11. Instructor Kevin Laddison encourages partner changes during the lesson and there is no partner necessary.
      The workshop will be held at City Hall, Main Street, St. Albans. Admission is $160/person, including the lessons and Saturday evening dance.
      Admission to the dance social alone is $15 per person. Click here or email for more info.


ON STAGE LIVE

ESSEX JUNCTION----The Lincoln Inn presents the Jim Branca Band rippin' it up at blues night tonight at 7 p.m. The singer-songwriter-guitarist creates music that wraps the blues with classic soul, jazz, gospel, funk, folk and rock.
      Click here or email for more info.


BURLINGTON--The Catalyst Theater Company presents a multimedia production of Howard Zinn's The People Speak at the Waterfront Theater, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. plus Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., starting today and running through October 1.
      Historian and social activist Howard Zinn has has compiled and edited a collection of speeches, letters, court testimonies, poems and journal entries which tell the story of America through the words of impassioned patriots including Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., and many more. The multimedia production will feature readings by actors along with other members of the community interwoven with visuals, songs and dance.
      The People Speak is directed by Veronica Lopez with sets/lights design by Bob Woolf. The cast includes Kathy Ford of St. Albans, plus Mia Adams, Richmond, Rick Ames, Burlington, Sheila Collins, Orange, Trevor Fulchino, S. Hero, Ramona Godfrey, Waterbury Center, folksinger Lyn Hardy, Middlesex, Wayne Martens, Williston, Samuel Selman, Burlington, Henry Sparks, Burlington, and Annette Urbschatt, Burlington.
      Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, and $9 for anyone under 12. All seats are $8 on Thursdays. Tickets are available at the Flynn Box Office (802-86-FLYNN) or click here. Call Catalyst (802.862.2287) or email for more info.


JOHNSON and BURLINGTON--Vermont Youth Orchestra presents Dance Grooves on Saturday at the Dibden Center and on Sunday at the Flynn. Troy Peters will conduct; Daniel Bernard Roumain solos on electric violin.
      The Orchestra takes a strong contemporary leap with this program of dance compositions. It juxtaposes styles and genres in dance music, with Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat suite from 1919, the well-known 'Hungarian Dances' Nos. 5 and 6 by Johannes Brahms, a selection from Charles Gounod’s Faust, and the big band sound of Leonard Bernstein’s 1944, On the Town. Guest soloist DBR will join the VYO to perform his own composition, the amplified Voodoo Violin Concerto, written in 2002. The Haitian-American composer, violinist, and bandleader is known for his electric, Hendrix-style approach to the violin. His works integrate minimalism, funk and urban music. Mr. Roumain lives in New York City where he is the Music Director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Assistant Composer-in-Residence of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He will be in residence with the orchestra in September to will spend time with the young musicians of the Vermont Youth Strings, attend rehearsals, and teach a violin workshop to VYO members.
      Dance Grooves begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Dibden Center for the Arts at Johnson State College, Admission is $8 Adults, $6 Seniors, $4 Students & Children, and free for Johnson State students. Tickets available only at the door Call 802.635.1476 or www.jsc.vsc.edu The program begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. Admission to the Flynn is $10, $12, $15 for adults and $6, $10, $12 for students. Tickets available only at the Flynn Box Office (802-86-FLYNN) or click here. The concerts are sponsored by National Life of Vermont. Daniel Bernard Roumain is presented with support from the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.


ST ALBANS--Cardiac Capers is just four weeks away. The crew will host a Kickoff Party at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This is both a preview opportunity for the 2006 show and a call for artists, actors, and friends. The biennial production raises funds for the Northwest Medical Center.
      Call Helene Biggie (802.524.6013) or Michele Ovitt (802.527.7948) for more info.


NEWS TIDBIT

     Ben Patton of Bakersfield and London is in town, cutting a new CD at West Street Digital. Songwriters Jaye Muller and Mr. Patton played in each other's bands, then joined forces to tour Europe and the Far East. Their first album, Muller and Patton, is Beatlesque, classic pop songwriting. Its music was entirely a joint effort; Mr. Patton wrote the lyrics.


CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Got Pirattitude? Tuesday was international Talk Like A Pirate Day, but we at the All Arts Council don't think that's enough. After all, it took the AAC to introduce the Summer Sounds audience to the Parrot, Paulette, and what? Yes, the Pirate. Ergo we need an entire Talk Like A Pirate Week! Arrrrrrgh!


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.


SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2006 by Richard B. Harper. All rights reserved. Archival material is provided as-is. Links are not necessarily maintained (if a link in this article fails, try Google.com or your favorite search engine).
      Thanks to recent misuse of copyright material on the Internet by individuals and archival firms alike, we emphasize that your rights to this article are limited to viewing it and printing it for personal use only. You must receive explicit permission from the All Arts Council and the author before reprinting or redistributing this article in any medium.