Pink Martini’s China Forbes
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington has announced a number of concerts and other performances for its 2013 summer and fall calendar.
Unless otherwise noted, tickets will go on sale to members at 12noon on Tuesday (April 2) and to the general public at 12noon on Friday (April 5).
Here are some of the highlights of the Mahaiwe’s upcoming season of shows:
Movers and shakers: Seen here are (l to r) Lola Jaffe, Beryl Jolly and Maggie Buchwald who was elected chair; she succeeds Lola Jaffe who founded the non-profit organization ten years ago and who championed the campaign to restore the 100-year-old Mahaiwe Theater and create a year-round performing arts center. Ms. Jaffe will continue to serve on the board as founding chair. Jolly is the Executive Director responsible for the the day to day operations of the performing arts center.
Great Barrington, MA: Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Executive Director Beryl Jolly announced spring 2013 programming today. Highlights include a talk and slide show presentation by author and illustrator Brian Selznick followed by a screening of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (Sunday, March 17), Masters of the Fiddle with Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy (March 24), humorist David Sedaris (April 6), singer/mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile and jazz pianist Brad Mehldau (April 13), acrobatic troupe Cirque Shanghai: Bai Xi (April 26), and a New England premiere by the Paul Taylor Dance Company (May 24 through May 26), along with “Live in HD” broadcasts by the Metropolitan Opera, London’s National Theatre, and the hit radio show Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!, as well as classic movies.
“The combination of events we’re announcing for the spring reflects a range of rare opportunities I’m delighted to share with our community-A Caldecott Award-winning author talking onstage with his Berkshire-based editor about how his book became a major motion picture, one of America’s bestselling humor writers, world-class Celtic fiddlers and jazz artists, Chinese acrobats, and our sixth annual performances by the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Each one is a special event and overall they offer a series of fun and intriguing experiences in very different styles-that’s the Mahaiwe Mix,” said Jolly.
Click to read the rest at Berkshire on Stage.
Jin Xing is extraordinary.
One of the few transgender women officially recognized by the Chinese government, the work of Jin Xing would be extraordinary for its enchanting choreography all by itself, no sex change operation necessary. Adding that second fact goes a long way to explaining why you will neither read nor see much about this artist who was born the son of a policeman and who at the age of nine joined the People’s Liberation Army as a boy, receiving training in both dance and military training.
She became a member of the military’s dance troupe, and eventually attained the rank of Colonel. She experienced strong transsexual desires early in life. She said she would stay outside during rain, and wish that a lightning strike would turn her body female. But for all the tormet, Jin Xing had a sense of humor that is wonderfully exposed in the names of her dances. The Imperial Concubine Has Been Drunk for Ages is one for example, a traditional work that takes on new meaning when danced by someone who is trangendered.
Click to read the rest at Berkshire on Stage.
“As a kid, I couldn’t afford to buy albums. We had a place in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where I grew up called the Book and Record Store, where you could go into a listening room and listen to any album that they had there. So I used to go in and listen for hours, but I couldn’t afford to buy anything.
It might have been a Stan Kenton album. I had a dog-earred old box set by Stan Kenton that I remember very vividly, but I don’t know how I ever got it. It was probably either Stan Kenton or Ted Heath’s Big Band from England.
As a much younger kid, I heard Glenn Miller’s recordings and lots of different dance bands. But by the time I got into junior high, it was the more adventurous bands that really were thrilling me.
When I was in seventh grade, my girlfriend sat me down to listen to Maynard Ferguson playing ‘The Hot Canary’ with Stan Kenton. She told me, ‘You should be listening to this stuff, not those sweet bands.’ So I have to credit her with putting me on the right path.”
In support of his recently released album, “Earth Music,” saxophonist Paul Winter leads the Paul Winter Consort in concert at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington at 8pm on Saturday (February 4). Tix are $35 and $55.
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