Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Catamount Gallery Group Annual Exhibit

The Northeast Kingdom is rich in a wide variety of talented and gifted artists who will have the opportunity to share their visions and their works with area residents this March when Catamount Arts presents its annual Gallery Group exhibit. Each March, Catamount dedicates its main gallery to a presentation of art works by more than 30 Northeast Kingdom artists who each choose one of their best or favorite works from the past year to share with the public. This year’s spotlight exhibit will feature oils, watercolors, photos and sculpture by such artists as Emiko Sawaragi Gilbert, Mark Nielsen, Muffin Ray, Rosie Prevost, Naomi Bossom, Claire Van Vliet, Roderick Wells, Joan Harlowe, Bill Tulp, Judith Unger Murphy, Ann Young and many others. A special reception honoring these artists and their accomplishments will be held from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Friday, March 9, at the Catamount Arts center on Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury. The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Many of the individual artists will be present to discuss their works.

The Catamount Gallery Group, which exists to promote and encourage artistic talent in the Northeast Kingdom, was created by Patty Mucha and Lois Whitmore in 1993-1994 under the direction of Phil Reynolds, who was then the executive director of Catamount Arts. The initial group was composed of twenty local artists from northern Vermont and New Hampshire. The membership of the group has now increased to more than 80 artists from the area. The Gallery Group’s show each March is one of the largest and most highly anticipated exhibits in the Northeast Kingdom. This year, as in recent years, the show will be curated by Bob Manning, a local artist and art historian who is also a member of Catamount’s Board of Directors. This year’s Catamount Gallery Group show will be on display through Sunday, April 1. Catamount’s galleries are open free to the public from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday and before and after each film screening.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Tonight's Blue Grass Jam

A brief clip from tonight's Blue Grass Jam here at the art center.

The cabaret was packed with an enthusiastic crowd of blue grass lovers.

If you couldn't make it to tonight's performance, be sure to keep an eye here on the blog or on our website at catamountarts.org for information on the next Blue Grass Jam.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Comedy of Errors from the National Theatre of London

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS broadcast to cinemas worldwide as part of
National Theatre Live

5 Stars ‘Wall-to-wall joy. Sublime.’ Daily Mail
5 Stars ‘Fabulous fun… Dominic Cooke’s imaginative, superbly acted contemporary production’ Mail on Sunday
William Shakespeare’s THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, directed by Dominic Cooke, with Lenny Henry as Antipholus of Syracuse, will be filmed live at the National’s Olivier Theatre and broadcast as part of NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE  to cinemas and performing arts venues around the UK and Europe on 1 March, and varying dates internationally (see  HYPERLINK "http://www.ntlive.com" www.ntlive.com for other international dates).
Two sets of twins separated at birth collide in the same city without meeting for one crazy day, as multiple mistaken identities lead to confusion on a grand scale. 

Shakespeare’s furiously paced comedy is staged in a contemporary world into which walk three prohibited foreigners who see everything for the first time.

Lenny Henry made his Shakespearean debut in the title role of Othello for Northern Broadsides/West Yorkshire Playhouse, which transferred to the West End and for which he won the 2009 Evening Standard Outstanding Newcomer Award. He has toured worldwide with his stand-up comedy shows, and has appeared in and presented innumerable television dramas, comedies and documentaries, including Three of a Kind, The Lenny Henry Show, Alive and Kicking, Chef!, Hope & Glory and Lenny Henry in Pieces.  His many awards include the Lifetime Achievement - Performance Award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards, and a Golden Rose at the Montreux Television Festival.

Dominic Cooke is  Artistic Director of the Royal Court, where his productions have included Chicken Soup with Barley, Clybourne Park (also West End) and The Pain and the Itch. He was Associate Director of the RSC from 2002-06, where his work included Arabian Nights, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, The Crucible (Olivier Awards for Best Director and Best Revival), As You Like It and Cymbeline.

