Catamount Arts Dancing Up a Storm

Dance has always been a big part of the programming at Catamount.  In years past we have had such dance companies as the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Trisha Brown Dancers, Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians, American Indian Dance Theater and more perform in various venues in the area.

More recently we have presented performances by groups ranging from the Martha Graham Dance Troupe and Momix (in association with Kingdom County Productions) to the local group Hypzotique and their Bellydance Circus.

In the coming months we continue this tradition of programming.  First up, Kingdom County Productions brings us the Russian National Ballet Theatre with a presentation of "Swan Lake."  This show will take place on Saturday March 12th at 7:00pm in the Lyndon Institute Auditorium.


The following week, March 19th, we will be presenting "Bellyqueen: Search for the Empress" at Lyndon State College's Alexander Twilight Theater at 7:30pm.  Bellyqueen is a world renowned bellydance troupe that has "won acclaim for their unique vision, impressive body of work and a commitment to high-quality productions." The day after their performance, members of Bellyqueen will be holding two workshops, with Kaeshi and Elisheva respectively, in Lebannon, NH.  Space is limited for these workshops.

Rounding out our current line-up, we will be presenting one of the premiere modern dance companies in the United States, Rioult.  They will be performing live in the Alexander Twilight Theater at Lyndon State College at 8:00pm on Friday, May 6th.

Mark Kanny of the Pittsburg Tribune says of Rioult:

Rioult's musicality is recognized widely and enables him to create dance with music in a way that each medium illuminates and strengthens the other. It's a point of similarity with Balanchine, who also was extraordinarily musical.

Read more: Choreographer Rioult follows instincts to success - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/s_701338.html#ixzz1EM6kcWiA

More than the Arts

Catamount Arts participates in the community in more ways than bringing world class arts and entertainment to the Northeast Kingdom.  We also provide space for other groups, for example OSHER, to hold their events.

On March 12th at 5:00pm, UVM Extension’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the St. Johnsbury Area Local Food Alliance (St. J ALFA) will hold an Empty Bowls dinner.  Empty Bowls is a hunger relief effort bringing together potters and the community to raise money for hunger relief.

You can get more information about this event here.  Be sure to come out and support this great effort.

Kingdom County Productions Brings "Romeo and Juliet" to St. Johnsbury

Kingdom County Productions is bringing the Acting Company and Guthrie Theater to St. Johnsbury Academy's Fuller Hall Wednesday, February 16th for two shows of "Romeo and Juliet."

The morning show, primarily for students and educators, is completely sold out and the tickets for the 7:00pm evening show are going fast as well.

This production of Shakespeare's wonderful play by the Acting Company and Guthrie Theater has met with enthusiastic receptions as it has toured around the country.  Ken Jaworoski of the New York Times said in his review:

"In Shakespeare the big scenes stir your blood, yet it’s the small moments that can steal your heart. That’s never more apparent than in the balcony scene of “Romeo and Juliet” ...

"As the two lovers part, Romeo (Sonny Valicenti) offers Juliet (Laura Esposito) one final, tiny finger-wave, a boyish and tender gesture that elicited a quiet “awww” from many in the audience. That delightful but all-too-rare attention to detail caps an exhilarating rendition of the famous scene. " 

From the Acting Company's website regarding this new production from director Penny Metropulos of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival:

Shakespeare’s iconic romantic tragedy of innocent young lovers falling victim to family hatred and cruel destiny... swords clash, everlasting love is promised and a treacherous sleeping potion is swallowed in the greatest love story of all time. Young love has never been so delightful or as dangerous as in this stirring new production. 

Tickets for this production are available online at:
http://tickets.catamountarts.org/public/loader.asp?target=show.asp?shcode=27
or by calling our box office at (802) 748-2600, Monday through Saturday from 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

In the Gallery This Month

This month in the main gallery we have two artists whose colorful work is drawing lots of comments from our visitors.  The work by Galen Cheney and Lisa Eshelman Foster McCrae will be in the gallery all month and we will be having a reception for them on Friday, February 11th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.  Admission is free and there will be refreshments provided.  For more information about the artists, visit our website.

Untitled by Lisa Eshelman Foster McCrae

Crosstown by Galen Cheney

The Green Mountain Film Festival is Coming

For 10 years, Focus on Film has presented the Green Mountain Film Festival centered at the Savoy Theater in Montpelier, VT.  Last year, for the first time, there was a satellite event here at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury.  The festival went very well for us here at Catamount and we learned a lot about the process of hosting a festival.


