What"s Happening This Week (Part 1)

Monday July 6:
The Buttonwood Tree presents the "Anything Goes"Open Mic hosted by J-Cherry at 7:30 p.m. Poets, writers, musicians and singers are welcome to sign up and perform.

Tuesday:
The Center for the Arts at Wesleyan welcomes artist Dana Ellyn to the CFA "Days" series. She'll deliver a talk at 12:10 p.m. in the CFA Cinema titled "From Creative Youth to Creative Woman." She attended the Center for Creative Youth's (CCY) Visual Arts Program ay Wesleyan in the summer of 1987 and went on to earn her degree in Fine Arts and Art History from George Washington University. Her talk will also include examples of her art (that's her "Girl with Curls (Mary Pickford)", acrylic on canvas on the left.) The event is free and open to the public.

The Summer Sounds Series, held every Tuesday evening in Union Park (South Green), presents Party Boyz at 7 p.m. The group plays "pop" and "rock"tunes from the 1950s and 60s. In case of rain, the fun moves indoors to South Congregational Church.

Wednesday:
The Music at the Mansion Series, held on the expansive back lawn of the Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate, got off to a soggy start last week with the Eight to the Bar show canceled for fear of storms (that show will be held July 29.) This week, the focus is on traditional jazz from New Orleans, Dixieland and swing when the Galvanized Jazz Band comes to town. Joining the quintet (led by cornetist Fred Vigorito) will be trombonist Jim Fryer and vocalist Cynthia Fabian. The grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for those wishing to picnic. The music commences at 6:30. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. For more information, call 347-1064.

Thursday & Friday:
Tickets are still available for the 2 performances by Doug Varone and Dancers to take place at 8 p.m. in the CFA Theater at Wesleyan. Varone is one of the busiest choreographers and directors in modern dance. His commissions include works for Limon Company, Dancemakers (Canada), Batsheva Dance Company (Israel) and many others. His company has been in existence since 1986 and has performed throughout the world. The ensemble's residency programs bring dance and other activities to people of all ages, reaching out beyond dance to include math, science, literature, philosophy and more.

Varone's program in Middletown features 4 works, including the world premiere of "Egalité", a piece for 2 dancers featuring music by the American composer John Adams. For ticket information, call 685-3355 or go online to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa. To watch the troupe in action, go to www.dougvaroneanddancers.org/video.php.