The cast also includes Marcus Adolphy, Tom Anderson, Paul Bentall, Claudie Blakley, Ian Burfield, Silas Carson, Clare Cathcart, Adrian Hood, Chris Jarman, Lucian Msamati, Yvonne Newman, Pamela Nomvete, Rhiannon Oliver, Jude Owusu, Simon Parish, Daniel Poyser, Grace Thurgood, Amit Shah, Michelle Terry, Everal A Walsh and Rene Zagger. The production is designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting by Paule Constable, music by Gary Yershon, movement by Ann Yee, sound by Christopher Shutt and fight direction by Kate Waters.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE performances are filmed live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to over 700 cinemas around the world, live in the UK and Europe and time delayed in countries further afield.  There are over 120 venues in the UK alongside venues in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, India, Scandinavia and Europe.  The performances at the National are
nominated in advance to allow cameras greater freedom in the auditorium.  

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE is presented in partnership with Aviva.

Notes to editors

The National Theatre
The National Theatre, founded in 1963, and established on the South Bank of the River Thames in London in 1976, has three theatres – the Olivier, the Lyttelton and the Cottesloe. It presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory (sharing the stages) at any one time. Actors often appear in more than one play during a season or return to the National regularly. The National aims constantly to re-energise the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike, and aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of the nation’s culture. With its extensive programme of Platform performances, backstage tours, foyer music, exhibitions, and free outdoor entertainment the National recognises that the theatre doesn’t begin and end with the rise and fall of the curtain.  By touring – and now, National Theatre Live - it shares its work with audiences in the UK and abroad. 

National Theatre Live events are distributed outside the U.K. through New York-based BY Experience, Inc, the pioneer of global live “alternative content” digital cinema events.  For more information visit   "http://www.byexperience.net" www.byexperience.net

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS runs for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

21 February 2012

Bluegrass Revisited at Catamount Arts


BLUEGRASS REVISTED, a bluegrass band from Lamoille County Vermont,will be featured at this month's Catamount Arts Bluegrass Jam,Saturday February 25th, at 7 P.M. in the Catamount Cabaret room of the Catamount building, 115 Eastern Ave., in St. Johnsbury.

Bluegrass Revisited features Larry Longley on banjo, Neal Brown on bass, Alan Gratton on mandolin, and Bob Robtoy on guitar. The CA JAM's host band favorites THE BLUEGRASS VOLUNTEERS will also appear. As always, the Catamount Bluegrass Jam is a free event, but with donations glady and graciously accepted.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Dance Lovers' Delight


Dear Friends of the Arts,

Please consider joining us this Sunday, February 26th, for what promises to be one of the most amazing dance performances ever to be held in the Northeast Kingdom.  Produced by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and presented by Kingdom County Productions in association with Catamount Arts, this show will feature the world's premier ballet dance company performing the work of their legendary namesake and choreographer, Balanchine prodigy Suzanne Farrell.  You do NOT want to miss this show!

In order to bring dance productions of this quality and magnitude to rural Vermont, it is imperative that we fill each show with an enthusiastic audience.  We need your help to spread the word and fill the seats.  Please pass this message along and invite your friends and family to join us at this very special event.  Tickets are available online or by calling the Catamount Regional Box Office at 802/748-2600.  

Thank you for supporting the Arts!

Cheers, Jody

Jody Fried, Executive Director
Catamount Film & Arts
P.O. Box 324
115 Eastern Avenue
St. Johnsbury, VT  05819
802-748-0852 (fax)

Produced by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Suzanne Farrell Ballet
7:00 PM
Sunday, February 26th at Lyndon Institute
Inline image 1

"Understated glamour, alluring reserve, and attention to detail" is how The New York Times describes The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, led by the legendary New York City Ballet principal whose career of three decades made her the most influential American ballerina of the late 20th century. One of 20th century master choreographer George Balanchine's most celebrated muses, Farrell has staged Balanchine's acclaimed dances for a range on companies, including the Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet. Produced by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet will perform an all-Balanchine program that includes some of this dance master's most cherished works.