This year, the 11th annual Green Mountain Film Festival is being held in Montpelier and once again we will have a satellite festival here in St. Johnsbury.  In Montpelier there will be over 70 films being shown from March 18th to March 27th in several locations.  Here in St. Johnsbury, our part of the festival will run from April 1st to April 3rd and we will be showing 20 films plus the 2nd Annual High School Filmmaker Showcase.

Last year, we had submissions from literally all over the world for the Filmmaker showcase.  The winner for  "Best Drama" and "Best of Festival" was "In an Instant" written and directed by Ethan Hofmayer.



We have a great selection of films for the festival this year as well as some special events that will be part of the festival.  More on those as the details become available.

Vermont Art Zine: CALL TO ARTISTS: Photoslam 2011 at PHOTOSTOP Gallery in White River Junction

For any photographers out there, this looks to be a wonderful opportunity to have your works on display and meet with others who share the same interest.

Vermont Art Zine: CALL TO ARTISTS: Photoslam 2011 at PHOTOSTOP Gallery in White River Junction

Would there be interest in doing something similar here at Catamount Arts? In the past we have had open photography and/or digital photography exhibits, but a scarcity of submissions the last few times we held them led us to not schedule them lately. We can look at the gallery schedule and try to work a month long exhibit of this type in if there is sufficient interest.

Let us know what you think.

February is a sort of Ryan Gosling Month

As luck or fate would have it, February is turning into something of a Ryan Gosling month.  We first saw him at Catamount in "Lars and the Real Girl" back in 2007, a funny and touching film about a young man with fear of intimacy who starts a relationship with a sex doll.

This month we have two of his newer films both dealing with relationships gone wrong.  First up is "All Good Things", co-starring Kirsten Dunst, which starts Friday, February 4th.  Based on actual events, the film follows the relationship between David and Katie (Gosling and Dunst).

"Written by Marc Smerling and Marcus Hinchey, the film itself takes off in the early 1970s when David and Katie move to Vermont, where they open a health-food store called All Good Things. ...

"Through the good times and very bad the two leads are a comfortable, persuasive match. The appealing Ms. Dunst can make you see the melancholy in her smiles, and this works beautifully for a character whose love grows clouded with worry and then fear."

At the end of the month, beginning on Friday, February 25th, we will show "Blue Valentine", co-starring Michelle Williams.  As Alice Fisher of "The Observer" says, the film:

"... details a young couple's marriage from falling in love to falling apart six years later. The romance and divorce unfold in intercut scenes, making the former seem bittersweet and the latter all the more upsetting. Don't take a date to go and see this film, but do make sure you see it – the acting is unbearably good."

Check our website for all our upcoming films in February.

Also in February, we are having 2 for 1 on video rentals, so it is a great time to come in to select from our collection of more than 4000 titles on VHS or DVD.

Feedback from the Neko Case Benefit

Thanks to Meriwinkle for the great mention of last weeks Neko Case "Storytelling?" performance at Lyndon State College.

Everyone I have talked to thought the show was amazing, and those that had a chance to go to the meet and greet afterwards commented on how giving Neko was with her time with each of them.

meriwinkle: Neko Case and Friends

If you were at the show, we'd like to hear what you thought and if you have pictures you would like to share, that would be greatly appreciated.

Regards.

Met: Live in HD - Nixon in China

I have to admit, when I was setting up the ticket sales for this year's Met: Live in HD series, the title of this opera jumped out at me.  When going through the list you see titles such as "Die Walkure", "Don Carlo", "Don Pasquale", "Capriccio" and so on and then come to "Nixon in China", it takes you a bit by surprise.  At least it did me.

During a recent panel on the new opera at the Met (described on the New York Times ArtsBeat Blog), the composer and other key figures in the development of the opera discussed their feelings about the late President and how this opera has been received.  One bit from the article encourages me to watch the performance when we show it on the 12th of February.

But as Mr. Adams worked on the opera in the late 1980s, he said, he grew to realize that Nixon was an “interesting character,” a complicated man who could not always control his emotions, unlike those two masters of self-control Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

 Sounds like it should be a performance that will be both entertaining and educational, not only about this particular moment in time, but also in the universal themes embodied in that moment.

Preview of "Nixon in China" from the Metropolitan Opera.

Read more about this opera HERE at the Metropolitan's website.