"Stravinsky once remarked to Balanchine that the young Ms. Farrell was the most musically intelligent dancer he had ever seen. Now she is passing that quality on."
  - Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

"Too distinctive, too juicy, too fabulously fearless to pass up."    
- Washington Post


Tickets & Information

Suzanne Farrell Ballet 
Sunday, February 26th
7:00 PM
Lyndon Institute 
Lyndonville, VT  

Tickets 
 $29, $44, $54                    Regular
 $27, $42, $52                    Members
 $22                                     Students  

Tickets are available online, by phone, or in person at the Catamount Arts Box Office.   
Online (24 Hours)CatamountTix 
By Phone802-748-2600
In Person:  
115 Eastern Avenue 
St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
Box Office Hours:
Monday - Saturday 11:00AM - 6:00PM

Monday, February 20, 2012

Bob Amos CD Release Concert and Catamount Arts Benefit


From 1988-2003 Bob Amos was lead vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and frontman for SUGAR HILL recording artists FRONT RANGE, one of the world's top bluegrass bands. Front Range toured throughout North America and Europe, and their songs, mostly penned by Amos, were mainstays of the bluegrass radio charts. In 1995 Amos's song "One Beautiful Day" was awarded "Bluegrass Gospel Recording of the Year" by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Bluegrass Unlimited magazine has called Bob "top of the Bluegrass songwriting class"  and SingOut! magazine reviewer John Lupton labeled Bob as "one of the most consistently intelligent and interesting songwriters in American music."
            After pursuing other musical endeavors Amos has now returned to the fold with his first all-Bluegrass project in nearly eight years. The new CD, "Borrowed Time" includes eleven songs written by Amos, plus a new Bluegrass arrangement of a Robert Johnson blues classic. An impressive group of Bluegrass notables joined Bob for this recording project, including IBMA mandolinist of the year Jesse Brock, former Front Range bassist Bob Dick, and Vermont favorites Patti Casey, Colin McCaffrey and Freeman Corey.
            To celebrate the release of "Borrowed Time" Amos's all-star Vermont bluegrass band "Catamount Crossing" (with Patti Casey, Colin McCaffrey, Freeman Corey, Adam Buchwald and Mike Santosusso) will present a concert featuring the new album material,  plus other music, in the "Mason's Hall" at the Catamount Arts building, 115 Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury VT, 7:30 P.M. on  Saturday April 7th. Tickets ($12 members, $15 general public) are available in advance, 802-748-2600, www.Catamount Arts.org. Proceeds will benefit Catamount Arts.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Coming in March

We have some fantastic films coming up at Catamount Arts in the month of March.  We'll update you on dates and show times once they are finalized.

The Descendents - A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.  Nominated for 5 Academy Awards as well as winning 35 other awards.


Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6.  Nominated for 3 Academy Awards as well as winning 10 other awards.


The Artist - Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.  Nominated for 10 Academy Awards as well as winning 59 other awards.

Presentations On Connections Between Religion and Dance


OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT ST. JOHNSBURY ACADEMY:

Presentations On Connections
Between Religion and Dance

A leading scholar on the interconnection of dance and religion will offer public presentations Monday and Tuesday, February 20-21 at 3:30 p.m. in St. Johnsbury Academy’s Grace Stuart Orcutt Library, located in the Mayo Center. The events are free and open to the public.
Philosopher, dancer and author Kimerer LaMothe, who taught modern Western Philosophy and religion for six years at Brown and Harvard Universities, will also conduct three days of workshops for Academy students.
During her visit, Lamothe will discuss “perspectives on dance and religion as evidenced in the works of Nietzsche, Martha Graham, and Isodora Duncan,” Academy Dance instructor Marianne Handy Hraibi said.
The author of four award-winning books, Lamothe holds a doctorate in Theology of the Modern West from Harvard and also is the recipient of fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Center for the Study of World Religions.
Her books include Nietzsche’s Dancers: Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and the Revaluation of Christian Values (2011); Between Dancing and Writing: The Practice of Religious Studies (2004), What A Body Knows: Finding Wisdom in Desire (2009); and the forthcoming Family Planting: A Farm-fed Philosophy of Human Relations. She also writes a blog for the Psychology Today magazine Website.
Copies of writings that will be discussed during the public presentations will be available at the Academy library the week of February 13-17.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

From one of our members

One of our members who had come in to see "Gotterdammerung" this afternoon gave me a link to a blog that I thought I'd share.
The blog is about a performance piece the daughter of our member is doing.  The concept is pretty interesting and reminds me a lot of the idea of "not-doing" in the writings of Carlos Castaneda, where the object is to disrupt, even momentarily, the normal flow of perception to help open yourself to the large possibilities in the universe.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

In the Gallery - Terry Ekasala


The bright, bold works of area artist Terry Ekasala will offer the perfect antidote to the dreary days of winter as they fill the main gallery at Catamount Arts for the entire month of February. A special reception honoring the Weymouth, Massachusetts native, who now makes her home in the Northeast Kingdom, will be held from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Friday, February 10, at the Catamount Arts Center on Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury. The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Ekasala took an interest in drawing and art became her path at a very young age. In 1982 after receiving an Associate’s Degree in Advertising from the Art Institute in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, she began working as a freelance artist in the field. Drawn to the domain of fine arts she set up her first studio in 1983 in an abandoned frame shop, part of the Clay hotel and youth hostel on Espanola Way, Miami Beach, Florida. This was a huge step into the wide world of art and life. Miami Beach was at that time a broken down palace of art deco dreams, inhabited mostly by the elderly, refugees, the unsuspecting youth hostel guests and scattered young creators whom began to gather on Espanola Way and Lincoln Road. This scene lent a rich and diverse inspiration to a young open mind. Ekasala worked in the figurative manner at this time, primarily drawing and painting as medium. Here she became a member of the Artifacts Art Group. This group staged weekly events at the hot 80’s Miami nightclub “Fire and Ice” as well as organized exhibits and finally opened their own gallery on the corner of Lincoln Road and Michigan, Miami Beach. She was also among a number of artists who took to the streets doing graffiti on boarded up abandoned buildings and her work was featured on the cover of the Sunday edition of the Miami Herald as well as in a national Coke a Cola commercial. In 1987 Ekasala visited Paris for the second time and she decided to stay. She worked as a cook in a Tea Salon, all the while painting in her tiny apartment. In 1990 she set up a studio in Belleville, Paris’ colorful 20th Arrondissement at La Forge, a little artist community made up of diverse nationalities. In the beginning La Forge was a squat and eventually became the first “Artist squat” to become legal in Paris due to the diligence, seriousness and hard work of this group of artists. This is where she painted until 2001. During these years her style and medium underwent many changes. Her figurative subject slowly transformed to abstract figurative, eventually to become entirely abstract. In the eleven years at La Forge she participated in the annual “Open Studio” of Belleville, allowing her the opportunity to sell her work directly to the public. During these years she showed her work in personal and group expositions in and around Paris as well as Berlin, Germany and New York City. In 2001 she moved to the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. She set up her studio in the center of of Lyndonville. In September, 2003, she had a personal exposition of her new abstract, large format oil paintings at the Metalstone Gallery in NYC. In 2004 her son Zack was born. For a short period of time she worked with acrylic on board in small format as a direct result of limited lengths of painting time with a newborn baby. This work was also shown at the Metalstone Gallery as a personal exposition entitled “Subsequent Development, an Assembly of Small Paintings” in March of 2005. Ekasala took a few years break from painting until 2010 when she completed several large abstract paintings in her basement. In May, 2011, she found her “dream” studio in West Burke where she now paints. She resides in East Burke with her family. Her philosophy of painting is just as personal as her style. “For me abstract painting is an act of balancing the juxtaposition of color, line, texture and form,” she said recently. “I try to empty my mind. The observer in me can then take the wind out of the sails of contrived thought allowing the moment’s mysterious impulse to be seized as a child might do. The images are the consequential vibrational energy from the clashing of all this.” “Do they meaning anything?” Ekasala concluded. “No, just like a flower doesn’t mean anything.” The abstract paintings of Terry Ekasala will be on view at Catamount through February 29. The galleries at Catamount Arts are open to the public free of charge from 11 am – 6 pm Monday through Saturday and before and after each film screening.